[Panel-devel] Systray (was Re: Drag'n'drop everything)

[Georges A.K.]

On 8/14/05, Vince Negri <vince at bulbous.freeserve.co.uk> wrote:
> Georges A.K. wrote:
> 
> > This [the systray] has been discussed God knows how many times ! And
> > although it's has been impossible to form a consensus, we did agree
> > on that the systray shouldn't become a 2nd taskbar. If anything, the
> > taskbar has to be modified to suit the needs of the users. The
> > systray is more of a notificaiton area (although it's not that black
> > and white).
> 
> There are some general principles that for me define the essence of 
> systray-ness:
> 
> 1) There can be only one (Highlander principle ;) Given that it 
> primarily displays notifications or activity signs - shall we say 
> "at-a-glance info"? - it makes no sense for the user to have to scan N 
> different screen locations. Contrast with launcher/applet panels, which 
> can be usefully distributed over the screen.
I agree.

> 
> 2) Objects in the systray are singular: that is to say, you don't want 
> two icons that look the same in the systray, even it they relate to 
> different instances of something. This is because
> identical icons need to be differentiated by hovering the mouse over 
> them, and then you lose the at-a-glance-ness. Contrast with a taskbar, 
> where you do have to potentially negotiate 12 identically-iconed 
> document windows.
But how can we enforce such a policy ? It seem to me that it's more
about educating the developpers than a plasma functionality.

> 
> 3) Objects in the systray relate to something that is already "working"
> on the machine. So they can relate to hardware (which is obviously 
> always "running") or a running program. Contrast with launcher buttons, 
> which start something running that wasn't running before.
It could also be a sleeping daemon, waiting for user input. Although
it is started, it's not technically running. If I look at my tray
right now, an example would be kscmp (for those who are not familiar
with SuSE, it's a utility that allows you to change working profiles,
for example wireless settings, printer settings...). Although it
doesn't raelly relate to hardware, nore does it alert me of anything,
it's still very useful to have.

> 
> 4) Objects in the systray are dynamic (they can change appearance, show 
> toaster popups etc.)
Yes.
> 
> 
> Also, the systray contents (what objects are in the systray) are a 
> slow-changing set, unlike a taskbar. Systray objects are things you want 
> to monitor day in, day out: programs in AutoStart, daemons, etc. The 
> systray wants to get your attention when something has changed, and this 
> is most easily achieved when the user becomes very familiar with its 
> contents.
> 
> Lastly, anyone who wants to put something in the systray which isn't 
> hardware/system monitoring needs to ask "how does this improve workflow?"
I agree. However, it's again a matter of educating programmers.
There's nothing we can really do from plasma's side.

Georges.