[Bug 159648] New: plasma-appletsrc file format needs improvements

[Benoît Jacob]

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http://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=159648         
           Summary: plasma-appletsrc file format needs improvements
           Product: plasma
           Version: unspecified
          Platform: Ubuntu Packages
        OS/Version: Linux
            Status: UNCONFIRMED
          Severity: normal
          Priority: NOR
         Component: general
        AssignedTo: panel-devel kde org
        ReportedBy: jacob math jussieu fr


Version:            (using KDE 4.0.2)
Installed from:    Ubuntu Packages
OS:                Linux

Hi Plasma team,

I'm filing this as a bug, not a mere wish, because it seems to be the root cause of many glitches [*] in my 4.0.2 desktop.

The plasma-appletsrc file
- is hierarchical, which is good,
- allows pixel-based placement and sizing of applets, which is good,

but it should allow more clever ways than just pixel-based. For instance, there should be a way of saying "put this launcher at the left end of this panel, and let it inherit the panel's size" instead of having to specifying x,y,with,height values in pixels ! Same for other applets such as the task manager.

In fact, I believe that it should be possible to describe a basic desktop with only a basic panel by specifying only one pixel-based value: the panel height. It would go as follows:

1) panel at bottom of screen, 24 pixel high
2) desktop containment occupying remaining screen space
3) launcher in left of panel, inheriting panel height, square
4) systray in right of panel, inheriting panel height, width adapting to the # of systray icons.
5) task manager in panel at right of launcher, inheriting panel height, filling space between launcher and systray.

See? No need to store dozens of pixel-based values! I think this is much more robust and would spare you a lot of hassle.

[*] You probably know about that, render glitches with custom-sized panel, K-button (both kickoff and traditional) not adapting to that custom size, crossing the bottom of screen and the bottom of it reappearing at top of screen, menu opening at top of screen instead of at bottom... Not to mention the problem that seem inevitable with the current plasma-appletsrc in case of a change of resolution! 

Cheers and thanks,
Benoit