[GSoC] Plasma File Sender idea

[Detlev Casanova]

On Monday 05 March 2012 16:59:22 Aaron J. Seigo wrote:
> On Monday, March 5, 2012 16:20:46 Detlev Casanova wrote:
> > That widget is based on the currently opened document in an application
> > which means that
> 
> "currently opened" is a bit too specific. selecting files in a file manager
> would qualify, for instance. selecting a contact in a chat or from an
> addressbook would too. etc...

Ok, I see.

> >  1) the application must be aware of the widget
> 
> it just needs to advertise its content using KActivities::ResourceInstance.
> this goes back to the concept of "strong separation of data, mechanism and
> visualization". the app just says "i've got <foo>" and then who knows what
> the system does with it ;)
> 
> note that in a kdelibs branch, we have it working with *any* kpart, without
> the application needing to think about it.

So that already works with a lot of file types, as long as they're open in a 
KPart object.

> this is also independent of drag and drop which could also be used to
> trigger SLC.
> 
> >  2) Sending multiple files is not the aim of the widget
> 
> there's no reason it can't work on multiple files.

In that case, I admit I'm wrong :)

> >  3) There are some clicks to do to have it done.
> 
> no more than in your suggestion...

I'm sure there is a possibility to find that there are more click with this 
solution than with mine but that wouldn't be totally sincere. 

> > Also, currently, it only exists for Plasma Active but is in fact planned
> > to
> > be ported to Plasma Desktop.
> 
> there is no such thing as "exists for Plasma $ShellA, to be ported to
> $ShellB". the idea of components that work in any shell is probably the most
> basic, fundamental concept in plasma. so it is unsurprising, then, that i
> have SLC in my panel on my laptop. no 'porting' needed.
> 
> we have to get rid of this idea that things are specific to a shell from our
> head. it is fatally limiting and tempts us to design entire shells around
> specific features in ways that are unecessary.

Well, porting from shellA to shellB, from a developper point of view, there is 
no difference but I think that some things must work differently depending on 
the Shell in some cases. Maybe not in this case though.

> > A problem I can see with this is that non aware applications wouldn't
> > react
> > with the widget, that could somehow discourage the user (why does it work
> > with Gwenview but not with LibreOffice ?)
> 
> if you stick to drag hover as a trigger, it will work just fine. otherwise,
> there is very little to be done for non-kde apps.

So, I will ask it differently : What are supported "protocols" and which could 
be implemented ?

I'd really need to easily send files to a pre-configured SSH drive (that's 
actually where I got the idea from)

Detlev.