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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: K Menu layout idea
From:       "Eric Ellsworth" <whalesuit () softhome ! net>
Date:       2002-05-30 6:16:59
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> On May 29, 2002 08:49 pm, Eric Ellsworth wrote:
> > Img1 is an SVG image saying "Programs", scaled to the size of the apps
> > section Img2 is an SVG image saying "Recent", scaled to the size of the
>
> internationalization of images is hard and not practical, as i understand
> things. i think you may have to drop this part of your idea.

Good point.  Let me give one shot at why we might try this, and then I'll
concede to this bit of good sense. =)
As I understand it, PostScript is actually SVG.  What if the SVG image were
actually a PostScript file?  Then during the build, the some routine could
generate the PostScript and stick onto the menu.  So the i18n could happen
before the PostScript generation process.  Now, hit me with the reasons why
this isn't practical ;-)

> > And of course, the Menu Editor would continue to exist for those that
want
> > a quick way to overhaul the whole menu, though it would probably need to
> > know about categories now.  Likewise when you drop an app on the menu
using
> > D'n'D, we could work in a way to categorize it.
>
> i wouldn't bother with the menu editor and this style of menu. instead i'd
> suggest simply providing an easy way to switch between the two types of
menus
> (current "list everything" mode and this "task oriented, one app per task"
> mode)

Good idea.  Anybody who wants the current style of menus can have em,
unchanged.

> > ;-).....  Whaddya think?
>
> one of the challenges with this type of menu is that new applications
wouldn't
> show up automatically in the menu. so when someone installs a new piece of
> software they would need to manually change their menu.
>
> what one could do to solve this is to watch the applnk dirs using
kdirwatch
> and whenever a new .desktop file appears pop up a dialog asking the user
if
> they would like to add the program as a new entry in their menu or to make
it
> the default for a given application type ...

Sounds like a very good general solution - then you don't rely on the
application's installer to trigger the dialog.   I think that the dialog
should come up when you launch either the app you've installed, or the app
it replaces.  Otherwise you're confronted with a random dialog saying.  "On
the Internet Menu, QIRC has been replaced with BIRC, is this OK?", which
makes no sense.
    Here's one way of laying that out:
            The new app appears on the menu under the old app, but indented
slightly and maybe in a different color.  When you launch either the new or
old app, you get:

    A new IRC Chat program has been installed.  Would you like to use:
    o BIRC
    o QIRC  (Current IRC Chat program)
    o Both
    -------------
    | Update  |
    -------------

How does that sound?

Cheers,


EE

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