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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: Easier Searching in KDE
From:       Dik Takken <D.H.J.Takken () phys ! uu ! nl>
Date:       2004-05-24 10:50:47
Message-ID: Pine.OSF.4.60.0405241224480.414648 () ruunat ! phys ! uu ! nl
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On Sun, 23 May 2004, Jamethiel Knorth wrote:

> I was brainstorming about how to better work searching into the environment, 
> and I had a few ideas. As is my way while brainstorming, my thoughts 
> coalesced into a large variety of mock-ups and a webpage. I'm particularly 
> hoping for people to give any comments about the file selection dialog before 
> I ask about this on a development list.

About the file dialog: I was wondering where the search results would 
appear. Will the file listing be replaced with search results? I would 
favour this behavior, as it is consistent with how the other quick access 
icons work: Each quick access icon simply enters a new KIO URL into the 
location bar and the file listing area is replaced by the output of the 
KIO that the URL is referring to:

* The 'Home' icon points to 'file://home/$USER' and shows a file listing 
at that location.
* The devices icon points to 'devices://' and shows a device listing.
* The search icon points to 'search://$ARGS' and shows a search result 
listing.

(I guess there is a search KIO and if not, we should create one for this 
purpose)

The only special thing about the search quick access icon is the fact that 
the 'URL' contains the search query, and this search query needs to be 
entered by the user. That's why, unlike the other icons, it needs an 
input widget.

If you want to implement searching in a way that is 100% consistent with 
the other access icons, you should have it get it's arguments (the URL) 
from the 'location' input widget, just like the other icons do. But I 
guess this is a *very* bad idea because we cannot expect users to 
understand that searching and browsing are technically the same thing.

About your efforts to make searching usable and accessible all over KDE: 
Great! It's a shame that KDE lacks properly integrated search 
functionality, because searching is a powerful tool, and KDE is all about 
power for the user. Searching should be quickly accessible in every place 
where it is useful.

Cheers!

Dik
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