[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread] 

List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: Easier Searching in KDE
From:       Dik Takken <D.H.J.Takken () phys ! uu ! nl>
Date:       2004-05-25 15:10:06
Message-ID: Pine.OSF.4.60.0405251656200.35015 () ruunat ! phys ! uu ! nl
[Download RAW message or body]

On Mon, 24 May 2004, Jamethiel Knorth wrote:

> A problem here is that the results are not always mixable. Not all results 
> are just directories. The file search plugin just gives the files. The image 
> search plugin will want to return a bunch of thumbnails. The internet search 
> plugin gives a title and the snippet which matches the search terms. The 
> people search plugin may want to give name, address, phone number, email, and 
> have a map field which shows location of the currently selected results. The 
> plugins are not always mixable, and making them forceably mixable would 
> castrate the more powerful plugins.

We need to be able to glue any number of different result views onto one 
scrollable container widget. If that is possible, every plugin can present 
it's results in any way it wants to, it will just be added to the list of 
outputs that is presented to the user. However, we might want to require 
the plugin to produce results within a maximum width, to prevent the list 
from becoming a mess.

Note that we might need to require each plugin to present it's results in 
two ways: Extended and brief. The extended mode can be used when called 
from the search application. The brief mode is needed for display in small 
area's, like the KFileDialogs.

> There is room for a "search everything" plugin, but there is a lot of reason 
> to not have the system just keep on searching beyond where you asked it to.

See my other reply about this: A 'stop' button can do miracles.

> I'm fairly certain that my examples had all the complex options hidden. In 
> the search sidebar, the ones with the most which I did mockups for were the 
> local file search and the yellow pages search.

Your examples are already quite nice and clean. Only the 'My Computer' 
plugin is showing stuff on the main page that I would rather not see, 
unless I ask for it. If these settings are static between search settings, 
you don't have to change them often and they don't need to have such a 
prominent position.

How about having two tabs, one called 'Results' and another called 
'Settings'?

Dik
_______________________________________________
kde-usability mailing list
kde-usability@kde.org
https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-usability
[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread]