58336 - we need a public spec (on mozilla.org) for the XP file picker

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(www.mozilla.org :: General, defect, P3)

Description

[(not reading, please use [e-mail] instead)]

from bug http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=58312 and talking to
bryner, it seems we don't have a spec for the XP file picker.

mpt, this seems like something right up your alley.  any interest in working on
a spec?

one request: use screen shots and not ascii art in the spec.

adding other folks to the cc list who are UI spec people (who can offer
suggestions, review the spec, etc.)

Comment 1

[Peter Trudelle]

I think a complete spec would be a questionable use of resources at this point
(although if anyone has their heart set on doing it on their own time- knock
yourself out!), but end-user documentation of the existing picker would be good,
as would specification of any needed changes.

Comment 2

[Matthew T (active 1999-2002)]

Accepting. I had already started this, at Jag's request.

Sorry, I can't include screenshots in the spec until the spec is implemented, and 
it can't be implemented until the spec is complete. So replacement of my ASCII 
art with screenshots will have to wait. :-)

Comment 3

[Matthew T (active 1999-2002)]

I am basing my spec on Apple's Navigation Services dialogs
<http://www.thessasource.com/features/navserv.html>, since they seem to be the 
most well-designed file pickers currently (runners-up being the file pickers 
provided by AmigaDOS's asl.library, Mac OS's Standard File, and Windows 3.1).

Then I am making two sets of changes. Firstly, I am correcting UI design errors 
Apple made in Navigation Services (I count four so far). Secondly, I am adjusting 
the design so that it is more useful for current typical Linux/Unix users, as 
opposed to typical Mac/Windows users -- e.g. allowing direct entry of a directory 
path and regexp filter, and allowing customization of which columns are shown in 
the file browser.

Any objections?

And one minor question -- in Linux and Unix, is it possible for the filepicker to 
be told, or to find out in a non-resource-intensive way, when the contents of a 
directory has changed? If so, I'll need to spec behavior which prevents you from 
accidentally selecting the wrong item just after the listing updates. And if not, 
I'll need to spec ways for the user to order a reload of the listing of the 
current directory.

Comment 4

[Peter "jag" Annema]

Well? Any unix programmer here who knows the answer to mpt's question?

Does the kernel (through libc perhaps) provide a way to listen for directory
changes? We could poll every second to see if the current dir's modification
date has changed, but that sounds like a rather ugly hack.

Comment 5

[Alec Flett]

generally this mechanism is very OS-specific... it would be cool to add it to
the filesystem datasource, but can you design your picker so that it can be used
with and without the presence of such a mechanism?

Ironically, Brendan actually has a software patent on something VERY related.
http://www.delphion.com/details?pn=US05287504__

Comment 6

[James Cox]

accepting QA for mozilla developer docs.

some of these bugs have been around for a _long_ time. Reporters, would you
please review the bugs, see if the issues have been resolved, and close bugs
appropriately.

I will do a full review of all bugs not touched in one week (8th April). 

Thanks.

</spam>

Comment 7

[Matthew T (active 1999-2002)]

Eek. Sorry to those who have been waiting in suspense for the past 6.5 years. ;-) I'd completely forgotten about this, and I doubt anyone would use such a spec now anyway. (It's been a long time since I've used any OS without a native filepicker.)

Comment 8

[Samuel Sidler (old account; do not CC)]

Yeah, we've basically moved to native filepickers. Let's call this WONTFIX.