GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 125840
Narrowing a-la segusoLand.
Last modified: 2004-12-22 21:47:04 UTC
Please don't overlook this because it may be a killer feature :-)) PURPOSE: The idea I am going to propose allows two distinct improvements: 1) Allows "dynamic action guessing" (see below). 2) make it possible to do anything by using only the left mouse button, and only single click (no double click). IDEA: Each file in nautilus should have TWO clickable areas (not only one like now). The first area is for selecting, the second is for executing. The first area could be the union of the file name and icon. The second area could be a CHECKBOX which lies to the left of the file icon (or the file icon itself, if you prefer). Anyway, if you click the FIRST area, the file is EXECUTED as usual (or opened if it is a directory). But if you click the CHECKBOX, something new would happen: 1) the file is selected, and 2) the panel on the left side of nautilus shows the possible actions that can be done on that file. So far nothing is new: this panel would essentially be the same as the right-mouse-button menu. But wait: if you now select another file, via the checkbox, then 1) the second file is selected too (the previous one is not deselected), and 2) the panel _restricts_ the possible actions to only those actions that can be done on _both_ files. So the panel should be more dynamic than the current gnome panel, or the right-button-menu. EXAMPLES: 1) if you select two .TXT files, there will be an option "open with emacs" and another "add to archive" and another "move to trash" and another "copy to...". But if you now select one PDF file, "trash" and "copy to" would remain, but "open with emacs" will disappear, and "add to archive" will have changed into TWO options: "add to a single archive" and "add each file to a different archive". 2) You select one file and one directory, then on the panel appears "calculate overall size". 3) select a .cue and an .ogg file: "burn the ogg file using the cue sheet". 4) select a bunch of files and directories and a cd-writer: "burn THESE files on THIS cd writer". 5) select a text file and a printer: "print the file on this printer". Dynamic action guessing would be a breakthrough. It would make gnome look genuinuely "intelligent" to the naive user. The idea is that, given two or more arguments, the possible actions are usually very few, so it makes sense to show a list with all the possible actions. The opposite is not true: given the action, the possible arguments are generally too many to be shown in a list. As an important added value, this method allows anything to be done with a single mouse button and no double click. Windows XP (with its side panel which in turn was copied from gnome) has shown that this is actually more intuitive and not slower than using the right-mouse menu. My suggestion would furtherly improve it.
Created attachment 21069 [details] printing is the only possible action with this selection
Created attachment 21070 [details] They are both txt files, so they can be opened with emacs
Created attachment 21071 [details] A subdir cannot be printed, but files can be moved/coped to it.
Some important remarks: 1) this feature is meant to replace ordinary menus, toolbars and the right button menu! Because it is a generalization of them. Therefore you have only one way to specify actions, and an incredibly intuitive one. This would improve learnability GREATLY. It is somehow similar to what is called a "great unification" in physics, if you allow the term. ;-) I think this is where gnome is heading. Explore new paradigms. 2) my hope is that users will tend to select the MOST MEANINGFUL ITEM first. For example, if they want to print a file, they will select the printer first, and THEN the files. Because they know that this way the dynamic panel will be MUCH smaller and easier to be scanned with their eyes. Users would learn that after ten minutes' work, since the panel updateing is EVIDENT and DYNAMIC. 3) the feature is not to be mistaken for "just another context-sensitive menu". The main innovation is that the dynamic panel would take into account all selected items, FROM ALL WINDOWS. For example, if you select a pdf file and a printer, they are in different windows.
Created attachment 21269 [details] Improvement: favourite application list.
The above image shows a possible improvement, the Favourite applications window. notice that: 1) the Favourite Applications window is very useful to immediately restrict the list of possible actions. Given the application, the available actions are dramatically narrowed. The user will tend to select the application first (but he is not forced to). 2) more in general, the user will tend to select meaningful items first, such as k3b or plextor. This keeps the panel size small. But he is not forced to. 3) there is no need to have menus or toolbars anymore!
Isn't this really just what Windows XP Explorer does? The Explorer sidebar shows some common high-level actions relevant to the files you have selected ('burn to CD', 'queue in media player' etc.), plus a few common ones ('go to control center' etc.) And they only need to use one clickable area, not two :)
Thanks for your feedback. > Isn't this really just what Windows XP Explorer does? I'm sorry, but... absolutely not. Have you looked at the last pictures? you can select items from multiple windows. For example, you could select - /usr/share/doc/manual.pdf - HP Laserjet printer Which are in different windows. This difference is huge, because, as I said, the user will tend to select the most meaningful items first (e.g. k3b, totem, plextor cd writer), and then the files. > The Explorer > sidebar shows some common high-level actions some, but not all. So xp still needs menus and toolbars. There is no unification. The XP panel adds complexity without removing any. This is another big difference. Do you agree?
Created attachment 21739 [details] Here is the prototype - tar.bz2
Hello. This has been discussed on the KDE bug tracking list. While the idea looks jazzy, the implementation is not. To put it simply: * The fact that selectiong a PDF file, and then selecting a printer icon lets you print is not discoverable. When you print something, you don't put the document and the printer together. You *send the document to the printer*. * Making selections from multiple folders has problems. What happens if I close a folder? Should the selection be deselected? Should it stay? What's the relationship between the icons in an open folder and in the selection? * Printing, and many actions, is slower with this method than by right-clicking. * In order to print, you'll need to open the document's folder, and then open a My Computer workalike, then select both files, then click a Print action button. Right-clicking onto a file and selecting Print is a much more expedient way (and the framework for such a feature would be the same framework for both implementations). Even dragging the file icon to the printer is faster than selecting a file, then a printer, then clicking on Print. Assuming the document's folder is already open, and My Computer is closed (why would you have it open all the time) let's do the math for the print case: Right-click + left-click on Print: 2 clicks (avg 2 seconds) Click on Nautilus icon on the panel, navigate to my computer, arrange the windows to drag an icon to the printer: 1 click, 1 click, 1 drag, 1 drag, 1 drag Select file, Click on Nautilus icon on the panel, navigate to my computer, select printer, click a Print action button in the action list: 1 click, 1 click, 1 click, 1 click, 1 click That's five clicks. If Print were in the right context menu, it'd be two. If the printer was an icon on the panel, it'd be only ONE DRAG, even faster, and visually discoverable. Plus there's this "small" issue of nobody thinking about selecting two radically different concepts (a file and a printer) at the same time to perform an action. See the KDE bug tracking system for more information. This issue has erupted into a small flame war.
Dear developers, I turned this idea turned into a new software project. This CAN ALREADY BE USED. So give it a try. Or just look at the screenshots with explanation: http://segusoland.sourceforge.net/ My ideas (intelligent option narrowing) and my code are at your disposal. Feel free to import into GNOME what you believe to be of value. take care, Maurizio
There is no plans to do anything like this with nautilus.