GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 128723
proposal for new icon selector dialog
Last modified: 2011-04-12 14:36:37 UTC
I am proposing an overhaul of the icon selector's GUI to make it easier to use. The main aims are: - Implement freedesktop.org icon theme logic (which means: display the 48x48 icons of the default gnome icon theme and merge them with the current icon theme) - Use categories to help new users select an icon instead of forcing them to use the file selector to browse the whole file system - Allow picking a custom icon using the file selector if user wants to do so (which is the way it's currently done) - Implement a substring search feature in the icon list that shows matching file names while you're typing e.g. when entering "xchat" it would not only look for "xchat-icon.png" but also for "gnome-xchat.png". - Implement tab completion when selecting a custom icon (see bug #101032) The issue has been discussed on the usability list. Threads: http://mail.gnome.org/archives/usability/2003-November/msg00113.html http://mail.gnome.org/archives/usability/2003-December/msg00000.html http://mail.gnome.org/archives/usability/2003-December/msg00010.html A mockup of the new icon selector is attached to this bug report. The idea of icon categories is to facilitate the task of selecting an icon that might otherwise be buried beneath dozens or hundreds of icons. Category names could be borrowed from clipart collections ("people", "computers") or based on the directories already present in icon themes ("applications", "devices", "file types"). There should also be a category listing "All icons" as well as one listing "/usr/share/pixmaps" (as lots of applications are putting their icon there) . Stock icons and emblems should not be made available in the icon selector (users may still select them using the "custom icon" feature). By clicking the "Browse..." button, a file selector is opened which defaults to the home directory or to "~/.icons". The file selector should have a preview area and, if possible, shortcuts to installed icon themes or relevant directories (/usr/share/icons, /usr/share/pixmaps, ~/.icons). The file name of each icon should not be listed by default as icons are selected based on looks, not on names. Names also take up lots of space. However, when selecting a custom icon, the contents of the current directory would be listed with file names included. There could also be a check box for this feature ([X] show file names) or the file name could be displayed as a tooltip. Changes made to the icon should be applied immediately. A "revert" button to return to the previously selected icon might be necessary if this feature is not included in the parent dialog (launcher properties).
Created attachment 22173 [details] UI mockup of icon selector (checkbox to view file names not yet included)
Created attachment 22174 [details] 2nd UI mockup of icon selector
I've got a mostly working patch to fix this, what I did was: 1.) Make GnomeIconSelection treat the @dir argument of ::add_directory as a theme context if it's not a directory, and load the icons from the theme from that. 2.) Change the UI of GnomeIconEntry's picker dialog so it matches the screenshot below. What I didn't do but should happen at some point: 1.) Kill the GnomeFileEntry in GnomeIconEntry altogether and use the GtkFileChooser in the "custom" tab exclusively. 2.) Handle accessibility -- this may need to have each combo box entry have it's own tab. 3.) Put icons in the pulldown (we've got them from the icon theme, but this requires a custom ComboBox model).
Some screenshots of this in action are at: http://esco.mine.nu/sshots/gnome-icon-entry-patched.png http://esco.mine.nu/sshots/gnome-icon-entry-patched-2.png http://esco.mine.nu/sshots/gnome-icon-entry-patched-3.png http://esco.mine.nu/sshots/gnome-icon-entry-patched-4.png http://esco.mine.nu/sshots/gnome-icon-entry-patched-5.png
Created attachment 22528 [details] [review] An implementation of changes described in this bug
Created attachment 22532 [details] [review] Better patch w/ icons in the combobox & preview updates from "update-preview" signal.
I guess this will have to be punted to 2.7.x now.
It will, and that's a shame.
This is something that belongs in GTK+. If we come up with something good in gtk+ 2.5, I'm willing to apply a patch that makes GnomeIconEntry look similar to it.
Taking this as a rejection of the patches here. Has there been any movement on the gtk+ side of things?
Yeah, there's a bunch of work in libegg as md5, pixbufthumbnail, thumbnailpreview, and iconchooser.
Should we mark this as WONTFIX then?
Obsoleting this.
Why? Obsoleted by what? I think this is still a good idea and a good design.
EggIconChooser, which is maybe relevant, needs to be ported to GTK+3. It uses a custom GtkFileSystem, which is no longer possible.