[haiku-development] Re: TrackerGrep [was Re: missing -lm?]
- From: "Axel Dörfler" <axeld@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: haiku-development@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 03 May 2008 23:00:45 +0200 CEST
Hi Jonas,
"Jonas Sundström" <jonas@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> "Axel Dörfler" <axeld@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > that is adding a menu,
> The features I added combined with the ones
> I was planning can't all have buttons and
> checkboxes, IMO. Menus are neat.
Sure, I'm not against adding menus in general, either :-)
> > and hide common and
> > handy functionality (like a history) behind it.
> > It doesn't feel like a small add-on anymore.
> The history is equally one click away. That spot
> just moved a little and got somewhat easier to hit.
First, of all, I must apologize a bit, because what I wrote relied on
having it tried once some time ago, and my memory kind of blurred it a
bit.
Anyway, I don't think that adding the history to the menu is a good
idea, because it doesn't fit that well there (the immediate context is
the text control, and users expect it to be there, too, at least I was
puzzled - it only fills the contents of the text control, it's not some
kind of preset that would make the menu a good place for it).
My biggest gripe, though, and that's why I continue to use the version
I think Oliver released before, is that it doesn't remember its
history, and that's what made the bad impression on me regarding "it
doesn't feel like an add-on anymore" - since it didn't remember the
previous context, it felt like I would start a separate app instead.
Addendum: it seems it sometimes remembers the history, and sometimes,
it doesn't. All of a sudden, my previous searches were all there again
when I just tried.
> I admitt a few of the menu item names and shortcuts
> could be improved. (Alt-F vs Alt-O, etc)
>
> I've found the "Trim to Selection" feature the most
> useful of my changes. It limits the next search to
> current hits, or selection thereof. Speeds up things
> considerably. Command-N isn't bad either.
I obviously haven't used them, but since it is usually always used with
a directory originating from Tracker, I don't think that Command-N will
get much use, or is even needed in any way.
I'm not against menus, but I think those items in the menu indeed add
little value to the application itself - all the items that make sense
to me, and are useful in general, were also present before.
I don't see the need for "Trim to Selection" either, as it doesn't make
any sense to me to manually filter out results that I already see in
front of me.
Also, the double line below the menu bar looked odd.
> I don't agree with the notion that a Tracker add-on
> has to be small or simple. They're just a way to
> launch an app/utility on/with a set of files. (Not
> all that different from how applications and
> documents often find each other.*)
But then you could use "Open" or "Open With" instead. An add-on should
be an extension of the original application, IMO.
> If you prefer Tracker Grep to be a shallow front-end,
> then we have different creative vision for it.
> I don't mind stepping aside though, honestly.
Well, just don't step aside because of me :-)
But in any case, I don't see any added value in making TrackerGrep a
standalone application - IMO that's not really how you would ever use
it; it creates an alternative usage pattern that is not as useful or
powerful as the original one.
> *(IMO every BApplication should be possible to set
> up with a shortcut in Tracker, replacing Tracker's
> "Add-Ons" menu with user-configurable shortcuts in
> the "Open with..." menu.)
I like usage oriented better than program oriented, ie. I would like to
have a shortcut to edit a file instead of just view it (or vice versa),
but I don't see much value in being able to open TrackerGrep (or any
other application besides DiskProbe) on all files.
Bye,
Axel.
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