unity-design team mailing list archive

[David Regev <david.regev@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, Apr 1, 2010 at 6:30 AM, David Siegel <david.siegel@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:

> Interesting ideas. Something similar I've seen is in Mac OS X where
> document-based application windows have little icon in the window titlebar
> that represents the underlying file. You can drag this icon and drop it on
> an application icon in the Dock to open that file in another application,
> for example. Food for thought.
>

Food for thought indeed!

I’ve been thinking that some of the most crucial ideas behind Izo’s proposal
and the Esfera proposal can be had in a more coherent way by implementing
something akin to the Mac’s *Proxy Icon* (see this
video<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiHQv_DG5sc>for reference). I
don’t know all the details about the Mac implementation,
as I have never used it, but I can think of many way in which a GNOME
version of a proxy icon could significantly improve the Desktop. In fact, if
done right, it could allow Ubuntu to surpass the Mac in this aspect.
Consider the following possibilities:

   1. The icon may be dragged and dropped anywhere. However, not only does
   this allow you to copy the file or its shortcut somewhere, but it also
   allows you *move* the file—all while still opened by an application. *So,
   for example:* I start a new document in gedit. gedit automatically
   creates a new file in my home directory. I decide that I want the file to be
   in my Documents folder, so I simply drag the proxy icon there—all without
   ever needing to open Nautilus in order to find the new file. gedit continues
   to show the same document, virtually oblivious to the fact that it’s now in
   a different location.
   2. The icon is accompanied by a contextual menu similar to the one shown
   for file icons in Nautilus. All operations continue to be active in this
   menu. Thus, using that menu to delete a file actually deletes that file,
   while the window displaying the file simply closes (or perhaps animates into
   the Trash). Similarly, using that menu to rename a file focuses the filename
   in the title bar as an editable text field, allowing the user to rename the
   file straight from there. *So, for example, like before:* I start a new
   document in gedit. gedit automatically creates a new file. I open the menu
   for the proxy icon, choose ‘Rename’, and rename my file—all while it is
   still open.
   3. Combining the previous two scenarios, the proxy icon makes the Save
   dialogue nearly obsolete, replacing it by (more) direct manipulation. This
   is accompanied by other system-wide changes: new files are automatically
   created and named by applications (perhaps the name could be chosen based on
   the first line of the document). If a user wishes to rename the file, that
   may be done the way I described, but it is not mandatory. Thus, the Save
   dialogue no longer disturbs the user’s sacred train of thought, and no one
   who doesn’t care is forced to choose an almost arbitrary name for a file.
   Combine this with auto-saving everywhere, and the Save button become
   history. (Apparently, ROX Desktop has something somewhat
similar<http://roscidus.com/desktop/node/148>
   .)
   4. Expanding on the standard context menu for file icons, other items may
   be added there. A ‘Switch application ›’ item would allow one to open the
   current file in a different application—just like Izo’s proposal, but more
   integrated (and less cluttered). *For example:* I’m viewing a photograph
   in my favourite image viewer. I decide I want to edit it in GIMP, so I
   choose GIMP from the aforementioned menu. The image viewer shut down while
   GIMP starts up, opening the photograph in a window of identical size and
   placement as previously, thus seamlessly switching applications while the
   document window hasn’t moved. This allows the user to focus on the
   document—on *content*—while the applications being used fade into the
   background.
   5. Similarly, a window’s application may also add items to the proxy
   icon’s menu. (Because the menu could get crowded, it might be better to
   place the extra menu items in a separate menu connected to the proxy icon,
   but this issue is incidental to the basic concept here.) This would provide
   a nice balance to the Application menu that GNOME Shell is supposed to have
   in the near future. Actions relating to the application as a whole go in the
   Application menu, while actions relating to the document as a whole go in
   the proxy icon menu—the Document menu. This effectively replaces the File
   menu, and possibly the entire menu bar for a whole class of applications,
   thus freeing up valuable vertical space.
   6. The distinction between the two menus enforces the conceptual
   distinction between applications and documents. Applications are now agents
   that run in the background, accessible via the shell. Documents (and others
   types of objects), on the other hand, are represented not via the shell but
   by individual windows. Thus, an important rule should be enforced: *window
   = file* (well, more like window ⊃ file). Extending the Unix philosophy of
   ‘Everything is a file’, every window is also a file. The mental model for
   windows and the mental model for files are now neatly synchronized, allowing
   the user to treat windows just like files.
   7. This should be taken to its logical extreme for consistency, slowly
   removing all windows that do not correspond to files. Modal dialogues, for
   example, which do not represent files, can be replaced by more usable
   alternatives, such as info bars (or something similar to the OS X’s Sheets).
   Preferences windows, on the other hand, which cannot be removed, can be
   linked up to a single file containing an application’s preferences. *For
   example:* I open gedit’s Preferences window, and I see a special icon in
   that window. I can drag that icon anywhere to back up my preferences. If I
   open that same file from Nautilus, gedit is launched (but hidden) and its
   Preferences window is displayed. (Implementation–wise, one way this could be
   achieved would be that this file is an archived backup of the entire
   settings directory.)
   8. Windows that simply cannot represent a real file show a faded-out
   icon. *For example*: I set my instant messaging client not to log
   conversations, due to privacy concerns. My chat window shows a faded-out
   icon. I decide that I want to save this conversation, so I drag the icon
   somewhere. The icon now fades in, appearing normal. The rest of that
   conversation gets logged in that same file.

These are just some preliminary ideas, but I think they demonstrate a
compelling  path that could be taken if Ubuntu introduced its own answer to
the Mac’s proxy icon. This path leads to a more *object-centric* (or
document-centric) Desktop, where people can focus on their content and the
stuff they care about, and not have to worry as much about dealing with the
file system and with applications.

I hope I have provided some more food for thought. On that note, what do
people think?