unity-design team mailing list archive

[Matthew Paul Thomas <mpt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

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Jonathan Meek wrote on 05/01/12 04:29:
> 
> In a recent discussion on Google+ Cassidy James (of elementary
> fame) was asking just what defines a scope or lense on Unity. There
> is no real set guideline for what they are or should do.
> 
> To me, Unity is about hooking in and searching.


I had this same question on Tuesday, because I was specifying how
packaged lenses and scopes should be presented in Ubuntu Software
Center. At a stretch, people might be expected to learn what the
"Dash" is. But "lenses" and "scopes" are developer jargon, best
avoided if possible.

So I asked John Lea, and he clarified that lenses and scopes are
supposed to be just for searching. I asked, what if someone
implemented a calculator lens? (I was reminded of Mac OS X's Spotlight
menu: for example, if you enter "pi * 2", it will show "pi * 2 =
6.28318351" above any search results.) John replied that he'd prefer
if that kind of thing wasn't possible in the Dash.

So, I specified that the USC subcategory should be called "Dash Search
Plugins". <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SoftwareCenter#lenses>

> You should be able to search from Unity for anything (or alter it
> such that you can) so that it removes the arbitrary imposition of
> "you can search for X in Dash, but Y & Z HAVE to be done in a web
> browser."


There will always be searches that have to be done in a Web browser,
because nobody has implemented a lens or scope for them yet. And even
if there is a lens/scope available, many people won't use it, because
they don't know about it, because they don't have permission to
install it, or because the Web UI offers features and information
density that the Dash can't compete with.

(That is, perhaps, one of the reasons Sherlock died. It was too much
bother for developers to create, and users to install, plugins for a
non-Web client -- despite the Sherlock interface being much more
adaptable than the Dash is. <http://www.macinstruct.com/node/88> Its
partial successor, Dashboard, had the same problem to a lesser extent.
<http://www.maclife.com/article/feature/are_widgets_dead>)

> If that is the case, then how do we explain the binary clock
> that's been implemented? Do we stop developers from creating
> different "fun" scopes because it should be about search? Or should
> it be whatever someone can imagine?
> 
> If it is, when do we say when? How do we make recommendations?
> 
> ...


Perhaps when they try to publish it in USC. You're right that we would
need guidelines to point to, though.

- -- 
mpt
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