desktop entry files and directories

[Jaap Karssenberg]

Hi all,

As an application developer I'm looking for a suggestions on the 
following problem: my application works on directories with files (think 
collections of text files) and I need a way to open these directories 
using my application from the file manager. Some file managers use the 
inode/directory mimetype for this but the use not transparent and does 
not completely solve my problem. The reason this does not work 
completely is that my application can open _certain_ directories, but 
not all directories. Ultimately what I might be looking for is a 
mechanism to have types of directories, just like mimetypes define types 
of files, but that may be to much to ask within the current body of 
specifications.

As an alternative I'm looking into using desktop entry files, or a 
similar format, as placeholders for the directories (I could add my 
application config for the dir as an extension). There is a "Directory" 
type desktop file but the specification doesn't say anything about it's 
usage; also the spec doesn't give a field to give a location for the 
directory type, I assume that it always refers to it's current 
directory. Could anybody enlighten me on the usage of this type of 
desktop entry ? Also how would a "Directory" type desktop file be opened 
if you click it ?

Also any other suggestions to solve my problem in an elegant and 
compatible way would be much appreciated :)

Thanks,

-- Jaap Karsseberg <pardus at cpan.org>