desktop entry files and directories

[Jaap Karssenberg]

Hi,

After thinking about this problem for a while I think that the blanket 
we need to cover all these problems is this: define a mimetypes for 
directories. That way applications can bind to these mimetypes and all 
will be fine.

Say I have my project directories. I add a desktop file called 
".directory" of type "Directory", that perfectly follows the spec. Now 
add one key to the spec, say "DirectoryType" that defines a mimetype for 
the directory (this type should (implicitly) inherit from 
inode/directory). This thing should probably also be mentioned in the 
mimeinfo spec as a special case then.

No further modifications of any spec are needed. I can add my program 
specific config to the desktop file as an extension (the spec includes 
an extension mechanism) and I could tell the file browser that my 
application can open this mimetype.

Application directories can also be handled by a special 
"DirectoryType", and can either be implemented by the file browser 
directly or by a small launcher application.

Add a "DirectoryType" for a svn or cvs controlled directory and you can 
open it by your favorite client application, or trigger a filebrowser 
plugin to load additional functions.

This is how I would implemented it, if there is a consensus that such a 
thing needs to be implemented in the first place. As a temporary 
substitute one could have a "Directory" file (not hidden) with a 
mimetype that overloads application/x-desktop and use a small launcher 
app to redirect execution to the application that is associated with the 
"DirectoryType".

-- Jaap Karssenberg <pardus at cpan.org>