a standard File Manager API

[Fred Drake]

On 10/22/06, Marcos <bugshideout at yahoo.com> wrote:
> A generic File Manager API is another missing standard.
>
> It would be nice if, just like in MSWindows, one could implement in any application basic file
> functions like "delete, rename, propreties".

What's interesting about these operations?  I expect some/all of the following:

- veto the operation

- extend the operation to perform additional changes

- provide additional file properties that are only associated with
specific applications (version control, backup applications, whatever)

This suggests that any application used to manage files might need to
ensure participation of extensions.

I don't know about you, but I still do most of my file management from
a command line, though I use Gnome and an occaissional KDE
application.  Unless "rm", "cp", "ln" and the rest of  the tools I
happen to use play nice with these things, I don't see how the
situation is improved.  That suggests to me that extending a file
manager isn't what's needed; we need to be able to plug bits into the
filesystem implementation to allow real operations to be extended.

I think that could be interesting, though difficult to do effectively.
 It's also less useful from the application perspective, because that
ties application functionality to the specific filesystem selected,
defeating portability.

So, interesting, but not particularly feasible.  Perhaps I don't
understand what use case you're trying to address?


  -Fred

-- 
Fred L. Drake, Jr.    <fdrake at gmail.com>
"Every sin is the result of a collaboration." --Lucius Annaeus Seneca