Actions extensions in File Managers - Draft 0.10

[PCMan]

Thank you for the update.
I don't have the time yet to go through the whole spec in every
detail, but from a brief review, I would like to address a naming
issue.
Currently, this is what I realized. Please correct me if I'm wrong please.
1. Action is an installed desktop entry file. It can contain a group
of different profiles.
2. Profiles are basically condition/exec pairs used to decide what
command should be executed when what criteria are met.
3. menus? How to define this?
I've skim the whole spec for several times and I still cannot
understand what exactly it does even after reading the examples in
appendix. I admit that my English is not good, but since this spec is
not to be read by native English speakers only, it's important to make
it easy to understand enough. Here are some naming suggestions:
1. It's unnatural to call a set of profiles an 'Action'. This can
cause confusion. For example, in GTK+, when you refer to an action
(GtkAction), you usually associate it with a single visual component
which can be activated. So, when you call a set of profiles 'an'
action, it's a little bit unnatural.
2. I'd suggest we borrow the naming from gtk+. Rename 'Action' to
'Action group' since it actually contains a 'group' of profiles, not a
single action.
3. Rename profile to 'Action' instead. When people heard an 'action',
it's quite natural to think that it's associated with some command,
just like GtkAction is associated with callback functions perform
associated tasks. It's naturally to think that an action is associate
with an Exec key.

So, the desktop entry file is now referred to as 'action group' as it
actually contains a group of Execs. Then, each Exec command in the
desktop entry file is called an action instead. When an action is
activated from UI, no matter from menu or from toolbar, the associated
action (Exec) is executed. This kind of naming is more natural and
less confusing IMHO.

BTW, would you please provide a full example demonstrating  how to
define menus and others? Having a nice example demonstrating all stuff
in the spec can greatly help understanding. Thank you in advance.

On Tue, Mar 30, 2010 at 3:36 AM, Pierre Wieser <pwieser at trychlos.org> wrote:
>
> Hi
>
> I just updated the DES-EMA draft [1] to its version 0.10:
> - Move Hidden and NoDisplay keys to [Desktop Entry] group.
>
> All your comments are more than welcome.
>
> Regards
> Pierre
>
> [1] http://www.nautilus-actions.org/?q=node/377
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