Konqueror needs to be cleverer

Beginner

Tuesday, March 2nd 2004, 2:02pm

Example, I have a directory of 50 zip files (I downloaded some fonts). Now since zip doesn't handle wildcards well (you have to use a FOR loop) I thought I would unzip the files with Konqueror. I select all the files and right click to select Extract Here.

What happens? I get 50 instances of Ark flooding the desktop. Plus as I'd not installed Zip yet I got 50 errors saying I didn't have Zip in the path. Launching one instance of Ark would have been better.

Anyway, some thought needs to be put into making the file manager suitable for the sort of tasks people use it for. Currently it's not on par with Windows (I'm not a Windows fan either, but it does things easier and faster), it's a bit clunky and slow.

Windows XP added a sidebar with common tasks, why can't Konqueror have a sidebar with items based on context eg. open a directory with mostly pictures then have options to print, edit or retrieve from devices such as scanners and camera. I'm not suggesting you just clone Windows, but using their sidebar as inspiration wouldn't hurt.

Hope you don't view this as a negative post, I'm trying to give constructive criticism as there are small things that mar the KDE experience.

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anda_skoa

Professional

Posts: 1,273

Location: Graz, Austria

Occupation: Software Developer

2

Tuesday, March 2nd 2004, 4:36pm

Re: Konqueror needs to be cleverer

Quoted

What happens? I get 50 instances of Ark flooding the desktop. Plus as I'd not installed Zip yet I got 50 errors saying I didn't have Zip in the path. Launching one instance of Ark would have been better.

Maybe Ark can only handle one file at a time.
KDE looks as the properties specified in the applications .desktop file.
If the application says it can handle a list of files, it will start it only once and pass the list.
If it says it can only handle one file, it has no choice than to start it for every file.

Quoted

Windows XP added a sidebar with common tasks, why can't Konqueror have a sidebar with items based on context eg. open a directory with mostly pictures then have options to print, edit or retrieve from devices such as scanners and camera. I'm not suggesting you just clone Windows, but using their sidebar as inspiration wouldn't hurt.

Maybe this is of interest to you:
http://segusoland.sourceforge.net/

Cheers,
_

Qt/KDE Developer
Debian User

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3

Tuesday, March 2nd 2004, 7:29pm

Re: Konqueror needs to be cleverer

Quoted

Original von anda_skoa

Maybe Ark can only handle one file at a time.
KDE looks as the properties specified in the applications .desktop file.
If the application says it can handle a list of files, it will start it only once and pass the list.
If it says it can only handle one file, it has no choice than to start it for every file.

Righto, I'm still fairly vague about how things work in KDE (the workings underneath).

I can see that if Ark can't handle multiple files then it certainly needs that implementing as a priority (but it's not part of KDE anyway?). I've done a similar thing in Windows before with WinRAR and it did exactly what I expected it to (one instance extracting all the files selected). Once a user has a conceptual model in their head of how something should work it disappoints and confuses them when something else they use doesn't follow a similar pattern of operation.

Quoted

Maybe this is of interest to you:
http://segusoland.sourceforge.net/

I'll go have a look now, thanks.

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anda_skoa

Professional

Posts: 1,273

Location: Graz, Austria

Occupation: Software Developer

4

Wednesday, March 3rd 2004, 9:11am

Re: Konqueror needs to be cleverer

Quoted

Original von Anonymous

Quoted

Original von anda_skoa

Maybe Ark can only handle one file at a time.
KDE looks as the properties specified in the applications .desktop file.
If the application says it can handle a list of files, it will start it only once and pass the list.
If it says it can only handle one file, it has no choice than to start it for every file.

Righto, I'm still fairly vague about how things work in KDE (the workings underneath).

For some of the knowledge one has to be developing applications for KDE to know it.

I just wanted to point out that Konqueror is behaving properly and the lack of functionality is in ark.

Quoted

I can see that if Ark can't handle multiple files then it certainly needs that implementing as a priority (but it's not part of KDE anyway?).

Yes, you can file a wish item on bugs.kde.org for ark.

Another idea would be to have a look at the application on www.kde-apps.org.
Maybe there is an archiver that can handle multiple files.

If commandline unzip could handle multiple files, you could easily create a service menu entry for Konqueror that used it.

Cheers,
_

Qt/KDE Developer
Debian User

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