[daisy] Better desktop integration

[Karel Vervaeke]

Hi.  Thanks for all the feedback.
However, due to circumstances, we will also have to consider a more
lightweight solution.  I will still reply to the feedback and update
the wiki page for the currently tabled solution though, but
the schedule for the "heavyweight" solution is unclear at the moment.

This lightweight solution should still make the download/edit/upload
cycle somewhat easier (which is the whole point), but there will not be
a local list of documents or a local cache.
Batch document operations would not be targeted specifically using this
approach, but still there would be somewhat of an improvement.

The lightweight solution is intended to simply replace the
<input type="file"/> widget with a widget which will provide a fluent
download/edit/upload cycle.  Obviously, this new approach introduces
some new problems and implementation choices:

- Mechanism to register which parts / mimetypes should use the 'improved
widget'
- There is still need for a desktop component which makes it possible
for the user to select other applications to open a part with.
	- Monitor the file's lastModified timestamp
	- Monitor the editing application (+ what does it mean if this
application is closed.  Sometimes the application will not close (if
there still are other documents open or if the applciation stays in
memory, ...)
	- Make the 'Save' button in the editor be smarter (wait until part is
uploaded or until user signals that he no longer wants to upload the
part, ...)

Feedback is again welcome, but I must admit I still have to work on the
design to make things more concrete.


Regards,
Karel

On Wed, 2008-04-30 at 16:56 +0200, Karel Vervaeke wrote:
> Hi,  As many of you have probably experienced, the process to change
> Attachment / Image documents can be a real PITA: Navigate to the
> document, click 'edit', switch to the part you want to change, realise
> that you do not have the part on disk, open a new tab, reconstruct the
> correct URL to obtain the part data (preferably in less than 5
> attempts), change the file, go back to the editor, click 'Save'.
> 
> We are planning to make things much better by creating a desktop
> component that will even make it unnecesary to go to the HTML document
> editor.
> 
> Please have a look at [0].  Your feedback is much appreciated - your
> suggestions are likely to influence the end result and make it better
> suited to your own needs (although, as always, we're still aiming to
> please as much people as possible ;-)
> 
> [0] http://cocoondev.org/wiki/g5/607-cd.html
> 
> Please post your remarks to the list, I will gather your input and merge
> it with the document later.
> 
> Regards,
> Karel
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