GTK file selector dialog with help text too small

GTK file selector dialog with help text too small

[Jiri Pejchal]

If I try to visit a file with the new GTK2 file selector, I can see six
files without scrolling at once. That's about 40 % less than for
example in Firefox, where I can read ten files.

The area for selecting files is already rather small and with the
help messages it's even smaller.

Could the area for selecting files be made bigger or could there
be an option to turn off the help messages?

"Type C-l to display a file name text entry box."
This behaviour is common to all gtk programs. It's not very obvious,
but it works everywhere. You can also get the text entry box when you
begin to type the path with '/' or '~'. Is this a right place
to mention it?

"If you don't like this file selector use the corresponding
keybinding or customize use-file-dialog to turn it off."
I don't like it because of this text:-) and would like to turn off
just the help messages.

--
Jiri Pejchal

Re: GTK file selector dialog with help text too small

[Jan D.]

Jiri Pejchal wrote:
> If I try to visit a file with the new GTK2 file selector, I can see six
> files without scrolling at once. That's about 40 % less than for
> example in Firefox, where I can read ten files.
>
> The area for selecting files is already rather small and with the
> help messages it's even smaller.
>
> Could the area for selecting files be made bigger or could there
> be an option to turn off the help messages?
>   

You can now customise x-gtk-show-chooser-help-text.  Set to nil to turn 
message off.

    Jan D.

Re: GTK file selector dialog with help text too small

[Jan Djärv]

Jiri Pejchal skrev:

> "Type C-l to display a file name text entry box."
> This behaviour is common to all gtk programs. It's not very obvious,
> but it works everywhere. You can also get the text entry box when you
> begin to type the path with '/' or '~'. Is this a right place
> to mention it?
> 

In Gtk+ 2.10 '/' or '~' opens a second entry box which is different from the 
C-l one.  You can type stuff in the second entry box, but it doesn't seem to 
do anything with the text you type there, that is hitting return just hides 
the entry box again and does nothing.

	Jan D.

Re: GTK file selector dialog with help text too small

[Miles Bader]

Jan Djärv <jan.h.d@swipnet.se> writes:
> In Gtk+ 2.10 '/' or '~' opens a second entry box which is different from the 
> C-l one.  You can type stuff in the second entry box, but it doesn't seem to 
> do anything with the text you type there, that is hitting return just hides 
> the entry box again and does nothing.

The little sub-dialog you get from typing `/' seems to work for me -- If
I enter a filename in there, and hit RET, the "main" file dialog jumps
directly to that file, and I can then just hit OK to give it to Emacs.

BTW, on a slightly tangential point, I notice that the GTK file dialog
in Emacs has a huge honkin' message that says "if you don't like this
file dialog you can do ... to turn it off".

While this is indeed useful information for a surprised user in some
circumstance, it negatively affects the layout of the file dialog, and I
imagine could annoy somebody that uses the dialog regularly.  Is there a
way to disable that "warning" text?

Also, it occurs to me that some users might like it if Emacs would
simply use the little "sub-file-dialog" (which you get by hitting C-l in
the main GTK file dialog) directly, without going through the
complicated main file dialog box; is there anyway of doing that?

Thanks,

-Miles
-- 
Come now, if we were really planning to harm you, would we be waiting here,
 beside the path, in the very darkest part of the forest?

Re: GTK file selector dialog with help text too small

[Jan Djärv]

Miles Bader skrev:
> Jan Djärv <jan.h.d@swipnet.se> writes:
>> In Gtk+ 2.10 '/' or '~' opens a second entry box which is different from the 
>> C-l one.  You can type stuff in the second entry box, but it doesn't seem to 
>> do anything with the text you type there, that is hitting return just hides 
>> the entry box again and does nothing.
> 
> The little sub-dialog you get from typing `/' seems to work for me -- If
> I enter a filename in there, and hit RET, the "main" file dialog jumps
> directly to that file, and I can then just hit OK to give it to Emacs.
> 

Are you running 2.10?  In previous versions there was a subdialog, but in 2.10 
there is no more sub dialog, but a text field integrated in to the main dialog 
that is shown or hidden.

The behaviour I wrote about above seems to have changed in 2.10.3 (0r 2.10.2, 
I went from 2.10.1 to 2.10.3), I can no longer get the little sub-entry box. 
It was probably a bug.

> BTW, on a slightly tangential point, I notice that the GTK file dialog
> in Emacs has a huge honkin' message that says "if you don't like this
> file dialog you can do ... to turn it off".
> 
> While this is indeed useful information for a surprised user in some
> circumstance, it negatively affects the layout of the file dialog, and I
> imagine could annoy somebody that uses the dialog regularly.  Is there a
> way to disable that "warning" text?

Yes, customize x-gtk-file-dialog-help-text.  Should I put it in NEWS?  It is 
in frames.texi.  Now that I changed the names of variables as suggested by 
Reiner Steib, the Gtk-related variables begin with x-gtk-.

I will change the text so that the C-l part is not shown for Gtk+ 2.10 and newer.

> 
> Also, it occurs to me that some users might like it if Emacs would
> simply use the little "sub-file-dialog" (which you get by hitting C-l in
> the main GTK file dialog) directly, without going through the
> complicated main file dialog box; is there anyway of doing that?
> 

Nope, I tried, but the details to pop it up is buried inside gtk internals.
Unless you count C-x C-f :-).  And anyway, Gtk+ 2.10 has a text entry box 
integrated into the dialog.  It even has a button to toggle that text entry box.

	Jan D.

Re: GTK file selector dialog with help text too small

[Reiner Steib]

On Fri, Sep 22 2006, Miles Bader wrote:

> While this is indeed useful information for a surprised user in some
> circumstance, it negatively affects the layout of the file dialog, and I
> imagine could annoy somebody that uses the dialog regularly.  Is there a
> way to disable that "warning" text?

`M-x apropos-variable RET gtk- RET' ;-)

,----[ <f1> v x-gtk-file-dialog-help-text RET ]
| x-gtk-file-dialog-help-text is a variable defined in `src/xfns.c'.
| Its value is t
| 
| Documentation:
| *If non-nil, the GTK file chooser will by show additional help text.
| If more space for files in the file chooser dialog is wanted, set this to nil
| to turn the additional text off.
| 
| You can customize this variable.
`----

Bye, Reiner.
-- 
       ,,,
      (o o)
---ooO-(_)-Ooo---  |  PGP key available  |  http://rsteib.home.pages.de/