Features/Journal Volume Toolbar enhancement
Summary
The VolumesToolbar class in volumetoolbar.py should be extended so that Sugar activities can "mount" directories containing example projects, e.g., the samples subdirectory in Turtle Art. Thus samples will be available through the Sugar Chooser rather than having to use the GNOME file chooser.
Owner
- Name: Walter Bender
- Email: Walter --AT-- sugarlabs.org
Current status
- Targeted release: 0.94
- Last updated:
- Percentage of completion: 0%
Detailed Description
We've never full resolved how to handle example projects. For example, Turtle Art comes bundled with a few dozen examples. It would be considered spam to copy these examples into the user's Journal so they are not accessible through the Sugar Chooser. So typically, sample programs are either selected through a standard file chooser or else loaded into a Tree View (see Pippy). The proposed feature would simply mount a directory containing sample directory onto the volumestoolbar so that they would be accessible through the standard Sugar Chooser. The mounting would happen at activity launch. At activity close, the directory would be removed.
Benefit to Sugar
It is often the case that examples are not found accessible by our end-users. By adding them to the standard Chooser, they would be more readily accessible.
Scope
The change would be isolated to adding two new methods to the VolumesToolbar class and then utilizing those methods to mount and unmount volumes from individual activities. The latter can be done incrementally.
UI Design
Does the feature have a direct impact on the work flow, or does it need a UI? Link here mockups, or add detailed descriptions.
How To Test
User Experience
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Dependencies
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Contingency Plan
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Documentation
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Release Notes
The Sugar Release Notes inform end-users about what is new in the release. An Example is 0.84/Notes. The release notes also help users know how to deal with platform changes such as ABIs/APIs, configuration or data file formats, or upgrade concerns. If there are any such changes involved in this feature, indicate them here. You can also link to upstream documentation if it satisfies this need. This information forms the basis of the release notes edited by the release team and shipped with the release.
Comments and Discussion
<walterbender> also, icons for accessing the file system vs the journal <walterbender> the TA examples all live in the file system <gonzalo> access the file system? what is this? :) <walterbender> oh. sorry. I forgot. just say no to file systems <gonzalo> may be we can add a parameter to the object chooser to open a specific directory <gonzalo> hmm, is a good idea :) <walterbender> maybe... an activity could mount some directories while it is opened. <walterbender> and then close them upon exit * walterbender is liking that idea, actually <gonzalo> but we do not need mount them, we only need say to ObjectChooser, open this directory too <gonzalo> and show it like any other mounted device <gonzalo> probably we will need set a order, iy you want select examples, don't want the object chooser open in the cjournal and later change to examples directory <walterbender> mount is not the right word. but added to the journal volumes toolbar <gonzalo> walterbender: ahh, ok <walterbender> seems like a really simple way to accomplish a lot.