Hi Aaron, To clarify things more, I have tried to explain my idea below:
>> So, to be on the same side, I would like to clarify a few points... >> 1. Are we looking to create contexts that are shared between kde apps >> and plasma (via DBus)? Something like Global activities ( can we use >> the term "activities" for this or a different term ?) > > yes, the idea is to be able to sync this across the desktop. which is why i'm > using nepomuk here. the term being used in the code is "Context". this came as > a result of conversation with the Nepomuk team to suggested this term instead. I would like to understand something here... We usually encounter two kinds of context: 1. static context in data (aka nepomuk tags) : these are a cool way to sync the whole desktop with a common ground and would be a great way to specify "static" activity related items like contacts, resources, files, etc 2. dynamic context (that would apply to apps and widgets) - when an activity is associated with a virtual desktop, all the items within the virtual desktop suddenly get a context (i.e. the current activity assigned). So, they change their display to focus on that context examples are; a) a contacts widget that usually lists all online contacts, now lists only the contacts that correspond to the current activity. Similarly, kopete contact list is filtered. b) KMail, which usually lists all mail in separate mail folders, now starts showing mails corresponding to the current activity more prominently (optionally to show other mails also) If we add a semantic meaning to an activity by assigning a type to it, like "personal work", "official work", "leisure", etc things become more intelligent For e.g., when I switch to a "official work" activity, any distractions are avoided. Like, though I may have Kopete open, my status is set to "Offline" for all personal contacts (of course, only if the user needs this). And, I become visible only to contacts corresponding to the activity So, you see, when an activity is assigned to a virtual desktop, all its constituents adjust themselves to help the user to focus on items relating to current activity >> 2. Shouldn't context be more granular? like activities, location, user >> modes, etc. Different widgets and apps might be interested in >> different things. > > i don't really get what you mean by "user modes" (that's what > activities/contexts are, afaiu), though location should certainly be added to > it. "user modes", as I see them, are a super-set of "user profiles". In addition to changing certain visuals like cursors, etc, they add a semantic dimension to user status. E.g. when I set my user-mode to "Do Presentation", my cursor automatically changes to an appropriate one easy for highlighting; Any system notifications are not immediately shown and are logged for later perusal. etc etc >> We need to nail down the difference between project, activity and >> context, please...for a more clear understanding.... > > they are all the same things. we are currently using Activity in the UI for > clarity to the user, and Context in the code for clarity in the code. When we start to think of context as also including "dynamic environment", activity is just one of the possible contexts. In addition to Apps reacting to changes in "activity" context, there can also be others, like KDE itself reacting to changes in context like "location". E.g., when I am in "home", my default printer is "printer-home". When in office, it is "printer-corporate", etc I have just touched the surface. There are lots of other scenarios So, some food for thought.. >From a popular quote, "important aspects of context are where you are, what you are doing, who you are with, and what resources are nearby" where are you - location what are you doing - activity who you are with - nearby people resources nearby - any devices attached, or network connections available, etc So, if we can fully leverage all the above as "context" then that would result in a very smart desktop that can reconfigure itself when needed.I think this is needed more now, when things are becoming more mobile! Hope I made my point a bit more clear. If you want I can write a short proposal on what I would love to see implemented ;) Regards, Hari krishna Anandhan _______________________________________________ Plasma-devel mailing list [email protected] https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/plasma-devel
