Relying on `Implements=` key should work, though I think the
`ArgPrefix` should be part of the desktop file itself – it will be
static and defined by the vendor. Also for the system to be efficient,
DEs would want to add something like PCMan’s cache mentioned in the
intents mail.
However, since `Implements=` is supposed to contain D-Bus interfaces
[1], I would like to propose an alternative solution. We could define
`org.freedesktop.TerminalEmulator` interface containing `Execute`
method. This could be modelled after `org.freedesktop.Application` from
D-Bus Activation section of desktop-entry-spec [2].
Similarly, there would be `org.freedesktop.Editor` interface containing
`Edit` method, representing *Edit* intent, dual to the
`org.freedesktop.Application`’s `Open` method, which would be
interpreted as default *View* intent.
This would require modification of the programs but would offer a
standard replacement to fiddling with the CLI flags. Since modern
applications already should be D-Bus-activatable, it should be fairly
simple addition (and most of the code would be handled by GLib or Qt
anyway).
[1]:
https://specifications.freedesktop.org/desktop-entry-spec/desktop-entry-spec-1.2.html#interfaces
[2]:
https://specifications.freedesktop.org/desktop-entry-spec/desktop-entry-spec-1.2.html#dbus
On Wed, 29 Aug, 2018 at 11:41 PM, Ian Huang <[email protected]> wrote:
Huh, good find. I was about to type up an email about how the
"Implements=" key
that was added after that proposal is kind of useless in our case; as
it says,
"it is entirely up to the entity who defined a particular interface
to define
what it means to implement it." But then I realized that we can
actually use it
quite easily in addition to the proposed xdg-terminal-exec or
xdg-intent-exec
spec to avoid the need for duplicate desktop files for intent
handlers.
It could work like this:
1. The X-ExecArg option (or X-ArgPrefix) in the proposed spec is
moved from the
"data" directories with desktop files to part of the .list
"config" files;
2. the concept of "data" directories (the ones full of .desktop
files) can be
left out;
3. terminals and other applications that open intents are instructed
to have
certain values in the Implements key, for example
"Implements=xdg-intent-
terminal" or "Implements=xdg-intent-calculator";
4. when we scan through the .list config files, instead of running
the matching
app in the data directories, we check that the matching .desktop
file in the
usual place (/usr/share/applications/ or
~/.local/share/applications or
whatever) has the correct intent named in the Implements= key;
5. we just run that desktop file with the ArgPrefix specified in the
.list.
It's only a little cleaner, though. Thoughts?
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