[Desktop_architects] Portland: The Linux Desktop IntegrationInterface

Steve Northover Steve_Northover at ca.ibm.com
Mon Dec 5 10:46:31 PST 2005


Ok, we can move the discussion there.

Note that the solution you suggest relies on taking a file name, not an 
image that was created dynamically in memory.

Steve




Martin Konold <martin.konold at erfrakon.de> 
Sent by: desktop_architects-bounces at lists.osdl.org
12/05/2005 01:09 PM

To
desktop_architects at lists.osdl.org
cc

Subject
Re: [Desktop_architects] Portland: The Linux    Desktop 
IntegrationInterface






Am Montag, 5. Dezember 2005 18:09 schrieb Steve Northover:

Hi Steve,

> For example, off the top of my
> head, when I provide an icon for my program on the desktop or in the
> system tray using the new Portland API, what will the data type be?  In
> theory, it can't even be an X image because some of you run on frame
> buffers.

Please don't be afraid. 

In order to make the communication between ISVs like you and us desktop 
people 
easier I want to kindly ask you to ask questions. This will allow us to 
come 
up with proposals for solutions. We then depend on your valuable input if 
the 
proposals solve your problem.

The technical discussions shall take place at 

                 http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/portland

This will be much more efficient for us moving forward with the Linux 
desktop 
than when we have to clarify misconceptions or wrong theories all the 
time.

The situation with your above example is rather simple from my technical 
point 
of view.

Basically the image type on the Linux Desktop is not depending on the 
usage of 
X11 or the frame buffer device. 

This means that for Portland we can decide on the interface independent on 

X11. Having a small dependency tree is a big plus for every specification

The potential documentation or FAQ for Portland could read like:

Q: I am an ISV and want to know which data format to use for icons on the 
desktop of in the system tray.

A: With Portland you can optain the list of supported formats via either 
the 
RUDI library for your platform (e.g. Java) or the commandline tool 
xdg_get_supported_image_types. 

The format of the reply from the commandline tool is an ordered list like:

MimeType=image/png <-- png support is mandatory
MimeType=image/x-wmf <-- begin of optional list
MimeType=image/jpg

If a Portland compatible desktop is running you can rely upon that at 
least 
PNG is in the list of supported formats. 

In short this means that PNG is always a save bet while other formats e.g. 
SVG 
can provide enhanced user experience. 

This means the following:

- An ISV can rely upon that PNG is working for images on the Portland 
compatible Linux Desktop without using either the RUDI library or the 
xdg_get_supported_image_types commandline tool.

- It is the job of the Portland compatible desktop environment to do 
potentially required image format conversions. E.g. displaying xpm on 
Win32.

- An ISV can determine at run time which ordered list of image formats is 
supported using either the RUDI library or the 
xdg_get_supported_image_types 
commandline tool.

To me this discussions shows that we are in urgent need of the ISV portal 
describing how to develop on the Linux desktop.

Regards,
-- martin

-- 
http://www.erfrakon.com/
Erlewein, Frank, Konold & Partner - Beratende Ingenieure und Physiker


_______________________________________________
Desktop_architects mailing list
Desktop_architects at lists.osdl.org
https://lists.osdl.org/mailman/listinfo/desktop_architects

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.linux-foundation.org/pipermail/desktop_architects/attachments/20051205/1b44128d/attachment-0001.htm


More information about the Desktop_architects mailing list