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107 lines
4.2 KiB
Text
107 lines
4.2 KiB
Text
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KDE Plasma Tasks Applet
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=======================
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This is a desktop applet for KDE Plasma which provides a view
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of the user's running graphical tasks and allows them to
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switch between these tasks.
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It is intended as a replacement for the taskbar found in
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KDE 3.
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Goals
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=====
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This section describes the main goals of the tasks applet from the user's
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perspective:
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- Provide a clear, attractive visual depiction of the user's running graphical tasks
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- Allow the user to navigate between tasks quickly
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- Allow the user to group related tasks so that they can be operated on
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as one*
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1. Task representation
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The information currently available from which a task representation can be
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constructed:
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- Window title
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- A (typically small) pixmap
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- The 'window class' of a window which can in some cases be used
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to look up an appropriate icon for that application.
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- Notifications about changes to a window's state (eg. raised,
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lowered, wants attention)
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This information is fairly limited. In order to provide more interesting
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and useful representations in future, additional information will be
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required.
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- A reliable source for a scalable icon for the task
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- Information about the documents associated with a task
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- Information about the people associated with a task
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2. Navigation between tasks
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The tasks applet should try to make it as easy as possible
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for the user to perform a 'context switch' between the different
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tasks they are performing.
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On a basic level, this means that:
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- The user must be able to identify the task from a small
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representation
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- Easily activate a task's representation which causes the
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corresponding window to be raised and placed at the top
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of the screen.
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Note: One of the flaws of KDE 3's Kicker is that task
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representations are placed in a 2-task high grid
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at one edge of the screen. This means that only half
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of the task representations touch the screen edge and as a result
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only half of them benefit from the 'infinite size' of a screen
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edge with respect to activating it with the mouse.
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In the KDE 3.5.x series there is a bug in Kicker where the
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colour of the text for a minimized task is grey, against what
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is usually a grey/silverish panel background. This makes the
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text difficult to read.
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Navigation between tasks usually occurs for two reasons:
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A) The user decides to switch to a different task of their own
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volition.
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Example: Greg has been writing a business letter to a client,
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he decides he wishes to take a break for twenty minutes
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during which he intends to listen to music and read
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the latest news online.
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He therefore wishes to switch away from the word document
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and email related to that letter to his music player and
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feed reader.
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B) An external interruption
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Example: Paul is watching the latest episode of a TV drama online when
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he is alerted by his messaging client that a friend he wants
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to talk to has come online. Paul then wishes to switch
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away from the TV episode he is watching and start a conversation
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with his friend.
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3. Grouping
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This is intended to be the main area of innovation in the KDE Plasma
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'taskbar' versus that found in KDE 3, Gnome, Windows, and Mac OS X.
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Some of these windows are likely to be related to the same logical
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activity from the user's point of view. For example, a paper which
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the user is writing and the various research material used to
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write that paper.
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The idea is to allow the user to easily group these related tasks
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so that he can treat them as one. That is, bringing all of them
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to the front, closing all of them or layout out the windows within
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a group so that they are all visible on screen at the same time
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and can be worked with together.
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