Differences
This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.
Both sides previous revisionPrevious revisionNext revision | Previous revisionNext revisionBoth sides next revision | ||
dev:monitor-plugin [2013/03/18 10:57] – [Essential] andrzejr | dev:monitor-plugin [2013/03/23 12:47] – [Sample API 2] nick | ||
---|---|---|---|
Line 4: | Line 4: | ||
There is a need for a generic plugin that provides basic UI (icon, label(s), menu, etc., see below) and allows the plugin writer to implement only data collection logic. | There is a need for a generic plugin that provides basic UI (icon, label(s), menu, etc., see below) and allows the plugin writer to implement only data collection logic. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Question: should this mechanism allow independent applications communicate with the plugin (e.g. via dbus) and display " | ||
====== Basic Architecture ====== | ====== Basic Architecture ====== | ||
Line 16: | Line 18: | ||
Preferably, the library should provide a base class of a monitor-logic object, with some virtual functions populated. | Preferably, the library should provide a base class of a monitor-logic object, with some virtual functions populated. | ||
+ | Note: I had started some months ago a skeleton of a gobject monitor plugin, intending to merge all monitors inside it, and using libgtop & upower for data collection. See http:// | ||
====== Features ====== | ====== Features ====== | ||
Line 23: | Line 26: | ||
* A user readable and translatable name, | * A user readable and translatable name, | ||
* A user readable and translatable description, | * A user readable and translatable description, | ||
+ | * Version number, if not hard to do or a lot of additional work --- // | ||
* An icon (32px, dnd size) --- // | * An icon (32px, dnd size) --- // | ||
* Icon-name. The item dialog show dnd size icons (32px) | * Icon-name. The item dialog show dnd size icons (32px) | ||
Line 39: | Line 43: | ||
* Should be translatable when it makes sense, | * Should be translatable when it makes sense, | ||
* (should support Pango markup?) | * (should support Pango markup?) | ||
+ | * (what about custom widgets like the weather plugin' | ||
* If icon and labels are shown, Monitor-UI should arrange them in one of the following layouts: | * If icon and labels are shown, Monitor-UI should arrange them in one of the following layouts: | ||
* Stacked vertically - icon at the top, labels below. In this case, all objects should be centered. | * Stacked vertically - icon at the top, labels below. In this case, all objects should be centered. | ||
Line 75: | Line 80: | ||
* Maybe it should always provide basic appearance settings, so user can configure this (the backend is only responsible for the data, not the display). When building the dialog the plugin can populate its own frame/box for additional settings that are required for the data collection. --- // | * Maybe it should always provide basic appearance settings, so user can configure this (the backend is only responsible for the data, not the display). When building the dialog the plugin can populate its own frame/box for additional settings that are required for the data collection. --- // | ||
* Yes, appearance settings could be handled directly by Monitor-UI, but what about settings related to the actual function of the plugin? (e.g. location in weather plugin) --- // | * Yes, appearance settings could be handled directly by Monitor-UI, but what about settings related to the actual function of the plugin? (e.g. location in weather plugin) --- // | ||
+ | * This part sounds tricky; Alternatively, | ||
+ | * Basic appearance settings could simply be provided by an entry in the context menu. I'd somehow rather associate this with the panel, or with the genericness of the plugin, e.g. font size, font color. | ||
===== Optional ===== | ===== Optional ===== | ||
Line 86: | Line 92: | ||
* (Monitor-UI should draw the " | * (Monitor-UI should draw the " | ||
* Monitor-UI or panel should generate periodic (configurable? | * Monitor-UI or panel should generate periodic (configurable? | ||
+ | * The idea is nice and I thought about that too some time ago, but then there are plugins that update their widgets quite frequently and more frequently than others, so the questions here are more like: "Is it worth all the engineering? | ||
+ | * Decision needed: Font size and color selectable in the panel or in the plugin? | ||
* A recommendation: | * A recommendation: | ||
+ | * Currently without a use-case, but perhaps it could be useful: Support reacting to external signals, e.g. via D-Bus? | ||
+ | * Not sure this belongs here, but... as an alternative to making a plugin " | ||
====== UI mockups ====== | ====== UI mockups ====== | ||
Line 187: | Line 197: | ||
| | ||
secondary_action_text_entered (text) | secondary_action_text_entered (text) | ||
+ | | ||
+ | | ||
+ | //tooltip --- // Andrzej 2013/03/18 10:58// | ||
+ | | ||
+ | has_tooltip() | ||
+ | | ||
+ | get_tooltip_icon() // | ||
+ | | ||
+ | get_tooltip_label() | ||
+ | | ||
+ | signal tooltip_changed() | ||
| | ||
| | ||
Line 210: | Line 231: | ||
| | ||
+ | ====== Sample API 2 ====== | ||
+ | |||
+ | http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | * Idea is the plugin shows preferences for the widgets: | ||
+ | * set their position, therefore the static names for both multiple items (in case of example the sysload plugin), but also the position of the indicator items (by default icon/ | ||
+ | * Plugins can pack a widget (vbox or a single frame) for the plugin specific settings. | ||
+ | * Color settings for progressbar and label. | ||
+ | * Graph appearance. | ||
+ | * An option would be a xfce_panel_indicator_item_add_width (XfcePanelIndicatorItem *item, const gchar *name, const gchar *display_name, | ||
+ | * Plugin is responsible for the updates (so its own gdk timeout). | ||
+ | * A graph widget could be a nice addition. It would at least merge the cpugraph and sysload plugins, making them both more functional (also graph of memory/swap usage), but also the netload and diskperf plugin would benefit. |