[Desktop_architects] Portland: TheLinux Desktop IntegrationInterface

[Bastian, Waldo]

The NETWM spec already defines how to dynamically pass an application
icon to the window manager.

See http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Standards/wm-spec  Search for
_NET_WM_ICON in the spec.

 

This is an example of  the kind of developer questions that should be
covered by the LSDN portal that has been talked about ;-)

 

Cheers,

Waldo

 

________________________________

From: desktop_architects-bounces at lists.osdl.org
[mailto:desktop_architects-bounces at lists.osdl.org] On Behalf Of Steve
Northover
Sent: Monday, December 05, 2005 10:47 AM
To: Martin Konold
Cc: desktop_architects at lists.osdl.org;
desktop_architects-bounces at lists.osdl.org
Subject: Re: [Desktop_architects] Portland: TheLinux Desktop
IntegrationInterface

 


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


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