Hobs <hobsonl...@gmail.com> added the comment: Then they or we can add Konqueror, etc to the options that are 'try'ed for the 'view' option. Worst case they get a terminal cat of the file instead of an error message or unintended action (like running a script). What exactly are you proposing to do when execute is False? That's exactly what the augmented launch function would do when the "open" or "view" option is chosen. Anything else for the other options like "edit" or "email" is just gravy (for application developers targeting the 90% of platforms that we could easily anticipate).
Gnome/KDE Xdg-open, Android "Share", Windows Open, already do implement more than we need. Like your "execute" flag, I'm suggesting we bypass all that unpredictable open() stuff and allow the application developer to chose what happens when they launch a file. It would allow the app developer to stay out of the tug-of war between PC manufacturers, OS manufacturers, and Internet service providers trying to set "preferred applications" and steering customers to their products. But clearly you have passion for the boolean execute flag, and you probably have more experience with python standard libraries than I do, so go for it. I like your "execute" option. Just thought you'd like to extend it to include other options. I'm happy with my cross-platform home-rolled launch() function for my apps that can't afford to leave launch() actions up to chance. On Sat, May 26, 2012 at 4:00 PM, Larry Hastings <rep...@bugs.python.org>wrote: > > Larry Hastings <la...@hastings.org> added the comment: > > > In Linux we could `try` nautilus then Mozilla > > (file://.../containing_folder) then fall back to a shell > > `cd && ls` if no browser is available, raising NotImplemented > > if all else fails... until someone implements for that > > user's platform particulars. > > Designing a cross-platform API based on abilities provided by only one of > those platforms, then waiving your hand and saying , is poor cross-platform > API design. OS X is 11 years old, GNOME is 13, KDE is 16, and none of the > above appear to be in a hurry to add this feature. And even on Windows, > which has had this feature for 17 years (IIRC it was introduced with > Windows 95)... it is hardly ever used. 99.999% of the time you simply want > to "open" the file using the user's preferred app. > > Since Windows users already have an API to access this extra functionality > on their platform (os.startfile) I assert that the cross-platform API > should only expose the functionality that's available across platforms. > Hence my proposal for "execute". > > ---------- > > _______________________________________ > Python tracker <rep...@bugs.python.org> > <http://bugs.python.org/issue3177> > _______________________________________ > ---------- _______________________________________ Python tracker <rep...@bugs.python.org> <http://bugs.python.org/issue3177> _______________________________________ _______________________________________________ Python-bugs-list mailing list Unsubscribe: http://mail.python.org/mailman/options/python-bugs-list/archive%40mail-archive.com
