[gcmd-dev] some feature ideas

[Ryan Paul]

I discovered Gnome Commander when I was looking for a low-bloat
alternative to nautilus. Gnome Commander is a great program, but there
are a lot of features that I would like to see added. I realize that
most of these features will probably require a lot of time and effort to
implement, but I do think they would be worth the effort.

I really want to be able to configure keyboard shortcuts. I dont need a
fancy interface for it, I just want to be able to do it. Using the gconf
can_change_accels value, I can configure keyboard shortcuts for menu
items in most gnome programs. Is there some reason gnome commander
doesnt support this? Does it have to do with bonoboui?

1. I would like to see the quick search and the commandline become a
single, unified mechanism. I want a single text entry at the bottom of
the window. A particular keyboard combination will make it a quick
search box, another keyboard shortcut will make it a command line box.

2. I would really like to be able to use tab completion at the built-in
command line.

3. I want to be able to have limitless vertical and horizontal pane
splits, like konqueror does.

4. I want to have a tree view, and I want to be able to use quick
searches to highlight items recursively. In the ruby programming
language, they have extended globbing support so that the symbol '**'
implies recursion, and I think that might be a nice feature to add to
gnome commander quick searches.

5. If you do add a tree view, it might be nice to be able to have
different view types in each pane.

6. I want to be able to create bookmark categories myself, so I can
group them the way I want to, and I want a bookmark toolbar or a
bookmark sidebar that gives me quick access to my bookmarks.

7. It would be REALLY cool if I could associate a keyboard shortcut with
an individual bookmark. (I've been requesting that feature for firefox
for a VERY long time)

8. I'm still thinking about the best way to implement this... but I want
a script system, so that I can write file management scripts in any
programming langauge and add them to some kind of menu or interface
within gnome commander. I want to be able to easily execute these
scripts sending them as arguments the full path of the current directory
and/or currently marked files.

I am an experienced C programmer, and I am willing to help, but my
experience with gnome programming is superficial. If any of my ideas
some unclear in any way, I can clarify whatever you want me to.
Additionally, if you feel that some fake screen shots would elucidate my
requests, I can produce a few.

Is there documentation somewhere that explains how to write plugins?

Thanks!

-- SegPhault