[Compcomm] Forums

[Erkin Bahceci]

On 6/24/07, Alyssa Hung <deciare at isisview.org> wrote:
> That's true, but I want to substring search for individual option names,
> bindings by the keys/buttons/edges assigned to them, and the window
> matching rules assigned to them. :D
>
> It would be so convenient to be able to enter something like
> "type=unknown" into a search box and see a list of every
> animation/winrule/place/opacity setting that has it in the criteria
string.
>
> Or enter "<Super>" into a search box to see a list of all key bindings
> that use that key as a modifier (beryl-settings already did this).
>
> Or let's say I remember there's an option called "Snapoff maximized
> windows", but don't remember which plugin it's in. It'd be helpful to
> see a list of all options from all plugins with the term "snapoff" in
> the option name or description.
>
> It'd be so convenient to be able to search for _anything_!
>

I absolutely agree. While I very much appreciate the effort put into this
compiz configuration system, it's still lacking this important feature. This
would be the number one selling point / killer feature of it, one that
distinguishes it from the previous configuration systems. I say it's a
must-have (before there is an official release), because users shouldn't
need to memorize which plugin provides which option. Some of the current
plugin separations are not intuitive anyway (cube, rotate, and the virtual
screen size options are all in separate pages). Users should be able to
search among all options conveniently from a single place, just like in KDE
control center. The search results should be collected in the right part and
should be put into groups labeled with "general options" / plugin names (a
gui element like the one used for subgroup headers could be used for this,
with a larger font).

Option search should also search within long descriptions. And it should
have an option to search within values as well (like in gconf) so that, for
example, keybinding options can be found easily. It could also search in
value descriptions (in int/int-list options). Use case: Joe User searching
for "magic lamp".

If you want some extra sophistication, you could even use WordNet synsets to
search for synonyms as well, so that you provide results even when the user
doesn't know the exact word used in the option. There is even an already
available python frontend: PyWN <http://pywn.sourceforge.net/>, which comes
with a wordnet dictionary. Such a wordnet-search functionality would better
be an optional package though (PyWN is 9.6 MB). Anyhow.

Just my 2 cents.

Cheers,
Erkin
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