Leave out / Put away

AmigaOS users can make feature requests in this forum.
chris
Posts: 562
Joined: Sat Jun 18, 2011 11:05 am
Contact:

Re: Leave out / Put away

Post by chris »

Daedalus wrote:
The idea of Leave Out is that way because short cuts as we know them now didn't exist back in the 80s. It's not really left out, it is hidden and the icon shown on WB. The actual file is not moved (left out).
Workbench doesn't have the concept of a desktop directory (which is a good thing IMHO). It fits the whole workbench paradigm - you take what you want to use out of a drawer and leave it on the workbench so that it's easier to get at. It still belongs in the particular drawer it came from. Moving the file (as is done on other platforms with the same operation) would be a bad thing. Creating shortcuts is supported by the OS already, though it's not particularly convenient. See the Makelink DOS command. I've added some scripts to create shortcuts to my Tools menu that I've been using for many years that create links to files. These can then be left out if you wish, giving the same result as other platforms. It could even be integrated into the same script.
Part of the problem here is that if you drag an icon out to WB, it isn't "left out" but it does visibly move. It would be confusing if this operation created a copy. It would be extra confusing if the "leave out" option created a copy, especially if it has been run on an icon that has been dragged out to WB (the original icon would suddenly re-appear). Having said that, RISC OS works like this (it also has an option where the context menu for a picture dragged out to the desktop, has the option to make it the backdrop image, which I rather like), and that never confused me, so it probably depends what you're used to. On Windows I always drag with the right mouse button as I never know what it is going to do!

A separate "Create shortcut on WB" menu item might not be a bad thing though. It could use the existing .backdrop file with an extra flag to indicate that the icon should also show in the drawer it is physically located in.
I'm still struggling to think of a use case for creating shortcuts programmatically though. I hate it when applications on other platforms do it without at least asking. I like to be in charge of what goes where on my computer.
I have a YAM script which - although I never use it - I think is cool. It effectively does a "leave out" for a mail item but creating an ARexx script and then leaving it out on WB. This would be one use case.

Mostly, though, programs should be creating AppIcons to achieve the same thing, however that means the program must be running (which isn't necessarily bad, but depends what you're doing).
Post Reply