Feature Request: App-specific content collections

[nephros]

Originally posted by @nephros in #29

Scenario/User story:

As the developer of an application which stores/creates content (e.g. images), I want to be able to present these images as a separate "Album" in Gallery.

Same for e.g. Videos, Documents.

Solution idea:

Perhaps a new .desktop group or key can be supported. Something like

[X-Sailfish-AppContent]
PictureCollections=MyApplication;MyApplicationFavorites
DocumentCollections=MyApplicationDocuments
...

where the values correspond to directories below the respective XDG directories.

Some component which parses the .desktop file (installer? sailjail? invoker?) could then make this information available to applications related to that content.

For example, this information could be made available:

• as a DConf key (thus available without sailjail involvement)
• or as properties or method call result of some DBus interface (access to which could be controlled though Sailjail permission).

Gallery for Images, Media for Music, and perhaps related components like Picker dialogs.

Gallery could show these locations as separate albums.

Documents could grow the capability to filter or group documents by these hints.

[pvuorela]

I'd rather maybe not involve .desktop files here. Sounds unnecessarily complicated while also being static.

[nephros]

I'd rather maybe not involve .desktop files here. Sounds unnecessarily complicated while also being static.

Okay. :)

Other ideas would be a DConf path apps can write. A bit problematic because you can't really "walk" dconf path hierarchies easily. So apps would have to "share" a key which then has the risk of corruption by a buggy app.

DBus? Have some interface name and apps register path objects below that (A bit like Sailfish.Share)?

Just brainstorming here. Not necessarily any less complicated.

[pvuorela]

If an app is getting access to pictures, it gets access to the whole ~/Pictures. The simplest way to create a 'collection' would be to create a subdirectory there. Missing part would be showing these 'collections' in gallery app and pickers.

Not saying that this should be exact way, but something on this direction would be nice and simple.

[nephros]

If an app is getting access to pictures, it gets access to the whole ~/Pictures. The simplest way to create a 'collection' would be to create a subdirectory there. Missing part would be showing these 'collections' in gallery app and pickers.

That's basically the idea of #29