From: DervishD <iaudio_at_dervishd.net>
Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2007 00:14:16 +0200

    Hi all :)

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but if I understand things correctly, the
purpose of having plugins is to add functionality to rockbox without
having it in the "core", so to say.

    So, the reason of having some functionality implemented using a
plugin instead of having it built into "core" is to make the function
optional, am I wrong?

    For example, if the properties of a file are shown using a plugin is
because we don't want that into core, we want it to be optional (size,
maybe?).

    Well, this said, the rockbox firmware is currently using three
plugins internally, connected directly to the menus: the "credits.rock"
plugin, connected to the "System/Version" menu, the "properties.rock"
plugin, connected to the "Properties" menu, and the "shortcuts.rock"
plugin (I don't remember the menu entry, sorry). Moreover, the "Plugins"
menu entry browses the "./rockbox/rocks" directory, behaving weirdly if
some subdir is empty (it returns to the last visited directory, but
that's not the point of my message).

    The point is that if those plugins are deleted, some menu items
perform no action, but I haven't seen in the docs that those plugins are
special and used from within the firmware itself.

    The "credits.rock" plugin can be entirely disconnected from the
menus, since the firmware version is already printed by "System/Rockbox
Info", and be only accessible from the "Plugins" menus.

    The "properties.rock" may be much more useful, and incorporating it
into core may be a good idea. Having it connected to a menu is weird.
The user may think that the function is performed by the firmware
instead of by a plugin. I find this very important, and having it into
core is, IMHO, a very good idea.

    Finally, the shortcut system seems to be experimental (at least,
undocumented), but since shortcuts are links to files and directories,
having it into core looks quite useful. If this is not a good idea,
avoiding menu pollutions is good: you can add a shortcut using, for
example, "Open with...". Yes, I know, that is weird, but having plugins
connected to menus, without having a way of customizing the menus
without editing the sources doesn't look like a good idea to me, either.

    I can prepare a patch to "disconnect" the plugins from the menus,
except for "shortcuts", which looks like a work in progress.

    Thanks a lot for your time and for Rockbox! :)

    Raúl Núñez de Arenas Coronado

-- 
Linux Registered User 88736 | http://www.dervishd.net
It's my PC and I'll cry if I want to... RAmen!

Received on 2007-08-26