Utilities

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Summary

This spec describes the configuration utilities and control panel for UME.

The user interface is built using the Hildon Application Framework. The framework provides for a control panel and control panel applets (or plugins). Each configuration utility will need to create a dialog-based configuration UI and a control panel applet to launch the UI.

Rationale

The use of the Hildon Application Framework directs the work and simplifies it at the same time. The process of creating configuration utilities will be well-documented and straight forward.

Use Cases

The user wants to calibrate the screen. They go to Control Panel and select "Screen Calibration" The "Screen Calibration configuration tool pops up. The user configures the screen and exist the Screen Calibration tool.

Scope

This spec does not cover the details for each of the configuration utilities. However, the following configuration utilities must be created. (Ownership needs to be assigned):

  • Date and Time
  • Screen Calibration
  • Sound configuration
  • System information (name, system specs (mem, disk space tot/avail, etc)
  • Language

Design

The Hildon Control Panel displays icons for plugins that are used to configure system settings. The control panel implements a model for dynamic discovery. Correctly created, configured, and located plugins are automatically detected and displayed.

Implementation

Creating a control panel applet/plugin

The process of creating a control panel plugin is straight forward and entails creating a library with certain predefined methods, creating a corresponding .desktop file, and placing both in the right place on the system.

This Control Panel Applet How To document is a first-draft describing the process.

Outstanding Issues

Hildon control panel is not yet functional in Ubuntu. Nokia has some new "refactoring" code for control panel. This needs to be packaged and added to gutsy.

BoF agenda and discussion

UDS Issues Discussion

General

  • Can layout look like home screen? It is a grid of icons.
  • Currently the category view is missing. Everything shows up as "Extras" group
  • Alignment is off. Are icons all the same size?
  • Control panels should be fullscreen window, not a dialog, might require mods to hildon-desktop and be dismissed with "X" just like other apps or some sort of dismiss button

Applets needed

  • Change locale, select language
  • Theme control panel
  • Reset system, or reset settings.

Existing applets

  • About Me
    • pair down, just essential stuff, don't show "About root" in the title
    • Keep the picture icon in About Me somehow. Can this be stored in EDS too? Useful for chat, email.
    • Be able to change picture inside About Me
    • Setup wizard for new user? Where is it?
  • Date/Time
    • Time Zone selection too much information. Hard to scroll and pick with finger.
    • Should be Country->City or Timezone (make sure to display tz in addition to city New York (EST)

    • possibly show UTC offset?
    • Remove "manual" line. Remove synchronize now button.
    • Time zone should be defaulted to proper setting based on info entered on the User setup
    • synchronize should be the default, should auto sync when go online
  • Menus/Toolbars
    • get rid of whole thing
  • Network Proxy
    • "details" button needs better title
    • can proxy info be added as a tab on the Network Config dialog? (It is a less used for normal user)
  • Network Settings dialog
    • get rid of Hosts, DNS -- do people need this level? Simplify.
    • question of whether or not to support configuring static-ip addresses or just default to DHCP
  • Background Settings
    • file chooser confusing - don't want user navigating to /root and so on, need generic chooser (maybe hildon file chooser)
    • Adding new wallpaper - maybe pull images from Media Player
    • request for changing brightness/contrast on background image. ( Bob: should just work and scale to right size)
  • Font Settings
    • will get paired down and tied into themes?
    • suggestion to just change the font size, not the family
    • Font Rendering section goes away
  • Keyboard Preferences
    • keep Layout tabs and Software Keyboard defaults. remove all others
    • keybindings... keyboard... what do they do and will user be able to figure it out?
    • need intelligent defaults, decide which fields need to go away (many will)
  • Help buttons all need to be removed or help needs to be written/fetched

MobileAndEmbedded/Utilities (last edited 2008-08-06 16:38:59 by localhost)