"Opening" (was Re: #5348 NORM Future : etoys overwrites existing journal entries)

[Bert Freudenberg]

On Dec 6, 2007, at 22:01 , Eben Eliason wrote:

>>  So the difference would be that a media viewer that is allowed to  
>> "open" a
>>  file must only retain references to the original media instead of  
>> copying?
>>  Until very recently, references from one datastore object (the saved
>>  activity state) to other objects (the media) was dismissed as  
>> unnecessary.
>>  Has that position changed?
>
> I don't think it has anything to do with references.  If a media
> player opens a movie, for instance, it will likely just store some
> data such as the current timecode, but yes, if it did in fact change
> the video, I would expect it to make a copy.

How much may the "media player" add? An annotation? A little overlay?  
A second movie to make a mashup? All this would not change the  
original video.

Or do you mean that only dumb applications (I dare not call them  
activities) that can play back stuff or edit a single file type are  
allowed to be prominently present in the "open with" menu?

> The difference here is still one of filetype.  If I open a .jpg with
> Paint, scribble all over it, and save it out, at least every activity
> that could open that file before still can, regardless of the fact
> that the image isn't the same.  If I "open" a jpg with Write and wind
> up with a .odt file that contains an image, then I can no longer open
> that image in Paint.  Activities should "play nice" with files,
> ensuring that their type remains constant across opens/edits unless
> explicitly told otherwise via importing a document into their own
> format or a "keep as...some other type" operation.

Sounds like we are back at opening "files" with "apps". I thought the  
idea was to do away with files. With this, the Journal basically  
becomes a crippled file manager.

- Bert -