Re: [9front] [PATCH] programmable menus for rio

[Michael Misch <michaelmisch1985@gmail.com>]

I really like the concept for this type of menu. Being able to extend behaviours, without it being clunky is a hallmark feature of Acme, for example. This same mindset being extended outwards into Rio where it has been considerably more rigid in adhering to the designed usage from the outset, enables things that may not have been conceived or considered in the 90s and early 2000s when these designs were laid.

> On Aug 24, 2022, at 06:38, Jacob Moody <moody@mail.posixcafe.org> wrote:
> 
> On 8/24/22 01:05, qwx@sciops.net wrote:
>> On Wed Aug 24 07:01:48 +0200 2022, moody@mail.posixcafe.org wrote:
>>> On 8/23/22 20:46, ori@eigenstate.org wrote:
>>>> Quoth Jacob Moody <moody@mail.posixcafe.org>:
>>>>> Something I've been playing with is a way of exposing part of the rio
>>>>> menu to the programs running within it. This is a bit of a simple
>>>>> approach, but I would like to gauge interest that people have in
>>>>> something along these lines before continuing.
>>>>> 
>>>>> This adds a /dev/menu file that can be written to
>>>>> to add new entries to the button3menu. The file
>>>>> can be read to get the text string of an added
>>>>> menu entry when hit by the user.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>> moody
>>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> It seems like an interesting trick -- but, the
>>>> programs that might use it would already likely
>>>> be graphical, no?
>>>> 
>>> 
>>> Switching languages via special character in ktrans
>>> doesn't feel quite right to me. I wanted a graphical
>>> way of switching them, and it seemed like something
>>> I wanted on the rio menu.
>> 
>> This is interesting.  umbraticus and I experimented with adding menu2
>> entries in sam for commands we use all of the time.  Initially I tried
>> doing this with menu entries for adding/removing items, but it was
>> horrible.  umbraticus proposed defining a new sam command `M' which
>> adds or removes a menu entry: as an example, `M ^R mk install' would
>> add `^R mk install' verbatim to the menu (R being some sam script),
>> and sending this again would remove it.  We both have scripts which
>> define a bunch of rc functions to use within sam, which also works for
>> adding stuff at the start of a session.  Then, while using sam, one
>> can add or remove commands one ends up using a whole bunch during a
>> session instead of switching to the command menu, finding, selecting
>> and sending them, which happens way too often for me (for example,
>> things like `|fmt -l 80', `|cmd |awk ...' or `!window -m -cd ...
>> cmd', etc.).  This works very nicely in my case.
>> 
> 
> I would 100% be behind bringing this sam work upstream.
> That is quite neat.
> 
>> For rio, it's a bit different, and I don't know how it would work out
>> or what the best interface would be, but I think it's worth
>> discussing.
> 
> Yeah I'm not sure what the right solution here, I'm just throwing
> out code to start the conversation.
> 
> - moody