[xubuntu-users] move a file from its location via gui

[Chris Green]

On Sat, Jan 16, 2016 at 07:53:36PM +0000, Peter Flynn wrote:
> On 16/01/16 19:32, Chris Green wrote:
> > On Sat, Jan 16, 2016 at 09:31:33AM -0800, John R. Sowden wrote:
> >>    Where do I begin?
> >>    First, I never have understood the xml language.  Looking at the source
> >>    code does not tell me what is going on.  I must be wearing my Foxpro
> > 
> > XML as something for *human* interaction is a total disaster, I
> > really, really wish it would go away.
> 
> XML should ideally be human-*readable* but it's up to the document type
> designers of each application to make it so. Don't blame XML for their
> failings.
> 
> uca.xml looks pretty self-explanatory to me:
> 
> <actions>
>   <action>
>     <icon>utilities-terminal</icon>
>     <patterns>*</patterns>
>     <name>Open Terminal Here</name>
>     <command>exo-open --working-directory %f --launch
> TerminalEmulator</command>
>     <description>Example for a custom action</description>
>      <startup-notify/>
>     <directories/>
>   </action>
> </actions>
> 
> (omitting the extra language definitions).
> 
It's still *awful*.  Compare it with a standard .conf file such as
ntp.conf:-

    # /etc/ntp.conf, configuration for ntpd; see ntp.conf(5) for help

    driftfile /var/lib/ntp/ntp.drift


    # Enable this if you want statistics to be logged.
    #statsdir /var/log/ntpstats/

    statistics loopstats peerstats clockstats
    filegen loopstats file loopstats type day enable
    filegen peerstats file peerstats type day enable
    filegen clockstats file clockstats type day enable

    # Specify one or more NTP servers.

    # Use servers from the NTP Pool Project. Approved by Ubuntu Technical
    Board
    # on 2011-02-08 (LP: #104525). See http://www.pool.ntp.org/join.html for
    # more information.
    server 0.ubuntu.pool.ntp.org
    server 1.ubuntu.pool.ntp.org
    server 2.ubuntu.pool.ntp.org
    server 3.ubuntu.pool.ntp.org

Apart from anything else editing an XML file is a pain because of all
the </> characters *and* you have to enter keywords twice at the
beginning and end of a block.  No half decent programming language
makes things so difficult for the programmer.

XML, if it's needed, should always be hidden from the user/programmer
by some sort of parser.


-- 
Chris Green