Usual Windows File Opener would be great

Classic Servoy
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plugins.file.showFileOpenDialog() opens a quite small FileOpenDialog which makes a solution look a bit 80th, if I may say so. :wink:
Sure it has its advantages as it works well on both WC and SC.

However, from an enduser point of view, its unusual to deal with it, as he/she is used to a complete other file dialog, as shown in the attachment.

Does anyone feel like me that it would be great to be able to launch the modern windows file opener?
Or is that even already possible with an existing plugin?

Thanks
Bernd Korthaus

difference.png
difference.png1670×773 280 KB

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3

I have no idea how complex the creation of such a new plugin would be (or the enhancement of the existing one, which might be a better idea). But to just play with numbers a bit, lets say it would cost 5.000 $, then you need just 50 developers/companies/ISVs who put 100$ into a crowdfunding pot. Then all those developers would have peace with their users who want the usual windows file picker.

If that works, that financing model of costly plugins/modules might be a good bet for other urgently needed functionality, too.

4

Problem here is not funding. It’s the fact that the JVM doesn’t use the native file browser window.
So the only way to do this is to use Native components, which is getting messy with all the deployment issues depending on the OS (Windows/Mac OS X/Linux) and the architecture (32/64-bit) and various security barriers introduced in Java with each new version… Support for the native dialogs in the BrowserSuite existed for years but can’t support it anymore because of these issues.

5

I see the problem, when you look at it from a most generic view, where one wants to create one ideal file picker for all operating systems/environments.

Would it be possible to create just a windows-specific plugin, with embedding in Servoy code like this:

if windows-client
plugins.newFilePicker.showFileOpenDialog()
else
plugins.file.showFileOpenDialog()

It could even have a much reduced functionality, just pick one file and that’s it.

The new web startups we compete with are extremly good at UI and UX, that’s why I try to find a solution here to not look old against them. :)

6

An implementation using the java.awt.FileDialog (instead of javax.swing.JFileChooser) is possible but 1/ its implementation is terrible on Linux, 2/ it lacks a few options like multiple mode and file filtering at least in earlier versions of Java. So a Windows specific implementation could be done for Java 7+, send me a PM if you’re interested…

7

Have you looked at Patrick’s excellent implementation of the Multi-File Uploader?

My clients love the improved interface with native file systems and ability to select or drag/drop multiple files.

8

Thanks for the hint, however we need smart client, that plugin is web client specific.

In case it is technically not possible to invoke the normal Windows Filepicker from inside Servoy, the way we will try is to create an own form that gets automatically filled with all file names in a specific standard folder of a user. Standard sort order would be file date descending. That way we can create a nice state-of-the-art UI and do also multi-file-grabbing at once.

9

Bernd.N:
however we need smart client … That way we can create a nice state-of-the-art UI and do also multi-file-grabbing at once.

:shock:

10

David,

when you cut out sentences inside my post, and also do not see it in the context of the left picture in my first post, then it does not show any more what I actually meant with that post. :)

Best, Bernd