On Thu, Jul 16, 2009 at 12:28 AM, Mat<matlinuxer2@...400...> wrote:
Thanks Mat! I think, your idea will make shared drawing finally possible!
Questions/Proposals: - How dificult will be to start the shared drawing from Inkscape? The Pidgin plugin can read the command line arguments (like --inkboard-pid=XYZ) and make things happen on the start with less interaction?
Do you means that to trigger the shared drawing from inkscape instead pidgin?
Yes! I think this is more obvious and may be easier for the user. ( but do not trow out your initial idea! )
It's possible to implement D-Bus serverice in the plugin for pidgin, to make it a bi-directional connector.
May be useful to use D-Bus to use an opened Pidign, but may be better to ignore an existing pidgin instance (may be). May you must to start pidgin by this way: pidgin --multiple --inkboard-pid=XYZ ( --multiple exists. it allow you to open a new pidgin instance ) I don't know if the inkboard-pid is the better information, but the Pidgin must know that is being opened to work with inkboard and it must know were is the information. So, the Pidgin will automatize some things = less work for the user.
...or all of this idea is creepy and you must to use D-Bus. :-) I'm only trying to help to find the most simple user interaction.
Then, we will need another dialog for inkscape to select which exiting conversion of pidgin to transfer the inkscape changesets.
Yes, if use D-Bus. Opening a new pidgin process we may only need a new menu item.
I don't know how hard it exactly is, but I am willing to try it. I think the first step I can probe is to try to implement a simple D-Bus service in the plugin for pidgin, and let it can list existing conversations and to select it. And then let the inkscape could invorke this functionality and to use it as transporter.
How is your opinion about this?
Will be a good start!
But i see some problems to we talk about: --+ The D-Bus way: ----+ Must be simplified. ----+ We must consider the Pidgin may be not running when the user try to start a shared drawing, ----+ We must consider too the conversation may not be started when the user try to start a shared drawing, ----+ Two users may want to work in more then one shared drawing and it will not be possible in the same Pidgin process or the encapsulated drawing information must inform the parent drawing.
--+ The dedicated pidgin instance way: ----+ The plugin can control the interface? Because the user may start other conversations in the dedicated pidgin and it may be not good... Can it let the user select one friend to chat and close and block the friend list? ----+ The plugin can change the notification icon to let the user know that is the Pidgin working for Inkscape and not the normal Pidgin?
- The Pidgin plugin may abstract the protocol and enable shared drawing with the popular MSN or the Classic ICQ?
I think it is quite possible. We just need to find how to filter the transaction packets of inkboard and parsing. ( at least, we can encode/decode via base64 and transfered in text ) This is also one of the the great pros. to using the pidgin as transporter.
I think it will be possible in the more used protocols because the users can play board games by the IM client without noise the conversation. :-)
- It must support a "chat room" to allow drawing with more then 2 persons.
It seems still a period of time to arrive at this goal, and need more helps.
Yes there is a lot of things to think before, but may be good to have that in mind to allow this feature in the near future. :-)
I just think about to probe it using IRC first.
We can crate chat rooms through XMPP (i think is the same protocol) in conference.jabber.org using the Pidgin.
Do you have any idea or referenced resource about this?
Nothing more by now... but i'm listening...
Aurium