Ivan Čukić

dr Ivan Čukić

Author of "Functional Programming in C++", KDE developer and Free/Libre software enthusiast

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Functional Programming in C++

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Activities

Published by Ivan Čukić in the KDE development: Activities section, on 3 November 2010

So, work on activities has been so overwhelming that I’ve had no time to do anything else lately (KDE-related).

Service

First, the kded module and the nepomuk service that were present in KDE SC 4.5 are no more - they are now merged into one application called kactivitymanagerd (KDE ActivityManager Dæmon). The reason behind this rewrite was to have a more stable system (no crashing kded on dbus locks etc.) and to make it easier to maintain.

Identicons

We have new identicons, fully themable. Since one picture is worth more than no picture at all, here they are:

Configuration

As you can see in the screenshot above, there are two corner-actions for each activity - one to stop or delete it, and another one for configuring the name and the icon.

If you remember, the ‘old’ place for configuring the above was in the ‘desktop settings’ dialogue. It was really the wrong place - this is the activity manager, it should manage all related to them.

If Nepomuk is not running, changing the icon will be disabled.

Edit: The layout in the shots is not showing the whole text of the label - it has been fixed.

Smaller stuff

Few of the things above required rewriting quite big chunks of code, removing a more than few hacks and refactoring. So while all that was happening, I had the opportunity to change a few visually irritating things as well. The most important usability problem was the fact that we didn’t differentiate the current activity from the others.

Templates

Others were also busy, so Chani and Mario started making the templating system for creating and sharing activities, but I’m not going to write about that - I’ll leave it to them - I’ll just post a screenshot of what the ‘Add activity’ looks like at the moment.

That’s all for now, so long and thanks for all the squids.

Comments:

Luis
Hi Ivan. This looks good. Could you comment on what type of integration with nepomuk means? What data is nepomuk colecting from plasma and how can it be used? Personally, I would love to create a folderview pointing to a folder and have it automatically tagging all the files in therwith the activity name. Cheers and keep up with the good work!
Tweets that mention Ivan Čukić » Activities -- Topsy.com
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Ivan Čukić, PCLinuxOS Srbija. PCLinuxOS Srbija said: RT @ivan_cukic: New blog post: Activities https://cukic.co/blog/2010/11/03/activities/ [...]
bliiii
Looks awesome! I was wondering if there's going to be some more "friendly" and obvious way to access activites like from screen edge, plasmoid or something like that? It's rather hidden like click(s) away and frankly that activity bar for panel is kind of glitchy :)
acemo
@Bliiii I found out today that meta-key + Q brings up the activity bar. works pretty well. I still have to find out better what activity's can do for me though. As far as i can see, it only changes the "desktop". doesn't opens and closes programs (switching from photo management to development should close my digikam).
Can't wait for activities to become a first class citizen on my laptop!
Ivan Čukić
@<a href="#comment-24081" rel="nofollow">bliiii</a>: There will be the usual activity bar applet (but improved), the mouse desktop plugin (for example, middleclick the desktop to get the list of activities).
As for the default interface, it is available via Meta+Q key shortcut. For me, that's /available/ enough not to use any other solution.
As for anything else, we can't do it for 4.6 since the feature-freeze is in place.
Ivan Čukić
@<a href="#comment-24082" rel="nofollow">acemo</a>: For now, if you want to hide the apps, you need to assign them to only one activity (the windows are by default on all activities currently). It is done via the window menu (Alt+f3).
In 4.6, we'll have a new session stuff that will tie sessions to activities - reopen apps etc.
mutlu
Activities coming alive! :D
baxeico
What is the Photos Activity? Sounds interesting! :)
Ivan Čukić
@<a href="#comment-24085" rel="nofollow">Luis</a>: Plasma is not going to be tagging anything. Applications should do that.
For example, when you open a file with Kate, it will be remembered as Kate opened test.txt at 22.38 1.1.2010. while in 'Test' activity.
The same goes for launching the apps (from KRunner and Lancelot for example).
Then, by using the history, instead of getting only the /recent/ documents, we'll be able to have the /most popular/ ones (and the same for apps).
Ivan Čukić
@<a href="#comment-24087" rel="nofollow">baxeico</a>: Have no idea, I've just added it for taking the screenshot :)
Jonas
You know, this was posted with an uncanny precision...in that I was just the other day thinking of the combination of activities and virtual desktops. I know they're not exactly similar but with enough overlap that I have been seriously considering dropping the idea of using virtual desktops alltogether and just use activities instead (especially when the session manager system will take various activities into consideration). Maybe it's just me, but using both activities and virtual desktops tends to get confusing...which is why I've for the time being have settled for a sort of compromise: using the \use different sets of widgets for different desktops\. Yes, I know that is not using the activities to the fullest.
That being said, I feel something is lacking when it comes to switching between activities. The activities manager is great when you want to add/delete one, but is not a great choice if you just want to switch between them. The activty bar, on the other hand, takes too much space (and the text isn't rotated if the panel it is located in happens to be vertical, but maybe that has been fixed for 4.5.3 or 4.6). The mouse-actions plugin and the shortcut keys work, but are kinda invisible unless you know they are available.
Maybe it is a case of me falling into the trap of \use what you're used to\ but I feel a \pager for activities\ would be really handy. Or being able to tell the current pager to switch between activities rather than desktops.
My reasons for that are:
1. It is familiar to people already using *IX-based desktop. 2. It gives a quick overview of what desktops/activities are available at any given time. 3. It takes relatively little of the precious screen real-estate.
That would IMO accomplish:
1. The apps/krunner etc would still be able to keep track of what was being done in which activity, so the very concept of activities wouldn't be \watered down\ as it were. I.e. the history of frequently used programs/documents would still be there which is not possible to have with just virtual desktops. 2. The same goes for the launching/killing of apps depending on which activity is being used. That's not possible (as far as I can see) with just virtual desktops. 3. It would remove the potential confusion of the difference between an activity and a virtual desktop, especially if the default is set to one-desktop-per-activity and the pager set to switch between activities rather than desktops.
Of course, this doesn't rule out that those who wishes to could still, for example, tell KDE that Activity 1 should have 3 desktops, Activity 2 should have just one, and Activity 3 should have 6. I'm not sure how the pager should react to that though. Maybe possible to fix if/when the activities can have different panels depending on which activity that is active.
What do you think?
Ivan Čukić
@<a href="#comment-24091" rel="nofollow">Jonas</a>: the session manager will deal with start/stop the activity. If you have more than one running activity, switching between is like switching virtual desktops (that is - fast).
As for the ways to switch, those will be changes and improved, but not for 4.6. From my POV, it is good that it is not as accessible as it should be at this time - so that we can finish it all before most users start using it :)
Novita’ per Kde activites « GNUpress!
[...] alla logica “un desktop per ogni attivita’”. Ivan kukic sviluppatore kde offre sul suo blog una piccola panoramica del lavoro che si sta svolgendo su kde activites per kde 4.6. Sono lavori di [...]
andrea
activities seem like an interesting concept, but I also agree that sorting the confusion between activities and virtual desktops should be given high priority. so let's either kick virtual desktops or merge them with activities...
lefty.crupps
+1 andrea How is an activity different from a virtual desktop, really? Both are designed to give you different work spaces to get extra apps out of the way, and to group apps together. Activities, I understand, allow custom wallpapers and themes etc, but its just a more complex version of the same idea, no?
Ivan Čukić
@<a href="#comment-24098" rel="nofollow">andrea</a>: Virtual desktops are just that - multiple workspaces so that you can sort out windows as you like it.
For example, my VDs are Main, Editors, Graphics and Other. I'm working on one project and using all of them - I'm starting and compiling the apps I'm developing on the Main VD, typing code on Editors VD, and when I need to do some graphics work, it is on Graphics. So those are used for every project I'm working on.
Activities, on the other hand, are a different beast - it is not only about the tools you use at one time, but more about the project you're working on.
So, depending on the project, you (will eventually) get the following: - recent documents showing only documents tied to the current project - contacts and mails related to the project - applications, folders, etc.
For example, while KMail is present on all activities, it will be able to adapt upon activity switching - it is not only about hiding/showing windows.
Activities in Gnome Shell are virtual desktops.
Alex
We really need an expose-like Activities switcher, is a lot easier and convenient that way.
loluz
Hello… could you please stop using the Ubuntu font? It’s harder to understand than DejaVu… thanks :)
Laerte
Well, I guess everyone here knows that you can switch between diferent activities using Meta + TAB, right?
@Alex, the expose like activities switcer is the zooming interface (green + and - buttons on cashew), no?
Ivan Čukić
@<a href="#comment-24102" rel="nofollow">Alex</a>: Expose... hmh, problems: - activities consist of apps, documents, widgets etc. How do you create an expose effect for that? - how to create a screenshot of things that are not running (you can have stopped activities) - windows (contents) are barely recognizable in a normal expose, just imagine it with expose of exposes.
That is the main reason why identicons were introduced.
@<a href="#comment-24106" rel="nofollow">Laerte</a>: Zooming UI doesn't exist anymore.
Ivan Čukić
@<a href="#comment-24105" rel="nofollow">loluz</a>: It is Aller Light. I'm currently in the process of finding a font that is at the same time good-hinted (like DejaVu Sans) and good-looking (like Aller).
But it seems that a font like that doesn't exist.
Aller looks awesome on my phone, but low-DPI screens ruin it totally.
Lionel Chauvin
Can you provide a button that open the activity panel ? I would like add a such button in my panel.
In kde 4.5 I played with the folder view plasmoid and with bash scripts in a folder and I obtained that: http://imagebin.ca/view/wgMgE1.html
Aspettando KDE 4.6 - Forum di Tom's Hardware
[...] su Activities: Ivan ?uki? Activities __________________ Regole: leggile e seguile! Contro il fanboyismo, [...]
Ivan Čukić
@<a href="#comment-24113" rel="nofollow">Lionel Chauvin</a>: As stated above, not for 4.6.
illissius
Given that having both activities and virtual desktops -can- be useful, but can also definitely be confusing, I feel like the 'right way' might be retain support for virtual desktops, just turn it off by default. If people know what it is and want it, they can open the window manager settings and turn it on, just like tiling and tabbing, for instance, which feel like similarly powerful-but-niche features.
With regards to identicons, wouldn't it be simpler to just use solid colors, and/or letters or numbers (until the user sets a custom icon, that is)? I've long had this same thought about KDevelop's identicons as well. Randomly-assigned identicons are good for identifying and distinguishing things where the application doesn't have anything else compact and readily available to distinguish them by, but I don't see how simple colors and/or letters wouldn't be even better. It's easier to remember 'red' and 'blue' than 'weird blob shaped like foo' (KDevelop) or 'intricate pattern in the form of bar' (activities). (Activities do seem to use colors in addition to the patterns, which is a huge plus, but I doubt the patterns add very much once you have the colors. Letters would be more helpful, because again -- easier to remember.)
Links 4/11/2010: Red Hat in Dubai, Unity on Wayland | Techrights
[...] Activities Activities [...]
Ivan Čukić
@<a href="#comment-24116" rel="nofollow">illissius</a>: I had no idea KDevelop used identicons. Can you post a screenshot.
For me, identicons are a rather awesome usability-related invention. It is not about you remembering 'the pattern is shaped like ...' it is about your sub-conscious. Even if you have no idea what the icon looks like, you'll find it faster than when having default icons for all items.
The other is a technical benefit - we don't need to remember anything (like which letter was assigned to this activity etc.) the algorithm generates a coloured pattern from the activity ID (which is a UUID[1]). And it doesn't matter how many times you run it with the same id, it will result in the same pattern. It is like a graphical hash.
[1] <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UUID" rel="nofollow">wikipedia:UUID</a>
mushkinMX » Blog Archive » Recopilación de enlaces de interés. 44ª Semana de 2010
[...] Actividades. Vía: Ivan Čukić [...]
illissius
Ah, well, maybe I'm misusing the term "identicon".
Here's a screenshot from David Nolden's blog: http://zwabel.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/kdev4_working_set.png?w=980&h=654
I'm referring to the icons you can see in the menu bar next to the tabs, and also the one at the left end of the tab bar. Those are randomly chosen, rather than randomly generated, but fulfill a similar purpose (identifying and switching between groups of tabs, in this case) in a similar way.
You might be right about the subconscious thing, I haven't tried it -- I'm not necessarily saying it doesn't help at all, just that I think something simpler like colors/letters/numbers is likely to be more helpful. Definitely easier for the conscious part of the brain, and maybe the subconscious part as well, but not harder in any case. Again, though, I haven't done usability tests or anything; it's just a hunch.
(I also hadn't known about the thing with the UUIDs, and that's very nice indeed, but users don't care much about implementation details.)
Ivan Čukić
@<a href="#comment-24162" rel="nofollow">illissius</a>: Any randomly generated or chosen icon will not be sufficient. And we don't have the way of guessing what the activity is about so that we can choose the icons wisely.
Using a random icon is great because those are prettier, but you're able to get very strange combinations, like having the trash icon for a photo creation activity or something.
As for the letters and numbers - it would be fine for a majority of people, but then, not everybody uses our alphabet. We have users using KDE SC in China, India etc.
Anyway, the automatically generated icons will never be half as good as the custom chosen ones (by the user). Which is the main reason I don't consider this to be of a great importance.
The main point from my pov is that when you create activities, you don't get a monotonous strip with one icon repeated many times.
The side-benefit of having it easier to recognize is just a plus.
Recopilación de enlaces de interés. 44ª Semana de 2010 : KDE Blog
[...] Actividades. Vía: Ivan Čukić [...]

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