Rethink implementation of the "Format…" action on devices
The sidebar has got a Format…
action in the context menu for some devices.
Feature History
According to Cosimo, this feature was once provided by a nautilus extension provided by GNOME/gnome-disk-utility>, but that extension was removed at some point.
However, this was a desirable feature to have by default in the Files app. So, it was reintroduced without an extension, by having nautilus
launch gnome-disks
in a special "dialog-only" mode, and making it modal to the Files window.
However, this trick was implemented in an X-specific way, passing the nautilus
window's xid
, and assumes gnome-disks
is in the $PATH
.
Current State
The existing implementation does not meet the design requirements under Wayland. The Format…
action launches the a full Disks app window, instead of just opening a format dialog.
The existing implementation doesn't work inside a flatpak sandbox, because we can't find gnome-disks
in the %PATH
.
The existing implementation, under X, doesn't provide any feedback on the operation's progress, which may take a while. (Formatting progress is exposed by the full Disks app under Wayland). See #600 (closed)
Design Guidance
Quoting @aday from gnome-disk-utility#116
The design for this is very old. My understanding is that it's always been intended to be a dialog. I can certainly see the UX logic for that - it saves the user a context switch, and it keep things simple for what will often be a simple operation.
Why the current dialogs belong to Disks is another question, of course...
is it a requirement for the (hypothetical) nautilus dialog to have UI and feature parity with the Disks one?
It's fine to keep the nautilus one plain and simple, in my opinion. Disks can then cater to the more complex use cases.
Discussion
Ideas welcome.