From: Brian F. <bdf...@nc...> - 2003-07-17 01:11:14
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For what it's worth: The same problem exists for the iChat / Address Book combination on Mac OS X. iChat can be equated to Gaim and the Address Book to blist.xml. When I add an entry to the Address Book, setting the Contact's IM screen name, said screen name is not automatically added to my buddy list when I start iChat back up. Instead, I have to click the "+" button down towards the bottom, at which point I can select the entry from the Address book that I put in previously. So what's the point? iChat seems to hold the Server-Side buddy list more sacred than the local list. A mechanism is provided for adding entries on the local list to the server list if it's needed. Now, I'm not saying that it's the way that Gaim needs to do it; it's just one way. That said, I hardly ever modify my blist.xml by hand. If there are difference somehow, I suppose I'd vote for trusting the server side list, and then pop up a dialog notifying me if more difficult merging needs to take place. Just my two cents, Brian Ferris On Wednesday, July 16, 2003, at 08:48 PM, Julien Barnoin wrote: > Hello all. > > Having read all the thread about that problem, I have to say that I > think the > real problem is not the server update, it's the manual contact list > updating... > > I think very few people will modify their contact list manually, since > gaim can > edit most things you need to edit. Still, it's a valuable feature to > have when > you need it, but it should not be default behavior IMHO. > There are a few ways I can see that I think would solve the problem > better... > > I think the default behaviour should be to assume the server is right > about the > list, without losing extended information (ie buddies the server > doesn't send > are deleted from the local list, buddies the server sends that we > don't have are > added to the list, buddies the server sends that we already have are > kept in > their position in the list). I think this is what MOST people will > want, newbies > don't edit their contact list files manually, people who need to will > know how > to (see below). > > So there should also be a way to edit your contact list manually when > you need > to. I can see three ways to detect it was modified, others could come > up... > > - Store a timestamp as information somewhere in the list, > corresponding to the > time gaim modifies it. If someone modifies the file, the file > modification time > will be more recent than the timestamp, and so we probably need to > update the > server with the local list (maybe we should also ask, just in case) > - Store a very visible XML tag in the beginning of the list > Manually_Modified=FALSE or something. Someone who changes their list > manually > will change it manually, gaim will reset it to FALSE next time it > saves the list. > - Never update from the local default file, and have the users save > their > modified file to an other filename and use an import from file > function to > import the local list in gaim... > > With one of those ways, one wanting to edit their list manually would > be able to > do it, and people who don't need it and newbies wouldn't be bothered > with it. > Anything I missed? > > I don't think any of those would need a lot of work. Of all those, I > think the > timestamp way is the best. It's not fool-proof, but if we ask before > using it, > it should be OK, since I think local editing of the list will be rare. > Now, of course if I'm wrong that most people will rarely edit their > buddy list, > then all of this is moot. Anyone editing their list manually more than > once a > day? If there are SOME people who need to, maybe there could be a > preference to > revert to the current way of doing things, but I really think this > should be the > default. > > I know I'm not a frequent poster, but please still consider my points. > > Julien Barnoin > > > ------------------------------------------------------- > This SF.net email is sponsored by: VM Ware > With VMware you can run multiple operating systems on a single machine. > WITHOUT REBOOTING! Mix Linux / Windows / Novell virtual machines at the > same time. Free trial click here: http://www.vmware.com/wl/offer/345/0 > _______________________________________________ > Gaim-devel mailing list > Gai...@li... > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/gaim-devel |