arduino / arduino/Arduino

Use platform native file browser instead of tkinter.filedialog

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#10,605 0 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
Component: IDE Component: IDE user interface feature request
Dominant language
Java
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Forks
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PR merge metrics
No merged PRs in 30d

Description

Currently file and directory selection is handled via the `filedialog` class, which is serviceable and portable but offers a degraded experience (IMO) from the OS native file browser. As an example, on Windows I keep my sketches at a location similar to: `E:\shared_home\Documents\Git\\\`, but also have the examples and other code within some default and/or sensible locations on `C:\`. Switching back and forth between the two locations in the current dialog requires clicking **This PC** and navigating down from the drive root. Invoking explorer.exe (or xdg-open in Linux, or the OSX equivalent, etc) would allow me to browse much faster via the side panel's Quick Access links or tree view, or whatever analogous customizations users have set up on other operating systems.

Granted this increases fragility when supporting as many platforms as possible, but it's a solvable problem.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start by locating the filedialog class and the code paths responsible for file and directory selection. Compare the platform-specific options mentioned in the issue—explorer.exe on Windows, xdg-open on Linux, and the OSX equivalent—and define done as native browsing working across the supported platforms without breaking selection behavior.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
java
Domain
desktop
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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