PR: Allow plugins to hook into File > Open

[jitseniesen]

This is work in progress, but I want some early feedback on design and stuff.

Description of Changes

This PR revives PR #8798. It provides a mechanism for plugins to register file extensions, so that if a user picks a file with that extension in the dialog window for File > Open, the file is opened in that plugin instead of the editor.

Here is what it looks like, if the necessary changes are made in the Notebook plugin:

open-notebook.mp4

Issue(s) Resolved

Fixes #22354
Fixes #7794

Affirmation

By submitting this Pull Request or typing my (user)name below,
I affirm the Developer Certificate of Origin
with respect to all commits and content included in this PR,
and understand I am releasing the same under Spyder's MIT (Expat) license.

I certify the above statement is true and correct:
Jitse Niesen

[pep8speaks]

Hello @jitseniesen! Thanks for updating this PR. We checked the lines you've touched for PEP 8 issues, and found:

• In the file spyder/app/mainwindow.py:

Line 46:1: E402 module level import not at top of file
Line 47:1: E402 module level import not at top of file
Line 87:1: E402 module level import not at top of file

Comment last updated at 2024-09-26 22:02:58 UTC

[jitseniesen]

@spyder-ide/core-developers I took the same approach as the previous PR by Carlos and I moved the code for File > Open from the Editor plugin to mainwindow.py. However, that file is already a big pile of unrelated stuff, so perhaps another location like one of the plugins would be better? If so, where? From looking at the names, the mainmenu or maybe the application plugin?

[ccordoba12]

Thanks for working on this @jitseniesen! I opened PR #22576 as a prerequisite of your work because we need to remove some dead code that referenced the open, new, save actions in the Editor.

So, please rebase after that PR is merged.

[jitseniesen]

So, please rebase after that PR is merged.

Thanks, done!

[jitseniesen]

As discussed in the last Core Team meeting:

• This PR will cover all the file actions: new, open, save, close.
• Code goes in the Applications plugin.
• The "new file" action opens a new file in the currently active pane, if possible. For example, if the user is working in the Notebook pane then File > New will open a new notebook.
• These file actions only make sense for dockable plugins.
• The Variable Explorer can use the "open file" action to open data files.