Present plugins matching selected extension in Open file as type pull down

[markcmiller86]

Is your feature request related to a problem?

We have a lot of database plugins. When opening a file, say a MOAB file with a .h5m extension, its a real pain to scroll through the list of them to find MOAB and select it.

When file(s) are selected (highlited via a mouse gesture) in the Files: list, I would like for VisIt to present the Open file as type pull down in two segments. First, listing all the plugins that match all the extension(s) in the set of Files that have been selected followed by some kind of a seperator line (maybe just a blank entry) and then the full alphabetical list of plugins.

Next, if a plugin does NOT have any options defined, it should not be listed or it should not be listed among the plugins that DO have options defined.

That way, if I select a .h5m file in the Files list, when I go to the pulldown, MOAB will appear as an option at the top. Likewise for other formats with relatively unique extensions (e.g. silo, root, etc.).

[markcmiller86]

I was talking about the interface controlling this with @brugger1 and he suggested some improvements and we observed some oddities about this interface...

1. What does Set default open options... actually mean? I mean, isn't it setting the options to be used the next time you open a file? So, why not call that button Set open options...? Why is default in the name?
2. We should decouple (somewhat) activation of the Set open options... button from the Open file as type pull down selection. That button should be active only when a) a file with a known extension has been selected and b) the associated plugin has options defined.
3. We're using the Open file as type pull down for two entirely independent purposes. One is to allow the user to specify the plugin used to open the file. The other is to access the plugin's open options. So, we should adjust the interface to decouple these two purposes.

[JustinPrivitera]

FYI: You can type the name of the plugin you want to use and VisIt will auto-complete:

[markcmiller86]

Yes, I am aware of that. But, in my experience on macOS, its not really an auto-complete per se. I mean, if I hit the M key, it does accelerate me to the first plugin beginning with letter M. If I hit M and then O, sometimes I get to MOAB and sometimes I get to OpenFoam. If I be sure to type really, really fast, M followed by O, then I can be assured of getting to MOAB. So, it seems to wanna treat my keystrokes differently when I have that pulldown active depending on how fast I enter them. Doesn't really work for me. Maybe its a Qt setting for macOS or something.

[markcmiller86]

In any event, auto-completion behavior is somewhat orthogonal to the feature request here. It should just recognize the file type I have selected and pull up the correct options without the user having to do extra work to get them.

[JustinPrivitera]

Sure, I just wanted to mention it to raise awareness to a quick way to get db types.