[scribus] Multiple instances of Scribus

[John Beardmore]

Gregory Pittman wrote:
> John Beardmore wrote:

>> I not that it's possible to open multiple instances of Scribus.
>>
>> This is brilliant -  certainly one up on the old copies of Pagemaker and 
>> InDesign that I used to use.
>>
>> One possible issue / feature / bug though, is that it's possible to open 
>> the same file more than once without changing its name.
>>
>> I don't know if this should be classed as a bug or not, but I'd have 
>> though it might merit a warning from the application as bad things might 
>> happen !
>>   
> I think it remains to be seen whether this is a problem (and what kind 
> it is). If someone has bad experiences, I think it's up to them to make 
> their case as to how it should work.

Well -  somehow I accidentally managed to open two instances of scribus 
editing the same file.  I noticed, so nothing bad happened, but I could 
easily have closed them in the wrong order.

As it seems so unlikely that anybody would open the same file twice 
deliberately, it seemed worth suggesting that a warning might be given.


> This business of being able to run multiple instances of a program is an 
> age-old Linux feature,

I don't know that it's linux specific.  The VMS bods or whoever might 
have something to say about that ?


> and in general a good thing -

Indeed.


> for one thing, I 
> can have 1.3.3.12svn and 1.3.5svn running at the same time, and will do 
> this trying to troubleshoot something or compare behavior.

Possibly, but would you open the same file with both of them, or two 
copies ?


> Theoretically, there could be locks on files to prevent overwriting when 
> another instance has it open, but realistically, one could have Scribus 
> working on a file and a text editor also working on the same file.

Indeed, but most editing of SLA files is presumably done in Scribus ?


> If 
> the user can't keep track of these kinds of things, he shouldn't be 
> doing it, and needs to learn that, rather than expecting the program to 
> take care of this.

I can see that view, though I'm not sure I share it.

All of us can screw up when we are tired, and having things fail safe 
doesn't seem an unreasonable aim to me, as long as usability isn't 
compromised.


Cheers, J/.
-- 
John Beardmore, MSc EDM (Open), B.A. Chem (Oxon), CMIOSH, AIEMA, MEI
Managing Director, T4 Sustainability Limited. http://www.T4sLtd.co.uk/
Carbon Trust Consultant: Energy Audit, Carbon Footprint, Design Advice
Energy Efficiency Accreditation Scheme, (EEAS), Registered Assessor
Phone: 0845 4561332   Mobile: 07785 563116   Skype: t4sustainability