UI Issue: Need a "launch this environment with" button (Eliminate the close, launch, open Journal, choose-last session path...)


The HIG mentions that we'll want a view in the Journal that allows you to launch a given Journal entry (project environment) with a different application than the one that last edited it. I'm thinking we're going to want a way to do the same without needing a close-launch cycle.

For instance, you're working with your HTML editor. You finish writing up the Father's day card for you dad. You want to send the file to your dad at his email address. You want to be able to break out (trusted path) and say "launch application X with this Journal entry (workspace)".

Now, we might actually handle the operation through the Journal UI, but that's normally only called up by File|Open or similar dialogues. We don't have a semantically meaningful way of calling it up for something like this. (I'm thinking particularly of applications not natively written for the laptop, those could obviously include a "bring up Journal" button).

There is a security issue to consider, namely that rogue code might ask that some installed less-secure application be started with the current activity in order to leak information. That's why we would assume the same basic mechanism as the Journal. i.e. the overlay manager is watching for a request of this type, it pops up a trusted UI that is the only thing with the ability to accomplish the task (relaunch with new activity), lets you choose the new activity or cancel the operation and performs the requested action, returning control to the new activity or the old one on cancel.

As with Journal selection, we'd want to allow hinting "relaunch with an email activity" or "relaunch with web activity", but the user would still have to explicitly select the hinted application, just as they have to explicitly accept a hinted file/environment to be shared with an application.

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