From: Tony H. <h...@re...> - 2007-05-25 10:36:23
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How about allowing entries in AppInfo.xml to set the file names used for an application's icon, executable and help instead of having them hardwired to .DirIcon, AppRun and Help? Certain programs I've written for Rox are also designed so that they can be used and/or installed in other environments, so I generally end up symlinking at least .DirIcon to some other file. If I want my package to work in Windows too, sym links won't work, so I think being able to set the names in AppInfo.xml would be a good idea. You could choose between relative to the app dir, an absolute path or an XDG icon name, an executable in $PATH, or relative to /usr/[local/][share/]doc. Prefixing the name with './', '/' or no prefix respectively would be one simple way to provide that choice. This would also make it easier to write app wrappers for applications that already exist for KDE or Gnome etc. In fact, app wrappers need no longer be directories, but could be a single file, although if we avoid using an ugly extension it would require Rox to check the content of every untyped file. I'm not sure whether it does that already or only for files with recognised types, eg graphic files when displaying thumbnails. -- TH * http://www.realh.co.uk |
From: Thomas L. <ta...@gm...> - 2007-05-25 17:56:17
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On 5/25/07, Tony Houghton <h...@re...> wrote: > How about allowing entries in AppInfo.xml to set the file names used for > an application's icon, executable and help instead of having them > hardwired to .DirIcon, AppRun and Help? Certain programs I've written > for Rox are also designed so that they can be used and/or installed in > other environments, so I generally end up symlinking at least .DirIcon > to some other file. Reading the AppInfo.xml file for each subdirectory sounds a bit slow, but in general I agree with you: we need to separate programs from their packaging, so that any program can be made available as a ROX application as easily as possible. Have you considered making a Zero Install feed for your program? That will let you specify the "main" and "icon" attributes, which become AppRun and .DirIcon if installed using AddApp or Zero2Bundle. (Help will also be dealt with this way, but currently isn't) > This would also make it easier to write app wrappers for applications > that already exist for KDE or Gnome etc. Already done :-) Try installing Blender (or Stellarium, etc) for example. The binary package will be downloaded from the blender.org site and turned into a ROX application directory before your eyes! -- Dr Thomas Leonard http://rox.sourceforge.net GPG: 9242 9807 C985 3C07 44A6 8B9A AE07 8280 59A5 3CC1 |
From: Tony H. <h...@re...> - 2007-05-25 18:13:23
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In <cd5...@ma...>, Thomas Leonard wrote: > On 5/25/07, Tony Houghton <h...@re...> wrote: > > How about allowing entries in AppInfo.xml to set the file names used for > > an application's icon, executable and help instead of having them > > hardwired to .DirIcon, AppRun and Help? Certain programs I've written > > for Rox are also designed so that they can be used and/or installed in > > other environments, so I generally end up symlinking at least .DirIcon > > to some other file. > > Reading the AppInfo.xml file for each subdirectory sounds a bit slow, > but in general I agree with you: we need to separate programs from > their packaging, so that any program can be made available as a ROX > application as easily as possible. Doesn't it already read AppInfo.xml anyway, or does it only do so on demand when you hover over an app for its tooltip or open its Properties? If it's a problem, the AppInfo entries needn't deprecate the old system, but be more like the other way round: only read AppInfo.xml if there is no .DirIcon or AppRun. > Have you considered making a Zero Install feed for your program? That > will let you specify the "main" and "icon" attributes, which become > AppRun and .DirIcon if installed using AddApp or Zero2Bundle. I just don't really like 0install. -- TH * http://www.realh.co.uk |
From: Thomas L. <ta...@gm...> - 2007-05-25 18:30:48
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On 5/25/07, Tony Houghton <h...@re...> wrote: > In <cd5...@ma...>, Thomas Leonard wrote: > > Reading the AppInfo.xml file for each subdirectory sounds a bit slow, > > but in general I agree with you: we need to separate programs from > > their packaging, so that any program can be made available as a ROX > > application as easily as possible. > > Doesn't it already read AppInfo.xml anyway, or does it only do so on > demand It reads it on demand. > > Have you considered making a Zero Install feed for your program? That > > will let you specify the "main" and "icon" attributes, which become > > AppRun and .DirIcon if installed using AddApp or Zero2Bundle. > > I just don't really like 0install. That's not a very convincing argument ;-) What about it prevents it from doing what you want? -- Dr Thomas Leonard http://rox.sourceforge.net GPG: 9242 9807 C985 3C07 44A6 8B9A AE07 8280 59A5 3CC1 |