Re: [Wrapper-user] New JSWConf uploaded

[Leif M. <le...@ta...>]

David,
    Just downloaded and tried it out.   You have been making progress.

    For the documentation.  I had been been envisioning something much 
simpler for you to
implement.  It would require that you be online.  But if you use a URL 
connection to download
the content of a particular page then set it as the text of a JLabel, 
Java should format and
display the page for you.   There is probably an even simpler way to do 
this which would
allow the user to browse within the label.  I have seen it done in other 
applications.  You
would basically have a mini browser within your swing application.

    When I tried it out on one of my configuration files, some comments 
were being
interpreted as commented properties.  I think you are looking for an "=" 
in the comment
to decide it if it a comment or not.
    The following breaks with this logic:

# Workaround to keep AXIS from causing an error in Jetty on shutdown.
#  
http://servlets.com/archive/servlet/ReadMsg?msgId=491165&listName=jetty-support
wrapper.java.additional.9=-Dorg.mortbay.jetty.servlet.AbstractSessionManager.24SessionDestroyed=TRUE

    Are you handling include files?  It doesn't appear so:
#include ../../myapp-data/wrapper-server.conf

    Could you start shipping jar files that include version numbers?  It 
will be helpful to
you when users ask questions.   JSWConf-0.2.jar


    This is a big bit of constructive criticism.  So sorry in advance.  
:-)  From what you said
originally, it sounds like the point of creating this application 
originally was to placate users
who are scared off by the wrapper.conf file.  They are used to GUIs to 
configure the
application.
    Such users are used to a tab dialog to perform all of their 
configurations.

    Currently, this application simply shows the properties in an 
unstructured format
which is very similar to the original wrapper.conf text file.   As a 
user however, I do
not see the benefit of using this application rather than simply editing 
the original
text file.  I still have to hunt for and understand the configurations 
before I can make
any changes.

    Ideally, I would love to see a tab-based dialog which would show the 
users a series
of text fields, list boxes, and radio buttons which would guide the user 
through the
configuration of the wrapper.

    Possible tabs could include:
JVM:
java command, JVM arguments, log level to show the generated java command
wrapper.java.command
wrapper.java.command.loglevel
wrapper.java.additional.n

Java application:
Classpath and parameters.
Maybe have a top level list box that would let the user choose the 
integration method
1, 2, or 3.  It would then help hide the common mistakes with the meaning of
wrapper.java.mainclass in each of these cases.   You could also provide 
easy to understand
fields for the configuration of each integration method.
Ie there is no reason to let the user see or have to configure the 
mainclass when
WrapperSimpleApp or WrapperStartStopApp are used.  When WrapperStartStopApp
is used, the user should also not have to specify the start and stop 
argument counts
manually.
wrapper.java.classpath.n
wrapper.java.mainclass
wrapper.app.parameters.n

Logging:
List boxes, and groups for the configuration of logfile, event log, and 
console log levels.

Service:
Configuration of the service.

Advanced:
One or more tabs for more advanced configuration settings.

wrapper.log:
Provide a tab which contains a text editor where the user can manually 
edit the underlying
wrapper.log file.  It would be a standard text editor showing the as is 
contents of the
text file.  It could be read only.  But allowing the user to make 
changes that are then
reflected in the other tabs would be ideal.  This would also let the 
user continue to
use the application even if all wrapper properties are not fully 
supported by the tab
based GUI.  This could be used in place of the Advanced tab.

The Help documentation would probably take on a new meaning as the user 
would
no longer be modifying the properties directly

This would be quite a bit more work.  And is a divergence from what you 
have been
working on.  But I think it would be quite a bit more useful to users in 
general.
This is something that has been on my todo list for years.  But I have 
never found the
time to make any progress on it.  :-)   If you are not interested, I am 
still hoping to get
around to this at some point.

Cheers,
Leif

David Days wrote:
> Sorry---forgot to change the subject on that one.  Should have been "New 
> JSWConf uploaded."
>
> Leif and Friends,
>   
>>     I've uploaded the next version of the JSWConf tool.  It can be 
>> downloaded at the following URL:
>>
>>     http://www.tdcs.cc/apps/jswconf/JSWConf.jar
>>
>>     to use, simply enter (sans quotations) "java -jar JSWConf.jar".
>>     (The JavaWebStart file is at the same location, but for some reason, 
>> the new features don't work.  I'm trying to figure that one out.)
>>
>> Here are the changes, features, bugs, next steps, etc.
>>
>> Features:
>>     --Documentation (incomplete but there):  When a known setting is 
>> selected, the basic documentation from the website is displayed.  
>> Otherwise, either a "coming soon" type message or "No documentation 
>> found." is displayed.
>>     --Adding "available" settings:  the "Add Setting" dialog now has a 
>> combo-box at the top that lists the remaining settings (the ones not 
>> included in the wrapper.conf file yet).  Selecting a setting in the 
>> combo will fill out the setting field.  (You still have to enter the 
>> value yourself.)  When you next add a setting, note that the list is 
>> decreased appropriately.
>>           --Side note:  You still must change <n> settings to the 
>> appropriate numerical order (e.g.  java.classpath.<n> must be changed to 
>> 1,2,etc as appropriate.)
>>  
>> Bugs/Issues/General ugliness:
>>     --Documentation is incomplete.  Basically, I copied the 
>> documentation from the website and pasted it into a 
>> java.util.Properties-formatted file (adding appropriate html).  This is 
>> slow, and takes a lot of time.  Only the first 15-20 settings are 
>> documented.  I'll try to add more as time goes along
>>     --Documentation setup:  In order to keep the whole thing compact (a 
>> single, deliverable JAR file), I had to include the documentation file 
>> in a single file (located in package com.tdcs.jswconf.opt, in case you 
>> are wondering.)  It works, but I'm open to other ways of making this 
>> happening...especially if it would make a collaborative effort easier.
>>     --Layout is rather ugly.  I'll keep playing with it, but suggestions 
>> would be appreciated.
>>     --As I said, the Java WebStart is not working.  For some reason, 
>> it's failing to find the documentation file within the jar, and I can't 
>> figure out why (It was throwing a NullPointerException for no apparent 
>> reason, so I had to trap it with a try-catch just to keep it from 
>> killing the whole dialog.  Anyone have any idea why this is so?
>>
>> Next steps:
>>     --Better layout!
>>     --Dividing the documentation and "available" properties into 
>> appropriate groups.
>>     --Getting help.  Documentation is slow, and I know that I'm not the 
>> sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to some of the "cooler" GUI 
>> tricks (I'm more of a server-side man, myself).  I've applied for a 
>> project at java.net, but I haven't gotten approval yet.  If I can't get 
>> it set up there, I'll host it on my own site (no CVS, unfortunately) and 
>> fold in the updates myself.
>>
>>     Let me know what you think, and we'll see where we can go from 
>> here.  As always, feel free to fire those slings and arrows, and I'll 
>> see what I can do.
>>
>> David Days.
>>