[PD] RE : Plugin auto install feature to Pure data

[fls at rendera.com.br]

I'm not used with TCL Tk but my guess it that it should be enough. In
linux wget + tar + shell script can solve it. I don't know how portable is
a solution like this.

The PHP + SQL was just a suggestion of a tool to update the repository.
Nothing about PD.

About the dependencies, if the external uses only the ANSI C API, it will
not be a problem. It is more confuse if it uses some special lib that
should be installed with the external. As I would not like to install
automatically a new library in my machine, I think the plugin descriptor
can has a field called instruction where the author can specify how to
install the dependencies. And that's it.

cheers

f schiavoni


> Hello, that's a quite interesting subject I've been thinking about for pdx
> since a time, thank you for the contribution... like you said it might be
> complicated to resolve all dependences required by an external, so I think
> that adding other dependences like php sql or json would make it even more
> complicated... Why not just using the native client interpreted langage,
> TCL-TK? With the help of a command line like wget included with the tcl
> script and a bunch of pkg files that should be enough, wouldn't it?
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -------- Message d'origine --------
> De : fls at rendera.com.br
> Date : 03/02/2013  20:22  (GMT+00:00)
> A : pd-list at iem.at
> Objet : [PD] Plugin auto install feature to Pure data
>
> Hi list
>
> I would like to write before but unfortunately I couldn't. Some weeks ago
> people started to talk about the development of some auto install
> mechanism to Pure Data, like the apt-get. It is an amazing idea. I
> researched and developed some thing like it to my master degree and I
> would like to contrib with my 3 cents.
>
> I studied the plugin structure of Netbeans, Eclipse, Fire Fox, deb and rpm
> and my contribution is about it. Sorry if I am a little bit prolix.
>
> The first thing is to create a plugin package. A a single file to group a
> lot of files. It can be a zip package, tar, gzip or anything that already
> has some C open source API to pack / unpack. This way we can upload /
> download a single file and extract it localy. I will call it the package.
>
> Inside the package is necessary to have a package descriptor. It can be a
> XML file, CSV, txt, JSON or any kind of structured file to describe the
> content of the package. This file should have the information about the
> plugin like the author, version, website, license, OS, dependencies,
> compatibility with PD "flavors" (vanilla, extended, Lork ....),
> pre-installation script, post-installation script, uninstall script, key
> words, ...
>
> Pre and post installation script are used to create SQL tables, files or
> other things. Maybe it is not useful in PD. Uninstall script should clean
> the mess if you want to remove a plugin. Dependencies is a complex problem
> because it should care about libraries and circular dependencies. Maybe it
> is the hardest problem to solve.
>
> These two things will define the PD plugin: The package file and the
> plugin descriptor inside the package. The package structure should be
> defined as a standard. So we should agree, for example, about the name of
> the descriptor, the folder where the plugin will be and the name of the
> package file. Probably a package file can be the name of the
> external.version.something.pd_pkg.
>
> In PD we should have a list of installed plugins. It can be a directory
> with all the plugin descriptors. The user might be able to install new
> plugins manually. It means a local file in my machine that I choose. PD
> will open the package, copy the content to the correct folders and copy
> the descriptor the the correct folder. The uninstall option will do the
> oposite, delete the plugin descriptor and delete the plugin files.
>
> To update from the web, a plugin repository need to be defined. The client
> should have a list of repositories address. (It is good because different
> flavors can have their own plugin repositories and the users can choose
> which one they want to use.)
>
> The plugin server can be implemented with a HTTP server. It will publish
> the list of available plugins on the server. This list can be the list of
> package descriptors in a tar / zip file. Locally, PD will keep these
> lists, one for each server, and it will be used to look for new plugins.
> Add a new server means add the server to the repositories list and
> download the plugin list of the new server.
>
> Since PD has a list of local installed plugins, if you want to check for
> updates PD compares the servers plugin lists with your local list. Easy
> task. Different versions should can be shown and the user would be able to
> choose what to update. These descriptors can be useful also to search for
> plugins by author, version, key words, versions, ...
>
> Update a plugin means to create a list of update, download the packages to
> a temp directory and install them locally.
>
> Just to step foward, the server can have a web interface with some PHP
> programming, for instance, that automatically update a package, extract
> the descriptor, put it in the correct folder and put the plugins in the
> correct folder. Just to be easier to maintenance.
>
> Another tool can help developers to pack. Since I did a new plugin I can
> select the folder, fill a form with the meta-data and the tool will create
> the package automatically.
>
> That's it. Sorry if I wrote too much.
>
> cheers
>
> f schiavoni
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Pd-list at iem.at mailing list
> UNSUBSCRIBE and account-management ->
> http://lists.puredata.info/listinfo/pd-list
>