Online Package Manager

[lainz]

Hi I sent you 2 new packages by PM.

[rvk]

Maybe it's a good idea to add a submission form to the manager (or one somewhere online) from where you get a uniform request for adding a package or updating one. The required json could even be generated through that so that you would only need to review the request before adding it.

Otherwise you'll get a lot of request in a lot of different ways.

[lainz]

It's a good idea. The form can send you an email with the details. I think is better to add it to the package manager to ensure at least is a Lazarus programmer that sends the request. Spammers will be less, not zero but less.

Edit: The package BGRA Controls I sent you is OK
https://github.com/bgrabitmap/bgracontrols/releases/download/v4.3.1/bgra_controls_431.zip

but the BGRA Controls FX I sent you is now outdated, you need to get it from here:
https://github.com/bgrabitmap/bgracontrolsfx/releases/download/v0.1.4/bgra_controls_fx_014.zip

Edit2: The package bgrabitmap that's in the repository has the wrong category, it must be Graphics.

[balazsszekely]

@wp
Thanks! Tomorrow I will add packages to the main repository. I have a question though: when you modify something in one of the packages you replace the zip file? I would like to know if the download link stays the same(this is true on github).

@rvk
Good idea! I' m skeptical though about the large number of request.    I will go with an FTP server because in order to send mails the user must install OpenSSL library.

@lainz
Congratulation! You're the first one who submits two valid packages. You forget the download links though:
https://github.com/bgrabitmap/bgracontrolsfx/archive/master.zip
https://github.com/bgrabitmap/bgracontrols/archive/master.zip

Is the package creation form intuitive? How can we improve it?

The package bgrabitmap that's in the repository has the wrong category, it must be Graphics.

Thanks! The category is not displayed correctly in the three. I will fix it soon.

[molly]

Congratulation! You're the first one who submits two valid packages. You forget the download links though:
https://github.com/bgrabitmap/bgracontrolsfx/archive/master.zip
https://github.com/bgrabitmap/bgracontrols/archive/master.zip

Not wanting to play a party pooper there but, how do you know master is in fact the (stable) release of those packages ?

Different people uses different git-flows, e.g. one uses master as development branch and use release tags, others let master be the latest (stable) release.

[lainz]

Yes I use the GitHub releases to mark a stable release.

Master by default is the work in progress for these two packages.

A link to the releases page will be OK, not directly to any file.

Bgrabitmap is the same. But uses source forge. The releases in GitHub are for lazpaint only.

The creation of the package was easy. I need to copy my GitHub repository to an other folder to avoid the .git folder being included in the zip file.

[balazsszekely]

@molly
Not wanting to play a party pooper there but, how do you know master is in fact the release of those packages ?

I don't, but the package developer does know I suppose  . The user will decide if he/she updates the package from the external link or use the default one from the main repository. By the way multiple version of the same package is also allowed.

Did you test it @molly? Feedback is welcome.

[molly]

Did you test it @molly? Feedback is welcome.

I have now 

At first sight things are looking good and polished (it is a form of art so, worth to mention).

The two things that annoyed me (sorry, there is no way for me to tell it more gently).
1) if i press right mouse button to view the json file, i seem unable to 'return' to the initial packager view. All things i tried (click close, escape etc) closes the window (which is not what i wanted).

2) i chose to automatically extract the package, which automatically seems to popup a windows explorer window at the location where the package was extracted. I absolutely most definitely despise those windows popping up as i do not use Windows explorer _ever_ (which is more my personal problem ofc.) :-)

For 1, it needs a solution in the end (unless i missed something obvious) for 2 i would be in your debt in case there is a possibility to prevent that from happening.


In case not already having considered, i would have expected the download location to be part of the options inside the online package manager. At least don't let me start selecting a directory from my computer top-level but in user dir or lazarus dir (i usually install my packages alongside lazarus install dir for lazarus 1.7 series).

After i managed to convince my firewall that lazarus indeed requires some internet access (all requesters before that worked splendid as far as i am able to tell) the list was populated with about 8 packages. The treeview is easy to view and works as expected.

Downloading and extracting seems to have worked like a breeze, at least i did not encounter any issues.

Question: I assume (?) that you also add support for installing the packages, in which case the question pops up: what if i already installed packages manually ? would the online package manager be able to detect that and not try to install the same package twice ?

There are many of such questions that comes to mind but, i promised to keep myself out of things until things become more stable for you. There is no point in speculating until things become more clear for you and you have set a more definitive goal for yourself. Especially because "i want it all, and i want it now" (think electrical guitars and high pitched voices ;-) )

I have to congratulate you on your progress, as things that work seem to work as expected for me. In that regards never mind my encountered annoyances. Most probably you are aware of them already anyways.

Thank you for your hard work on this and actually realizing something that should have been done/implemented ages ago.

edit:
Oh, i almost forgot. If no package selected, download button is active. Dunno how hard it would be for virtualTV to determine number of selected items, otherwise can be solved adding a counter at onclick event/on check event and only activate download button when items are actually selected ? Would imho be better than the nice message box you now show

[shobits1]

What does `available since` means?? (confused)
does it mean when the package has first seen on the server OR it is the update date for updated packages.

[frakno]

@molly
1) if i press right mouse button to view the json file, i seem unable to 'return' to the initial packager view. All things i tried (click close, escape etc) closes the window (which is not what i wanted).

Have you tried   right click  -> hide json ????

that works great

[balazsszekely]

@molly
Thank you for testing!

The two things that annoyed me (sorry, there is no way for me to tell it more gently).
1) if i press right mouse button to view the json file, i seem unable to 'return' to the initial packager view. All things i tried (click close, escape etc) closes the window (which is not what i wanted).

Right click again on the JSON memo, a menu should pop up with "Hide JSON" item. This feature was introduced for debugging purposes, I will probably remove it at the end.

2. 2) i chose to automatically extract the package, which automatically seems to popup a windows explorer window at the location where the package was extracted. I absolutely most definitely despise those windows popping up as i do not use Windows explorer _ever_ (which is more my personal problem ofc.) :-)

Interestingly enough other people like this feature, but I understand your point. You will be able to set the default behaviour in the options. It's not yet implemented.

In case not already having considered, i would have expected the download location to be part of the options inside the online package manager. At least don't let me start selecting a directory from my computer top-level but in user dir or lazarus dir (i usually install my packages alongside lazarus install dir for lazarus 1.7 series).

Under linux, osx the lazarus install dir sometimes is read only.

Question: I assume (?) that you also add support for installing the packages, in which case the question pops up: what if i already installed packages manually ? would the online package manager be able to detect that and not try to install the same package twice ?

I will answer with a screenshot.

I have to congratulate you on your progress, as things that work seem to work as expected for me. In that regards never mind my encountered annoyances. Most probably you are aware of them already anyways.
Thank you for your hard work on this and actually realizing something that should have been done/implemented ages ago.

Thank you!

Oh, i almost forgot. If no package selected, download button is active. Dunno how hard it would be for virtualTV to determine number of selected items, otherwise can be solved adding a counter at onclick event/on check event and only activate download button when items are actually selected ? Would imho be better than the nice message box you now show

It would be trivial to implement, not very high on the priority list, but I will do it.

@shobits1
What does `available since` means?? (confused)
does it mean when the package has first seen on the server OR it is the update date for updated packages.

When the package has first seen on the server.

[wp]

@wp
Thanks! Tomorrow I will add packages to the main repository. I have a question though: when you modify something in one of the packages you replace the zip file? I would like to know if the download link stays the same(this is true on github).

I must confess that I did not follow this thread in detail. Your remark indicates that you need a zip file for the Package Manager. This may be a problem. Much of the work that I put into ccr is work in progress, and I only rarely update the released zip files. When I do I will always add a version number to keep the history. The download link, therefore, will change. But of course I could provide a copy of the current release under a standard name, i.e. the current release of fpspreadsheet (fpspreadsheet-1.6.2.zip) could be provided also as fpspreadsheet.zip, or fpspreadsheet-release.zip.

As far as I know SourceForge svn does not create snapshots of the development versions in the individual source folders. So, there is not explicit zip snapshot of the current trunk version of, e.g., fpspreadsheet. There is one big snapshot but it contains the entire ccr repository.

[balazsszekely]

As far as I know SourceForge svn does not create snapshots of the development versions in the individual source folders. So, there is not explicit zip snapshot of the current trunk version of, e.g., fpspreadsheet. There is one big snapshot but it contains the entire ccr repository.

This is exactly what I'm looking for(explicit snapshot of the current trunk).
I believe I found the link(ex: color palette): https://sourceforge.net/code-snapshots/svn/l/la/lazarus-ccr/svn/lazarus-ccr-svn-5294.zip

ps: No! You're right, it's the entire ccr repository.
ps1:

But of course I could provide a copy of the current release under a standard name, i.e. the current release of fpspreadsheet (fpspreadsheet-1.6.2.zip) could be provided also as fpspreadsheet.zip, or fpspreadsheet-release.zip.

That would be helpful. Thanks! On github things are much easier.

[molly]

Have you tried   right click  -> hide json ????

that works great

Right click again on the JSON memo, a menu should pop up with "Hide JSON" item. This feature was introduced for debugging purposes, I will probably remove it at the end.

Oops. I completely overlooked that one 

Thank you both for showing me my own stupidity 

Edit:
@GetMem:
Thank you for your answers, i can live with those given Extremely thank you for the screenshot, as that answers some other questions i had as well 

[lainz]

The server containing the repository needs something special? Edit (Seems that not).

Because if not (for example is just a json and zip files) you can use GitHub: create a new git repository and use it as website with github pages, then you can upload new packages using tortoisegit or your favourite tool and the changes are automatic.

You can add trusted users that will contribute uploading packages too for that repository. In fact will be better to create a github organization and manage user groups from that place.

In fact you can use your existing github account and repository, just add a new branch that will contain the packages.

If you need help just ask.-