Yes, I frequently create and distribute automator apps, some do not work on tiger because of using leopard specific features, one used the voice Alex, it does not work on tiger machines.
I am able to test this on a tiger machine if needed.
If you can make your source code available under an open source license like GPL (you keep copyright), we can test on Tiger and also make changes if bugs are found (i.e. do any required support).
We like the GPL because it ensures that if we make any changes to your code, we have to publish our changes and cannot make them proprietary.
While brushing my teeth this morning, I had an idea about how the server could supply changing paramaters to the app (it'll work for regular AppleScript apps, so presumably the same general method will work for Automator).
The base app is on the server, zipped up (it's a Mac app, so it needs to be zipped). When the server is ready to let the user download the app, it writes the various parameters ("authentication" or "session" keys, random/hashes) to a text file and adds that text file to the .zip file. User downloads and unzips the .zip and has an app and a small text file. User launches the app, and the app reads the various parameters from from the text file and begins the download. After a little while, the auth/session keys expire on the server, so that people who download the little app can't pass it around to everyone on the internet and let them bypass the donation request and mirror rotation, etc.
(If the server were an actual Mac, you could have it automatically compile the paramaters into the AppleScript app with osacompile before serving it for download, but my guess is that planamesa.com/neooffice.org aren't running Mac OS X Server )
I don't know how difficult the PHP/server-side stuff would be, but my hope is that it's not too difficult, as I've seen other download systems that do something broadly similar.
Smokey _________________ "[...] whether the duck drinks hot chocolate or coffee is irrelevant." -- ovvldc and sardisson in the NeoWiki
While brushing my teeth this morning, I had an idea about how the server could supply changing paramaters to the app (it'll work for regular AppleScript apps, so presumably the same general method will work for Automator).
The base app is on the server, zipped up (it's a Mac app, so it needs to be zipped). When the server is ready to let the user download the app, it writes the various parameters ("authentication" or "session" keys, random/hashes) to a text file and adds that text file to the .zip file. User downloads and unzips the .zip and has an app and a small text file. User launches the app, and the app reads the various parameters from from the text file and begins the download. After a little while, the auth/session keys expire on the server, so that people who download the little app can't pass it around to everyone on the internet and let them bypass the donation request and mirror rotation, etc.
This is roughly what Ed and I were thinking of. You can save Automator as either a workflow or application. Both are directories and both contain a text file with the actual actions to perform. Our PHP code would replace a variable or other string in the text file and then create a zip file of the base data. The user would need to unzip the downloaded zip file, but once they do that, they can just double-click on the Automator application in the zip file.
sardisson wrote:
(If the server were an actual Mac, you could have it automatically compile the paramaters into the AppleScript app with osacompile before serving it for download, but my guess is that planamesa.com/neooffice.org aren't running Mac OS X Server )
Sorry, all of our servers are FreeBSD servers residing in a data center. They are monitor-less machines that are accessible only by ssh.
sardisson wrote:
I don't know how difficult the PHP/server-side stuff would be, but my hope is that it's not too difficult, as I've seen other download systems that do something broadly similar.
Replacing strings in files and zipping files is easy to do in scripts.
Hmmm. I must have messed something up as I wrote a short PM but since there is nothing in my Outbox or Sentbox, it is pretty obvious that I never sent it.
Anyway, the gist of the PM is if you send us the workflow as a zip file attachment to e-mail at donationsupport at neooffice dot org, you be be assured that both Ed and I will get it. Ed can look at the Automator code and I can look at how to splice it into our website.
Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 7:02 pm Post subject: Sorry About the Delay
I've finally got it, I was unfortunately delayed, however I have tested it and it works well. I am just running it once more to make sure everything is all right. I will email the zipped app shortly- how do I license under GPL?
Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 8:12 pm Post subject: Re: Sorry About the Delay
rab777hp wrote:
I've finally got it, I was unfortunately delayed, however I have tested it and it works well. I am just running it once more to make sure everything is all right. I will email the zipped app shortly- how do I license under GPL?
I would just include a plain text file in your zip file called LICENSE.txt or something similar and copy the GPL version 2 or 3 (whichever you prefer) text into that file from the following website:
In addition. You may want to include a COPYRIGHT.txt file that has a one line that says you own the copyright and you have released it under GPL version 2 or 3 (whichever you picked) and the (this is important) full text of the license is in the included LICENSE.txt file.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You cannot attach files in this forum You cannot download files in this forum
