Details
Minor Description
The examples folder found in the top-level dir of the repo, was in the past installed alongside Jalview when Jalview application was installed within another folder.
The new installation methods are slightly different, and automatic updates of the application should also be considered.
For unix and windows, the application is installed into a single folder (defaulting to ~/opt/jalview and ~/AppData/Local/Jalview respectively).
The mechanism to add the examples folder into this Jalview dir has been added to the install4j configuration.
For macOS the installation is performed using the well-known (to mac users) and very easy DMG disk image drag and drop the application to the Applications symbolic link. macOS cleverly spots any new .app bundle application in the Applications folder and inspects the embedded Info.plist for file associations etc. The examples folder is hidden within the app deep down in Jalview.app/Contents/Resources/app/examples.
How do we make the examples folder more accessible to the user?
For a Windows installation the obvious way is to create a programme group called Jalview (this appears in the Start Menu as a folder). Within this programme group are the Jalview application launcher(s) and also a link (called Examples) to the examples folder.
For unix. Not sure. Should we assume unix users will be using the command line and so happy to access ~/opt/jalview/examples/ ? Perhaps.
install4j creates a .desktop file which appears in freedesktop compliant (e.g. KDE, Gnome) menus and can also be added to the user's desktop by the installer. Can install4j create a second .desktop file to point to the examples folder and put on the user's Desktop or in the menu?
For macOS. A symbolic link to /Applications/Jalview.app/Contents/Resources/app/examples/ could be put in the DMG Finder window, or even just a copy of the Examples folder itself, which could then be drag-copied to user space.
Then there's the question of keeping the examples folder up to date. The getdown method for this would not be ideal as getdown creates verification files for every file it downloads. These would clutter the examples folder and likely confuse some users. Do we need to keep it up to date?
Discuss.
The new installation methods are slightly different, and automatic updates of the application should also be considered.
For unix and windows, the application is installed into a single folder (defaulting to ~/opt/jalview and ~/AppData/Local/Jalview respectively).
The mechanism to add the examples folder into this Jalview dir has been added to the install4j configuration.
For macOS the installation is performed using the well-known (to mac users) and very easy DMG disk image drag and drop the application to the Applications symbolic link. macOS cleverly spots any new .app bundle application in the Applications folder and inspects the embedded Info.plist for file associations etc. The examples folder is hidden within the app deep down in Jalview.app/Contents/Resources/app/examples.
How do we make the examples folder more accessible to the user?
For a Windows installation the obvious way is to create a programme group called Jalview (this appears in the Start Menu as a folder). Within this programme group are the Jalview application launcher(s) and also a link (called Examples) to the examples folder.
For unix. Not sure. Should we assume unix users will be using the command line and so happy to access ~/opt/jalview/examples/ ? Perhaps.
install4j creates a .desktop file which appears in freedesktop compliant (e.g. KDE, Gnome) menus and can also be added to the user's desktop by the installer. Can install4j create a second .desktop file to point to the examples folder and put on the user's Desktop or in the menu?
For macOS. A symbolic link to /Applications/Jalview.app/Contents/Resources/app/examples/ could be put in the DMG Finder window, or even just a copy of the Examples folder itself, which could then be drag-copied to user space.
Then there's the question of keeping the examples folder up to date. The getdown method for this would not be ideal as getdown creates verification files for every file it downloads. These would clutter the examples folder and likely confuse some users. Do we need to keep it up to date?
Discuss.