Chrome Portable on read only device: Suppress read only warning - windows

I'm making a windows app for a client using Chrome in kiosk mode. They'd like to burn the project to CD. While this works fine with chrome portable on a read access device it doesn't with a read only device. A warning pops up asking to temporarily copy it to the local drive to run from there. Clicking yes allows the program to work but i'd like to suppress this as they won't want to see it every time. Is there a way for me suppress the warning or cache to the cd before it's burned?
I need to use chrome, not another portable browser. I could be being naive and they're may be a better option than using Portable apps chrome download.

I asked the same question on the Portable apps website and got this response. It worked great although take note of the distribution license.
Add a text file called GoogleChromePortable.ini in your GoogleChromePortable folder that says
[GoogleChromePortable]
RunLocally=true
this will make it copy the profile to the temp folder on the computer and run from there whether it's in read only place or not.
also notice Johns reminder in Pyromaniac's thread (http://portableapps.com/node/37168#comment-207403) - giving someone, especially a "customer" a copy of Google Chrome, Portable or otherwise, is illegal, don't do it.
Link to forum
http://portableapps.com/node/37164#comment-207482
I've investigated the license agreement and found this
21.2 Subject to the Terms, and in addition to the license grant in Section 9, Google grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable license to reproduce, distribute, install, and use Google Chrome solely on machines intended for use by your employees, officers, representatives, and agents in connection with your business entity, and provided that their use of Google Chrome will be subject to the Terms.
So legal as long as it's kept internal. Works great if anyone ever stumbles on this question. Chrome makes an awesome portabl app.

To get around user policies you can try a pretty software does what you want.
http://codecanyon.net/item/html5-2-desktop-app-converter/4527199
This uses chrome engine and creates kiosk like portable engine for your given URL or local files. It makes pages looking like windows application. Hope helps.
Note: I'm not the author :)

Here's a link to where I got something that worked for me.
In the Support section, there is a performance note that advices copying GoogleChromePortable.ini from the GoogleChromePortable\Other\Source directory to the GoogleChromePortable directory and editing it to set RunLocally=true in order to increase performance, well this sorts out the warning that pops up.
However take note of the privacy implications of doing this as also stated in the same section.
Hope this helps someone.

You could try Chromium (portable) which also includes chromedriver from chromium snapshots page. Pick one with the biggest number (scroll down):
https://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/chromium-browser-snapshots/index.html?prefix=Win_x64/

Related

Convert server-generated site to PhoneGap/Cordova app?

What's the lowest effort way to get a site with server-generated pages (in my case Laravel/PHP) running as a PhoneGap/Cordova app? I'd rather not have to convert the whole thing into a single page app before importing into PhoneGap/Cordova.
Is it possible to use PhoneGap/Cordova as a very thin wrapper and still load each page live from the server? And if so, how exactly please? I don't think we need any native phone APIs.
Reason for the whole thing is my client insists on "having an app" even though obviously our site will work in a mobile web browser and can have an icon on the user's phone.
Many thanks
Unfortunately for your app to pass Apple App store approval it will have to provide some basic functions and display correctly without an internet connection. This means at a minimum, if you plan to generate content on a server you will probably need the Cordova plugin for network information:
https://cordova.apache.org/docs/en/latest/reference/cordova-plugin-network-information/
I would make sure you are familiar with the Apple Human Interface Guidelines:
https://developer.apple.com/ios/human-interface-guidelines/overview/design-principles/
You will probably also need to bundle any JavaScript. Apple is very picky about apps that download code (this can include JavaScript).
This is a section from the iOS developer Agreement.
3.3.2 Except as set forth in the next paragraph, an Application may not download or install
executable code. Interpreted code may only be used in an Application if all scripts, code and
interpreters are packaged in the Application and not downloaded. The only exceptions to the
foregoing are scripts and code downloaded and run by Apple's built-in WebKit framework or
JavascriptCore, provided that such scripts and code do not change the primary purpose of the
Application by providing features or functionality that are inconsistent with the intended and
advertised purpose of the Application as submitted to the App Store.
The following is my opinion only
My fear is that if you go at it in a low effort way, best case you will fail app approval. Worst case it will leave users with a poor experience or worse, a poor image of your client. Do it properly and give the app some extra functions that you can't have in a browser alone. I would advise your client of this and see if they would like a proper app that engages their customers and provides them with a great experience.

Desktop application using Firefox WebExtensions

I am working on a XUL desktop application, where I use the browser tag and load a URL in that tag within the desktop application.
However, some websites display as old format and according to Mozilla, XUL is deprecated and will not be useable at the end of 2017. I want to build the application with the latest technology: WebExtensions.
I have searched many examples on the usage of WebExtensions, but all are working within the browser. Can I make a standalone desktop application just like XUL, but using WebExtensions?
If yes, then please give me some hints on how to get started.
If no, is any alternative for the same requirement available?
Webextensions are fairly limited in their scope. Even if there was an application runtime utilising them, you probably wouldn't get much use out of them due to the restrictive isolation from the host system.
Strictly speaking not webextensions, albeit very similar:
The Electron framework/runtime*
Someone at Mozilla is also working on an alternative dubbed "Positron"** though that software's future is uncertain and there is a chance he might abandon it for an entirely new, highly simplified project (at least that's what I gathered from my conversation with him on Github).
*http://electron.atom.io/
**https://github.com/mozilla/positron

Merge Mozilla Addon to Build

I am working on a few addons on Mozilla since this easier than manually editing the source code.
The bigger picture is to have a customized browser that I can share with my fellow geeks and friends.
Question:Is there a simple way to add an addon to a Mozilla build so that my users don't have to manually install the addons on their computer.Something like a pre-packaged Setup.exe. The Setup.exe needs to be fully independent and not requiring to have Mozilla pre-installed.
More info(Edited):
Another reason is I do not want them to have access to the addons ,
the addons shouuld be in the core of the browser.Hence, a user should
not be able to turn off or even know it is an addon but barely the
functionality of their browser X.
You may want to use Portable Firefox, make your customizations and share the folder with your friends.
http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable

Password protect uninstallation of Firefox Addon using SDK

Background to this problem: Within out company we are working on an add-on to help us do some nifty things. To make it easier to administer we would like to have a password required to at minimum remove the add-on, but probably also to disable it.
I've seen this achieved in for example Public Fox but this is non-sdk style add-on. So my question is if there's an easy way to do this using the SDK? I've looked through the docs but I haven't found anything, probably because I don't know what I'm looking for.
To anticipate the question "why not use that add-on as well?" I think it's enough of a hassle to make sure everyone has one add-on installed, let alone two.
If you want to lock users down, what you're really looking for is a deployment technique where your Firefox deployment installs your extension by default, and to an area of the hard drive that the user does not have write/delete access to. See the Mozilla Wiki for more details on ESR builds and enterprise deployments:
https://wiki.mozilla.org/Deployment:Deploying_Firefox#Firefox_Customization_.28CCK_and_Repackaging_Tools.29

iDisk-like features on Lion Server

The imminent death of iDisk is a bummer. I have used it for years to easily share files with clients without asking them to boot up their FTP software.
I am curious to know if there is a way to mimic iDisk's file sharing features through Lion Server. Specifically, the ability to share links to specific files and have them downloaded through a web browser. I miss the clean interface of iDisk through MobileMe.
I realize that there are third party providers like Dropbox and YouSendIt, but it would be nice to serve the files directly from our local server. I originally thought WebDav might be the answer, but it seems that's not the case.
You will have to install additional software to get that functionality. I've used and had good luck with Boxroom (http://boxroom.rubyforge.org/) but it requires Rails which may be too much work to install if you don't need it for anything else.
Searching for "open source php file manager" turns up a range of options which should work well on Lion as it has PHP already installed. I have also seen Java alternatives, some of which run on top of WebDAV, so it is probably best to start with the development language you are most comfortable with deploying and work from there.
Sorry I couldn't be more specific, my Mini is in transit so I haven't had direct experience with Lion server yet:)
Have a look at Storage Made Easy Mac client. It works a similar way to the original iDisk but also had sync capability. See: https://storagemadeeasy.com/MacCloudTools/ and https://storagemadeeasy.com/wiki/maccloudtools/. There is a native disk piece and also a sync like dropbox piece to the App.

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