We have a very basic web application which uses AJAX to pull data from XML files for a simple autocomplete and search script.
Our client wants to distribute this application on CDROM to their clients rather than running from the web.
Basically all we really need is a way to wrap these html, xml, js & css files into executables that will work on Windows, Mac & Linux. Basically the user should just need to run the one file to load the application into a typical desktop window.
We have investigated the following:
Titanium Desktop SDK - we received errors when packaging to linux & mac distributables. Also, the Windows distribution requires an install process which we want to avoid. The user should just be able to run the file directly from the CD without needing to install anything on their Desktop.
Zinc 4.0 - using the HTML wrapper resulted in an executable similar to what we need - but only for Windows. Also, the rendering engine used seems to lack support for transparencies which interferes with our design.
Stunnix Advanced Web Server - We really want something that doesn't require installations, or the startup of a bunch of extra services.
Mirabyte DiscStarter - Only supports windows and like Zinc, seems to use an old IE rendering engine without support for transparencies.
What we really need to know is there anything that can simply "wrap" a basic AJAX app to enable it to be run cross-platform on desktops without internet access?
If you include just the HTML file, when someone clicks on it, that local copy will open instantly in their browser.
If you needed to, you could open a separate window using JavaScript which contains that HTML page, that way it has it's own window.
You can create a desktop application built with HTML/CSS/Javascript using either of the following two frameworks
TideSDK
AppJS
Related
Is there way to run web application as standalone desktop application? Could be web application written using PHP, MySQL and Apache converted to standalone application which meets following requirements:
1. Application should be called as http://myapp.localhost.
2. Application should have desktop icon which directly opens browser with application's URL.
3. Source code of web application should be hidden from users.
4. Installation for end user must be as easy as possible.
Now I do steps 1-2 using xampp and manually creating shortcut. I was interested in some wrapper, installer which do above steps automatically. But I have no idea about 3rd step.
Regarding item 3, see Can you "compile" PHP code?. This would allow you to develop in PHP and deploy the application via an installer.
There are several installer packages which would allow you to automate these steps, depending on your development environment.
PHP and MySQL require to have a web server running. That means you will need to copy the code over to the client's machine and then run the web server locally still on the client's machine.
If that's what you want, look into the Microsoft IIS Express (here).
In short, IIS is a web server that can host and run a server side web application, written in ASP.NET or PHP.
Here are the steps you need to take:
Install IIS express on the client's machine (one-time process, and I think quite acceptable - treat this as a runtime installation).
Create a designated (hidden) folder for the source files of the web application that you want to deploy (one-time process).
Create a windows batch file (bat or cmd) that starts the IIS (as described here) and then opens the website's URL so that the default browser starts. This file will serve as a shortcut, so you can place it on the desktop or wherever appropriate (one-time process).
Deploy your web application to the hidden folder from step 2 above (repetitive process - deploy to the same folder when you want to upgrade the clients to a new version).
Please have in mind that I am basing my suggestion on your requirement to host and run the application locally (on localhost).
However, if there's an option to run the application on a separate machine (not a localhost), then you could simply place a desktop shortcut to the network or internet address URL that would open the default browser without problems.
i would suggest Pouchdb http://pouchdb.com/api.html and Adobe Air http://www.adobe.com/devnet/air/air-sdk-download.edu.html. This way you can code with html and javascript and package it with Adobe Air.
I'm afraid it's not that simple.
If you want to use this approach (and I highly discourage it), you will have to deploy a webserver of some sorts on the client. You should be able to run the Apache/IIS Express and MySQL/SQLite executable and start a simple webserver and database.
If you'd also like a icon, you can create an installer that creates this icon and points to the URL you wish.
I'm afraid that's not possible. PHP is and always will be a scripting language. You might be able to obfuscate it somehow, but anyone who can download your application will be able to de-obfuscate it.
Again, you can create an installer. Inno Setup is pretty good from what I've heard.
I need to write an application that can detect if the "Bing - Get me there" application is installed on the current phone and if so, launch it.
Is this possible? The app would need to do this for other external applications as well, so a generic method or interface for this would be helpful.
Applications run in a sandbox on Windows Phone and there is no way to tell if other applications are installed unless you are writing both of them and you use a method to announce to other applications that you are installed and they know how to read that announcement.
2 approaches to such announcements would be:
Have both (all) apps synchronise with a web server and report which devices they have been installed on. The apps can the query which other apps have been installed on that device.
Have all apps write a file to a location where all apps can access. The only place to do this is the PicturesLibrary so you have to embed the identifier in the name of the image or in its contents and be able to query all images to identify the other installed apps. The user could manually delete any images you create in this way though.
Beware, neither method can tell if the other app has subsequently been uninstalled though so this is far from foolproof.
As far as I know, there's no way to do that.
Applications on Windows Phone run in complete isolation, and can not act with other applications, other than some highly specialized apps (i.e. for playing media).
I have a ActiveX control hosting a flash-player which is in turn running a flash file trying to access data from a web-address.
In an old Windows Application version of my application everything works fine and the flash file is able to access the web-content.
However, in a newer Console Appliction version of the application it can no longer access the web-content.
Any ideas what might be causing this? Is there some kind of difference between a Windows Application and a Console application in terms of security/permissions that might affect an ActiveX hosted flash-player?
I'm using Windows 7.
First of all - how did you manage to get an ActiveX into a console application? :) I think ax needs window handles and all such things...
Anyways, there are different kinds of sandboxes from the Flash player perspective, what you are seeing is the "local not trusted" kind. In order to "trust" the SWF that issues the request you would need to use this page to confirm that the location where SWF comes from can communicate to the internet.
Doing so may be a hindrance for the user, but if this is the case, you could write the trust files on your own. Example
I have a c project built into a .webplugin that works when I install it manually (i.e. copy it to the Library/Internet Plug-Ins folder) but how do I get this to users who visit the web site most expediently? From my investigation it sounds like one must build an installer that a user must download (as with flash, quicktime).
-Is there any way for it to install via the browser (Safari) as Activex controls do in IE?
-If I must build an installer, how would I begin?
-If I must use an installer, is there any way to detect if the plugin is already installed so that I can prompt the user accordingly?
Thanks very, very much for your time. This has been such a thorn in my side!
Is there any way for it to install via the browser (Safari) as Activex controls do in IE?
No. IE no longer supports this behavior for ActiveX anyway, as allowing any web site to install software on a user's computer is a massive security vulnerability.
Note in general that requiring an Internet Plugin to view your site will end up turning away a lot of viewers. Unless your web application has some really unusual needs, I'd question whether this is necessary -- JavaScript is capable of some really impressive things nowadays.
If I must build an installer, how would I begin?
Start here: PackageMaker User Guide (Mac OS X Developer Library)
If I must use an installer, is there any way to detect if the plugin is already installed so that I can prompt the user accordingly?
If you build an installer using PackageMaker, I believe the installer will detect this situation automatically.
I need to create Solution Architechure for Windows Mobile and have following queries:
My application is like a service that will start in phone startup and that should run in background and have no UI (this is not a problem). I am using third party dlls (with source code) in my project. Does windows mobile have any problem of loading dlls when we put the application in start-up? If yes, should I include all souce code in my application (may be in AppCode folder)?
If I include all third party source code in application, my application executable size will be bigger. Will bigger size executable cause problem (slow mobile on startup or simply hang) if I put my application in start-up?
I have seen this video regarding starting applications quickly but seems that it does not apply to my case as my application does not have UI.
How should I create structure of my application such that loading application as service in start up will not have any issues?
Apps launched from the Startup folder actually launch pretty late - well after the shell is up. So no, there are no issues with launching from there. There are no problems with loading DLLs eitehr so you can put the library code in your app or leave it as a library - it makes no difference.