Re: [Pharo-users] PharoLauncher howto (was: SimplePersistence ...)

[btc]

Thats a great write up Torsten.  A couple of comments inline. Torsten Bergmann wrote: Norbert wrote: How do you use it? I’ve just downloaded but failed to see how I can work with it. Warning: ======= Note that PharoLauncher is a project still in progress - I think Damien can tell you more about all the nice stuff. I just contributed some code and use it daily now. But lets continue with a short HOWTO (from my personal experience): -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PharoLauncher HOWTO: ==================== Before ====== I'm typically on Windows - in the past I had several folders with images everywhere on my HD. Sometimes with the VM, sometimes without. Lots of image searching as you can imagine. How I installed it: =================== So I downloaded a VM from http://files.pharo.org/vm/pharo/ and the latest ZIP with image and changes from [1] https://ci.inria.fr/pharo-contribution/job/PharoLauncher/ I also put the source file into the same directory which I copied from the regular Pharo distro. All lives in one directory. There is also [2] https://ci.inria.fr/pharo-contribution/job/PharoLauncherFinalUserImage which is manually triggered at feature stable milestones.  [1] is more of a work in progress. I also use Linux boxes, for Ubuntu follow: http://www.pharo-project.org/pharo-download/ubuntu to get the launcher. Note that this currently will install an old image, so you have to load newer packages afterwards in the image or exchange the image. Installation will surely be simplified in the future. Its on my ToDo to work on an installer for Windows.  Damien has already done one for Mac. [3] [3] https://ci.inria.fr/pharo-contribution/job/PharoLauncher-Mac-Package/ How I use it ============ Just launch the Pharo launcher image using the platform specific VM. Usually for "end user experience" the launcher opens in full world mode - so you see no Pharo background/world menu - only the launcher. Initially on a new computer the left side with local images is empty. On the right side are the images that are available on the web. Note that there are refresh buttons at the top of the list. Click "Refresh" in the right list to fetch all available images from the web. Select the image you like and download it. For instance you can download "Pharo3.0" -> "30587" which is the latest image as of today. Note that also the images from contribution CI are available. So you can easily download "Artefact", "Moose", ... images if you like. It will download the image into a specific directory somewhere in your users home directory. Each image gets an own folder. Use the "Show in folder" menu item if you want to open this location (may not yet work on all platforms) After download you can either "Launch" the image from the context menu in the right list. This will open the new image and close the launcher image. So you are ready to start working. What I do typically do is to "Copy" the image BEFORE I do any work and name it differently like "30587-MyStuff". Then I Launch the new copy and work with it, later throw it away or try that loading after commits works within new fresh images, ... To generate a fresh image, an alternative is to look in "Templates > Local."  This holds all the downloaded Template images in virgin form.  Now === My HD is now much cleaner - all images are in a central place and I need only one icon/starter on the desk to open. PharoLauncher is also a very handy tool to download specific image update versions if you want to reproduce or fix Pharo bugs. I also associated one of the unused laptop keys with PharoLauncher - so the world of Smalltalk is just one click away... Thats cool.    Is that specific to your laptop? My alternative was doing "Pin to Start Menu" from the context menu on Pharo.exe in the Launcher directory. Things to know: =============== At the bottom there is a button to open a settings browser with specific settings for PharoLauncher. There is an option that enables the IDE again - so you can inspect the code or fix a bug. If it does not launch on your box then set a break in PhLImage>>launch to debug. Also note that it does not fit with the "Save as" image style - since each launcher image has to be in a new directory so far. So either use the "Copy" image, then "Launch" and then only "Save" in the target image or copy the "Saved as" image in a new folder and refresh the Launcher view on the right side. Using "Templates > Local" might solve this.  I find no problems working with saved images.  Hmmm... you got me thinking... An interesting feature would be right-clicking on an item in the "Image" pane and having a context menu item "Re-create original as new" When you develop for it ======================= Either use the latest image from CI and enable the IDE as written before. You can also download the latest also in a Pharo 3.0 image. Just use the ConfigurationOfPharoLauncher from http://smalltalkhub.com/#!/~Pharo/PharoLauncher Then evaluate "PharoLauncher open". It should also be available in the World Menu. cheers -ben Currently it was rewritten using Spec for the UI, also all the actions are rewritten using Command Pattern so you can extend the buttons, menues if you like. Hope this helps a little bit Bye T.