"Site Specific Browser" included with DHIS2 Live?

Knut_Staring · 22 April 2010 16:32

Given that DHIS2 runs best in Chrome (especially the Mapping module),
and also ok in Firefox, it might be a good idea to make sure people
have access to one of these browsers.

One way to do that is to package things with Prism (Firefox) or Chrome
(or Fluid for Mac http://fluidapp.com/\)

What do you guys think?

Knut

jason · 22 April 2010 18:35

I think it should probably be a blueprint and I think it is a good idea.

It is certainly a problem on many machines I have encounterd in the
field. We need to install FireFox, Chrome, Opera or something, and
ideally make it the default browser. This seems to be a good idea to
me, but can seem a bit drastic to some users. Ideally, the installer
would come prepackaged with this browser. When DHI2 Live is launched,
instead of making a call to the default browser (which in most cases
in IE), assuming that this was installed as part of a special live
package, then this browser would get opened instead, thereby launching
DHIS2. I am not so sure about the DHIS2 live part, as it simply
launches the default browser. Bob?

···

On Thu, Apr 22, 2010 at 6:32 PM, Knut Staring <knutst@gmail.com> wrote:

Given that DHIS2 runs best in Chrome (especially the Mapping module),
and also ok in Firefox, it might be a good idea to make sure people
have access to one of these browsers.

One way to do that is to package things with Prism (Firefox) or Chrome
(or Fluid for Mac http://fluidapp.com/\)

Chrome Application Shortcuts / Mozilla Prism Installer - Stack Overflow

What do you guys think?

Knut

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bobj · 22 April 2010 21:28

I think it should probably be a blueprint and I think it is a good idea.

It is certainly a problem on many machines I have encounterd in the
field. We need to install FireFox, Chrome, Opera or something, and
ideally make it the default browser. This seems to be a good idea to
me, but can seem a bit drastic to some users. Ideally, the installer
would come prepackaged with this browser. When DHI2 Live is launched,
instead of making a call to the default browser (which in most cases
in IE), assuming that this was installed as part of a special live
package, then this browser would get opened instead, thereby launching
DHIS2. I am not so sure about the DHIS2 live part, as it simply
launches the default browser. Bob?

I don't think its very easy to coax dhis2-live to open anything
besides the default browser. Not that its impossible, but probably
very messy. I'm also not sure we want to get into the browser
packaging business.

···

On 22 April 2010 19:35, Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> wrote:

On Thu, Apr 22, 2010 at 6:32 PM, Knut Staring <knutst@gmail.com> wrote:

Given that DHIS2 runs best in Chrome (especially the Mapping module),
and also ok in Firefox, it might be a good idea to make sure people
have access to one of these browsers.

One way to do that is to package things with Prism (Firefox) or Chrome
(or Fluid for Mac http://fluidapp.com/\)

Chrome Application Shortcuts / Mozilla Prism Installer - Stack Overflow

What do you guys think?

Knut

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email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

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olatitle · 23 April 2010 07:46

Could the portable firefox package be of any help here? We could put it in a standard location DHIS2Live/firefox/ and start it from there? I have used it for the PHIT and DHIS seems to run fine there. It is set up with all relative paths which should make it easier to distribute as no installation is needed.

Ola

···

On 22 April 2010 23:28, Bob Jolliffe bobjolliffe@gmail.com wrote:

On 22 April 2010 19:35, Jason Pickering jason.p.pickering@gmail.com wrote:

I think it should probably be a blueprint and I think it is a good idea.

It is certainly a problem on many machines I have encounterd in the

field. We need to install FireFox, Chrome, Opera or something, and

ideally make it the default browser. This seems to be a good idea to

me, but can seem a bit drastic to some users. Ideally, the installer

would come prepackaged with this browser. When DHI2 Live is launched,

instead of making a call to the default browser (which in most cases

in IE), assuming that this was installed as part of a special live

package, then this browser would get opened instead, thereby launching

DHIS2. I am not so sure about the DHIS2 live part, as it simply

launches the default browser. Bob?

I don’t think its very easy to coax dhis2-live to open anything

besides the default browser. Not that its impossible, but probably

very messy. I’m also not sure we want to get into the browser

packaging business.

On Thu, Apr 22, 2010 at 6:32 PM, Knut Staring knutst@gmail.com wrote:

Given that DHIS2 runs best in Chrome (especially the Mapping module),

and also ok in Firefox, it might be a good idea to make sure people

have access to one of these browsers.

One way to do that is to package things with Prism (Firefox) or Chrome

(or Fluid for Mac http://fluidapp.com/)

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1842277/chrome-application-shortcuts-mozilla-prism-installer

What do you guys think?

Knut

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–

–

Jason P. Pickering

email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com

tel:+260968395190

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

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jason · 23 April 2010 07:54

I somewhat agree with Bob, but I also see good reasons why packaging a
browser is a good idea. There seems to be pretty wide variation
between different browsers, and while it is a good idea to support
many different ones, it is also a lot of work. If we could focus on
being sure that all the browser-related bugs are not present, for
instance in Chrome or Firefox, for a particular release, this would
ensure that the app is going to work properly in a production
environment. I have seen a lot of problems in the field with people
installing toolbars, browser hijacking, etc that really is going to
complicate deployments unnecessarily.

After looking at the code, it seems that setting an environment
variable might be the best solution, perhaps.
This could be set as part of the installation process. If the
environment variable exists (DHIS2_BROWSER) for example, then it would
attempt to open up DHIS2 with this. Otherwise, it would default to the
current Desktop.getDesktop().browse( URI.create (getUrl() ) ) ); which
will simply launch the default browser.

Of course, this could be made as an option of the installer, whether
to install one of these site-specific browsers or not, but I think the
advantages outweigh the disadvantages. It is certainly worth testing I
think.

Regards,
Jason

···

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 9:46 AM, Ola Hodne Titlestad <olatitle@gmail.com> wrote:

On 22 April 2010 23:28, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> wrote:

On 22 April 2010 19:35, Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> >> wrote:
> I think it should probably be a blueprint and I think it is a good
> idea.
>
> It is certainly a problem on many machines I have encounterd in the
> field. We need to install FireFox, Chrome, Opera or something, and
> ideally make it the default browser. This seems to be a good idea to
> me, but can seem a bit drastic to some users. Ideally, the installer
> would come prepackaged with this browser. When DHI2 Live is launched,
> instead of making a call to the default browser (which in most cases
> in IE), assuming that this was installed as part of a special live
> package, then this browser would get opened instead, thereby launching
> DHIS2. I am not so sure about the DHIS2 live part, as it simply
> launches the default browser. Bob?
>
I don't think its very easy to coax dhis2-live to open anything
besides the default browser. Not that its impossible, but probably
very messy. I'm also not sure we want to get into the browser
packaging business.

Could the portable firefox package be of any help here? We could put it in a
standard location DHIS2Live/firefox/ and start it from there? I have used it
for the PHIT and DHIS seems to run fine there. It is set up with all
relative paths which should make it easier to distribute as no installation
is needed.

Ola
--------

>
>
>
> On Thu, Apr 22, 2010 at 6:32 PM, Knut Staring <knutst@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Given that DHIS2 runs best in Chrome (especially the Mapping module),
>> and also ok in Firefox, it might be a good idea to make sure people
>> have access to one of these browsers.
>>
>> One way to do that is to package things with Prism (Firefox) or Chrome
>> (or Fluid for Mac http://fluidapp.com/\)
>>
>>
>> Chrome Application Shortcuts / Mozilla Prism Installer - Stack Overflow
>>
>> What do you guys think?
>>
>> Knut
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
>> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>>
>
>
>
> --
> --
> Jason P. Pickering
> email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
> tel:+260968395190
>
> _______________________________________________
> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
> Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>

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email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

bobj · 23 April 2010 08:04

I somewhat agree with Bob, but I also see good reasons why packaging a
browser is a good idea. There seems to be pretty wide variation
between different browsers, and while it is a good idea to support
many different ones, it is also a lot of work. If we could focus on
being sure that all the browser-related bugs are not present, for
instance in Chrome or Firefox, for a particular release, this would
ensure that the app is going to work properly in a production
environment. I have seen a lot of problems in the field with people
installing toolbars, browser hijacking, etc that really is going to
complicate deployments unnecessarily.

After looking at the code, it seems that setting an environment
variable might be the best solution, perhaps.
This could be set as part of the installation process. If the
environment variable exists (DHIS2_BROWSER) for example, then it would
attempt to open up DHIS2 with this. Otherwise, it would default to the
current Desktop.getDesktop().browse( URI.create (getUrl() ) ) ); which
will simply launch the default browser.

I guess this could work with an exec. I'll take a look.

···

On 23 April 2010 08:54, Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> wrote:

Of course, this could be made as an option of the installer, whether
to install one of these site-specific browsers or not, but I think the
advantages outweigh the disadvantages. It is certainly worth testing I
think.

Regards,
Jason

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 9:46 AM, Ola Hodne Titlestad <olatitle@gmail.com> wrote:

On 22 April 2010 23:28, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> wrote:

On 22 April 2010 19:35, Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> >>> wrote:
> I think it should probably be a blueprint and I think it is a good
> idea.
>
> It is certainly a problem on many machines I have encounterd in the
> field. We need to install FireFox, Chrome, Opera or something, and
> ideally make it the default browser. This seems to be a good idea to
> me, but can seem a bit drastic to some users. Ideally, the installer
> would come prepackaged with this browser. When DHI2 Live is launched,
> instead of making a call to the default browser (which in most cases
> in IE), assuming that this was installed as part of a special live
> package, then this browser would get opened instead, thereby launching
> DHIS2. I am not so sure about the DHIS2 live part, as it simply
> launches the default browser. Bob?
>
I don't think its very easy to coax dhis2-live to open anything
besides the default browser. Not that its impossible, but probably
very messy. I'm also not sure we want to get into the browser
packaging business.

Could the portable firefox package be of any help here? We could put it in a
standard location DHIS2Live/firefox/ and start it from there? I have used it
for the PHIT and DHIS seems to run fine there. It is set up with all
relative paths which should make it easier to distribute as no installation
is needed.

Ola
--------

>
>
>
> On Thu, Apr 22, 2010 at 6:32 PM, Knut Staring <knutst@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Given that DHIS2 runs best in Chrome (especially the Mapping module),
>> and also ok in Firefox, it might be a good idea to make sure people
>> have access to one of these browsers.
>>
>> One way to do that is to package things with Prism (Firefox) or Chrome
>> (or Fluid for Mac http://fluidapp.com/\)
>>
>>
>> Chrome Application Shortcuts / Mozilla Prism Installer - Stack Overflow
>>
>> What do you guys think?
>>
>> Knut
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
>> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>>
>
>
>
> --
> --
> Jason P. Pickering
> email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
> tel:+260968395190
>
> _______________________________________________
> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
> Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>

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email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

jason · 23 April 2010 08:15

Something like this perhaps modified a bit to launch which every
browser would be included as part of the install

private void LaunchBrowser (String msBrowser,String msURL) throws IOException
{
if(msBrowser.equalsIgnoreCase("iexplore")){
Runtime.getRuntime().exec("C:/Program Files/Internet
Explorer/IEXPLORE.EXE " +msURL);
}else{
//Runtime.getRuntime().exec(new String{"cmd.exe", "/c", "start", msURL});
Runtime.getRuntime().exec("C:/Program Files/Mozilla
Firefox/firefox.exe " +msURL);
}

But of course, the "C:/Program Files/Mozilla Firefox/" part could
reference the enviornment variable that would be set during the
install. Otherwise, a configuration file, which could also be written
as part of the installer, might not be bad idea if we did not want to
set any environment variable.

···

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 10:04 AM, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> wrote:

On 23 April 2010 08:54, Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> wrote:

I somewhat agree with Bob, but I also see good reasons why packaging a
browser is a good idea. There seems to be pretty wide variation
between different browsers, and while it is a good idea to support
many different ones, it is also a lot of work. If we could focus on
being sure that all the browser-related bugs are not present, for
instance in Chrome or Firefox, for a particular release, this would
ensure that the app is going to work properly in a production
environment. I have seen a lot of problems in the field with people
installing toolbars, browser hijacking, etc that really is going to
complicate deployments unnecessarily.

After looking at the code, it seems that setting an environment
variable might be the best solution, perhaps.
This could be set as part of the installation process. If the
environment variable exists (DHIS2_BROWSER) for example, then it would
attempt to open up DHIS2 with this. Otherwise, it would default to the
current Desktop.getDesktop().browse( URI.create (getUrl() ) ) ); which
will simply launch the default browser.

I guess this could work with an exec. I'll take a look.

Of course, this could be made as an option of the installer, whether
to install one of these site-specific browsers or not, but I think the
advantages outweigh the disadvantages. It is certainly worth testing I
think.

Regards,
Jason

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 9:46 AM, Ola Hodne Titlestad <olatitle@gmail.com> wrote:

On 22 April 2010 23:28, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> wrote:

On 22 April 2010 19:35, Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> >>>> wrote:
> I think it should probably be a blueprint and I think it is a good
> idea.
>
> It is certainly a problem on many machines I have encounterd in the
> field. We need to install FireFox, Chrome, Opera or something, and
> ideally make it the default browser. This seems to be a good idea to
> me, but can seem a bit drastic to some users. Ideally, the installer
> would come prepackaged with this browser. When DHI2 Live is launched,
> instead of making a call to the default browser (which in most cases
> in IE), assuming that this was installed as part of a special live
> package, then this browser would get opened instead, thereby launching
> DHIS2. I am not so sure about the DHIS2 live part, as it simply
> launches the default browser. Bob?
>
I don't think its very easy to coax dhis2-live to open anything
besides the default browser. Not that its impossible, but probably
very messy. I'm also not sure we want to get into the browser
packaging business.

Could the portable firefox package be of any help here? We could put it in a
standard location DHIS2Live/firefox/ and start it from there? I have used it
for the PHIT and DHIS seems to run fine there. It is set up with all
relative paths which should make it easier to distribute as no installation
is needed.

Ola
--------

>
>
>
> On Thu, Apr 22, 2010 at 6:32 PM, Knut Staring <knutst@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Given that DHIS2 runs best in Chrome (especially the Mapping module),
>> and also ok in Firefox, it might be a good idea to make sure people
>> have access to one of these browsers.
>>
>> One way to do that is to package things with Prism (Firefox) or Chrome
>> (or Fluid for Mac http://fluidapp.com/\)
>>
>>
>> Chrome Application Shortcuts / Mozilla Prism Installer - Stack Overflow
>>
>> What do you guys think?
>>
>> Knut
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
>> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>>
>
>
>
> --
> --
> Jason P. Pickering
> email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
> tel:+260968395190
>
> _______________________________________________
> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
> Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>

_______________________________________________
Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

--
--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

--
--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

bobj · 23 April 2010 08:18

I somewhat agree with Bob, but I also see good reasons why packaging a
browser is a good idea. There seems to be pretty wide variation
between different browsers, and while it is a good idea to support
many different ones, it is also a lot of work. If we could focus on
being sure that all the browser-related bugs are not present, for
instance in Chrome or Firefox, for a particular release, this would
ensure that the app is going to work properly in a production
environment. I have seen a lot of problems in the field with people
installing toolbars, browser hijacking, etc that really is going to
complicate deployments unnecessarily.

After looking at the code, it seems that setting an environment
variable might be the best solution, perhaps.
This could be set as part of the installation process. If the
environment variable exists (DHIS2_BROWSER) for example, then it would
attempt to open up DHIS2 with this. Otherwise, it would default to the
current Desktop.getDesktop().browse( URI.create (getUrl() ) ) ); which
will simply launch the default browser.

I guess this could work with an exec. I'll take a look.

Though I am reluctant to depend on the environment variable for the
out-of-the-box experience. The nice thing about dhis-live is that you
can drop it in and run it. It is this zero-install-fiddling which
people like. Setting environment variables is the next level of
customisation and sophistication for users. Other possibilities:

(i) check for the existence of a "portable-firefox" folder. If
available use that.
(ii) open a dialog on first invocation requesting users to pick a
browser (I have no idea at this stage how to list them). But that
choice would have to be persisted somehow.
(iii) .... ?

···

On 23 April 2010 09:04, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> wrote:

On 23 April 2010 08:54, Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> wrote:

Of course, this could be made as an option of the installer, whether
to install one of these site-specific browsers or not, but I think the
advantages outweigh the disadvantages. It is certainly worth testing I
think.

Regards,
Jason

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 9:46 AM, Ola Hodne Titlestad <olatitle@gmail.com> wrote:

On 22 April 2010 23:28, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> wrote:

On 22 April 2010 19:35, Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> >>>> wrote:
> I think it should probably be a blueprint and I think it is a good
> idea.
>
> It is certainly a problem on many machines I have encounterd in the
> field. We need to install FireFox, Chrome, Opera or something, and
> ideally make it the default browser. This seems to be a good idea to
> me, but can seem a bit drastic to some users. Ideally, the installer
> would come prepackaged with this browser. When DHI2 Live is launched,
> instead of making a call to the default browser (which in most cases
> in IE), assuming that this was installed as part of a special live
> package, then this browser would get opened instead, thereby launching
> DHIS2. I am not so sure about the DHIS2 live part, as it simply
> launches the default browser. Bob?
>
I don't think its very easy to coax dhis2-live to open anything
besides the default browser. Not that its impossible, but probably
very messy. I'm also not sure we want to get into the browser
packaging business.

Could the portable firefox package be of any help here? We could put it in a
standard location DHIS2Live/firefox/ and start it from there? I have used it
for the PHIT and DHIS seems to run fine there. It is set up with all
relative paths which should make it easier to distribute as no installation
is needed.

Ola
--------

>
>
>
> On Thu, Apr 22, 2010 at 6:32 PM, Knut Staring <knutst@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Given that DHIS2 runs best in Chrome (especially the Mapping module),
>> and also ok in Firefox, it might be a good idea to make sure people
>> have access to one of these browsers.
>>
>> One way to do that is to package things with Prism (Firefox) or Chrome
>> (or Fluid for Mac http://fluidapp.com/\)
>>
>>
>> Chrome Application Shortcuts / Mozilla Prism Installer - Stack Overflow
>>
>> What do you guys think?
>>
>> Knut
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
>> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>>
>
>
>
> --
> --
> Jason P. Pickering
> email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
> tel:+260968395190
>
> _______________________________________________
> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
> Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>

_______________________________________________
Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
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--
--
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email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

jason · 23 April 2010 08:31

My suggestion would be to keep it very simple.

If the environment variable exists, and is of the form "C:\program
files\dhis2\ssb\firefox.exe" then launch it. This would mean that this
would only cater to the situation where someone has installed the
program with the installer (which will likely be the case for many
production installations) but not always.

Otherwise, just fall back and do what is already in the code.

···

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 10:18 AM, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> wrote:

On 23 April 2010 09:04, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> wrote:

On 23 April 2010 08:54, Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> wrote:

I somewhat agree with Bob, but I also see good reasons why packaging a
browser is a good idea. There seems to be pretty wide variation
between different browsers, and while it is a good idea to support
many different ones, it is also a lot of work. If we could focus on
being sure that all the browser-related bugs are not present, for
instance in Chrome or Firefox, for a particular release, this would
ensure that the app is going to work properly in a production
environment. I have seen a lot of problems in the field with people
installing toolbars, browser hijacking, etc that really is going to
complicate deployments unnecessarily.

After looking at the code, it seems that setting an environment
variable might be the best solution, perhaps.
This could be set as part of the installation process. If the
environment variable exists (DHIS2_BROWSER) for example, then it would
attempt to open up DHIS2 with this. Otherwise, it would default to the
current Desktop.getDesktop().browse( URI.create (getUrl() ) ) ); which
will simply launch the default browser.

I guess this could work with an exec. I'll take a look.

Though I am reluctant to depend on the environment variable for the
out-of-the-box experience. The nice thing about dhis-live is that you
can drop it in and run it. It is this zero-install-fiddling which
people like. Setting environment variables is the next level of
customisation and sophistication for users. Other possibilities:

(i) check for the existence of a "portable-firefox" folder. If
available use that.
(ii) open a dialog on first invocation requesting users to pick a
browser (I have no idea at this stage how to list them). But that
choice would have to be persisted somehow.
(iii) .... ?

Of course, this could be made as an option of the installer, whether
to install one of these site-specific browsers or not, but I think the
advantages outweigh the disadvantages. It is certainly worth testing I
think.

Regards,
Jason

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 9:46 AM, Ola Hodne Titlestad <olatitle@gmail.com> wrote:

On 22 April 2010 23:28, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> wrote:

On 22 April 2010 19:35, Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> >>>>> wrote:
> I think it should probably be a blueprint and I think it is a good
> idea.
>
> It is certainly a problem on many machines I have encounterd in the
> field. We need to install FireFox, Chrome, Opera or something, and
> ideally make it the default browser. This seems to be a good idea to
> me, but can seem a bit drastic to some users. Ideally, the installer
> would come prepackaged with this browser. When DHI2 Live is launched,
> instead of making a call to the default browser (which in most cases
> in IE), assuming that this was installed as part of a special live
> package, then this browser would get opened instead, thereby launching
> DHIS2. I am not so sure about the DHIS2 live part, as it simply
> launches the default browser. Bob?
>
I don't think its very easy to coax dhis2-live to open anything
besides the default browser. Not that its impossible, but probably
very messy. I'm also not sure we want to get into the browser
packaging business.

Could the portable firefox package be of any help here? We could put it in a
standard location DHIS2Live/firefox/ and start it from there? I have used it
for the PHIT and DHIS seems to run fine there. It is set up with all
relative paths which should make it easier to distribute as no installation
is needed.

Ola
--------

>
>
>
> On Thu, Apr 22, 2010 at 6:32 PM, Knut Staring <knutst@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Given that DHIS2 runs best in Chrome (especially the Mapping module),
>> and also ok in Firefox, it might be a good idea to make sure people
>> have access to one of these browsers.
>>
>> One way to do that is to package things with Prism (Firefox) or Chrome
>> (or Fluid for Mac http://fluidapp.com/\)
>>
>>
>> Chrome Application Shortcuts / Mozilla Prism Installer - Stack Overflow
>>
>> What do you guys think?
>>
>> Knut
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
>> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>>
>
>
>
> --
> --
> Jason P. Pickering
> email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
> tel:+260968395190
>
> _______________________________________________
> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
> Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>

_______________________________________________
Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

--
--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

--
--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

olatitle · 23 April 2010 08:42

I would still like us to pursue the idea of distributing a portable browser with DHIS2 live to make it easier to get started with DHIS.
At least check whether this is doable or not.

This would cater for DHIS training and the “I want to see what this is” scenarios when the users are offline or on poor connections making online demos difficult to use.

The installer/production scenario is a bit different I think, but also very important.

Website: www.healthmetricsnetwork.org

Better Information. Better Decisions. Better Health.

···

On 23 April 2010 10:31, Jason Pickering jason.p.pickering@gmail.com wrote:

My suggestion would be to keep it very simple.

If the environment variable exists, and is of the form "C:\program

files\dhis2\ssb\firefox.exe" then launch it. This would mean that this

would only cater to the situation where someone has installed the

program with the installer (which will likely be the case for many

production installations) but not always.

Otherwise, just fall back and do what is already in the code.

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 10:18 AM, Bob Jolliffe bobjolliffe@gmail.com wrote:

On 23 April 2010 09:04, Bob Jolliffe bobjolliffe@gmail.com wrote:

On 23 April 2010 08:54, Jason Pickering jason.p.pickering@gmail.com wrote:

I somewhat agree with Bob, but I also see good reasons why packaging a

browser is a good idea. There seems to be pretty wide variation

between different browsers, and while it is a good idea to support

many different ones, it is also a lot of work. If we could focus on

being sure that all the browser-related bugs are not present, for

instance in Chrome or Firefox, for a particular release, this would

ensure that the app is going to work properly in a production

environment. I have seen a lot of problems in the field with people

installing toolbars, browser hijacking, etc that really is going to

complicate deployments unnecessarily.

After looking at the code, it seems that setting an environment

variable might be the best solution, perhaps.

This could be set as part of the installation process. If the

environment variable exists (DHIS2_BROWSER) for example, then it would

attempt to open up DHIS2 with this. Otherwise, it would default to the

current Desktop.getDesktop().browse( URI.create (getUrl() ) ) ); which

will simply launch the default browser.

I guess this could work with an exec. I’ll take a look.

Though I am reluctant to depend on the environment variable for the

out-of-the-box experience. The nice thing about dhis-live is that you

can drop it in and run it. It is this zero-install-fiddling which

people like. Setting environment variables is the next level of

customisation and sophistication for users. Other possibilities:

(i) check for the existence of a “portable-firefox” folder. If

available use that.

(ii) open a dialog on first invocation requesting users to pick a

browser (I have no idea at this stage how to list them). But that

choice would have to be persisted somehow.

(iii) … ?

Of course, this could be made as an option of the installer, whether

to install one of these site-specific browsers or not, but I think the

advantages outweigh the disadvantages. It is certainly worth testing I

think.

Regards,

Jason

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 9:46 AM, Ola Hodne Titlestad olatitle@gmail.com wrote:

On 22 April 2010 23:28, Bob Jolliffe bobjolliffe@gmail.com wrote:

On 22 April 2010 19:35, Jason Pickering jason.p.pickering@gmail.com > > >>>>> wrote:

I think it should probably be a blueprint and I think it is a good

idea.

It is certainly a problem on many machines I have encounterd in the

field. We need to install FireFox, Chrome, Opera or something, and

ideally make it the default browser. This seems to be a good idea to

me, but can seem a bit drastic to some users. Ideally, the installer

would come prepackaged with this browser. When DHI2 Live is launched,

instead of making a call to the default browser (which in most cases

in IE), assuming that this was installed as part of a special live

package, then this browser would get opened instead, thereby launching

DHIS2. I am not so sure about the DHIS2 live part, as it simply

launches the default browser. Bob?

I don’t think its very easy to coax dhis2-live to open anything

besides the default browser. Not that its impossible, but probably

very messy. I’m also not sure we want to get into the browser

packaging business.

Could the portable firefox package be of any help here? We could put it in a

standard location DHIS2Live/firefox/ and start it from there? I have used it

for the PHIT and DHIS seems to run fine there. It is set up with all

relative paths which should make it easier to distribute as no installation

is needed.

Ola

On Thu, Apr 22, 2010 at 6:32 PM, Knut Staring knutst@gmail.com wrote:

Given that DHIS2 runs best in Chrome (especially the Mapping module),

and also ok in Firefox, it might be a good idea to make sure people

have access to one of these browsers.

One way to do that is to package things with Prism (Firefox) or Chrome

(or Fluid for Mac http://fluidapp.com/)

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1842277/chrome-application-shortcuts-mozilla-prism-installer

What do you guys think?

Knut

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

–

–

Jason P. Pickering

email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com

tel:+260968395190

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

–

–

Jason P. Pickering

email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com

tel:+260968395190

–

–

Jason P. Pickering

email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com

tel:+260968395190

Knut_Staring · 23 April 2010 08:43

I agree with keeping it simple - but also avoid settings that require
admin rights. And we currently have two ways to set up DHIS Live 1)
Just unzip and 2) Bitrock Installer (there was also an Izpack one).

There could be some things added to the installer that are not in the unzip.

···

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 10:31 AM, Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> wrote:

My suggestion would be to keep it very simple.

If the environment variable exists, and is of the form "C:\program
files\dhis2\ssb\firefox.exe" then launch it. This would mean that this
would only cater to the situation where someone has installed the
program with the installer (which will likely be the case for many
production installations) but not always.

Otherwise, just fall back and do what is already in the code.

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 10:18 AM, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> wrote:

On 23 April 2010 09:04, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> wrote:

On 23 April 2010 08:54, Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> wrote:

I somewhat agree with Bob, but I also see good reasons why packaging a
browser is a good idea. There seems to be pretty wide variation
between different browsers, and while it is a good idea to support
many different ones, it is also a lot of work. If we could focus on
being sure that all the browser-related bugs are not present, for
instance in Chrome or Firefox, for a particular release, this would
ensure that the app is going to work properly in a production
environment. I have seen a lot of problems in the field with people
installing toolbars, browser hijacking, etc that really is going to
complicate deployments unnecessarily.

After looking at the code, it seems that setting an environment
variable might be the best solution, perhaps.
This could be set as part of the installation process. If the
environment variable exists (DHIS2_BROWSER) for example, then it would
attempt to open up DHIS2 with this. Otherwise, it would default to the
current Desktop.getDesktop().browse( URI.create (getUrl() ) ) ); which
will simply launch the default browser.

I guess this could work with an exec. I'll take a look.

Though I am reluctant to depend on the environment variable for the
out-of-the-box experience. The nice thing about dhis-live is that you
can drop it in and run it. It is this zero-install-fiddling which
people like. Setting environment variables is the next level of
customisation and sophistication for users. Other possibilities:

(i) check for the existence of a "portable-firefox" folder. If
available use that.
(ii) open a dialog on first invocation requesting users to pick a
browser (I have no idea at this stage how to list them). But that
choice would have to be persisted somehow.
(iii) .... ?

Of course, this could be made as an option of the installer, whether
to install one of these site-specific browsers or not, but I think the
advantages outweigh the disadvantages. It is certainly worth testing I
think.

Regards,
Jason

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 9:46 AM, Ola Hodne Titlestad <olatitle@gmail.com> wrote:

On 22 April 2010 23:28, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> wrote:

On 22 April 2010 19:35, Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> >>>>>> wrote:
> I think it should probably be a blueprint and I think it is a good
> idea.
>
> It is certainly a problem on many machines I have encounterd in the
> field. We need to install FireFox, Chrome, Opera or something, and
> ideally make it the default browser. This seems to be a good idea to
> me, but can seem a bit drastic to some users. Ideally, the installer
> would come prepackaged with this browser. When DHI2 Live is launched,
> instead of making a call to the default browser (which in most cases
> in IE), assuming that this was installed as part of a special live
> package, then this browser would get opened instead, thereby launching
> DHIS2. I am not so sure about the DHIS2 live part, as it simply
> launches the default browser. Bob?
>
I don't think its very easy to coax dhis2-live to open anything
besides the default browser. Not that its impossible, but probably
very messy. I'm also not sure we want to get into the browser
packaging business.

Could the portable firefox package be of any help here? We could put it in a
standard location DHIS2Live/firefox/ and start it from there? I have used it
for the PHIT and DHIS seems to run fine there. It is set up with all
relative paths which should make it easier to distribute as no installation
is needed.

Ola
--------

>
>
>
> On Thu, Apr 22, 2010 at 6:32 PM, Knut Staring <knutst@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Given that DHIS2 runs best in Chrome (especially the Mapping module),
>> and also ok in Firefox, it might be a good idea to make sure people
>> have access to one of these browsers.
>>
>> One way to do that is to package things with Prism (Firefox) or Chrome
>> (or Fluid for Mac http://fluidapp.com/\)
>>
>>
>> Chrome Application Shortcuts / Mozilla Prism Installer - Stack Overflow
>>
>> What do you guys think?
>>
>> Knut
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
>> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>>
>
>
>
> --
> --
> Jason P. Pickering
> email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
> tel:+260968395190
>
> _______________________________________________
> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
> Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>

_______________________________________________
Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

--
--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

--
--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

_______________________________________________
Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

--
Cheers,
Knut Staring

jason · 23 April 2010 08:48

Including the browser as part of the install is trivial. Making it
launch, without making it the default browser, is the issue really we
are discussing and that will require modification to the DHIS2 tray
app.

I have currently three different installers in trunk. 1) Windows
bare-bones installer that just installs H2 and DHIS2. 2) Windows
installer with the H2 Sierra Leone DB 3) A console based installer for
Linux. It would be simple enough to produce a fourth, and include a
browser of choice. Still working on the postgres installer, but for
Zambia, I was planning on distributing FireFox/Opera/Chrome or
whatever the devs say is best along with the installer. I did not
really want to make this browser the default, unless the user did this
theirselves, which most browsers will try and do anyway, which is a
bit of a problem. If this feature of "Me first, Me first!" could be
disabled for the SSB, then it sounds like a very good plan to me.

Regards,
JP

···

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 10:42 AM, Ola Hodne Titlestad <olatitle@gmail.com> wrote:

I would still like us to pursue the idea of distributing a portable browser
with DHIS2 live to make it easier to get started with DHIS.
At least check whether this is doable or not.

This would cater for DHIS training and the "I want to see what this is"
scenarios when the users are offline or on poor connections making online
demos difficult to use.

The installer/production scenario is a bit different I think, but also very
important.

Ola Hodne Titlestad |Technical Officer|
Health Metrics Network (HMN) | World Health Organization
Avenue Appia 20 |1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland | Email:
titlestado@who.int|Tel: +41 788216897
Website: www.healthmetricsnetwork.org

Better Information. Better Decisions. Better Health.

On 23 April 2010 10:31, Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> wrote:

My suggestion would be to keep it very simple.

If the environment variable exists, and is of the form "C:\program
files\dhis2\ssb\firefox.exe" then launch it. This would mean that this
would only cater to the situation where someone has installed the
program with the installer (which will likely be the case for many
production installations) but not always.

Otherwise, just fall back and do what is already in the code.

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 10:18 AM, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> >> wrote:
> On 23 April 2010 09:04, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On 23 April 2010 08:54, Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> >> >> wrote:
>>> I somewhat agree with Bob, but I also see good reasons why packaging a
>>> browser is a good idea. There seems to be pretty wide variation
>>> between different browsers, and while it is a good idea to support
>>> many different ones, it is also a lot of work. If we could focus on
>>> being sure that all the browser-related bugs are not present, for
>>> instance in Chrome or Firefox, for a particular release, this would
>>> ensure that the app is going to work properly in a production
>>> environment. I have seen a lot of problems in the field with people
>>> installing toolbars, browser hijacking, etc that really is going to
>>> complicate deployments unnecessarily.
>>>
>>> After looking at the code, it seems that setting an environment
>>> variable might be the best solution, perhaps.
>>> This could be set as part of the installation process. If the
>>> environment variable exists (DHIS2_BROWSER) for example, then it would
>>> attempt to open up DHIS2 with this. Otherwise, it would default to the
>>> current Desktop.getDesktop().browse( URI.create (getUrl() ) ) ); which
>>> will simply launch the default browser.
>>
>> I guess this could work with an exec. I'll take a look.
>
> Though I am reluctant to depend on the environment variable for the
> out-of-the-box experience. The nice thing about dhis-live is that you
> can drop it in and run it. It is this zero-install-fiddling which
> people like. Setting environment variables is the next level of
> customisation and sophistication for users. Other possibilities:
>
> (i) check for the existence of a "portable-firefox" folder. If
> available use that.
> (ii) open a dialog on first invocation requesting users to pick a
> browser (I have no idea at this stage how to list them). But that
> choice would have to be persisted somehow.
> (iii) .... ?
>
>>
>>>
>>> Of course, this could be made as an option of the installer, whether
>>> to install one of these site-specific browsers or not, but I think the
>>> advantages outweigh the disadvantages. It is certainly worth testing I
>>> think.
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>> Jason
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 9:46 AM, Ola Hodne Titlestad >> >>> <olatitle@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> On 22 April 2010 23:28, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> On 22 April 2010 19:35, Jason Pickering >> >>>>> <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> >> >>>>> wrote:
>>>>> > I think it should probably be a blueprint and I think it is a
>>>>> > good
>>>>> > idea.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > It is certainly a problem on many machines I have encounterd in
>>>>> > the
>>>>> > field. We need to install FireFox, Chrome, Opera or something, and
>>>>> > ideally make it the default browser. This seems to be a good idea
>>>>> > to
>>>>> > me, but can seem a bit drastic to some users. Ideally, the
>>>>> > installer
>>>>> > would come prepackaged with this browser. When DHI2 Live is
>>>>> > launched,
>>>>> > instead of making a call to the default browser (which in most
>>>>> > cases
>>>>> > in IE), assuming that this was installed as part of a special live
>>>>> > package, then this browser would get opened instead, thereby
>>>>> > launching
>>>>> > DHIS2. I am not so sure about the DHIS2 live part, as it simply
>>>>> > launches the default browser. Bob?
>>>>> >
>>>>> I don't think its very easy to coax dhis2-live to open anything
>>>>> besides the default browser. Not that its impossible, but probably
>>>>> very messy. I'm also not sure we want to get into the browser
>>>>> packaging business.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Could the portable firefox package be of any help here? We could put
>>>> it in a
>>>> standard location DHIS2Live/firefox/ and start it from there? I have
>>>> used it
>>>> for the PHIT and DHIS seems to run fine there. It is set up with all
>>>> relative paths which should make it easier to distribute as no
>>>> installation
>>>> is needed.
>>>>
>>>> Ola
>>>> --------
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> >
>>>>> >
>>>>> >
>>>>> > On Thu, Apr 22, 2010 at 6:32 PM, Knut Staring <knutst@gmail.com> >> >>>>> > wrote:
>>>>> >> Given that DHIS2 runs best in Chrome (especially the Mapping
>>>>> >> module),
>>>>> >> and also ok in Firefox, it might be a good idea to make sure
>>>>> >> people
>>>>> >> have access to one of these browsers.
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> One way to do that is to package things with Prism (Firefox) or
>>>>> >> Chrome
>>>>> >> (or Fluid for Mac http://fluidapp.com/\)
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> Chrome Application Shortcuts / Mozilla Prism Installer - Stack Overflow
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> What do you guys think?
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> Knut
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> _______________________________________________
>>>>> >> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>>>>> >> Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
>>>>> >> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>>>>> >> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >
>>>>> >
>>>>> >
>>>>> > --
>>>>> > --
>>>>> > Jason P. Pickering
>>>>> > email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
>>>>> > tel:+260968395190
>>>>> >
>>>>> > _______________________________________________
>>>>> > Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>>>>> > Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
>>>>> > Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>>>>> > More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>>>>> >
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>>>>> Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
>>>>> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>>>>> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> --
>>> Jason P. Pickering
>>> email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
>>> tel:+260968395190
>>>
>>
>

--
--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

--
--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

olatitle · 23 April 2010 08:55

I was more thing of the unzip and run package.

If there is a folder DHIS2Live/firefox-portable/ I thought we could simply run DHIS in this specific browser with a command on the form:
“portable-firefox/firefox.exe http://localhost:8080/dhis”

Ola

···

On 23 April 2010 10:48, Jason Pickering jason.p.pickering@gmail.com wrote:

Including the browser as part of the install is trivial. Making it

launch, without making it the default browser, is the issue really we

are discussing and that will require modification to the DHIS2 tray

app.

I have currently three different installers in trunk. 1) Windows

bare-bones installer that just installs H2 and DHIS2. 2) Windows

installer with the H2 Sierra Leone DB 3) A console based installer for

Linux. It would be simple enough to produce a fourth, and include a

browser of choice. Still working on the postgres installer, but for

Zambia, I was planning on distributing FireFox/Opera/Chrome or

whatever the devs say is best along with the installer. I did not

really want to make this browser the default, unless the user did this

theirselves, which most browsers will try and do anyway, which is a

bit of a problem. If this feature of “Me first, Me first!” could be

disabled for the SSB, then it sounds like a very good plan to me.

Regards,

JP

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 10:42 AM, Ola Hodne Titlestad > olatitle@gmail.com wrote:

I would still like us to pursue the idea of distributing a portable browser

with DHIS2 live to make it easier to get started with DHIS.

At least check whether this is doable or not.

This would cater for DHIS training and the “I want to see what this is”

scenarios when the users are offline or on poor connections making online

demos difficult to use.

The installer/production scenario is a bit different I think, but also very

important.

Ola Hodne Titlestad |Technical Officer|

Health Metrics Network (HMN) | World Health Organization

Avenue Appia 20 |1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland | Email:

titlestado@who.int|Tel: +41 788216897

Website: www.healthmetricsnetwork.org

Better Information. Better Decisions. Better Health.

On 23 April 2010 10:31, Jason Pickering jason.p.pickering@gmail.com wrote:

My suggestion would be to keep it very simple.

If the environment variable exists, and is of the form "C:\program

files\dhis2\ssb\firefox.exe" then launch it. This would mean that this

would only cater to the situation where someone has installed the

program with the installer (which will likely be the case for many

production installations) but not always.

Otherwise, just fall back and do what is already in the code.

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 10:18 AM, Bob Jolliffe bobjolliffe@gmail.com > > >> wrote:

On 23 April 2010 09:04, Bob Jolliffe bobjolliffe@gmail.com wrote:

On 23 April 2010 08:54, Jason Pickering jason.p.pickering@gmail.com > > >> >> wrote:

I somewhat agree with Bob, but I also see good reasons why packaging a

browser is a good idea. There seems to be pretty wide variation

between different browsers, and while it is a good idea to support

many different ones, it is also a lot of work. If we could focus on

being sure that all the browser-related bugs are not present, for

instance in Chrome or Firefox, for a particular release, this would

ensure that the app is going to work properly in a production

environment. I have seen a lot of problems in the field with people

installing toolbars, browser hijacking, etc that really is going to

complicate deployments unnecessarily.

After looking at the code, it seems that setting an environment

variable might be the best solution, perhaps.

This could be set as part of the installation process. If the

environment variable exists (DHIS2_BROWSER) for example, then it would

attempt to open up DHIS2 with this. Otherwise, it would default to the

current Desktop.getDesktop().browse( URI.create (getUrl() ) ) ); which

will simply launch the default browser.

I guess this could work with an exec. I’ll take a look.

Though I am reluctant to depend on the environment variable for the

out-of-the-box experience. The nice thing about dhis-live is that you

can drop it in and run it. It is this zero-install-fiddling which

people like. Setting environment variables is the next level of

customisation and sophistication for users. Other possibilities:

(i) check for the existence of a “portable-firefox” folder. If

available use that.

(ii) open a dialog on first invocation requesting users to pick a

browser (I have no idea at this stage how to list them). But that

choice would have to be persisted somehow.

(iii) … ?

Of course, this could be made as an option of the installer, whether

to install one of these site-specific browsers or not, but I think the

advantages outweigh the disadvantages. It is certainly worth testing I

think.

Regards,

Jason

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 9:46 AM, Ola Hodne Titlestad > > >> >>> olatitle@gmail.com wrote:

On 22 April 2010 23:28, Bob Jolliffe bobjolliffe@gmail.com wrote:

On 22 April 2010 19:35, Jason Pickering > > >> >>>>> jason.p.pickering@gmail.com > > >> >>>>> wrote:

I think it should probably be a blueprint and I think it is a

good

idea.

It is certainly a problem on many machines I have encounterd in

the

field. We need to install FireFox, Chrome, Opera or something, and

ideally make it the default browser. This seems to be a good idea

to

me, but can seem a bit drastic to some users. Ideally, the

installer

would come prepackaged with this browser. When DHI2 Live is

launched,

instead of making a call to the default browser (which in most

cases

in IE), assuming that this was installed as part of a special live

package, then this browser would get opened instead, thereby

launching

DHIS2. I am not so sure about the DHIS2 live part, as it simply

launches the default browser. Bob?

I don’t think its very easy to coax dhis2-live to open anything

besides the default browser. Not that its impossible, but probably

very messy. I’m also not sure we want to get into the browser

packaging business.

Could the portable firefox package be of any help here? We could put

it in a

standard location DHIS2Live/firefox/ and start it from there? I have

used it

for the PHIT and DHIS seems to run fine there. It is set up with all

relative paths which should make it easier to distribute as no

installation

is needed.

Ola

On Thu, Apr 22, 2010 at 6:32 PM, Knut Staring knutst@gmail.com > > >> >>>>> > wrote:

Given that DHIS2 runs best in Chrome (especially the Mapping

module),

and also ok in Firefox, it might be a good idea to make sure

people

have access to one of these browsers.

One way to do that is to package things with Prism (Firefox) or

Chrome

(or Fluid for Mac http://fluidapp.com/)

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1842277/chrome-application-shortcuts-mozilla-prism-installer

What do you guys think?

Knut

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

–

–

Jason P. Pickering

email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com

tel:+260968395190

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

–

–

Jason P. Pickering

email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com

tel:+260968395190

–

–

Jason P. Pickering

email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com

tel:+260968395190

–

–

Jason P. Pickering

email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com

tel:+260968395190

bobj · 23 April 2010 09:31

I've got an even simpler suggestion. Why not get the tray app to
simply try and exec "firefox" first (in the hope that it is installed
and in the path). If that fails it can try chrome and if that fails
open with default browser.

From the packaging perspective (and I think packaging is a slightly

different concern) , if a packager wants to build a
portable-firefox-included version then just be sure that the installer
sets the path correctly. I think personally my preference would be to
simply include a standard (up to date) firefox install package on the
same medium as the dhis2-live. But I do understand the concern about
users inadvertently having their default browser switched because they
get intimidated by the dialog.

Cheers
Bob

···

On 23 April 2010 09:55, Ola Hodne Titlestad <olatitle@gmail.com> wrote:

I was more thing of the unzip and run package.

If there is a folder DHIS2Live/firefox-portable/ I thought we could simply
run DHIS in this specific browser with a command on the form:
"portable-firefox/firefox.exe http://localhost:8080/dhis"

Ola
------

On 23 April 2010 10:48, Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> wrote:

Including the browser as part of the install is trivial. Making it
launch, without making it the default browser, is the issue really we
are discussing and that will require modification to the DHIS2 tray
app.

I have currently three different installers in trunk. 1) Windows
bare-bones installer that just installs H2 and DHIS2. 2) Windows
installer with the H2 Sierra Leone DB 3) A console based installer for
Linux. It would be simple enough to produce a fourth, and include a
browser of choice. Still working on the postgres installer, but for
Zambia, I was planning on distributing FireFox/Opera/Chrome or
whatever the devs say is best along with the installer. I did not
really want to make this browser the default, unless the user did this
theirselves, which most browsers will try and do anyway, which is a
bit of a problem. If this feature of "Me first, Me first!" could be
disabled for the SSB, then it sounds like a very good plan to me.

Regards,
JP

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 10:42 AM, Ola Hodne Titlestad >> <olatitle@gmail.com> wrote:
> I would still like us to pursue the idea of distributing a portable
> browser
> with DHIS2 live to make it easier to get started with DHIS.
> At least check whether this is doable or not.
>
> This would cater for DHIS training and the "I want to see what this is"
> scenarios when the users are offline or on poor connections making
> online
> demos difficult to use.
>
> The installer/production scenario is a bit different I think, but also
> very
> important.
>
> Ola Hodne Titlestad |Technical Officer|
> Health Metrics Network (HMN) | World Health Organization
> Avenue Appia 20 |1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland | Email:
> titlestado@who.int|Tel: +41 788216897
> Website: www.healthmetricsnetwork.org
>
> Better Information. Better Decisions. Better Health.
>
>
> On 23 April 2010 10:31, Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> >> > wrote:
>>
>> My suggestion would be to keep it very simple.
>>
>> If the environment variable exists, and is of the form "C:\program
>> files\dhis2\ssb\firefox.exe" then launch it. This would mean that this
>> would only cater to the situation where someone has installed the
>> program with the installer (which will likely be the case for many
>> production installations) but not always.
>>
>> Otherwise, just fall back and do what is already in the code.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 10:18 AM, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> >> >> wrote:
>> > On 23 April 2010 09:04, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> On 23 April 2010 08:54, Jason Pickering >> >> >> <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> >> >> >> wrote:
>> >>> I somewhat agree with Bob, but I also see good reasons why
>> >>> packaging a
>> >>> browser is a good idea. There seems to be pretty wide variation
>> >>> between different browsers, and while it is a good idea to support
>> >>> many different ones, it is also a lot of work. If we could focus on
>> >>> being sure that all the browser-related bugs are not present, for
>> >>> instance in Chrome or Firefox, for a particular release, this
>> >>> would
>> >>> ensure that the app is going to work properly in a production
>> >>> environment. I have seen a lot of problems in the field with
>> >>> people
>> >>> installing toolbars, browser hijacking, etc that really is going to
>> >>> complicate deployments unnecessarily.
>> >>>
>> >>> After looking at the code, it seems that setting an environment
>> >>> variable might be the best solution, perhaps.
>> >>> This could be set as part of the installation process. If the
>> >>> environment variable exists (DHIS2_BROWSER) for example, then it
>> >>> would
>> >>> attempt to open up DHIS2 with this. Otherwise, it would default to
>> >>> the
>> >>> current Desktop.getDesktop().browse( URI.create (getUrl() ) ) );
>> >>> which
>> >>> will simply launch the default browser.
>> >>
>> >> I guess this could work with an exec. I'll take a look.
>> >
>> > Though I am reluctant to depend on the environment variable for the
>> > out-of-the-box experience. The nice thing about dhis-live is that
>> > you
>> > can drop it in and run it. It is this zero-install-fiddling which
>> > people like. Setting environment variables is the next level of
>> > customisation and sophistication for users. Other possibilities:
>> >
>> > (i) check for the existence of a "portable-firefox" folder. If
>> > available use that.
>> > (ii) open a dialog on first invocation requesting users to pick a
>> > browser (I have no idea at this stage how to list them). But that
>> > choice would have to be persisted somehow.
>> > (iii) .... ?
>> >
>> >>
>> >>>
>> >>> Of course, this could be made as an option of the installer,
>> >>> whether
>> >>> to install one of these site-specific browsers or not, but I think
>> >>> the
>> >>> advantages outweigh the disadvantages. It is certainly worth
>> >>> testing I
>> >>> think.
>> >>>
>> >>> Regards,
>> >>> Jason
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 9:46 AM, Ola Hodne Titlestad >> >> >>> <olatitle@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >>>> On 22 April 2010 23:28, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> >> >> >>>> wrote:
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> On 22 April 2010 19:35, Jason Pickering >> >> >>>>> <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> >> >> >>>>> wrote:
>> >>>>> > I think it should probably be a blueprint and I think it is a
>> >>>>> > good
>> >>>>> > idea.
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> > It is certainly a problem on many machines I have encounterd
>> >>>>> > in
>> >>>>> > the
>> >>>>> > field. We need to install FireFox, Chrome, Opera or something,
>> >>>>> > and
>> >>>>> > ideally make it the default browser. This seems to be a good
>> >>>>> > idea
>> >>>>> > to
>> >>>>> > me, but can seem a bit drastic to some users. Ideally, the
>> >>>>> > installer
>> >>>>> > would come prepackaged with this browser. When DHI2 Live is
>> >>>>> > launched,
>> >>>>> > instead of making a call to the default browser (which in most
>> >>>>> > cases
>> >>>>> > in IE), assuming that this was installed as part of a special
>> >>>>> > live
>> >>>>> > package, then this browser would get opened instead, thereby
>> >>>>> > launching
>> >>>>> > DHIS2. I am not so sure about the DHIS2 live part, as it simply
>> >>>>> > launches the default browser. Bob?
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> I don't think its very easy to coax dhis2-live to open anything
>> >>>>> besides the default browser. Not that its impossible, but
>> >>>>> probably
>> >>>>> very messy. I'm also not sure we want to get into the browser
>> >>>>> packaging business.
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Could the portable firefox package be of any help here? We could
>> >>>> put
>> >>>> it in a
>> >>>> standard location DHIS2Live/firefox/ and start it from there? I
>> >>>> have
>> >>>> used it
>> >>>> for the PHIT and DHIS seems to run fine there. It is set up with
>> >>>> all
>> >>>> relative paths which should make it easier to distribute as no
>> >>>> installation
>> >>>> is needed.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Ola
>> >>>> --------
>> >>>>
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> > On Thu, Apr 22, 2010 at 6:32 PM, Knut Staring >> >> >>>>> > <knutst@gmail.com> >> >> >>>>> > wrote:
>> >>>>> >> Given that DHIS2 runs best in Chrome (especially the Mapping
>> >>>>> >> module),
>> >>>>> >> and also ok in Firefox, it might be a good idea to make sure
>> >>>>> >> people
>> >>>>> >> have access to one of these browsers.
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >> One way to do that is to package things with Prism (Firefox)
>> >>>>> >> or
>> >>>>> >> Chrome
>> >>>>> >> (or Fluid for Mac http://fluidapp.com/\)
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >> Chrome Application Shortcuts / Mozilla Prism Installer - Stack Overflow
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >> What do you guys think?
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >> Knut
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >> _______________________________________________
>> >>>>> >> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> >> Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
>> >>>>> >> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> >> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> > --
>> >>>>> > --
>> >>>>> > Jason P. Pickering
>> >>>>> > email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
>> >>>>> > tel:+260968395190
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> > _______________________________________________
>> >>>>> > Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> > Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
>> >>>>> > Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> > More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> _______________________________________________
>> >>>>> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
>> >>>>> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>> >>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> --
>> >>> --
>> >>> Jason P. Pickering
>> >>> email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
>> >>> tel:+260968395190
>> >>>
>> >>
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> --
>> Jason P. Pickering
>> email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
>> tel:+260968395190
>
>

--
--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

jason · 23 April 2010 09:37

Yeah, the problem is, how do you know where Chrome/FireFox/etc is?
Sounds like we need to read the registry, which sounds even more
complicated.

My preference would be as follows.

1) Test for the existence of a DHIS2_BROWSER variable. . This will
allow packagers to determine which browser the user should use and or
advanced users to set the variable on their own if they are so
inclined to do so. If it exists, try and use this
2) Test for the existence of the /ssb/firefox.exe file. If it exists, use this.
3) If none of that works, just open the default browser.

···

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 11:31 AM, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> wrote:

I've got an even simpler suggestion. Why not get the tray app to
simply try and exec "firefox" first (in the hope that it is installed
and in the path). If that fails it can try chrome and if that fails
open with default browser.

From the packaging perspective (and I think packaging is a slightly
different concern) , if a packager wants to build a
portable-firefox-included version then just be sure that the installer
sets the path correctly. I think personally my preference would be to
simply include a standard (up to date) firefox install package on the
same medium as the dhis2-live. But I do understand the concern about
users inadvertently having their default browser switched because they
get intimidated by the dialog.

Cheers
Bob

On 23 April 2010 09:55, Ola Hodne Titlestad <olatitle@gmail.com> wrote:

I was more thing of the unzip and run package.

If there is a folder DHIS2Live/firefox-portable/ I thought we could simply
run DHIS in this specific browser with a command on the form:
"portable-firefox/firefox.exe http://localhost:8080/dhis"

Ola
------

On 23 April 2010 10:48, Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> wrote:

Including the browser as part of the install is trivial. Making it
launch, without making it the default browser, is the issue really we
are discussing and that will require modification to the DHIS2 tray
app.

I have currently three different installers in trunk. 1) Windows
bare-bones installer that just installs H2 and DHIS2. 2) Windows
installer with the H2 Sierra Leone DB 3) A console based installer for
Linux. It would be simple enough to produce a fourth, and include a
browser of choice. Still working on the postgres installer, but for
Zambia, I was planning on distributing FireFox/Opera/Chrome or
whatever the devs say is best along with the installer. I did not
really want to make this browser the default, unless the user did this
theirselves, which most browsers will try and do anyway, which is a
bit of a problem. If this feature of "Me first, Me first!" could be
disabled for the SSB, then it sounds like a very good plan to me.

Regards,
JP

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 10:42 AM, Ola Hodne Titlestad >>> <olatitle@gmail.com> wrote:
> I would still like us to pursue the idea of distributing a portable
> browser
> with DHIS2 live to make it easier to get started with DHIS.
> At least check whether this is doable or not.
>
> This would cater for DHIS training and the "I want to see what this is"
> scenarios when the users are offline or on poor connections making
> online
> demos difficult to use.
>
> The installer/production scenario is a bit different I think, but also
> very
> important.
>
> Ola Hodne Titlestad |Technical Officer|
> Health Metrics Network (HMN) | World Health Organization
> Avenue Appia 20 |1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland | Email:
> titlestado@who.int|Tel: +41 788216897
> Website: www.healthmetricsnetwork.org
>
> Better Information. Better Decisions. Better Health.
>
>
> On 23 April 2010 10:31, Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> >>> > wrote:
>>
>> My suggestion would be to keep it very simple.
>>
>> If the environment variable exists, and is of the form "C:\program
>> files\dhis2\ssb\firefox.exe" then launch it. This would mean that this
>> would only cater to the situation where someone has installed the
>> program with the installer (which will likely be the case for many
>> production installations) but not always.
>>
>> Otherwise, just fall back and do what is already in the code.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 10:18 AM, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> >>> >> wrote:
>> > On 23 April 2010 09:04, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> On 23 April 2010 08:54, Jason Pickering >>> >> >> <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> >>> >> >> wrote:
>> >>> I somewhat agree with Bob, but I also see good reasons why
>> >>> packaging a
>> >>> browser is a good idea. There seems to be pretty wide variation
>> >>> between different browsers, and while it is a good idea to support
>> >>> many different ones, it is also a lot of work. If we could focus on
>> >>> being sure that all the browser-related bugs are not present, for
>> >>> instance in Chrome or Firefox, for a particular release, this
>> >>> would
>> >>> ensure that the app is going to work properly in a production
>> >>> environment. I have seen a lot of problems in the field with
>> >>> people
>> >>> installing toolbars, browser hijacking, etc that really is going to
>> >>> complicate deployments unnecessarily.
>> >>>
>> >>> After looking at the code, it seems that setting an environment
>> >>> variable might be the best solution, perhaps.
>> >>> This could be set as part of the installation process. If the
>> >>> environment variable exists (DHIS2_BROWSER) for example, then it
>> >>> would
>> >>> attempt to open up DHIS2 with this. Otherwise, it would default to
>> >>> the
>> >>> current Desktop.getDesktop().browse( URI.create (getUrl() ) ) );
>> >>> which
>> >>> will simply launch the default browser.
>> >>
>> >> I guess this could work with an exec. I'll take a look.
>> >
>> > Though I am reluctant to depend on the environment variable for the
>> > out-of-the-box experience. The nice thing about dhis-live is that
>> > you
>> > can drop it in and run it. It is this zero-install-fiddling which
>> > people like. Setting environment variables is the next level of
>> > customisation and sophistication for users. Other possibilities:
>> >
>> > (i) check for the existence of a "portable-firefox" folder. If
>> > available use that.
>> > (ii) open a dialog on first invocation requesting users to pick a
>> > browser (I have no idea at this stage how to list them). But that
>> > choice would have to be persisted somehow.
>> > (iii) .... ?
>> >
>> >>
>> >>>
>> >>> Of course, this could be made as an option of the installer,
>> >>> whether
>> >>> to install one of these site-specific browsers or not, but I think
>> >>> the
>> >>> advantages outweigh the disadvantages. It is certainly worth
>> >>> testing I
>> >>> think.
>> >>>
>> >>> Regards,
>> >>> Jason
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 9:46 AM, Ola Hodne Titlestad >>> >> >>> <olatitle@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >>>> On 22 April 2010 23:28, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> >>> >> >>>> wrote:
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> On 22 April 2010 19:35, Jason Pickering >>> >> >>>>> <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> >>> >> >>>>> wrote:
>> >>>>> > I think it should probably be a blueprint and I think it is a
>> >>>>> > good
>> >>>>> > idea.
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> > It is certainly a problem on many machines I have encounterd
>> >>>>> > in
>> >>>>> > the
>> >>>>> > field. We need to install FireFox, Chrome, Opera or something,
>> >>>>> > and
>> >>>>> > ideally make it the default browser. This seems to be a good
>> >>>>> > idea
>> >>>>> > to
>> >>>>> > me, but can seem a bit drastic to some users. Ideally, the
>> >>>>> > installer
>> >>>>> > would come prepackaged with this browser. When DHI2 Live is
>> >>>>> > launched,
>> >>>>> > instead of making a call to the default browser (which in most
>> >>>>> > cases
>> >>>>> > in IE), assuming that this was installed as part of a special
>> >>>>> > live
>> >>>>> > package, then this browser would get opened instead, thereby
>> >>>>> > launching
>> >>>>> > DHIS2. I am not so sure about the DHIS2 live part, as it simply
>> >>>>> > launches the default browser. Bob?
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> I don't think its very easy to coax dhis2-live to open anything
>> >>>>> besides the default browser. Not that its impossible, but
>> >>>>> probably
>> >>>>> very messy. I'm also not sure we want to get into the browser
>> >>>>> packaging business.
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Could the portable firefox package be of any help here? We could
>> >>>> put
>> >>>> it in a
>> >>>> standard location DHIS2Live/firefox/ and start it from there? I
>> >>>> have
>> >>>> used it
>> >>>> for the PHIT and DHIS seems to run fine there. It is set up with
>> >>>> all
>> >>>> relative paths which should make it easier to distribute as no
>> >>>> installation
>> >>>> is needed.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Ola
>> >>>> --------
>> >>>>
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> > On Thu, Apr 22, 2010 at 6:32 PM, Knut Staring >>> >> >>>>> > <knutst@gmail.com> >>> >> >>>>> > wrote:
>> >>>>> >> Given that DHIS2 runs best in Chrome (especially the Mapping
>> >>>>> >> module),
>> >>>>> >> and also ok in Firefox, it might be a good idea to make sure
>> >>>>> >> people
>> >>>>> >> have access to one of these browsers.
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >> One way to do that is to package things with Prism (Firefox)
>> >>>>> >> or
>> >>>>> >> Chrome
>> >>>>> >> (or Fluid for Mac http://fluidapp.com/\)
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >> Chrome Application Shortcuts / Mozilla Prism Installer - Stack Overflow
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >> What do you guys think?
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >> Knut
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >> _______________________________________________
>> >>>>> >> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> >> Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
>> >>>>> >> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> >> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> > --
>> >>>>> > --
>> >>>>> > Jason P. Pickering
>> >>>>> > email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
>> >>>>> > tel:+260968395190
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> > _______________________________________________
>> >>>>> > Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> > Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
>> >>>>> > Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> > More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> _______________________________________________
>> >>>>> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
>> >>>>> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>> >>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> --
>> >>> --
>> >>> Jason P. Pickering
>> >>> email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
>> >>> tel:+260968395190
>> >>>
>> >>
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> --
>> Jason P. Pickering
>> email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
>> tel:+260968395190
>
>

--
--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

--
--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

sunbiz · 23 April 2010 10:39

I believe making it cross-browser is better than packaging a browser. Didn't EU tell MS that browser bundling by a majority player is wrong.

···

Sent from my BlackBerry®

-----Original Message-----
From: Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2010 11:37:53
To: Bob Jolliffe<bobjolliffe@gmail.com>
Cc: DHIS 2 developers<dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net>
Subject: Re: [Dhis2-devs] "Site Specific Browser" included with DHIS2 Live?

Yeah, the problem is, how do you know where Chrome/FireFox/etc is?
Sounds like we need to read the registry, which sounds even more
complicated.

My preference would be as follows.

1) Test for the existence of a DHIS2_BROWSER variable. . This will
allow packagers to determine which browser the user should use and or
advanced users to set the variable on their own if they are so
inclined to do so. If it exists, try and use this
2) Test for the existence of the /ssb/firefox.exe file. If it exists, use this.
3) If none of that works, just open the default browser.

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 11:31 AM, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> wrote:

I've got an even simpler suggestion. Why not get the tray app to
simply try and exec "firefox" first (in the hope that it is installed
and in the path). If that fails it can try chrome and if that fails
open with default browser.

From the packaging perspective (and I think packaging is a slightly
different concern) , if a packager wants to build a
portable-firefox-included version then just be sure that the installer
sets the path correctly. I think personally my preference would be to
simply include a standard (up to date) firefox install package on the
same medium as the dhis2-live. But I do understand the concern about
users inadvertently having their default browser switched because they
get intimidated by the dialog.

Cheers
Bob

On 23 April 2010 09:55, Ola Hodne Titlestad <olatitle@gmail.com> wrote:

I was more thing of the unzip and run package.

If there is a folder DHIS2Live/firefox-portable/ I thought we could simply
run DHIS in this specific browser with a command on the form:
"portable-firefox/firefox.exe http://localhost:8080/dhis"

Ola
------

On 23 April 2010 10:48, Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> wrote:

Including the browser as part of the install is trivial. Making it
launch, without making it the default browser, is the issue really we
are discussing and that will require modification to the DHIS2 tray
app.

I have currently three different installers in trunk. 1) Windows
bare-bones installer that just installs H2 and DHIS2. 2) Windows
installer with the H2 Sierra Leone DB 3) A console based installer for
Linux. It would be simple enough to produce a fourth, and include a
browser of choice. Still working on the postgres installer, but for
Zambia, I was planning on distributing FireFox/Opera/Chrome or
whatever the devs say is best along with the installer. I did not
really want to make this browser the default, unless the user did this
theirselves, which most browsers will try and do anyway, which is a
bit of a problem. If this feature of "Me first, Me first!" could be
disabled for the SSB, then it sounds like a very good plan to me.

Regards,
JP

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 10:42 AM, Ola Hodne Titlestad >>> <olatitle@gmail.com> wrote:
> I would still like us to pursue the idea of distributing a portable
> browser
> with DHIS2 live to make it easier to get started with DHIS.
> At least check whether this is doable or not.
>
> This would cater for DHIS training and the "I want to see what this is"
> scenarios when the users are offline or on poor connections making
> online
> demos difficult to use.
>
> The installer/production scenario is a bit different I think, but also
> very
> important.
>
> Ola Hodne Titlestad |Technical Officer|
> Health Metrics Network (HMN) | World Health Organization
> Avenue Appia 20 |1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland | Email:
> titlestado@who.int|Tel: +41 788216897
> Website: www.healthmetricsnetwork.org
>
> Better Information. Better Decisions. Better Health.
>
>
> On 23 April 2010 10:31, Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> >>> > wrote:
>>
>> My suggestion would be to keep it very simple.
>>
>> If the environment variable exists, and is of the form "C:\program
>> files\dhis2\ssb\firefox.exe" then launch it. This would mean that this
>> would only cater to the situation where someone has installed the
>> program with the installer (which will likely be the case for many
>> production installations) but not always.
>>
>> Otherwise, just fall back and do what is already in the code.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 10:18 AM, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> >>> >> wrote:
>> > On 23 April 2010 09:04, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> On 23 April 2010 08:54, Jason Pickering >>> >> >> <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> >>> >> >> wrote:
>> >>> I somewhat agree with Bob, but I also see good reasons why
>> >>> packaging a
>> >>> browser is a good idea. There seems to be pretty wide variation
>> >>> between different browsers, and while it is a good idea to support
>> >>> many different ones, it is also a lot of work. If we could focus on
>> >>> being sure that all the browser-related bugs are not present, for
>> >>> instance in Chrome or Firefox, for a particular release, this
>> >>> would
>> >>> ensure that the app is going to work properly in a production
>> >>> environment. I have seen a lot of problems in the field with
>> >>> people
>> >>> installing toolbars, browser hijacking, etc that really is going to
>> >>> complicate deployments unnecessarily.
>> >>>
>> >>> After looking at the code, it seems that setting an environment
>> >>> variable might be the best solution, perhaps.
>> >>> This could be set as part of the installation process. If the
>> >>> environment variable exists (DHIS2_BROWSER) for example, then it
>> >>> would
>> >>> attempt to open up DHIS2 with this. Otherwise, it would default to
>> >>> the
>> >>> current Desktop.getDesktop().browse( URI.create (getUrl() ) ) );
>> >>> which
>> >>> will simply launch the default browser.
>> >>
>> >> I guess this could work with an exec. I'll take a look.
>> >
>> > Though I am reluctant to depend on the environment variable for the
>> > out-of-the-box experience. The nice thing about dhis-live is that
>> > you
>> > can drop it in and run it. It is this zero-install-fiddling which
>> > people like. Setting environment variables is the next level of
>> > customisation and sophistication for users. Other possibilities:
>> >
>> > (i) check for the existence of a "portable-firefox" folder. If
>> > available use that.
>> > (ii) open a dialog on first invocation requesting users to pick a
>> > browser (I have no idea at this stage how to list them). But that
>> > choice would have to be persisted somehow.
>> > (iii) .... ?
>> >
>> >>
>> >>>
>> >>> Of course, this could be made as an option of the installer,
>> >>> whether
>> >>> to install one of these site-specific browsers or not, but I think
>> >>> the
>> >>> advantages outweigh the disadvantages. It is certainly worth
>> >>> testing I
>> >>> think.
>> >>>
>> >>> Regards,
>> >>> Jason
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 9:46 AM, Ola Hodne Titlestad >>> >> >>> <olatitle@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >>>> On 22 April 2010 23:28, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> >>> >> >>>> wrote:
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> On 22 April 2010 19:35, Jason Pickering >>> >> >>>>> <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> >>> >> >>>>> wrote:
>> >>>>> > I think it should probably be a blueprint and I think it is a
>> >>>>> > good
>> >>>>> > idea.
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> > It is certainly a problem on many machines I have encounterd
>> >>>>> > in
>> >>>>> > the
>> >>>>> > field. We need to install FireFox, Chrome, Opera or something,
>> >>>>> > and
>> >>>>> > ideally make it the default browser. This seems to be a good
>> >>>>> > idea
>> >>>>> > to
>> >>>>> > me, but can seem a bit drastic to some users. Ideally, the
>> >>>>> > installer
>> >>>>> > would come prepackaged with this browser. When DHI2 Live is
>> >>>>> > launched,
>> >>>>> > instead of making a call to the default browser (which in most
>> >>>>> > cases
>> >>>>> > in IE), assuming that this was installed as part of a special
>> >>>>> > live
>> >>>>> > package, then this browser would get opened instead, thereby
>> >>>>> > launching
>> >>>>> > DHIS2. I am not so sure about the DHIS2 live part, as it simply
>> >>>>> > launches the default browser. Bob?
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> I don't think its very easy to coax dhis2-live to open anything
>> >>>>> besides the default browser. Not that its impossible, but
>> >>>>> probably
>> >>>>> very messy. I'm also not sure we want to get into the browser
>> >>>>> packaging business.
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Could the portable firefox package be of any help here? We could
>> >>>> put
>> >>>> it in a
>> >>>> standard location DHIS2Live/firefox/ and start it from there? I
>> >>>> have
>> >>>> used it
>> >>>> for the PHIT and DHIS seems to run fine there. It is set up with
>> >>>> all
>> >>>> relative paths which should make it easier to distribute as no
>> >>>> installation
>> >>>> is needed.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Ola
>> >>>> --------
>> >>>>
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> > On Thu, Apr 22, 2010 at 6:32 PM, Knut Staring >>> >> >>>>> > <knutst@gmail.com> >>> >> >>>>> > wrote:
>> >>>>> >> Given that DHIS2 runs best in Chrome (especially the Mapping
>> >>>>> >> module),
>> >>>>> >> and also ok in Firefox, it might be a good idea to make sure
>> >>>>> >> people
>> >>>>> >> have access to one of these browsers.
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >> One way to do that is to package things with Prism (Firefox)
>> >>>>> >> or
>> >>>>> >> Chrome
>> >>>>> >> (or Fluid for Mac http://fluidapp.com/\)
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >> Chrome Application Shortcuts / Mozilla Prism Installer - Stack Overflow
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >> What do you guys think?
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >> Knut
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >>_______________________________________________
>> >>>>> >> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> >> Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
>> >>>>> >> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> >> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> > --
>> >>>>> > --
>> >>>>> > Jason P. Pickering
>> >>>>> > email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
>> >>>>> > tel:+260968395190
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> >_______________________________________________
>> >>>>> > Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> > Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
>> >>>>> > Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> > More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>_______________________________________________
>> >>>>> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
>> >>>>> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>> >>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> --
>> >>> --
>> >>> Jason P. Pickering
>> >>> email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
>> >>> tel:+260968395190
>> >>>
>> >>
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> --
>> Jason P. Pickering
>> email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
>> tel:+260968395190
>
>

--
--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

--
--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

_______________________________________________
Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

bobj · 23 April 2010 10:55

I believe making it cross-browser is better than packaging a browser. Didn't EU tell MS that browser bundling by a majority player is wrong.

I do agree.

(Mind you to be fair we are not unseating anyone's browser here - just
presenting a known-good packaged one.)

Does anyone know how far off we are from IE7 support? I know you and
Namarita put some effort in here already. Do you have something
resembling an outstanding snag list?

Cheers
Bob

···

On 23 April 2010 11:39, Saptarshi Purkayastha <sunbiz@gmail.com> wrote:

Sent from my BlackBerry®

-----Original Message-----
From: Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2010 11:37:53
To: Bob Jolliffe<bobjolliffe@gmail.com>
Cc: DHIS 2 developers<dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net>
Subject: Re: [Dhis2-devs] "Site Specific Browser" included with DHIS2 Live?

Yeah, the problem is, how do you know where Chrome/FireFox/etc is?
Sounds like we need to read the registry, which sounds even more
complicated.

My preference would be as follows.

1) Test for the existence of a DHIS2_BROWSER variable. . This will
allow packagers to determine which browser the user should use and or
advanced users to set the variable on their own if they are so
inclined to do so. If it exists, try and use this
2) Test for the existence of the /ssb/firefox.exe file. If it exists, use this.
3) If none of that works, just open the default browser.

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 11:31 AM, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> wrote:

I've got an even simpler suggestion. Why not get the tray app to
simply try and exec "firefox" first (in the hope that it is installed
and in the path). If that fails it can try chrome and if that fails
open with default browser.

From the packaging perspective (and I think packaging is a slightly
different concern) , if a packager wants to build a
portable-firefox-included version then just be sure that the installer
sets the path correctly. I think personally my preference would be to
simply include a standard (up to date) firefox install package on the
same medium as the dhis2-live. But I do understand the concern about
users inadvertently having their default browser switched because they
get intimidated by the dialog.

Cheers
Bob

On 23 April 2010 09:55, Ola Hodne Titlestad <olatitle@gmail.com> wrote:

I was more thing of the unzip and run package.

If there is a folder DHIS2Live/firefox-portable/ I thought we could simply
run DHIS in this specific browser with a command on the form:
"portable-firefox/firefox.exe http://localhost:8080/dhis"

Ola
------

On 23 April 2010 10:48, Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> wrote:

Including the browser as part of the install is trivial. Making it
launch, without making it the default browser, is the issue really we
are discussing and that will require modification to the DHIS2 tray
app.

I have currently three different installers in trunk. 1) Windows
bare-bones installer that just installs H2 and DHIS2. 2) Windows
installer with the H2 Sierra Leone DB 3) A console based installer for
Linux. It would be simple enough to produce a fourth, and include a
browser of choice. Still working on the postgres installer, but for
Zambia, I was planning on distributing FireFox/Opera/Chrome or
whatever the devs say is best along with the installer. I did not
really want to make this browser the default, unless the user did this
theirselves, which most browsers will try and do anyway, which is a
bit of a problem. If this feature of "Me first, Me first!" could be
disabled for the SSB, then it sounds like a very good plan to me.

Regards,
JP

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 10:42 AM, Ola Hodne Titlestad >>>> <olatitle@gmail.com> wrote:
> I would still like us to pursue the idea of distributing a portable
> browser
> with DHIS2 live to make it easier to get started with DHIS.
> At least check whether this is doable or not.
>
> This would cater for DHIS training and the "I want to see what this is"
> scenarios when the users are offline or on poor connections making
> online
> demos difficult to use.
>
> The installer/production scenario is a bit different I think, but also
> very
> important.
>
> Ola Hodne Titlestad |Technical Officer|
> Health Metrics Network (HMN) | World Health Organization
> Avenue Appia 20 |1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland | Email:
> titlestado@who.int|Tel: +41 788216897
> Website: www.healthmetricsnetwork.org
>
> Better Information. Better Decisions. Better Health.
>
>
> On 23 April 2010 10:31, Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> >>>> > wrote:
>>
>> My suggestion would be to keep it very simple.
>>
>> If the environment variable exists, and is of the form "C:\program
>> files\dhis2\ssb\firefox.exe" then launch it. This would mean that this
>> would only cater to the situation where someone has installed the
>> program with the installer (which will likely be the case for many
>> production installations) but not always.
>>
>> Otherwise, just fall back and do what is already in the code.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 10:18 AM, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> >>>> >> wrote:
>> > On 23 April 2010 09:04, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> On 23 April 2010 08:54, Jason Pickering >>>> >> >> <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> >>>> >> >> wrote:
>> >>> I somewhat agree with Bob, but I also see good reasons why
>> >>> packaging a
>> >>> browser is a good idea. There seems to be pretty wide variation
>> >>> between different browsers, and while it is a good idea to support
>> >>> many different ones, it is also a lot of work. If we could focus on
>> >>> being sure that all the browser-related bugs are not present, for
>> >>> instance in Chrome or Firefox, for a particular release, this
>> >>> would
>> >>> ensure that the app is going to work properly in a production
>> >>> environment. I have seen a lot of problems in the field with
>> >>> people
>> >>> installing toolbars, browser hijacking, etc that really is going to
>> >>> complicate deployments unnecessarily.
>> >>>
>> >>> After looking at the code, it seems that setting an environment
>> >>> variable might be the best solution, perhaps.
>> >>> This could be set as part of the installation process. If the
>> >>> environment variable exists (DHIS2_BROWSER) for example, then it
>> >>> would
>> >>> attempt to open up DHIS2 with this. Otherwise, it would default to
>> >>> the
>> >>> current Desktop.getDesktop().browse( URI.create (getUrl() ) ) );
>> >>> which
>> >>> will simply launch the default browser.
>> >>
>> >> I guess this could work with an exec. I'll take a look.
>> >
>> > Though I am reluctant to depend on the environment variable for the
>> > out-of-the-box experience. The nice thing about dhis-live is that
>> > you
>> > can drop it in and run it. It is this zero-install-fiddling which
>> > people like. Setting environment variables is the next level of
>> > customisation and sophistication for users. Other possibilities:
>> >
>> > (i) check for the existence of a "portable-firefox" folder. If
>> > available use that.
>> > (ii) open a dialog on first invocation requesting users to pick a
>> > browser (I have no idea at this stage how to list them). But that
>> > choice would have to be persisted somehow.
>> > (iii) .... ?
>> >
>> >>
>> >>>
>> >>> Of course, this could be made as an option of the installer,
>> >>> whether
>> >>> to install one of these site-specific browsers or not, but I think
>> >>> the
>> >>> advantages outweigh the disadvantages. It is certainly worth
>> >>> testing I
>> >>> think.
>> >>>
>> >>> Regards,
>> >>> Jason
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 9:46 AM, Ola Hodne Titlestad >>>> >> >>> <olatitle@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >>>> On 22 April 2010 23:28, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> >>>> >> >>>> wrote:
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> On 22 April 2010 19:35, Jason Pickering >>>> >> >>>>> <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> >>>> >> >>>>> wrote:
>> >>>>> > I think it should probably be a blueprint and I think it is a
>> >>>>> > good
>> >>>>> > idea.
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> > It is certainly a problem on many machines I have encounterd
>> >>>>> > in
>> >>>>> > the
>> >>>>> > field. We need to install FireFox, Chrome, Opera or something,
>> >>>>> > and
>> >>>>> > ideally make it the default browser. This seems to be a good
>> >>>>> > idea
>> >>>>> > to
>> >>>>> > me, but can seem a bit drastic to some users. Ideally, the
>> >>>>> > installer
>> >>>>> > would come prepackaged with this browser. When DHI2 Live is
>> >>>>> > launched,
>> >>>>> > instead of making a call to the default browser (which in most
>> >>>>> > cases
>> >>>>> > in IE), assuming that this was installed as part of a special
>> >>>>> > live
>> >>>>> > package, then this browser would get opened instead, thereby
>> >>>>> > launching
>> >>>>> > DHIS2. I am not so sure about the DHIS2 live part, as it simply
>> >>>>> > launches the default browser. Bob?
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> I don't think its very easy to coax dhis2-live to open anything
>> >>>>> besides the default browser. Not that its impossible, but
>> >>>>> probably
>> >>>>> very messy. I'm also not sure we want to get into the browser
>> >>>>> packaging business.
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Could the portable firefox package be of any help here? We could
>> >>>> put
>> >>>> it in a
>> >>>> standard location DHIS2Live/firefox/ and start it from there? I
>> >>>> have
>> >>>> used it
>> >>>> for the PHIT and DHIS seems to run fine there. It is set up with
>> >>>> all
>> >>>> relative paths which should make it easier to distribute as no
>> >>>> installation
>> >>>> is needed.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Ola
>> >>>> --------
>> >>>>
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> > On Thu, Apr 22, 2010 at 6:32 PM, Knut Staring >>>> >> >>>>> > <knutst@gmail.com> >>>> >> >>>>> > wrote:
>> >>>>> >> Given that DHIS2 runs best in Chrome (especially the Mapping
>> >>>>> >> module),
>> >>>>> >> and also ok in Firefox, it might be a good idea to make sure
>> >>>>> >> people
>> >>>>> >> have access to one of these browsers.
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >> One way to do that is to package things with Prism (Firefox)
>> >>>>> >> or
>> >>>>> >> Chrome
>> >>>>> >> (or Fluid for Mac http://fluidapp.com/\)
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >> Chrome Application Shortcuts / Mozilla Prism Installer - Stack Overflow
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >> What do you guys think?
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >> Knut
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >>_______________________________________________
>> >>>>> >> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> >> Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
>> >>>>> >> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> >> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> > --
>> >>>>> > --
>> >>>>> > Jason P. Pickering
>> >>>>> > email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
>> >>>>> > tel:+260968395190
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> >_______________________________________________
>> >>>>> > Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> > Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
>> >>>>> > Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> > More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>_______________________________________________
>> >>>>> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
>> >>>>> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>> >>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> --
>> >>> --
>> >>> Jason P. Pickering
>> >>> email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
>> >>> tel:+260968395190
>> >>>
>> >>
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> --
>> Jason P. Pickering
>> email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
>> tel:+260968395190
>
>

--
--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

--
--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

_______________________________________________
Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
_______________________________________________
Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

jason · 23 April 2010 11:28

I totally agree as well. However cross-browser compatibility is still
a goal and may never be possible to support absolutely everything in
all browsers. There are still compelling reasons why implementers may
chose a specific browser, at least from my standpoint. We have the
intellectual goal of achieving cross-browser compatibility, which to
some degree clashes with an implementers reality of providing a
solution that works. I want to do anything I can do mitigate risk in a
deployment, and the browser is a key issue where I have seen many
problems in the field with DHIS2 getting launched in something (i.e.
IE) that is less than optimal.

Bob and I had a side discussion on this and came up with a suggested
spec for how this should happen.

1) Check and see if there is a bundled browser with the application.
It seems Firefox might be a good alternative. I would think that two
zip files should be distributed then: one with the bundled browser, a
separate without. This could apply to the installer as well. Launch
this browser if it exists.
2) Check and see if an enviornment variable has been set to a specific
browser. Launch this browser if it exists.
3) If there is no bundled browser, or no env. variable, fall back and
just launch the default. Launch this browser if it exists.

This should cater to most peoples tastes I think.

I told Bob I would have a hack at this, as he is busy. Comments?
Regards,
Jason

···

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 12:55 PM, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> wrote:

On 23 April 2010 11:39, Saptarshi Purkayastha <sunbiz@gmail.com> wrote:

I believe making it cross-browser is better than packaging a browser. Didn't EU tell MS that browser bundling by a majority player is wrong.

I do agree.

(Mind you to be fair we are not unseating anyone's browser here - just
presenting a known-good packaged one.)

Does anyone know how far off we are from IE7 support? I know you and
Namarita put some effort in here already. Do you have something
resembling an outstanding snag list?

Cheers
Bob

Sent from my BlackBerry®

-----Original Message-----
From: Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2010 11:37:53
To: Bob Jolliffe<bobjolliffe@gmail.com>
Cc: DHIS 2 developers<dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net>
Subject: Re: [Dhis2-devs] "Site Specific Browser" included with DHIS2 Live?

Yeah, the problem is, how do you know where Chrome/FireFox/etc is?
Sounds like we need to read the registry, which sounds even more
complicated.

My preference would be as follows.

1) Test for the existence of a DHIS2_BROWSER variable. . This will
allow packagers to determine which browser the user should use and or
advanced users to set the variable on their own if they are so
inclined to do so. If it exists, try and use this
2) Test for the existence of the /ssb/firefox.exe file. If it exists, use this.
3) If none of that works, just open the default browser.

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 11:31 AM, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> wrote:

I've got an even simpler suggestion. Why not get the tray app to
simply try and exec "firefox" first (in the hope that it is installed
and in the path). If that fails it can try chrome and if that fails
open with default browser.

From the packaging perspective (and I think packaging is a slightly
different concern) , if a packager wants to build a
portable-firefox-included version then just be sure that the installer
sets the path correctly. I think personally my preference would be to
simply include a standard (up to date) firefox install package on the
same medium as the dhis2-live. But I do understand the concern about
users inadvertently having their default browser switched because they
get intimidated by the dialog.

Cheers
Bob

On 23 April 2010 09:55, Ola Hodne Titlestad <olatitle@gmail.com> wrote:

I was more thing of the unzip and run package.

If there is a folder DHIS2Live/firefox-portable/ I thought we could simply
run DHIS in this specific browser with a command on the form:
"portable-firefox/firefox.exe http://localhost:8080/dhis"

Ola
------

On 23 April 2010 10:48, Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> wrote:

Including the browser as part of the install is trivial. Making it
launch, without making it the default browser, is the issue really we
are discussing and that will require modification to the DHIS2 tray
app.

I have currently three different installers in trunk. 1) Windows
bare-bones installer that just installs H2 and DHIS2. 2) Windows
installer with the H2 Sierra Leone DB 3) A console based installer for
Linux. It would be simple enough to produce a fourth, and include a
browser of choice. Still working on the postgres installer, but for
Zambia, I was planning on distributing FireFox/Opera/Chrome or
whatever the devs say is best along with the installer. I did not
really want to make this browser the default, unless the user did this
theirselves, which most browsers will try and do anyway, which is a
bit of a problem. If this feature of "Me first, Me first!" could be
disabled for the SSB, then it sounds like a very good plan to me.

Regards,
JP

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 10:42 AM, Ola Hodne Titlestad >>>>> <olatitle@gmail.com> wrote:
> I would still like us to pursue the idea of distributing a portable
> browser
> with DHIS2 live to make it easier to get started with DHIS.
> At least check whether this is doable or not.
>
> This would cater for DHIS training and the "I want to see what this is"
> scenarios when the users are offline or on poor connections making
> online
> demos difficult to use.
>
> The installer/production scenario is a bit different I think, but also
> very
> important.
>
> Ola Hodne Titlestad |Technical Officer|
> Health Metrics Network (HMN) | World Health Organization
> Avenue Appia 20 |1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland | Email:
> titlestado@who.int|Tel: +41 788216897
> Website: www.healthmetricsnetwork.org
>
> Better Information. Better Decisions. Better Health.
>
>
> On 23 April 2010 10:31, Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> >>>>> > wrote:
>>
>> My suggestion would be to keep it very simple.
>>
>> If the environment variable exists, and is of the form "C:\program
>> files\dhis2\ssb\firefox.exe" then launch it. This would mean that this
>> would only cater to the situation where someone has installed the
>> program with the installer (which will likely be the case for many
>> production installations) but not always.
>>
>> Otherwise, just fall back and do what is already in the code.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 10:18 AM, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> >>>>> >> wrote:
>> > On 23 April 2010 09:04, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> On 23 April 2010 08:54, Jason Pickering >>>>> >> >> <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> >>>>> >> >> wrote:
>> >>> I somewhat agree with Bob, but I also see good reasons why
>> >>> packaging a
>> >>> browser is a good idea. There seems to be pretty wide variation
>> >>> between different browsers, and while it is a good idea to support
>> >>> many different ones, it is also a lot of work. If we could focus on
>> >>> being sure that all the browser-related bugs are not present, for
>> >>> instance in Chrome or Firefox, for a particular release, this
>> >>> would
>> >>> ensure that the app is going to work properly in a production
>> >>> environment. I have seen a lot of problems in the field with
>> >>> people
>> >>> installing toolbars, browser hijacking, etc that really is going to
>> >>> complicate deployments unnecessarily.
>> >>>
>> >>> After looking at the code, it seems that setting an environment
>> >>> variable might be the best solution, perhaps.
>> >>> This could be set as part of the installation process. If the
>> >>> environment variable exists (DHIS2_BROWSER) for example, then it
>> >>> would
>> >>> attempt to open up DHIS2 with this. Otherwise, it would default to
>> >>> the
>> >>> current Desktop.getDesktop().browse( URI.create (getUrl() ) ) );
>> >>> which
>> >>> will simply launch the default browser.
>> >>
>> >> I guess this could work with an exec. I'll take a look.
>> >
>> > Though I am reluctant to depend on the environment variable for the
>> > out-of-the-box experience. The nice thing about dhis-live is that
>> > you
>> > can drop it in and run it. It is this zero-install-fiddling which
>> > people like. Setting environment variables is the next level of
>> > customisation and sophistication for users. Other possibilities:
>> >
>> > (i) check for the existence of a "portable-firefox" folder. If
>> > available use that.
>> > (ii) open a dialog on first invocation requesting users to pick a
>> > browser (I have no idea at this stage how to list them). But that
>> > choice would have to be persisted somehow.
>> > (iii) .... ?
>> >
>> >>
>> >>>
>> >>> Of course, this could be made as an option of the installer,
>> >>> whether
>> >>> to install one of these site-specific browsers or not, but I think
>> >>> the
>> >>> advantages outweigh the disadvantages. It is certainly worth
>> >>> testing I
>> >>> think.
>> >>>
>> >>> Regards,
>> >>> Jason
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 9:46 AM, Ola Hodne Titlestad >>>>> >> >>> <olatitle@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >>>> On 22 April 2010 23:28, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> >>>>> >> >>>> wrote:
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> On 22 April 2010 19:35, Jason Pickering >>>>> >> >>>>> <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> >>>>> >> >>>>> wrote:
>> >>>>> > I think it should probably be a blueprint and I think it is a
>> >>>>> > good
>> >>>>> > idea.
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> > It is certainly a problem on many machines I have encounterd
>> >>>>> > in
>> >>>>> > the
>> >>>>> > field. We need to install FireFox, Chrome, Opera or something,
>> >>>>> > and
>> >>>>> > ideally make it the default browser. This seems to be a good
>> >>>>> > idea
>> >>>>> > to
>> >>>>> > me, but can seem a bit drastic to some users. Ideally, the
>> >>>>> > installer
>> >>>>> > would come prepackaged with this browser. When DHI2 Live is
>> >>>>> > launched,
>> >>>>> > instead of making a call to the default browser (which in most
>> >>>>> > cases
>> >>>>> > in IE), assuming that this was installed as part of a special
>> >>>>> > live
>> >>>>> > package, then this browser would get opened instead, thereby
>> >>>>> > launching
>> >>>>> > DHIS2. I am not so sure about the DHIS2 live part, as it simply
>> >>>>> > launches the default browser. Bob?
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> I don't think its very easy to coax dhis2-live to open anything
>> >>>>> besides the default browser. Not that its impossible, but
>> >>>>> probably
>> >>>>> very messy. I'm also not sure we want to get into the browser
>> >>>>> packaging business.
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Could the portable firefox package be of any help here? We could
>> >>>> put
>> >>>> it in a
>> >>>> standard location DHIS2Live/firefox/ and start it from there? I
>> >>>> have
>> >>>> used it
>> >>>> for the PHIT and DHIS seems to run fine there. It is set up with
>> >>>> all
>> >>>> relative paths which should make it easier to distribute as no
>> >>>> installation
>> >>>> is needed.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Ola
>> >>>> --------
>> >>>>
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> > On Thu, Apr 22, 2010 at 6:32 PM, Knut Staring >>>>> >> >>>>> > <knutst@gmail.com> >>>>> >> >>>>> > wrote:
>> >>>>> >> Given that DHIS2 runs best in Chrome (especially the Mapping
>> >>>>> >> module),
>> >>>>> >> and also ok in Firefox, it might be a good idea to make sure
>> >>>>> >> people
>> >>>>> >> have access to one of these browsers.
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >> One way to do that is to package things with Prism (Firefox)
>> >>>>> >> or
>> >>>>> >> Chrome
>> >>>>> >> (or Fluid for Mac http://fluidapp.com/\)
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >> Chrome Application Shortcuts / Mozilla Prism Installer - Stack Overflow
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >> What do you guys think?
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >> Knut
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >>_______________________________________________
>> >>>>> >> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> >> Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
>> >>>>> >> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> >> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> > --
>> >>>>> > --
>> >>>>> > Jason P. Pickering
>> >>>>> > email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
>> >>>>> > tel:+260968395190
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> >_______________________________________________
>> >>>>> > Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> > Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
>> >>>>> > Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> > More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>_______________________________________________
>> >>>>> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
>> >>>>> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>> >>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> --
>> >>> --
>> >>> Jason P. Pickering
>> >>> email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
>> >>> tel:+260968395190
>> >>>
>> >>
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> --
>> Jason P. Pickering
>> email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
>> tel:+260968395190
>
>

--
--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

--
--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

_______________________________________________
Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
_______________________________________________
Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

--
--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

Knut_Staring · 23 April 2010 11:30

I believe making it cross-browser is better than packaging a browser. Didn't EU tell MS that browser bundling by a majority player is wrong.

Nice point. But a SSB is more like a separate application - removes
the clutter, user toolbars and plugins, back button etc. On a small
screen, the wasted real estate of the top toolbar space seriously
affects the usability of DHIS2. An SSB will make it more similar to
1.4 and other desktop apps.

In Chrome, just click the page icon in the upper right corner and
select "Create application shortcuts..." to see what I mean.

And of course, optionally supplying an (optional) modern browser does
not contradict efforts at supporting some of the horrible old ones

Knut

···

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 12:39 PM, Saptarshi Purkayastha <sunbiz@gmail.com> wrote:

Sent from my BlackBerry®

-----Original Message-----
From: Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2010 11:37:53
To: Bob Jolliffe<bobjolliffe@gmail.com>
Cc: DHIS 2 developers<dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net>
Subject: Re: [Dhis2-devs] "Site Specific Browser" included with DHIS2 Live?

Yeah, the problem is, how do you know where Chrome/FireFox/etc is?
Sounds like we need to read the registry, which sounds even more
complicated.

My preference would be as follows.

1) Test for the existence of a DHIS2_BROWSER variable. . This will
allow packagers to determine which browser the user should use and or
advanced users to set the variable on their own if they are so
inclined to do so. If it exists, try and use this
2) Test for the existence of the /ssb/firefox.exe file. If it exists, use this.
3) If none of that works, just open the default browser.

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 11:31 AM, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> wrote:

I've got an even simpler suggestion. Why not get the tray app to
simply try and exec "firefox" first (in the hope that it is installed
and in the path). If that fails it can try chrome and if that fails
open with default browser.

From the packaging perspective (and I think packaging is a slightly
different concern) , if a packager wants to build a
portable-firefox-included version then just be sure that the installer
sets the path correctly. I think personally my preference would be to
simply include a standard (up to date) firefox install package on the
same medium as the dhis2-live. But I do understand the concern about
users inadvertently having their default browser switched because they
get intimidated by the dialog.

Cheers
Bob

On 23 April 2010 09:55, Ola Hodne Titlestad <olatitle@gmail.com> wrote:

I was more thing of the unzip and run package.

If there is a folder DHIS2Live/firefox-portable/ I thought we could simply
run DHIS in this specific browser with a command on the form:
"portable-firefox/firefox.exe http://localhost:8080/dhis"

Ola
------

On 23 April 2010 10:48, Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> wrote:

Including the browser as part of the install is trivial. Making it
launch, without making it the default browser, is the issue really we
are discussing and that will require modification to the DHIS2 tray
app.

I have currently three different installers in trunk. 1) Windows
bare-bones installer that just installs H2 and DHIS2. 2) Windows
installer with the H2 Sierra Leone DB 3) A console based installer for
Linux. It would be simple enough to produce a fourth, and include a
browser of choice. Still working on the postgres installer, but for
Zambia, I was planning on distributing FireFox/Opera/Chrome or
whatever the devs say is best along with the installer. I did not
really want to make this browser the default, unless the user did this
theirselves, which most browsers will try and do anyway, which is a
bit of a problem. If this feature of "Me first, Me first!" could be
disabled for the SSB, then it sounds like a very good plan to me.

Regards,
JP

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 10:42 AM, Ola Hodne Titlestad >>>> <olatitle@gmail.com> wrote:
> I would still like us to pursue the idea of distributing a portable
> browser
> with DHIS2 live to make it easier to get started with DHIS.
> At least check whether this is doable or not.
>
> This would cater for DHIS training and the "I want to see what this is"
> scenarios when the users are offline or on poor connections making
> online
> demos difficult to use.
>
> The installer/production scenario is a bit different I think, but also
> very
> important.
>
> Ola Hodne Titlestad |Technical Officer|
> Health Metrics Network (HMN) | World Health Organization
> Avenue Appia 20 |1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland | Email:
> titlestado@who.int|Tel: +41 788216897
> Website: www.healthmetricsnetwork.org
>
> Better Information. Better Decisions. Better Health.
>
>
> On 23 April 2010 10:31, Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> >>>> > wrote:
>>
>> My suggestion would be to keep it very simple.
>>
>> If the environment variable exists, and is of the form "C:\program
>> files\dhis2\ssb\firefox.exe" then launch it. This would mean that this
>> would only cater to the situation where someone has installed the
>> program with the installer (which will likely be the case for many
>> production installations) but not always.
>>
>> Otherwise, just fall back and do what is already in the code.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 10:18 AM, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> >>>> >> wrote:
>> > On 23 April 2010 09:04, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> On 23 April 2010 08:54, Jason Pickering >>>> >> >> <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> >>>> >> >> wrote:
>> >>> I somewhat agree with Bob, but I also see good reasons why
>> >>> packaging a
>> >>> browser is a good idea. There seems to be pretty wide variation
>> >>> between different browsers, and while it is a good idea to support
>> >>> many different ones, it is also a lot of work. If we could focus on
>> >>> being sure that all the browser-related bugs are not present, for
>> >>> instance in Chrome or Firefox, for a particular release, this
>> >>> would
>> >>> ensure that the app is going to work properly in a production
>> >>> environment. I have seen a lot of problems in the field with
>> >>> people
>> >>> installing toolbars, browser hijacking, etc that really is going to
>> >>> complicate deployments unnecessarily.
>> >>>
>> >>> After looking at the code, it seems that setting an environment
>> >>> variable might be the best solution, perhaps.
>> >>> This could be set as part of the installation process. If the
>> >>> environment variable exists (DHIS2_BROWSER) for example, then it
>> >>> would
>> >>> attempt to open up DHIS2 with this. Otherwise, it would default to
>> >>> the
>> >>> current Desktop.getDesktop().browse( URI.create (getUrl() ) ) );
>> >>> which
>> >>> will simply launch the default browser.
>> >>
>> >> I guess this could work with an exec. I'll take a look.
>> >
>> > Though I am reluctant to depend on the environment variable for the
>> > out-of-the-box experience. The nice thing about dhis-live is that
>> > you
>> > can drop it in and run it. It is this zero-install-fiddling which
>> > people like. Setting environment variables is the next level of
>> > customisation and sophistication for users. Other possibilities:
>> >
>> > (i) check for the existence of a "portable-firefox" folder. If
>> > available use that.
>> > (ii) open a dialog on first invocation requesting users to pick a
>> > browser (I have no idea at this stage how to list them). But that
>> > choice would have to be persisted somehow.
>> > (iii) .... ?
>> >
>> >>
>> >>>
>> >>> Of course, this could be made as an option of the installer,
>> >>> whether
>> >>> to install one of these site-specific browsers or not, but I think
>> >>> the
>> >>> advantages outweigh the disadvantages. It is certainly worth
>> >>> testing I
>> >>> think.
>> >>>
>> >>> Regards,
>> >>> Jason
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 9:46 AM, Ola Hodne Titlestad >>>> >> >>> <olatitle@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >>>> On 22 April 2010 23:28, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> >>>> >> >>>> wrote:
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> On 22 April 2010 19:35, Jason Pickering >>>> >> >>>>> <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> >>>> >> >>>>> wrote:
>> >>>>> > I think it should probably be a blueprint and I think it is a
>> >>>>> > good
>> >>>>> > idea.
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> > It is certainly a problem on many machines I have encounterd
>> >>>>> > in
>> >>>>> > the
>> >>>>> > field. We need to install FireFox, Chrome, Opera or something,
>> >>>>> > and
>> >>>>> > ideally make it the default browser. This seems to be a good
>> >>>>> > idea
>> >>>>> > to
>> >>>>> > me, but can seem a bit drastic to some users. Ideally, the
>> >>>>> > installer
>> >>>>> > would come prepackaged with this browser. When DHI2 Live is
>> >>>>> > launched,
>> >>>>> > instead of making a call to the default browser (which in most
>> >>>>> > cases
>> >>>>> > in IE), assuming that this was installed as part of a special
>> >>>>> > live
>> >>>>> > package, then this browser would get opened instead, thereby
>> >>>>> > launching
>> >>>>> > DHIS2. I am not so sure about the DHIS2 live part, as it simply
>> >>>>> > launches the default browser. Bob?
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> I don't think its very easy to coax dhis2-live to open anything
>> >>>>> besides the default browser. Not that its impossible, but
>> >>>>> probably
>> >>>>> very messy. I'm also not sure we want to get into the browser
>> >>>>> packaging business.
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Could the portable firefox package be of any help here? We could
>> >>>> put
>> >>>> it in a
>> >>>> standard location DHIS2Live/firefox/ and start it from there? I
>> >>>> have
>> >>>> used it
>> >>>> for the PHIT and DHIS seems to run fine there. It is set up with
>> >>>> all
>> >>>> relative paths which should make it easier to distribute as no
>> >>>> installation
>> >>>> is needed.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Ola
>> >>>> --------
>> >>>>
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> > On Thu, Apr 22, 2010 at 6:32 PM, Knut Staring >>>> >> >>>>> > <knutst@gmail.com> >>>> >> >>>>> > wrote:
>> >>>>> >> Given that DHIS2 runs best in Chrome (especially the Mapping
>> >>>>> >> module),
>> >>>>> >> and also ok in Firefox, it might be a good idea to make sure
>> >>>>> >> people
>> >>>>> >> have access to one of these browsers.
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >> One way to do that is to package things with Prism (Firefox)
>> >>>>> >> or
>> >>>>> >> Chrome
>> >>>>> >> (or Fluid for Mac http://fluidapp.com/\)
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >> Chrome Application Shortcuts / Mozilla Prism Installer - Stack Overflow
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >> What do you guys think?
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >> Knut
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >>_______________________________________________
>> >>>>> >> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> >> Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
>> >>>>> >> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> >> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>> >>>>> >>
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> > --
>> >>>>> > --
>> >>>>> > Jason P. Pickering
>> >>>>> > email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
>> >>>>> > tel:+260968395190
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>> >_______________________________________________
>> >>>>> > Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> > Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
>> >>>>> > Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> > More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>_______________________________________________
>> >>>>> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
>> >>>>> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>> >>>>> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>> >>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> --
>> >>> --
>> >>> Jason P. Pickering
>> >>> email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
>> >>> tel:+260968395190
>> >>>
>> >>
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> --
>> Jason P. Pickering
>> email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
>> tel:+260968395190
>
>

--
--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

--
--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

_______________________________________________
Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
_______________________________________________
Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

--
Cheers,
Knut Staring

Knut_Staring · 23 April 2010 11:55

A similar effect can be achieved in modern browsers by hitting F11 and
go to Full Screen Mode. Though I doubt most of our users know this -
something to add to the user manual, perhaps?

Knut

···

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 1:30 PM, Knut Staring <knutst@gmail.com> wrote:

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 12:39 PM, Saptarshi Purkayastha > <sunbiz@gmail.com> wrote:

I believe making it cross-browser is better than packaging a browser. Didn't EU tell MS that browser bundling by a majority player is wrong.

Nice point. But a SSB is more like a separate application - removes
the clutter, user toolbars and plugins, back button etc. On a small
screen, the wasted real estate of the top toolbar space seriously
affects the usability of DHIS2. An SSB will make it more similar to
1.4 and other desktop apps.