> There *may* be a problem with the user preferences file but all the solutions you suggest does not convince me. (I would prefer you to expose the problem, not the solutions, more clearly.)
I'll try to do that by responding to your comments, below. > * We could add a -putprefs preference_file command line option to XXE v3.4. This suggestion is OK because it is equivalent to -putpref, -putpref, -putpref, ..., just more convenient. That would be terrific! I think that will make it much easier to establish and deploy a set of default preferences. > * I still don't understand the relationship between custom GUIs (.xxe_gui files) and user preferences files. In fact, I see no relationship at all. OK. I'm building a very, very simple interface for authors to review and update extremely granular chunks of content. (Launching the interface will be done from a CMS routine, tied to this specific type of content.) The Options menu (along with most others) will not be available. In this interface, it makes no sense to show the Tree View so I want to (and can, via -putpref) turn it off. But this will overwrite the user's preference for the full gui view of XXE, where they may prefer to have it on. Similarly, I'd like to use some unique CSS defaults, to help differentiate the simple interface from full XXE. But, again, I don't want to interfere with any settings the user may have chosen for the full program. > * It seems to me that a custom XXE launch script could solve any problem related to the user preferences file. I mean, this custom XXE launch script should not hesitate to deeply change the contents of the XXE_user_preferences_dir if this is really needed. Agreed. And this would not be an issue if each user used just one particular gui interface. But in my scenario, users will run both interfaces--possibly simultaneously. So, although I could back up the current preferences file prior to launching my limited interface, if the full XXE is already running, any subsequent Options changes will be saved to the wrong file. Hope this provides enough context around my fixation with this issue :-) Thanks for listening. -----Original Message----- From: Hussein Shafie [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2006 2:05 AM To: Mark Fletcher Cc: xmleditor-support at xmlmind.com Subject: Re: [XXE] RE: cmd line questions Mark Fletcher wrote: > Argh. This is the second instance where I've run into a wall regarding > user preferences. (The first time, I was wondering whether you could > deliver a standard preference file as part of a deployment.) Can you > guys please consider making user preference paths/files more > configurable? > > I see several features that XXE "administrators" need: > > * The ability to define and deliver a standard set of user > preferences for a deployment. Upon the first running of XXE (no user > prefs file exists), this "master" prefs file would be used as a > template. > > * The ability to reset master preferences on each startup. This is > supported via the -putpref option, but only one key at a time. It > would be nice to be able to point to a master preferences file instead. > > * The ability to use different user pref paths with different > xxe_gui files. The ability to show custom gui views of your app is > awesome, but some user preferences may be incompatible for different > gui views. (In particular, I'm thinking of the Tree View, Unique > Instance, and CSS default options.) Either make the user prefs path an > element in the gui spec, or allow for user pref path to be passed as > an environment variable, just as XXE_GUI can be passed. The path could > either specify a different filename or subdirectory below the current > prefs file location. There *may* be a problem with the user preferences file but all the solutions you suggest does not convince me. (I would prefer you to expose the problem, not the solutions, more clearly.) * We could add a -putprefs preference_file command line option to XXE v3.4. This suggestion is OK because it is equivalent to -putpref, -putpref, -putpref, ..., just more convenient. * I still don't understand the relationship between custom GUIs (.xxe_gui files) and user preferences files. In fact, I see no relationship at all. * It seems to me that a custom XXE launch script could solve any problem related to the user preferences file. I mean, this custom XXE launch script should not hesitate to deeply change the contents of the XXE_user_preferences_dir if this is really needed. > I really think these features are crucial to making XXE deployable and > manageable across a large organization. XXE is already deployed and managed across large organizations but this is always done using Java[tm] Web Start (IMHO a very good technology).
