OpenG Package Installer v0.5 Alpha Release

[Jim_Kring]

OpenG Package Installer v0.5 Alpha Release

Visit the Project Homepage at SourceForge.net

==> http://ogpm.sf.net

Discuss the Package Installer at OpenG.org

==> http://www.openg.org/forum/index.php?c=9

Download

1st, download the Package Installer for your platform of choice:

• Win - http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/ogpm/ogpi-0.5-win.zip?download


• Mac - http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/ogpm/ogpi-0.5-mac.sit.bin?download


• Linux - http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/ogpm/ogpi-0.5-linux.zip?download

2nd, download some OpenG Toolkit Packages for testing with the installer. The
OpenG Package Installer uses .ogp (OpenG Package) files. These .ogp files will
soon be released from the SourceForge project page ( http://sf.net/projects/opengtoolkit
), but for now a group of demo .ogp package files may be downloaded from the
following URL:

==> http://openg.org/OGPI/demo_packages.zip

About the OpenG Package Installer

OpenG Package Installer - "A better way to install LabVIEW tools"

The OpenG Package Installer (OGPI) is an add-on package, which allows OpenG
Package (.opg) files to be installed onto a LabVIEW development system. The
OGPI is the first of (and foundation for) several OpenG Package Tools (OGPT)
to come. This package installer provides the basis for a framework to easily
package, distribute, install, and manage myriad varieties of LabVIEW tools.
The OpenG Package files are simply zip files with an .ogp file extension --
.ogp stands for "OpenG Package". The zip archive packages are created
and extracted using a ZLIB based shared library. This shared library has been
compiled for each platform: Linux, Macintosh, and Windows. OpenG Packages are
therefore inherently platform independent, but their contents may target a variety
of different platforms and LabVIEW versions. This allows OpenG developers to
distribute a single file for all platforms. The package installer does all of
the hard work, putting the right files in the proper places.

As an end-user, the OpenG Package Installer makes adding and removing LabVIEW
tools easy, I mean REALLY EASY! In Windows it is as easy as double-clicking
the package file and pressing the "Install" button in the subsequent
package info dialog. Upgrading and uninstalling work the same way. These OS
integration features will eventually be added to the Linux and Mac platforms,
and hopefully very sooner than later. But for now, you can still use all the
functionality of the OpenG Package Installer with an easy-to-use GUI available
from the LabVIEW Tools menu.

As a package developer the OpenG Package Installer make creating cross-platform
distributions of LabVIEW tools easy. At the moment there is no fancy user interface
or "wizard" for creating packages, but rest assured, it is comming.
For now, the OpenG Packages may be created from .spec files which are simply
INI files that describe the package, its dependancies, and the files (and thier
dependencies) that comprise the package. Fundamentanly a package consists of
groups of files, each group having different file system destinations, as well
as OS and LabVIEW version dependencies. If the dependency is not met, the file
group is not installed, this meanse that the file groups are selectively installed
depending on the platform.

User Features:

• Install/Uninstall/Upgrade packages interactively or programatically


• Install/Upgrade package by double-clicking on them (Windows)


• Install/Uninstall packages in groups


• View a list of all packages installed

Package Developer Features:

• Build packages by double-clicking package .spec files (Windows)


• Build packages programatically or interactively