XUL Application Packaging

Project Name

XUL Application Packaging

Project Description

Help to develop an automated packaging system for XULRunner applications.

Resources:

• Automated Packaging System
• plasticmillion, mfinkle, #mozpad, #prism

Project Leader(s)

• Joshua Doodnauth

Project Contributor(s)

• None

Project Details

Introduction

Creating an application packager to allow developers of XULRunner applications to focus more on development, rather than the tedious work of having to figure out how to bundle and deploy their application. Developers shouldn't need to focus on this simple task, they should be able to quickly and easily put their new application into a packager and have those repetitive tasks done for them, so they can prepare for deployment.

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XULRunner

XULRunner

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Windows Development

WiX

WiX

Project News

• Offically started project on September 18, 2008

• September 20, 2008
  • Downloaded XULRunner SDK
    • Followed tutorial and started to build small XULRunner applications, learning about the structure of XULRunner apps
    • Downloaded some applications which others have created to get an idea of the structure others are creating their app
      • Found out that the most of the code is being archived into a .jar file
      • Problem: Don't know if this will create a problem when installing

• September 29, 2008
  • Talked with Mark Finkle and Dave Humphrey on IRC about various Application Packagers for Windows
  • Talked about milestone goals for my project, and set them:
    • Version 0.1: Stable Windows release of Packager
    • Version 0.2: Stable Linux release
    • Version 0.3: Stable Mac OS release

• October 2, 2008
  • Browsed through the list of Application Packagers which were recommended by Mark and Dave
  • Decided to use WiX as my Packager of choice, mainly because of their use of XML

• October 6, 2008
  • Began going through the manual for WiX
  • Followed the tutorial on packaging their sample application
    • Success! I made an .msi file and installed it on my computer on the first try! It installs into the 'Program Files' directory and adds an item to the Start menu
  • Solved: Files in the .jar file don't need to be taken out of the archive for the program to work, which won't create a problem when installing

To Do

• Learn how XULRunner works
• Build a XULRunner Application
• Find other XULRunner Applications
• Learn about Packagers and what they do
• Choose a Packager
• Learn about the Packager selected
  • WiX is the packager I am going to be using
• Package a small application
  • WiX tutorial offered me a sample application to follow with
• Create or find a XULRunner app, package it, and install it
• Create a script to Package a XULRunner app
  • Generate WiX schema
  • Generate GUID, and pass it to WiX Code