Question About Windows Standalone

[Roger Eller]

On Tue, Sep 6, 2011 at 2:24 AM, Richmond Mathewson wrote:

> On 09/06/2011 09:00 AM, J. Landman Gay wrote:
>
>> On 9/5/11 10:20 PM, Joe Lewis Wilkins wrote:
>>
>>> Björnke,
>>>
>>> Excuse my ignorance. I guess it's a matter of terminology. So what are
>>> they called?
>>>
>>
>> Externals are like HyperCard XCMDs. They are usually written in a
>> lower-level language, and add a specific functionality to the LiveCode
>> engine. The zip commands are implemented as an external, for example.
>>
>> If a standalone needs to include externals, they are placed in the
>> Externals folder during the build process. If there are no externals used in
>> the standalone, the standalone builder creates the folder anyway but it's
>> empty. The folder isn't needed if your app doesn't use externals and is safe
>> to throw away.
>>
>>
> Presumably (wow, even more naive one coming here), Externals are included
> inside a Mac App
> bundle? And, wait-for-it, what about Linux standalones?
>
> Certainly, it is a pain in the bottom re Windows standalones, as I would
> like end-users to unpack
> their standalone "just like that" and start using it, undistracted by
> directories labelled "Externals".


Linux, like Windows, has an exposed Externals folder.  As I mentioned
before, an app bundle on a Mac is really just a folder filled with
subfolders. If you copy one to either Windows or Linux, you can easily look
around.  OS X (the GUI layer above BSD on a Mac) simply hides the content
when a folder ends in .app.  Anyone that regularly uses Windows will not be
distracted by subfolders that are visible.  Most people never see the
content of the folder because of installers, which put the "bundle" in the
proper location, and gives the user a Desktop shortcut icon to launch the
app.

˜Roger