Standalone problem

[Peter Haworth]

Thanks Jacque, as usual you have the right answer!

Might be useful to document everything I tried and the results.

I did try setting up the folder structure outlined in the newsletter
article since it says "You only need the *Runtime* hierarchy for building
Standalones containing your externals." Alas, that did not result in the
external turning up anywhere in the standalone package.

I tried specifying the name of the external bundle file in the Standalone
Settings/Copy Files dialog, using the "Add File" button to do it.  When I
built the standalone I got a warning message that it couldn't find the
external file, which seemed strange since the Add File button uses a
standard Mac Open File dialog.  Then I noticed that the path to the folder
congtaining my stack file had been inserted at the beginning of the path to
the external in the error message.  If that's what it was looking for, no
wonder it couldn't find it - looks like a bug.

I also tried the option to "Search for required inclusions" - didn't help.

Next I tried selecting the4 external in the main stack Inspector External
References pane.  When I built the standalone, there was no trace of the
external anywhere in the folder containing the standalone or in application
package contents.

So finally, I added a startup handler to set the externals based on the
environment as you suggested, and manually copied the external bundle into
the standalone apps folder.  I have more testing to do but I think that
 did the trick.

If all pans out, I may add some code to the standaloneSaved handler to copy
the external into the standalone application folder.




Pete
lcSQL Software <http://www.lcsql.com>



On Fri, May 25, 2012 at 8:25 PM, J. Landman Gay <jacque at hyperactivesw.com>wrote:

> On 5/25/12 7:20 PM, Peter Haworth wrote:
>
>> Jacque,
>> Bit late on this but I've just successfully built an external( whooppee!)
>> and am now left with the task of installing it in the correct place.
>>
>
> Congrats. :) I know it was a difficult trek. I've never had to deal with
> any of that, and I don't think I want to.
>
>
>  I really don;t know what purpose the Externals.txt file
>> serves and the newsletter article doesn't explain it
>>
>
> I always assumed the IDE reads that file so it knows what externals to
> load at launch. Presumably that would avoid problems if some of the files
> in the folder aren't really externals, or if some should be intentionally
> excluded. Maybe someone else knows for sure.
>
>
>  My question is, if I do what is suggested in the newsletter article, will
>> the IDE and whatever standalone I build find the external OK or do I still
>> have to take the steps you outlined in your post?
>>
>
> Short answer: yes, you need to manage standalones. The newsletter article
> is about using externals in the IDE but doesn't apply to standalones. Once
> the app is built it's on its own, and it needs to know how to find the
> files. So do that by either hard-coding a relative path in the inspector
> ("Externals/myexternal.bundle"**) or by setting the externals property in
> a startup handler.
>
> I'm not sure the IDE will know to build the standalone with your external,
> even if it's in the proper location where the IDE can find it. There's no
> interface in the SB where you can specify a custom external (though maybe
> "search for inclusions" will work; I never use that.) I suspect you'll have
> to copy it into the app bundle manually after the standalone is built.