Anyone who ever wanted to have a built-in add-on manager for Celestia should be involved in the newsgroup discussion about this very subject. The original forum thread "Add-On Manager Discussion" (http://ennui.shatters.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3668) was moved to the newsgroup because of the volume of messages that is required.
If you have ever wanted an Add-On Manager in Celestia, this is your chance to help shape what it will look like, how it will function, the data it will store, etc.!!! And you certainly do not have to be a programmer to discuss these things!
The new Add-On Manager Discussion newsgroup is located here (news://celestia.teyssier.org/celestia.dev.addon_manager), with a big thank you to Christophe for the server space and bandwidth.
News Server: celestia.teyssier.org
Newsgroup name: celestia.dev.addon_manager
Overview
The Celestia Add-On Manager will consist of two parts:
- 1. A web site-based "Repository" of add-ons
2. A Celestia-based "client" Add-On Manager
The Celestia Add-On Manager client will be responsible for managing a user's currently installed add-ons and providing access to the Repository to download new add-ons.
All new add-ons will be Zipped into a file called a "Package", using ZIP as the compression format. The Package file will contain all of the individual files the add-on consists of. In addition, it will contain a file called "Manifest", which describes the add-on and it's contents in detail.
The current plan is to create the Repository first, which would then be able to provide working data for client-side code development. This does not mean client-side code functionality cannot be discussed!
The newsgroup already contains several topics of discussion, which include:
- * Add-On Client Functions
* Add-On Package Checking / Validation
* Manifest File Specifications 2
* Repository Database Table Definitions
* Version Control and Tracking
* Web Host Possibilities
The most active topic right now is Repository Database Table Definitions because Christophe is currently defining these tables (files).
It would sure be nice to see ALL of you over in the newsgroup.
This is a BIG project, and the more input the developers get, the easier it will be to "design it right the first time".
See you all over there ...
-Don G.