Application Compiler and Packaging :-)

[sihorton]

I have just released a new version of deskshell for windows that contains an exe compiler and general application packager. This was the most requested unimplemented feature for appjs and it is now operational!

Here is a screenshot tour:-

The packager option for windows offers two options, one for cross platform packaging and the other for exe compilation:

Running the cross platform packager first you enter in the path to an application .desk file, it reads the application information and you can update and save any changes you want to make and then click on Package App:-

Clicking package app will then take all of your application files and add them to deploy/app.appfs:

The output file can then be sent to users for them to run. Any required node modules can be added to a node_modules directory in the same folder as the packaged application. This example application then writes to the data folder to save connection information to ssh servers:-

The exe compiler for windows then works in exactly the same way, it just creates an output .exe file instead. It uses NSIS for the compilation and application icon, version, company information and everything else can then be set in an app.nsi file.

It is really nice to be able to package up your applications into an exe or .appfs package and then distribute them. The exe is intelligent so it will seek out the user install of deskshell and if it does not exist it will popup a dialog asking the user if they want to install deskshell:-

It then shows download progress, installs deskshell and runs your application :-)

Just as awesome functionality is coming for the Mac that will create a mac bundle from your deskshell application! 

Please test and report any bugs or suggestions for improvements ahead of the v1.0 deskshell release!

/Simon