[TW5] Bob and BobEXE version 1.2.4, lightly steamed asparagus, file server and wiki management updates

[Jed Carty]

It looks like I forgot to release a lot of changes. I haven't finished the inter-server federation setup as much as I would like, so none of that is ready to be used yet.

Most of the updates this time involve updates to the file server and the wiki management interface.

The most visible changes are the wiki management interface and the mediaScan message.

The wiki management interface should be pretty self-explanatory, just check the control panel.

The mediaScan message lets you give a folder and it finds all of the media in the folder and makes _canonical_uri tiddlers for each thing it finds. Check the documentation for more about it.

Remember that only folders that are under the folder listed as the filePathRoot can be used to serve images.

As always, I am the only one who has done any significant testing with this, so there may be bugs. Back up your wikis regularly.

The plugin version of Bob is on GitHub here: https://github.com/OokTech/TW5-Bob
The newest version of BobEXE is available here: https://github.com/OokTech/TW5-BobEXE/releases

If you want to support the development OokTech has a patreon page here https://www.patreon.com/OokTech
or if you prefer there is a link for PayPal here https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=ZG94CTLHTKYRE

Here is the changelog for this release:

Lots of changes from the previous release, expect there to be some bugs.

Version 1.2.4 Mashed Potatoes with a fine black pepper gravy

• Cleaned up some code in FileSystemMonitor.js and WebsocketAdaptor.js to better partition what each does, no functional changes.
• Split out the start of the federation components for inter-server communication.
• Change all of the checks to see if a tiddler has changed to use the hash of the tiddler instead of matching fields. It should be less suceptable to bugs. It may be slightly faster but this probably isn't a place where that makes a difference.
  • (unfinished) The hashes are cached where appropriate to make things a bit faster. Once again this may be unneeded but it was simple to implement.
• The normalizeTiddler and TiddlerHasChanged functions are used more consistently
  • fix some incorrect handing of tags and list fields in normalizeTiddler
• Change code to use new core utility functions
  • Used $tw.utils.generateTiddlerFileInfo where appropriate
  • Used $tw.utils.saveTiddlerToFileSync,
• Added collapsing wiki listing
• Fixed a bug that sometimes prevented the file server from working correctly in the root wiki.
• Added the working framework for inter-server federation and messages.
• Added a check to see if Bob was running in an iframe and if so don't treat upgrade requests as websockets
  • This is needed to make twederation work with Bob servers.
• Fixed a bug where the list field would be sorted when it shouldn't be.
• Added command to scan a folder for media and create _canonical_uri tiddlers for each thing found. (mediaScan)
• updated to tiddlywiki v5.1.21
• fixed a bug with how filter in $:/config/FileSystemPaths are handled

Version 1.2.3 Boiled Potatoes

• Setting up the file server is simpler now
  • In the Bob Settings tab of the control panel there is a file server tab that lets you check a box to enable the server.
  • There are also text boxes that let you set the folder where files are served from and the path prefix for files
• The makeImagesExternal message was added. It takes all of the embedded media in a wiki and copies it into the folder for the file server and replaces the media tiddlers with tiddlers that have a _canonical_uri field pointing to the media file.
  • An option lets you copy the files into the globally available file folder or into the wiki specific file folder.
• Add interface to duplicate an existing wiki
  • You can optionally duplicate all of the child wikis that are contained in the folder of the wiki you are duplicating.
• Add interface to rename/move a wiki
• Add interface to delete a wiki, you can optionally delete all of a wikis children as well.
• Fixed some potential bugs dealing with paths when creating new wikis.
• Reordered some functions to make wiki creation more consistent.
• Added browser alerts for server events (like confirmations of creating or deleting wikis, fetching tiddlers, etc.)
  • There is a control panel tab that lists a history of server messages.
• Possibly fix a bug that could add incorrect path prefixes when using filters in $:/config/FileSystemPaths.
• Reorder the control panel tab for Bob so it is more compact and organised.
• Added the proxyprefix configuration option. It is needed for when you are behind a proxy that changes the path part of the url. See [[the documentation|$:/plugins/OokTech/Bob/UsingProxies]]
• Added default values for the plugins, editions, languages and themes environment variables. They are './Plugins', './Editions', './Languages' and './Themes' respectivly.
• You can see available editions, plugins, themes and languages in plugins called $:/Bob/AvailablePlguinList, $:/Bob/AvailableLanguageList, '$:/Bob/AvailableThemeList' and $:/Bob/AvailableEditionList.
• Add an interface to set which editions are listed in the create wikis from editions interface.
• Updating settings should work more consistently now
• Hopefully fix the wiki listing so it works on wikis that are more than one layer deep in the names.
• Empty settings should be properly removed now so the settinsg.json won't be full of things like "foo":{}
• The 'Are you sure you want to leave without saving' message should be suppressed for real this time.
• Deleting a wiki that has been previously loaded shouldn't cause trouble anymore.
• Added many logging things
  • different logging levels to pick how much output is given
  • log to the console or a file, or both (logging to the browser coming soon)
  • independent logging levels for each logging type
  • Errors and other logging messages can put into separate files (stdout and stderr can be handled separately)

[Kevin Kleinfelter]

Fantastic!  It looks like neither of these is tagged as a release on GitHub.  The last tagged release is 1.2.2.  Does that signify anything?

[Jed Carty]

Apathy mostly. I have been working on other projects and updating Bob as I want new features. I just remembered to do this one because 5.1.21 was released.

[@TiddlyTweeter]

Jed Carty wrote:

Apathy mostly. I have been working on other projects and updating Bob as I want new features...

IF only you had 1,000 more readers :-).

TT 

[HansWobbe]

Perhaps a list of enthusiastic users would be useful?  If so, I'd sure add my name.

Cheers

Hans

[Ed]

Hi Jed, Ed here,

From Amsterdam -> Paris

Finally time to get back here.

I think BoB is an excellent program, still pestered by some hiccups, although these are probably my mistakes.

Hope really that you still go on developing the program as the potential is absolutely great. I try, already for

quite some time to "convert" some colleagues at work to use TiddlyWiki, but seems still to arcane for them.

Mainly because of lack of documentation, that can be understood at a simpler level then here in the Google

Groups is discussed or written at tiddlywiki.com

Anyway I tried out Bob here at work, as I seemed to me a great way to share information. It worked, though
sometimesthe connection was lost and it beats me why I had to use one time port 8081 and another time 8080.

Baffling for an IT-unsavy person like me.

Oh, and please change in the introduction tiddler "Hello!" that "Node Settings" to"BoB Settings" as this is a bit

confusing. One colleague started to nose around in that tiddler and could find these"Node Settings" and gave up.
That's no ill will or lazyness or what have you, but mainly work pressure. We're really overloaded sometimes.

Please go on, Jed, developing this brilliant piece of software!!

BTW, anybody else reading this and recognizing the value of Jed's work, get asap to Patreon, only four of us are

helping out there!Keep up the Good Work!

Cordialement, Ed

Op vrijdag 13 september 2019 13:51:31 UTC+2 schreef Jed Carty:

[Ed]

Hi Hans,

Count me in as an enthousiastic user!

Tschüß, Hans

Op zaterdag 14 september 2019 14:52:14 UTC+2 schreef HansWobbe:

[HansWobbe]

Hi Ed:

Nice to see another entusiastic user of Bob.

Regards,

Hans

[Ed]

Hi Hans,

That makes just two of us. Now some say two is a crowd.

But there must be more TW5+Bob-Aficionados?

Hellooo! Anybody else out there???

Best. Ed.

Op donderdag 3 oktober 2019 15:46:11 UTC+2 schreef HansWobbe:

Hi Ed:

Nice to see another entusiastic user of Bob.

[Dave]

I love Bob.  Bob's my uncle.

I love being able to read tiddler content from outside the browser system (e.g via bash scripts), and I look forward to learning how to trigger bash scripts from within Bob (I know its possible, just haven't learned how yet)

I sync files between my home and work instances and sometimes that screws up file versions, but that's not a major problem.  Am looking forward to the easy-peezy secure server solution for accessing a single instance from a "personal cloud" thingie too!! (I'm not smart enough to set up the server securely at this point)

Long live Bob!

[Ed]

Great, thanks Dave, for calling in!

Mm, where's Stobot? I recall him

using Bob also.

Have fun guys. Ed

Op vrijdag 11 oktober 2019 04:10:41 UTC+2 schreef Dave:

[Jed Carty]

Dave,

The federation components I am (slowly) working on will handle inter-server syncing in a way that doesn't break anything. The problem is that they need to be able to connect to each other which can be a problem if you don't have any open to the outside world. You would be able to have each of the servers (home and at work) sync with your phone to carry the changes between the two.

Some of my other work involves getting iOS and android builds of node content which would make putting Bob on a phone much easier, but I don't think that will happen anytime soon.

[Ed]

Actually I am having no fun since yesterday. Starting BobWin.exe is not working.

Very shortly the shell window appears. and before any code can be seen inside

that window disappears. It happened also with a freshly downkoaded Bob.

I am very unhappy.

Must be something to do with my computer, or our network.About about 300 people

work here. Not al at the same time but quite many regularly, so we have quiet an

IT-department. Maybe they changed something. They only assist with the regularly

programs we officially use, so no help fromtheir side can be expected.

Really dunno. 8-(( Snifs.

Anybody out there with a solution.

Many Thanks in advance, Ed

Op vrijdag 13 september 2019 13:51:31 UTC+2 schreef Jed Carty:

It looks like I forgot to release a lot of changes. I haven't finished the inter-server federation setup as much as I would like, so none of that is ready to be used yet.

[Birthe C]

How do I get BobEXE to serve on 0.0.0.0?

I have searched this group and found a lot having that problem, suggestions about editing the settings file and so on. Editing the settings file does not seem to help or change anything. BobExe keeps serving on 127.0.0.1.

I am using the latest BobExe for 64 bit. Running Linux Mint Mate 19.2, please help - (and remember that I am an idiot)

Birthe

[Jed Carty]

Birthe,

I am working on getting a new release together that will make it a bit easier.

In the settings the host key under the ws-server section needs to be set to 0.0.0.0, the settings need to be saved and then the server needs to be restarted.

In the new version there will be some buttons that do this, until then here are the steps in detail with some screenshots:

The attached screenshots show what the steps look like

Steps 1-5 are shown in the Steps 1-5.png attached

1 - Open the control panel

2 - Open the Bob Settings tab

3 - Under the Bob settings tab open the Server tab

4 - Under the Server tab open the Manual Settings tab

5 - Click the Enable Editing check box

6 - Scroll down to to the part that says 'ws-server' (shown in ws-server.png)

7 - click on the edit icon next to the value for 'host'

8 - enter 0.0.0.0 into the text box (shown in ws-server-edit.png)

9 - click on the Done button

10 - Click the button labelled Update Settings below the settings list

11 - Scroll up and click on the Shutdown Wiki button under the server tab (also seen in Steps 1-5.png)

12 - close the tab and restart BobEXE

In the next version I am going to make it so you just click a button and restart Bob, but until then those are the steps.

[Birthe C]

Jed,

Thank you very much, Jed.

The problem is, that I have done exactly that, and tried over and over. Getting the message, it is saved. Closing down and restarting. Opening Bob setting and the servertab, the

ws server host is set to o.o.o.o - but BobEXE is still serving on 127.0.0.1.

Birthe

[Jed Carty]

Birthe,

That is strange. I am not sure what would cause that. I am adding the last few interface bits to Bob and hopefully the new version will be uploaded in another hour or two.

The new interface should make it much easier to change if the wiki is served on 0.0.0.0 and to enable and configure the file server components so I think rather than trying to track down the trouble here we can just try using the new version and see if that fixes it.