Implement Brackets Portable Build on Mac and Windows

[core-ai-bot]

Issue by bchintx
Friday Sep 20, 2013 at 22:37 GMT
Originally opened as adobe#333

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Allows Brackets to be run (eg. from removable media, such as a thumb drive) on any Mac or Windows computer without having to first be installed on that computer. Implements "Portable build" user story.

To set up a portable build onto a removable media storage device, follow these steps:

1. first install Brackets onto a Mac or Windows machine
2. copy the installed binaries to a new folder on your removable media. For Mac, copy "/Applications/Brackets Sprint XX.app". For Windows, copy the folder "\Program Files (x86)\Brackets Sprint XX".
3. in the removable media folder, next to either the .app or .exe file, create a new, empty file, named 'makePortable'

That's it! You can now run Brackets from that removable media on any other Mac or Windows machine.

Note: you can copy both a Mac and Windows portable build onto the same removable media. However, please be sure to create two different folders into which you copy each platform's build.

When launched, Brackets will check for the existence of the 'makePortable' file, alongside either the .app or .exe. If it exists, then the following will occur during program execution:

1. preferences will be read from and saved in the 'Brackets' folder on the removable media;
2. extensions will be installed in and run from the 'Brackets\extensions' folder on the removable media; and
3. (on Windows) window state and size will be saved in 'Brackets\lastWindowState.dat' on the removable media.

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bchintx included the following code: https://github.com/adobe/brackets-shell/pull/333/commits

[core-ai-bot]

Comment by bchintx
Monday Sep 23, 2013 at 22:09 GMT

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@JeffryBooher Thanks for your help in getting the Linux-side of this feature implemented. Basically, all that's needed is to implement the code similarly implemented in appshell/client_app_mac.mm in this branch.

Specifically, we need a Linux implementation of ClientApp::IsPortableInstall(), which effectively just checks for the existence of a 'makePortable' trigger file, and updating ClientApp::AppGetSupportDirectory() to point to the application executable folder, rather than a machine-based settings folder, for a portable install.

[core-ai-bot]

Comment by ingorichter
Friday Oct 25, 2013 at 17:34 GMT

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@bchintx @JeffryBooher Any progress on this PR?

[core-ai-bot]

Comment by JeffryBooher
Friday Oct 25, 2013 at 17:59 GMT

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@ingorichter sorry. I haven't had time to look at it. @bchintx the Linux implementation of AppGetSupportDirectory is that thing that neither of us could remember last week :) It should be implemented now on Linux so you should give it a whirl. Let me know if you need help with the Linux implementation -- I'll review it once that is finished.

[core-ai-bot]

Comment by le717
Wednesday Dec 25, 2013 at 19:47 GMT

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@bchintx @JeffryBooher This a great PR and feature addition to Brackets. What is the current status of this, other than Linux support and file associations? I am a web design student and use Brackets for my work, and as I'm taking web animation using HTML, CSS, and JS starting in January, I'd love to have a portable installation of Brackets on my flash drive for use at school (since I won't have my laptop with me). 😃

[core-ai-bot]

Comment by ninjamonkno1
Saturday Dec 28, 2013 at 22:44 GMT

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I could really do with this also, @bchintx any news on the linux version as that seems to be blocking this from being merged?

[core-ai-bot]

Comment by ConnorKrammer
Sunday Feb 16, 2014 at 18:34 GMT

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@bchintx @JeffryBooher I'd just like to say that this would be a really nice feature. What's left to do on this?

[core-ai-bot]

Comment by JeffryBooher
Monday Jun 16, 2014 at 21:09 GMT

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@bchintx what's the plan for this? It seems that it can not be merged and I haven't heard any details about what we want to do with this.

[core-ai-bot]

Comment by bchintx
Monday Jul 07, 2014 at 23:55 GMT

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@JeffryBooher I've updated my branch with the latest changes from master, so it's mergeable again. This change is ready for review and testing on Mac and Windows. If we're ok with splitting off the Linux implementation separately, then this pull request could be merged sooner rather than later.

Besides this code change, we'd probably also want to update the build machines to produce a portable .zip archive on Mac and Win and then update brackets.io to allow users to download the resulting archive.

[core-ai-bot]

Comment by le717
Tuesday Jul 08, 2014 at 03:18 GMT

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@bchintx You have no idea how glad I am to hear this news. :D

[core-ai-bot]

Comment by JeffryBooher
Wednesday Jul 16, 2014 at 22:38 GMT

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@bchintx done with first pass. let me know what your thoughts are on the comments and I'll start testing.

[core-ai-bot]

Comment by bchintx
Thursday Jul 17, 2014 at 17:29 GMT

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@JeffryBooher thanks for the review. I'll make the requested changes when I return to my office next week and push a new commit for review.

[core-ai-bot]

Comment by bchintx
Wednesday Aug 13, 2014 at 01:10 GMT

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@JeffryBooher Done w/ code review changes. Should be working on both Mac and Windows again. The "trigger" file is now called portable, which you'll need to create next to your .exe or .app.

[core-ai-bot]

Comment by le717
Tuesday Oct 14, 2014 at 16:09 GMT

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I am really looking forward to this landing soon after 1.0 for multiple reasons, but also because this could help out with the auto-update user story. :D

[core-ai-bot]

Comment by bchintx
Friday Dec 19, 2014 at 23:16 GMT

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Updated branch with requested changes and with latest master. Ready for review, testing, and merge. @JeffryBooher

[core-ai-bot]

Comment by bchintx
Friday Dec 19, 2014 at 23:19 GMT

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FYI- I think we could go ahead and merge this now. That would allow users to create their own portable build installations. Ideally, we'd distribute the portable build as an archive available off of http://brackets.io. However, at this point, we probably shouldn't hold up this PR for any upcoming build machine or website changes.