[Sugar-devel] multiple activity versions installed simultaneously (was Re: [Bugs] #1042 UNSP: cannot install new activity version)

[Gary C Martin]

On 10 Aug 2009, at 17:24, Daniel Drake wrote:

> 2009/8/10 Martin Dengler <martin at martindengler.com>:
>> Learner-generated activity patches, perhaps?  Like, we're under a  
>> tree
>> and here's my patched Terminal/Pippy/Speak that you may want to try
>> but not commit to blowing-away your "official" version...
>
> Do we have the relevant tools/interfaces/activities to make this
> possible and realistic?

It's not so far off...

> What are the user interfaces like when dealing with multiple
> activities?

Well, we have this already, it's called the Journal. Just download  
Activity bundles and they all live there (and have done as far back as  
I can recall)...

> If I click on a new version of an activity in browse, does
> it upgrade the one I have or install it in parallel?

It downloads the bundle to Journal and auto unpacks/installs, though  
this may have been modified by a very recent patch I haven't poked at  
yet:

	http://dev.sugarlabs.org/ticket/1042

> How do I erase old versions?

Delete the bundle form the Journal

> When I click the activity from the home screen, which version gets  
> launched?

The last one that you installed (via either downloading in Browse or  
clicking a bundle in Journal).

> Having user-modifiable activities like this is a nice idea, and laying
> the groundwork to make it possible could also be sensible, but right
> now it seems like we aren't ready and the reason for the introduction
> of this code is/was for unrelated reasons.

We would need a button to create an Activity bundle and pop it into  
the Journal). So work flow could be:

1) download some activity via Browse
2) Start it up
3) Click on "Edit Source"  – would be new feature, currently we just  
have "View Source", but there is a patch for the view that could be  
close if desired, from Lucian http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Development_Team/Almanac#How_do_I_create_a_text_box_for_code_editing.3F
4) Quit, Start, test, goto 3 and repeat
5) Click on "Keep Activity bundle to Journal" – would be new feature  
in "Edit Source" toolbar
6) Use "Send to <friend>" to share bundle with others

As long as you kept the original bundle in your Journal, you can click  
it to restore the original code, and click a bundle you or a friend  
made to hop back in to an edit workflow cycle.

Plenty to polish and smooth workflow, but an editable source view and  
a 'make bundle' button don't seem to horrendous to consider if this is  
seen as a desired feature to push on.

> I also feel that this
> functionality would rarely be used in the field.


Agreed, but our minority percentage of 'to be geek' learners (we only  
need ~0.01% of users to be geeky enough to get us ~1000 new activity  
Authors) would be the ones in field to benifit, though clearly it  
would allow many more just to tinker with python. I can imagine  
starting with a template activity (could be helloworld, could be a  
Physics template, Simple game template etc) where folks then modify  
and add to it to create their own activity, game, et al, and learn how  
to build new activities. Work flow would be basically hack on live  
installed version for a while it for a while, bundle it when you want  
to keep a snapshot to Journal (version), repeat, rinse, share bundle  
once you're happy with it.

Disclaimer, there are likely better ways of doing this but at great  
development cost, this is my view of the likely shortest path to  
feature.

Regards,
--Gary