Cross theme installs.....?

[Jason Robitaille]

Originally Posted by Shadavis08

Original theme can b found at the link under my post can you see it lol,

2 issues I see with this:
1) At least with the WebOS Quick Install/PreCentral theme format (which is open to anyone to use and have a few advantages over ipk), there is no need for an original theme; all files are backed up and simply clicking the "Restore to Default" button will restore original.
2) Posting the original theme is against copyright law I believe

[rwhitby]

Originally Posted by Jason Robitaille

1) At least with the WebOS Quick Install/PreCentral theme format (which is open to anyone to use and have a few advantages over ipk)

Well, now that preware.org takes the xml theme format, and includes all the files in the zip completely unchanged in the ipkg that are generated, there is no longer any difference at all in the information contained in the zip file and the ipkg version of the same theme format.

Any tool that uses the zip file packaging of the xml theme format can equally well use the ipkg file packaging of the xml theme format. The information contained in the files that are distributed is identical (the ipkg format has a couple of extra files to allow ipkg to understand what is in the theme.xml file).

So we can now put this xml vs zip file format debate to bed, cause the files contain exactly the same information when used to package up the xml theme format.

-- Rod

[Shadavis08]

wow your quick lol thanks

[Jason Robitaille]

Originally Posted by rwhitby

Well, now that preware.org takes the xml theme format, and includes all the files in the zip completely unchanged in the ipkg that are generated, there is no longer any difference at all in the information contained in the zip file and the ipkg version of the same theme format.

Any tool that uses the zip file packaging of the xml theme format can equally well use the ipkg file packaging of the xml theme format. The information contained in the files that are distributed is identical (the ipkg format has a couple of extra files to allow ipkg to understand what is in the theme.xml file).

So we can now put this xml vs zip file format debate to bed, cause the files contain exactly the same information when used to package up the xml theme format.

Didn't mean to be rude or anything, but I felt it necessary to point out the ipk file format itself is the downside for theming that I was referring to.

- WebOS Quick Install checks to make sure all files in the theme don't conflict with applied WOSQI tweaks and if a conflict is found, gives the option to unapply all related patcher or just skip the file. A shell script might be able to do this; you're the expert in that department.

- Zip format allow the average user to open up the zip and replace images easily.

- Themes can be very large, especially if it includes replacement sounds. The original base Palm theme is like 9+ megabytes. Homebrew users are generally the target users for themes, and many homebrew users have hit the app limit or are near the app limit, they'll definitely have an issue installing themes (which temporarily installs to /var).

If those aren't applicable to your device, the ipk theme format it just as good, I'll admit. And I admit, for the smaller things like boot themes or phone themes, ipk is a perfect on-device vehicle.

I use WebOS Quick Install on the emulator all the time, so I'm just accustomed to choosing the png images directly for those things, but I can easily see how incredibly useful Preware would be for applying those kinda of changes.

All that said, I applaud Rod for the amazing work adapting zip format into ipk as best he could given I was asleep at the time he did it and thus couldn't get formatting info from me.

[Shadavis08]

well they still are not uninstalling everything when uninstall them. so what to do then????



excuse me ,some are not unistalling everything and some do!!

[rwhitby]

Originally Posted by Jason Robitaille

Didn't mean to be rude or anything, but I felt it necessary to point out the ipk file format itself is the downside for theming that I was referring to.

Nothing rude about reasoned technical discussion

- WebOS Quick Install checks to make sure all files in the theme don't conflict with applied WOSQI tweaks and if a conflict is found, gives the option to unapply all related patcher or just skip the file. A shell script might be able to do this; you're the expert in that department.

Yes, I'm going to look at using md5sums (just like we do for the virtual keyboard patch) to ensure all files are unmodified before the theme is applied.

BTW, that's a function of the tool which is used to apply the zip or ipkg file, not a function of the file format itself - the same information is in both transport formats.

- Zip format allow the average user to open up the zip and replace images easily.

Ah, but theme creators have your great tool to do that now!

- Themes can be very large, especially if it includes replacement sounds. The original base Palm theme is like 9+ megabytes. Homebrew users are generally the target users for themes, and many homebrew users have hit the app limit or are near the app limit, they'll definitely have an issue installing themes (which temporarily installs to /var).

Seriously, I'm not going to disallow people installing themes on-device due to a temporary limit put in place by Palm. Preware can still install homebrew after Palm's tool says that some arbitrary limit has been reached - that simply must be fixed by Palm.

All that said, I applaud Rod for the amazing work adapting zip format into ipk as best he could given I was asleep at the time he did it and thus couldn't get formatting info from me.

Well, considering for the information that is identical between the zip packaging of the xml theme format and the ipkg packaging of the xml format, the file contents are identical, that bit was trivial.

The hard bit was working out how to best serve the community by making sure that PreCentral themes installed by Preware are recognised and uninstallable by WebOS Quick Install. Interoperability is a key driver for success of homebrew adoption, and must be diligently sought after at just about any cost (in this case, it was the cost of my personal time) for this community to continue to grow without compatibility problems and end-user confusion.

-- Rod

[Jason Robitaille]

Originally Posted by Shadavis08

well they still are not uninstalling everything when uninstall them. so what to do then???

The ipk ones from PreThemer currently do not uninstall via WebOS Quick Install; completely different format.

However, if you meant you installed one of the zip format themes and it won't uninstall, please post the link to the theme and I'll look into it.

Originally Posted by rwhitby

The hard bit was working out how to best serve the community by making sure that PreCentral themes installed by Preware are recognised and uninstallable by WebOS Quick Install. Interoperability is a key driver for success of homebrew adoption, and must be diligently sought after at just about any cost (in this case, it was the cost of my personal time) for this community to continue to grow without compatibility problems and end-user confusion.

Yea, for this, the theme xml just needs to be installed to /var/usr/lib/webos-quick-install/theme.xml No theme file to WOSQI indicates no theme installed

[rwhitby]

Originally Posted by Jason Robitaille

The ipk ones from PreThemer currently do not uninstall via WebOS Quick Install; completely different format.

Actually the ipkg themes from PreThemer.com uninstall just like any other ipkg in WebOS Quick Install in the Device Management panel.

Interoperability in action ....

-- Rod

[rwhitby]

Originally Posted by Jason Robitaille

Yea, for this, the theme xml just needs to be installed to /var/usr/lib/webos-quick-install/theme.xml No theme file to WOSQI indicates no theme installed

Well, a bit more than that is required to enable WebOS Quick Install to cleanly uninstall PreCentral themes packaged as ipkgs by using *either* the Themer panel *or* the Device Management panel.

-- Rod

[DaMann3162000]

help

[DaMann3162000]

helpcame someone help

[DaMann3162000]

plase

[DaMann3162000]

please

[xtn]

DeMann have you been kidnapped or something?

[alvin319]

Originally Posted by xtn

DeMann have you been kidnapped or something?

Nah, looks like he just needed his 10 posts.

[831lehua]

I will try this... hopefully it works..

[831lehua]

Originally Posted by rwhitby

Are you saying that WebOS Quick Install indicates to you that the Pre still has the stock theme installed, even though you had installed the Blue Theme via Preware and the Pre is using the Blue Theme when you look at the screen?

Hmm - I just tested it myself and you are correct (see the screenshot). This is not good ... many people will be confused by this.

-- Rod

i having the same problem...installed a new theme and the webos QI does not recognize the theme I just installed...sigh... i want to install new theme but I cant revert to the default theme...what to do?

[paxamime]

I gave up and just ended up doing a complete restore on my phone to ditch a bunch of crap that a poorly made theme left behind. I tried every other method I could to clean it up but nothing worked.

[Hunts1287]

i dont get it

[Hunts1287]

:[