[sword-devel] More installmgr woes... (need for export SWORD_PATH=~/.sword )

[Matthew Talbert]

> I don't think installmgr is fully localized anyway :)  I could just do
> without installmgr (use wget to grab the KJV.zip file and unzip -qod
> ~/.sword/ KJV.zip to install it), for this particular test, but ... surely
> this is exactly the kind of task that installmgr is supposed to do for the
> user, manage installing modules :)

My point wasn't about localization really, just wanted to point out
that SWORD_PATH is more far-reaching than simply a way to change where
modules get installed.

>
> Also I have a similar script installmod.sh that takes a module name as a
> parameter, so I can do installmod.sh WHNU  and get the desired result. I
> could rework that to just use wget and unzip too, I suppose.  It just seems
> a bit silly, when installmgr exists for this very purpose.
>
>> For Xiphos, we support installing into ~/.sword if DataPath isn't
>> writable. We do this by checking it ourselves, ...
>
> OK.  IMO it would have been preferable to get a patch into the libraries,
> rather than work around this in just one front end application.  That way,
> your work and your testing benefits all SWORD apps, not just the one you are
> working on (assuming your patch is accepted, of course!).

Considering that this has been the situation for several years (long
before I was around), I can only assume that there is no interest in
fixing this in SWORD. I'm sure that BibleTime has to work around this
issue as well, and I believe BPBible manages all directories itself
rather than trusting SWORD for it.

>
>> Secondly, it would be really nice to have a method to install to a certain
>> directory ...
>
> Maybe, although I suspect that if the library did a better job of picking
> the "right" place to install new modules to in the first place, by
> distinguishing between readable data paths (for locales, or for finding
> existing modules, etc.) and writeable ones (for installing, updating and
> deleting modules), then manually specifying an install path would probably
> not be necessary.
>

Well, the SWORD library is meant to be applicable to all sorts of
applications, where requirements may vary widely. In our situation, we
believe in allowing the user to choose whether to install in a
system-wide "shared" location, or in a personal location. Having the
library choose automatically would decrease functionality for our
users. Having the ability to easily tell SWORD to install to a certain
location, would be much better.

Matthew