User talk:Navarr/HBC Repository Suggestion
I think it feels like a good system, but you should include a version number field. Personally, I vote for just being another page on the main menu of the HBCH, with a slightly different background. You select something and it's downloaded for you.--henke37 02:25, 1 June 2008 (PDT)
- Thats pretty much what the GUI would be like.. but the main part is the pretty much open source requirement and where the information is stored that is important. That way, you don't just have a mess of files on the SD card. There is no reason to make Wii homebrew look like C:\windows --Navarr 17:48, 1 June 2008 (PDT)
I agree with the ROM path specifications for emulators, but I'd suggest having those be the default paths, and be able to load ROMs from other directories by browsing to them. This way you can keep hacks separated from clean ROMs, etc. Also, no sense storing the ROMs themselves in /boot, rather than just /roms/foo.
I suppose if you loaded a ROM from a non-default directory it would create a 'save' subdirectory there.
As long as we're discussing standard features for emulators, once they get more mature and implement things like automatic IPS/UPS patching, it'd be nice to have a standard system for that too. I'm thinking patches for /roms/foo/bar.rom would be either /roms/foo/patches/bar.ips or /roms/foo/patches/bar/nameofpatch.ips; in the former case it would simply ask whether to apply the patch at startup, in the latter it would let you select a patch (possibly multiple patches) from that directory to apply.
This is a bit out of the scope of this app, but I thought I'd mention it. Standardized directory structures are good, just look at DS homebrew. ;-) 75.155.19.100 20:29, 1 June 2008 (PDT)
- I agree, those are very good ideas.. but at the current time Emulators only work with a certain directory (no clue why.. RIN worked fine with any directory except for SAVEs). So, the idea listed here is more of an "at the very least..." I wasn't really sure what to do about emulators --Navarr 20:41, 1 June 2008 (PDT)
I'm throwing something similar together as the web side of my soon-to-be-released homebrew manager. You can have a gander at it at http://www.daniel-ross.com/wii/app.php. It's still very much a work-in-progress, so expect features to stop working and changes to happen as and when I hit the magick 'upload' button. Let me know what you think in the Homebrew Manager page discussion. FallenAngelUK 00:19, 3 June 2008 (GMT)
- Very Nice. Have you considered regulating or editing the source code of the projects available to meet certain restrictions that makes it more organised for end-users who have to deal with the files on the SD card? As much as we'd love for SD cards to just be like a hard drive, they really aren't. User's use every bit of them. Also, are you planning a version for the actual Wii console? --Navarr 18:57, 2 June 2008 (PDT)
I think there should be an alternative repo for homebrew that uses the GC controller. Muzer 09:39, 3 June 2008 (PDT)
- I'm working on an extension to the meta.xml format that includes things such as app keywords and prerequisites (such as a gc controller) - and the best bit is it shouldn't break existing software that uses the xml files (eg. the Homebrew Channel) - I haven't been able to test this yet, as my Wii is out of commission at the minute. I'm working on a version of that site that should work across both PC and Wii. FallenAngelUK 20:35 3 June 2008 (GMT)
- Good! That sounds wonderful. Keeping backwards compatability while moving forward would be nice. I'd like to see this possible new meta.xml format integrated into the HBC though. So that we could already know what we need to grab or not, right from the screen before load. --Navarr 14:13, 3 June 2008 (PDT)
- Would you be discussing this with the HBC team? While having more features is good, maintaining one single file format would also be important. Felix123 15:05, 3 June 2008 (PDT)
- Ummm I could make a web-interface for anyone who want to upload its homebrew (OK, i sucks at design, but Adobe Flex could make the play). More than a repository, perhaps the meta.xml file could has a field for "download server", and then each one could host the files in its own server. In fact, if the "url" is on the meta.xml, the homebrew could "auto-update" (check against the server for a newer version). CONEJO 11:41, 10 June 2008 (GMT+1)
Are you thinking of developing this as an actual homebrew application?? that would be cool :D
the ability to keep software up to date or install new ones right from my wii would be quite an amazing time saver!
As for standardization... does it really matter how messed up the file structures is? I know it would be nice to get it really clean, but with more homebrew applications requiring access to folders on the root of the card it could be difficult to get them to convert to another method. What if each application that requires it came packaged with a script to create the extra folders and move the files about as needed where as ones without the script run the default action of being moved to the apps directory? - JD 12:27, 9 June 2008 (CEST)
Check out User:SquidMan/HBC Repository Example for my example on what this could be structured like.
So many directories! :P
My SD card has probably ten Wii-related directories on its root, and I like your suggestion, taking it down to three. But I still have a problem: I'd rather have just one folder on the root. It's a little awkward when I put it in a school computer (yes, I use the same card for school) to show a presentation, and while I'm navigating to the folder I need, there's a bunch of Wii folders. Everyone asks about them, and I have to explain (what would REALLY be awkward id explaining the /roms/ directory). How about cordoning everything off to /wii/apps/, /wii/roms/, etc.? That would make everything a little less cumbersome and easier to explain. Or even better, we could use the Wii's already-existing /private/ directory. --Clorox who vectored some rasters 02:53, 24 February 2009 (UTC)
- Also, I made a mock-up! Media:Hbcrepo mockup1.png --Clorox who vectored some rasters 04:01, 24 February 2009 (UTC)
