AmiAutoUpdater - Keeping Your Programs Up-to-date

[Tygre]

Hi all!

I just released the very first version, 0.1, of AmiAutoUpater, a program to keep your programs up-to-date!

Its principle is simple: using a script or an icon, AmiAutoUpdater checks whether a remote archive (HTTP or FTP supported) is newer than a local file. If it is, it downloads and unarchives the archive to replace the obsolete program (and its resources), voilà!

It is available here, here, and here (currently, no "lonely" executable).

All comments, suggestions, and bug reports are welcome!
Cheers!

[Tygre]

Hi all!

@Amiwest Thanks for the help!

@outlawal2 That's a very good idea, thanks! I will put it in my TODO list

@giZmo350 And your point is? Wait! No need to answer (BTW, RTFM.)

Best!

[Tygre]

 

Okay then, now I must answer all of your questions then (and sorry for the broken link, it should be fixed now, is it?)

• Where does the updater check for updates? It uses a URL provided by the user/developer, for example http://www.chingu.asia/wiki/userfiles/file/Programming/AmiModRadio/LatestAmiModRadio.lha
• Where are the updates remotely stored? On any server but I would highly recommend Aminet, of course!
• When you state “program” does that include device drivers, libs, datatypes, etc…? That's a more tricky feature: if the program is well-behaved and has all of its resources in its own drawer, then, yes, else... future work!
• Will the updater check for outdated components within an Amiga “program”? I.E., P96, Wordsworth, etc…? Oh, that's a good point! Right now it doesn't but the remote archive can contain as much or as little as the developers want...
• Are all updates already scanned for viruses? Nah, no viruses on our beloved Amiga
• Once the updater has determined appropriate updates, does it display all the updates before installation? Not yet but that's definitely the next feature: having a user interface.
• Will each update be displayed with a box, to select or deselect, any updates that I choose? I haven't thought about that by, why not!
• Will each update have a link for “description of update”? That's another great idea, I hadn't thought about that!
• As outlawal2 asked, can I uninstall any of the updates individually or the entire update process? This is really for one program at a time...
• Will the updater create a log of installed updates? Not yet but that's definitely also the next (next) feature: having a clean log of what's its doing.
• Will the updater move my old component(s) to a “safe folder” for easy retrieval if an update breaks something? That's another very good idea, thanks!
• Will the updater warn if an individual update is older than a component already installed on my system? Not directly because it is really for one program at a time... now, if I go into the direction of also updating other pieces, yes, it should!
• Will the updater warn me if something needs to be changed in my startup-sequence? That's another great suggestion... I hadn't planed such feature but why not...
• What if my system will not boot after an update? Right now, this cannot happen (?) but, yes, if there was updates to common pieces (like libraries), this could happen... but then I would make sure to save anything changed in an "OLD" drawer...
• Is the "Updater" suitable for all versions of AmigaOS? I humbly believe that it should work on AmigaOS 4 and MorphOS and AROS but I have only tested it on AmigaOS 3.1.4!

And thanks for following AmiModRadio

Cheers!

[Tygre]

AmigaOS 3.1.4! WTH! Now I have a bunch more questions (man, thanks for that excellent detailed reply!). However, no time! Gotta go to my sister-in-law's - What a day I'm having! 

Fire up your questions any time
Cheers!

[Tygre]

Hi all!

@TribbleSmasher  Yes, there will be a GUI... but it is currently future work!

@nicholas From my understanding of Grunch, the principles of AmiAutoUpdater and Grunch are different: AmiAutoUpdater is meant to update one program at a time and give control to developers whether/when/how to let users update their programs. Grunch seems like a package manager for a whole system (Workbench and programs), doesn't it? (BTW, I never managed to get Grunch work on my computers ).

Cheers!