The Idea

Xoops PowerTools began in order to improve the operations of Xoops. It is based on Java 5 SDK and it can manage files of php souce, putting them on webserver and also be connected to the MySql database. The initial requirements Is a little program which will help the use of modifications in the code (hacks) automating the operations, also will facilitate your site management for the following following reasons:
* Putting a file hack it will say wich files are needed they are modified and it will say wich exists or not. Also with a simple click the source code will be modified automatic.
* The new files will be uploaded automatically in ftp and old will be renamed so they will exist as a backup.
* It will even have the possibility of deinstallation of hack even if the old files do not exist.
* It will remember wich files you have modified so after 6 months when you will want to upgrade XOOPS to know what to make.
* It might export and it creates files hack from files of code php so as to you create easily yours hack having only it modifies the code, and a click in the program.

The precedents were the operations of application with regard to hacks. Now will exist also other functions wich will optimise with regard to as generally speaking xoops. These will be:
* Possibility of export in csv the names and email the users so as to they can be used from independent program as thunderbird, outlook etc.
* image Checking, will look at if exist all the pictures (links) that are reported in the database, if some does not exist it will be recorded.
* Link Checking, will take a table and a field that we will put in and it will check if all links that exist and aren't dead(here are required powerful regular expressions).
* Cleaning/Optimizing the database.
* Backup of base of data in form that would not spoil the data. (If you tryed to make a backup with phpmyadmin and utf-8 you know what I mean.
* Reconstruction of table templates which faces problems after a lot of upgrades.
* Automatic reproduction of files of language so if you do not have all modules translated it won't be needed to make it manually.
* Export of text of files of language so with a copy paste of the text in certain translational tool, the text will be translated and later again with copy paste are created the certain files of language automatically (perhaps with some errors).
* Facility in the use of pictures, with few clicks change all icons that XOOPS and its modules use, that it is very difficult to make it manually. Of course it will upload the new pictures.
* Creation of themes of pictures ready to use that will become as I reported before. These will be the operations that will make my application. Also I should report that the application will have multilanguage support because I make it as XOOPS with language files.

The Hack Pattern

Posting the form of a Hack wich is used from my application its XML like :



This way all hacks will be validated and perhaps there will be a public hack library !

The Hack in the Source

The below code demonstrates how will be the hacks applied in the php source:



So what to you think ?? I am waiting your comments. This project will be open source but I am still developing the core.

No one is interested in this , i see ...

Thats why I post here my very first version (not release) of the application

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Not true Panigrc ... I, and others, may be at work so may not have seen the original post yet.

At a quick glance it looks like a very interesting idea indeed. I am not a coder, but it looks very clever to me.

Thank you for the hard work, and look forward to hearing more.

Yeah, this looks cool. I'm currently learning Java for school (RIT), and I'd like to help (a little, i have an open source project of my own pushing a release). I'm not really at the super highest level, but I've written full out apps before. Let me know, I need to stay sharp so I won't be useless when I go back in the fall.

Thank you for your comments. This gives me the power to go on ! And yes it will be (when released) an open source project and everyone can join

Hi

Mhh...
I'm not conviced by the usability of such a tool. Better to tell you now than telling you later.

The whole thing should be implemented as a XOOPS module, server side, with php. There is no reason to do this on a client. I see that you want to improve your java skills, but the problem is that administration should be done on the server to be acessible from anywhere, not only on a client with jdk 1.5. and your packages.

greetings
vbm

I like the idea, personally. Yeah, management tasks performed on the server have advantages, but it has disadvantages too - security, performance, stuff like that. I have all my stuff on my desktop then put it on the server, so I think it could be cool. I understand your concern, but I don't knock it before it's even finished.

birdseed I knew from the beginning that making an application in user side doesn't match the idea of the XOOPS cms.
But when it comes to file handling you must admit that the userside is much powerful. Accessing directories, reading files etc is much simpler as in the online world. Or else ftp clients wouldn't exist.
Also what if something goes wrong up there, you know line down , corrupted files, the website should close then for hours. Also not everyone owes a dsl line, so being all time online is painful.
I know that this is out of bounds of XOOPS cms, but I also know many many many cms's or blogs that have such user side applications (blog posting is common).

My greatest purpose of all is to make valid Hacks. And so anybody should be able to understand and apply them.

Hi

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Hacks are called hacks because they have an unstructured nature. Your hack declaration system makes sense if everybody uses it. I'm not convinced that this will be the case.
At my site, i disallowed ftp access and introduced cvs upload for source code and the XOOPS image manager for media upload.
All the features can be done by implementing a cvs. cvs is a well-known and stable (did i really say stable? ;) ) technology for source control.

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..a typical client side application...
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We did that for AMS. Can be easily done on the server

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In germany we say "eierlegende Wollmilchsau"... I`m missing a clear concept what the software should do. Why not focus on one thing and do it perfectly?

greetings
bsm

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That's a very good point, but I know, at least for me, that I'm always doing 1000 things at once, and could use a helper app. I got tired of going to a bunch of different sites (all mine) to check up on them so I made a XOOPS site to put it all on one place.

I don't know if that's just lazy or inventive.