Freitag, 23. September 2011

Using Amber with a free WebDAV-Service

I really love Amber - but there's one thing i could not get used to. To persist the code you produce you need to setup a local WebDAV-Server or you need to run the Amber server-tool based on node.js.
The Problem i had is that i wanted to work only with a browser. Do some work on my PC, then switch to my wifes notebook, work in an internet-café, have a quick look at some code when i'm at my mothers house and so on.
My first attempt was a project on the google-app-engine, where jtalk (now "Amber") code was saved to a database. That approach was a quick hack and somehow proprietary. I also ran JTalk on the JVM on the serverside using google-backend-technology. Everything was much too complicated.
My current idea is to keep everything simple, use free services and have a real cloud-approach. I needed a free WebDAV-Service, accessible by a Webbrowser and the possibility to sync my files with a local folder on my harddisc.
I had the idea to use Dropbox, because Dropbox has an easy to use syncing tool and a nice web-view. I used Dropbox to server my Twitterwall demo for Amber. It would be quite easy to put a git-repository in my public Dropbox-folder and server Ambers index.html to the Cloud. But since Dropbox has no WebDAV-support it would not be possible to work from somewhere and save code and then push the changes to github when i'm back to a PC with git installed. To solve this problem, i would need to use the Dropbox-API. But that approach has other difficulties ...
On my quest i was experimenting with a lot of Cloud, WebTop and Filehosting Services and the only one that was easy and free to use and was working with Amber was the gmx MediaCenter.
There are just a few steps:
  1. Register a gmx account
  2. Navigate to the MediaCenter
  3. Upload the git-repository with Amber sources (drag & drop)
  4. Navigate to https://webdav.mc.gmx.net/ and login with your gmx-passwort
  5. Go to the index.hmtl in your amber-folder, do some coding and press "commit package"
The commited Category js will be updated in the gmx MediaCenter!
When you want to push your code to github, you just need to go to a PC where you can sync your gmx MediaCenter to a local disc and where a git-client is available.
It's possible to share WebDAV-folders with other gmx users so you easily could collaborate outside of github.
There's only one drawback - you can't grant access to everybody, it's restricted to gmx-users. So if you want to show something to a wider audience you would need to copy the files e.g. to your Dropbox folder.

1 Kommentar:

Guido Stepken hat gesagt…

https://dropdav.com

Dropbox WebDav Interface!!!

Have fun!

Guido Stepken