Tools: Application launcher: Difference between revisions
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* [[CTKAppLauncher:Build_Instructions|build]] from the source | * [[CTKAppLauncher:Build_Instructions|build]] from the source | ||
Revision as of 12:43, 13 July 2011
Home < Tools: Application launcherWhat is CTK Application Launcher ?
CTK Application launcher is a lightweight open-source utility allowing to set environment before starting a real application. The launcher is available on Linux, Windows and MacOSX.
Getting started
You could either:
- download the pre-built binaries matching your operating system
See #Why should I used the pre-build binaries ?
or
- build from the source
See also #How to integrate the launcher in my existing project ?
How does CTK Application Launcher work ?
The launcher looks for a setting file where the path of the real application and its associated environment variable are reported. While setting the environment and loading the real application, it can also display a splash screen.
The settings file follows the format as specified here: http://doc.qt.nokia.com/qsettings.html
Settings file location
The launcher successively looks for a setting file located either in the current directory or in bin and lib subdirectories. The setting file should match the following pattern <LAUNCHERNAME>LauncherSettings.ini
For example:
/home/jchris/Projects/AwesomeApp /home/jchris/Projects/bin/AwesomeApp-real /home/jchris/Projects/bin/AwesomeAppLauncherSettings.ini /home/jchris/Projects/lib/libFoo.so
Setting file description
The setting file should have the following format:
[General] launcherSplashImagePath=bin/Splash.png launcherSplashScreenHideDelayMs=1000 [Application] path=bin/AwesomeApp-real arguments=--multithreading-enabled [Paths] 1\path=./bin size=1 [LibraryPaths] 1\path=./lib size=1 [EnvironmentVariables] FOO_DIRS=<APPLAUNCHER_DIR>/lib<PATHSEP>/usr/local/lib
Note that the special strings <PATHSEP>, <APPLAUNCHER_NAME> and <APPLAUNCHER_DIR> will be expanded by the launcher to match the current context.
Launcher command line arguments
As described below, the launcher also provides a broad set of command line arguments.
jchris@karakoram:~/Projects/CTK-AppLauncher-Debug/bin $ ./CTKAppLauncher --launcher-help Usage CTKAppLauncher [options] Options --launcher-help Display help --launcher-verbose Verbose mode --launch Specify the application to launch --launcher-detach Launcher will NOT wait for the application to finish --launcher-no-splash Hide launcher splash --launcher-timeout Specify the time in second before the launcher kills the application. -1 means no timeout (default: -1) --launcher-generate-template Generate an example of setting file
Why should you use CTK Application Launcher ?
- Very easy to configure
- Standalone executable
- Available on Windows, linux and MacOSX
- Thoroughly tested
How to integrate the launcher in my existing project ?
Superbuild
- Integrate the external project definition
- Use the macro ctkAppLauncherConfigure as described below
INCLUDE(${CTKAPPLAUNCHER_DIR}/CMake/ctkAppLauncher.cmake) INCLUDE(${Slicer_CMAKE_DIR}/SlicerCTKAppLauncherSettings.cmake) ctkAppLauncherConfigure( TARGET SlicerQT-real APPLICATION_INSTALL_SUBDIR ${Slicer_INSTALL_BIN_DIR} APPLICATION_NAME Slicer SPLASH_IMAGE_PATH ${Slicer_SOURCE_DIR}/Applications/SlicerQT/Resources/Images/SlicerSplashScreen.png SPLASH_IMAGE_INSTALL_SUBDIR ${Slicer_INSTALL_BIN_DIR} SPLASHSCREEN_HIDE_DELAY_MS 3000 ADDITIONAL_HELP_SHORT_ARG "-h" ADDITIONAL_HELP_LONG_ARG "--help" ADDITIONAL_NOSPLASH_LONG_ARG "--no-splash" DESTINATION_DIR ${Slicer_BINARY_DIR} LIBRARY_PATHS_BUILD "${SLICER_LIBRARY_PATHS_BUILD}" PATHS_BUILD "${SLICER_PATHS_BUILD}" ENVVARS_BUILD "${SLICER_ENVVARS_BUILD}" LIBRARY_PATHS_INSTALLED "${SLICER_LIBRARY_PATHS_INSTALLED}" PATHS_INSTALLED "${SLICER_PATHS_INSTALLED}" ENVVARS_INSTALLED "${SLICER_ENVVARS_INSTALLED}" ) install(PROGRAMS "${Slicer_BINARY_DIR}/Slicer${CMAKE_EXECUTABLE_SUFFIX}" DESTINATION ".") install( FILES "${Slicer_SOURCE_DIR}/Applications/SlicerQT/Resources/Images/SlicerSplashScreen.png" DESTINATION ${Slicer_INSTALL_BIN_DIR} ) install( FILES "${Slicer_BINARY_DIR}/SlicerLauncherSettingsToInstall.ini" DESTINATION ${Slicer_INSTALL_BIN_DIR} RENAME SlicerLauncherSettings.ini )
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Dashboard setup |
Known issues
- Windows: Timeout option doesn't work properly
Frequently Asked Questions
Why should I used the pre-build binaries ?
TODO
- Develop a small tools (ie CTKResEdit) that could be used to change the icon embedded in a window pre-build binary.