ALTUI : Alternate App Store

[bucko]

I have Vera 3 UI5 (1.5.622) and my Atl UI plugin version is 1.37.1504

I just installed the ALT Appstore plugin 2016.06.24

In the Alt UI under Misc I don't see a Check for Updates.

So how do I update my Alt UI plugin?

[amg0]

the best at this point is to update it from the VERA app store and then let it install ,  and then , when launching ALTUI, accept the auto upgrade

alternatively use the magic url to update it by opening this url in a browser and ignoring the output and waiting at least 2 reloads.
magic url is
<yourip>/port_3480/data_request?id=action&serviceId=urn:micasaverde-com:serviceId:HomeAutomationGateway1&action=CreatePlugin&PluginNum=8246&Version=32180

[bucko]

The magic URL seems to have worked. Thank you

[StormStrikes]

Under Vera, you will need to install a plugin in order to use the AltAppStore, but that's not (yet) available from the MiOS App Store itself, so you have to install it manually.  The plugin files are available here: https://github.com/akbooer/AltAppStore.  Copy and upload these files in the usual way (you don't need the icon folder or its contents) and create the plugin device under AltUI using the +Create button on the devices page:

I am sorry to have to ask this, but being really new to Vera, what does "copy and upload these files in the usual way" consist of?  How does one go about doing that?

[akbooer]

I am sorry to have to ask this, but being really new to Vera, what does "copy and upload these files in the usual way" consist of?  How does one go about doing that?

Do you know how to use ssh to log in to Vera's command line prompt?

[StormStrikes]

I do know how to get to that. 

[akbooer]

OK! So you can use its counterpart, scp, to copy files from your PC or whatever to Vera.

You need all the files in the GitHub repository, aside from the icon, and copy them to Vera's /etc/cmh-ludl/ directory.

Once there, you can manually create the plugin using AltUI's Create command on the device page.  You need to specify the D_AltAppStore.xml and I_AltAppStore.xml files and give the plugin a name... perhaps AltAppStore.

[a-lurker]

@akbooer On publishing an app:

I think I've published an app - see "DALI Planet"

GitHub -->release --> release name or GitHub tag or branch name

Can you please provide some examples and is the "release" field compulsory

On the "Close/Create/Modify" buttons. Do these buttons apply to all the fields or just each subsection? ie "Application,device,GitHub,etc" Couldn't the buttons just be Submit & Cancel?

Are you notified if compulsory fields are left out?

This post:

http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,38102.msg291222.html#msg291222

suggests the json array syntax is not required. Can you please confirm or deny this

Assuming I'm doing this right (I'm unsure if I am) I'll try and publish some more.

[amg0]

@akbooer On publishing an app:

I think I've published an app - see "DALI Planet"

GitHub -->release --> release name or GitHub tag or branch name

Can you please provide some examples and is the "release" field compulsory

On the "Close/Create/Modify" buttons. Do these buttons apply to all the fields or just each subsection? ie "Application,device,GitHub,etc" Couldn't the buttons just be Submit & Cancel?

Are you notified if compulsory fields are left out?

This post:

http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,38102.msg291222.html#msg291222

suggests the json array syntax is not required. Can you please confirm or deny this

Assuming I'm doing this right (I'm unsure if I am) I'll try and publish some more.

button applies to all sections
'release' field in the GitHub section enable to tell which GitHub release this plugin can be downloaded. it can be a branch name ( like "master" ) or a true release name that you have declared with GitHub.  if left empty,  it would mean this plugin version is not installable from Github ( could be the case if for instance you only publish your plugin in the VERA app store )

'release' field in the VERA section should contain the MCV app store version number of your published plugin version. same logic apply, if left empty it would mean this plugin version is not installable from VERA app store

[akbooer]

I've removed the JSON syntax in the 'folders' field, and the plugin now appears in the store.

I'm sorry the interface is not as straight-forward as it might be, but the whole AltAppStore effort was the work of a committee and so we all had to make compromises for it to work both under Vera and openLuup!

[akbooer]

@a-lurker

Your DALI plugin didn't download because the release field was set to "0.52" but your have no tagged release of that name in GitHub (in fact, you don't have any.)

I've changed this to "master" so that it picks up that branch instead, but if you plan different versions you should certainly created tagged releases.

I've also done the same for the EKM plugin.

HTH

[a-lurker]

Well after installing the app store plugin, stuffing around with github; both code and icons and then publishing the app; I'm surprised anything comes close to working - particularly on the parts, where I have been operating the keyboard.

So committee or no committee; it's a great job by all and I'm happy I can open source my stuff.

I've changed this to "master" ... HTH

HTH  Mais oui.

I'll try a few more out over the next few days.

[a-lurker]

I added a couple more plugins. In one of them I accidentally left out the link to the plugin's icon. On going back to the store and entering the plugin page, where the plugin would be found, resulted in the page just showing the spinning wheel. I would have expected to see the other plugins and my plugin to be non existent or just an empty box.

May be a default "error" icon may be useful? This error icon could be replaced by the correct icon, when the underlying code determines all the plugin info is OK and all the files downloaded?

[akbooer]

I have updated the first post in this thread to include a Lua script file which may be used for first-time install of the AltAppStore plugin on UI5 and UI7 systems.

[Sender]

Upon opening the alternate appstore in Altui it opens. But then when I want to click on an app is says "failure" in the button coloured red.

I followed instructions on:
http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,33309.0.html

What is wrong?