Package up your OS X/Cocoa applications into Custom DMGs, generate Sparkle XML, and upload. Instead of hours, its only 30 seconds to release each new version of an application.
Build and deploy tools for Cocoa apps using Sparkle for distributions and upgrades; it’s like Hoe but for Cocoa apps.
The main feature is a powerful rake task “rake appcast” which builds a release of your application, creates a DMG package, generates a Sparkle XML file, and posts the package and XML file to your remote host via rsync.
All rake tasks:
rake appcast # Create dmg, update appcast file, and upload to host rake build # Build Xcode Release rake dmg # Create the dmg file for appcasting rake feed # Create/update the appcast file rake upload # Upload the appcast file to the host
In Australia, Choc-Tops are ice cream cones, with hardened chocolate on top, normally served at the movie cinemas. When we (mocra.com) were brainstorming a name for this project we combined “Sparkle” + “Cocoa” + “it’s almost lunch time and we’re hungry” to remember the wonderful Choc-Top ice creams. MMmmm.
Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choc-Top
ChocTop comes with rake tasks to instantly deploy your latest Cocoa app’s version to a remote host, instantly activating all your users’ Sparkle auto-updates.
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builds a Release of your project from your Xcode project (via xcodebuild tool)
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packages a DMG of your released app using Info.plist configuration (rake dmg)
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generates Sparkle-formatted XML file
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uploads the DMG and XML files to a remote host
cd to/my/cocoa/app install_choctop .
Alternately, if you already have a Rakefile in your Xcode project, then add the following to the end:
require "choctop" ChocTop.new do |s| s.remote_dir = '/path/to/upload/root/of/app' # Optional, showing defaults s.host = host from Info.plist['SUFeedURL'] s.base_url = "http://#{s.host}" s.release_notes = "release_notes.html" # Custom DMG s.background_file = "background.jpg" s.app_icon_position = [100, 90] s.applications_icon_position = [400, 90] s.applications_icon = "applications.icns" # Custom DMG options s.volume_icon = "dmg.icns" s.icon_size = 104 end
In your Rakefile, update the ChocTop configuration with the host and remote_dir details. The rake tasks use rsync to upload the files, so ensure that you have ssh access to the remote server, with a password/ssh keys.
Also, in your project’s Info.plist, remember to update/add the following keys:
CFBundleExecutable - name of your project CFBundleVersion - version for next release, using X.Y.Z format SUFeedURL - url to Sparkle URL (future: insert this automatically)
The create the distribution, Sparkle XML file, and upload it to the remote host:
rake appcast
The build process uses your Xcode project file, via the xcodebuild command. If this fails, you may need to run the build process manually via Xcode. Set Configuration to Release (normally its set to Debug for development) and then Build. The “rake appcast” task should finish to completion.
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RubyCocoa (installed with OS X 10.5 Leopard)
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Xcode 3+
sudo gem install choctop
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Chris Bailey at codeintensity.blogspot.com/2008/03/creating-sparkle-appcast-via-rake-tasks.html
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Eloy Duran’s Rucola at github.com/alloy/rucola
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Emanuele Vicentini’s rake_dmg at github.com/baldowl/rake_dmg
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AppleScript ideas from svn.tribler.org/abc/branches/old-mainbranch-till-4.1.7plus/mac/Makefile-from-vlc-ready
mocra.com - Mocra - the premier Rails/iPhone consultancy
(The MIT License)
Copyright © 2009 Dr Nic Williams, [email protected]
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the ‘Software’), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ‘AS IS’, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.