Pharo on Windows
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I just started using Pharo on windows for the first time. First, I should say that I’m really impressed. Pharo seems much more solid than when I last tried it. I programmed all day without getting a walkback! All of the tools “just worked”. Well done! It’s a lot of work creating a solid
user experience, but you have done it. Now I have some Windows-specific questions. I’m a real windows newbi, so please be patient. After I downloaded Pharo.app, I dragged the whole directory to a convenient place, and tried to launch the Pharo.lnk file, just like the readme file says. But there is no such file visible in windows explorer (even though I have “don’t
show extensions for known file types” box unchecked. The file shows up as Pharo. Anyway, I figured that it was really Pharo.lnk (Cygwin tells the truth) and double-clicked on it. This brings up an alert that says C:\Users\<username>\Desktop\OneClick.app\Contents\Windows\Squeak.exe the specified path does not exist. Is this because I moved the downloaded package? Shouldn’t the symlink be relative? Anyway, I looked in …\ Contents\Windows\, double-clicked on Squeak.exe, and everything started up just fine.
I worked all day, and saved my image a few times using the Save menu on the desktop. Each time, I get the usual confirmatory dialog in the Transcript. Overnight, my machine shut down. Today, I relaunch Squeak.exe, and of course I get the virgin image! Where is the image that I’ve been using? The Windows “search this computer” tool can’t find it! What about my package cache? Eventually I find everything in Pharo.app\Contents\Resources, but not until I’ve had a few moments of panic!
Questions: Is this the appropriate behaviour on Windows, or was there a user error on my part? Is it OK to move my image somewhere else? How can I change the current directory for Pharo on Windows? OK, so now that I’ve found my image file, how to I re-launch it? I double-clicked on the .image file, and I got a dialog saying that Windows didn’t know what program to use to open it. Fair enough. So I told it to use Squeak.exe. Pharo
launches, and I get: “Error: invalid utf8 input detected”. It’s treating the image as if it were a source file: it has opened a MultiByteFileSTream on it. That’s not right. How do I re-launch my Pharo image? Andrew |
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Pharo experience is conformed of three things:
VM Image sources file When you start the vm, it must run a image. When a image is ran, it searches for a sources file and as the development you do goes on, a changes files is generated. Now, if you downloaded the Pharo One-Click, this is a package of the several components that conforms Pharo, arranged in a given directory tree structure. Most surely, the paths and relative paths of the components is important. So isn't wise to get out the image out of this directory tree without the sources and the changes file. If the installation associated the .image files to the Squeak.exe vm, then double click on a image that is sitting along a source file should start the image without problems. But if you only have the image (associated with a VM) then on start the image will whine about the sources file. If you want to have the image everywhere in your machine the best is to download the vm separately and install it on your machine. Then download a Pharo Core image and populate it with the code you're interested or extract from the OneClick the image *and* the sources and put it on a folder (a changes will be created eventually). Cheers El jue, 20-01-2011 a las 16:57 +0000, Andrew Black escribió: > I just started using Pharo on windows for the first time. > > > > First, I should say that I’m really impressed. Pharo seems much more > solid than when I last tried it. I programmed all day without getting > a walkback! All of the tools “just worked”. Well done! It’s a lot > of work creating a solid user experience, but you have done it. > > > > Now I have some Windows-specific questions. I’m a real windows newbi, > so please be patient. > > > > After I downloaded Pharo.app, I dragged the whole directory to a > convenient place, and tried to launch the Pharo.lnk file, just like > the readme file says. But there is no such file visible in windows > explorer (even though I have “don’t show extensions for known file > types” box unchecked. The file shows up as Pharo. Anyway, I > figured that it was really Pharo.lnk (Cygwin tells the truth) and > double-clicked on it. > > > > This brings up an alert that says C:\Users\<username>\Desktop > \OneClick.app\Contents\Windows\Squeak.exe the specified path does not > exist. > > > > Is this because I moved the downloaded package? Shouldn’t the symlink > be relative? > > > > Anyway, I looked in …\ Contents\Windows\, double-clicked on > Squeak.exe, and everything started up just fine. > > > > I worked all day, and saved my image a few times using the Save menu > on the desktop. Each time, I get the usual confirmatory dialog in > the Transcript. > > > > Overnight, my machine shut down. > > > > Today, I relaunch Squeak.exe, and of course I get the virgin image! > Where is the image that I’ve been using? The Windows “search this > computer” tool can’t find it! What about my package cache? > > > > Eventually I find everything in Pharo.app\Contents\Resources, but not > until I’ve had a few moments of panic! > > > > Questions: Is this the appropriate behaviour on Windows, or was there > a user error on my part? Is it OK to move my image somewhere else? > How can I change the current directory for Pharo on Windows? > > > > OK, so now that I’ve found my image file, how to I re-launch it? I > double-clicked on the .image file, and I got a dialog saying that > Windows didn’t know what program to use to open it. Fair enough. So > I told it to use Squeak.exe. Pharo launches, and I get: “Error: > invalid utf8 input detected”. It’s treating the image as if it were a > source file: it has opened a MultiByteFileSTream on it. That’s not > right. > > > > How do I re-launch my Pharo image? > > > > Andrew > > > > > > > > -- Miguel Cobá http://twitter.com/MiguelCobaMtz http://miguel.leugim.com.mx |
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In reply to this post by Andrew Black
On 20 January 2011 17:57, Andrew Black <[hidden email]> wrote:
> I just started using Pharo on windows for the first time. > > > > First, I should say that I’m really impressed. Pharo seems much more solid > than when I last tried it. I programmed all day without getting a > walkback! All of the tools “just worked”. Well done! It’s a lot of work > creating a solid user experience, but you have done it. > > > > Now I have some Windows-specific questions. I’m a real windows newbi, so > please be patient. > > > > After I downloaded Pharo.app, I dragged the whole directory to a convenient > place, and tried to launch the Pharo.lnk file, just like the readme file > says. But there is no such file visible in windows explorer (even though I > have “don’t show extensions for known file types” box unchecked. The file > shows up as Pharo. Anyway, I figured that it was really Pharo.lnk (Cygwin > tells the truth) and double-clicked on it. > > > > This brings up an alert that says > C:\Users\<username>\Desktop\OneClick.app\Contents\Windows\Squeak.exe the > specified path does not exist. > > > > Is this because I moved the downloaded package? Shouldn’t the symlink be > relative? > > > > Anyway, I looked in …\ Contents\Windows\, double-clicked on Squeak.exe, and > everything started up just fine. > > > > I worked all day, and saved my image a few times using the Save menu on the > desktop. Each time, I get the usual confirmatory dialog in the Transcript. > > > > Overnight, my machine shut down. > > > > Today, I relaunch Squeak.exe, and of course I get the virgin image! Where > is the image that I’ve been using? The Windows “search this computer” tool > can’t find it! What about my package cache? > > > > Eventually I find everything in Pharo.app\Contents\Resources, but not until > I’ve had a few moments of panic! > > > > Questions: Is this the appropriate behaviour on Windows, or was there a user > error on my part? Is it OK to move my image somewhere else? How can I > change the current directory for Pharo on Windows? > > > > OK, so now that I’ve found my image file, how to I re-launch it? I > double-clicked on the .image file, and I got a dialog saying that Windows > didn’t know what program to use to open it. Fair enough. So I told it to > use Squeak.exe. Pharo launches, and I get: “Error: invalid utf8 input > detected”. It’s treating the image as if it were a source file: it has > opened a MultiByteFileSTream on it. That’s not right. > > > > How do I re-launch my Pharo image? squeak.exe C:/pathToMyImage/myImage.image or just copy your image to whereever you see fit and then run squeak.exe and when it asks which image to open, choose the one you prefer. > > > > Andrew > > > > > > -- Best regards, Igor Stasenko AKA sig. |
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In reply to this post by Andrew Black
Just to add to what Andrew experienced:
I am a relatively experienced Pharo user on Linux and OSX -- or at least I know about the VM and image and change files. I recently decided to test the TFLogin package on Windows so I installed Pharo on Windows using the One-Click image. I had an experience similar to Andrew's. It may have been easier for me to diagnose and fix the problems as I am more experienced with Pharo and have programmed on Windows for years, but...
I think Pharo should install and run without problems the way any quality Windows does. I did nothing during the installation that I was not prompted to do (such as deciding where to place the zip file and where to unpack it) and yet Pharo would not start the first time I clicked on the shortcut.
Pharo is great, but it should install and run without problems for newcomers on the most popular OS platform out there. Granted, programmers are more likely to be able to resolve the problems, but it doesn't inspire confidence when a product doesn't work immediately after installation. If I were at all uncertain about whether I wanted to try Pharo, failure on first startup might be enough to cause me to uninstall it without further investigation.
I know resources are tight, but perhaps a little more attention should be given to the new user's first-time experience on Windows. Regards, TF On Thu, Jan 20, 2011 at 8:57 AM, Andrew Black <[hidden email]> wrote:
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On 20 January 2011 19:14, Tony Fleig <[hidden email]> wrote:
> Just to add to what Andrew experienced: > I am a relatively experienced Pharo user on Linux and OSX -- or at least I > know about the VM and image and change files. I recently decided to test the > TFLogin package on Windows so I installed Pharo on Windows using the > One-Click image. I had an experience similar to Andrew's. It may have been > easier for me to diagnose and fix the problems as I am more experienced with > Pharo and have programmed on Windows for years, but... > I think Pharo should install and run without problems the way any quality > Windows does. I did nothing during the installation that I was not prompted > to do (such as deciding where to place the zip file and where to unpack it) > and yet Pharo would not start the first time I clicked on the shortcut. > Pharo is great, but it should install and run without problems for newcomers > on the most popular OS platform out there. Granted, programmers are more > likely to be able to resolve the problems, but it doesn't inspire confidence > when a product doesn't work immediately after installation. If I were at all > uncertain about whether I wanted to try Pharo, failure on first startup > might be enough to cause me to uninstall it without further investigation. > I know resources are tight, but perhaps a little more attention should be > given to the new user's first-time experience on Windows. your comments are taken into account :) > Regards, > TF > > On Thu, Jan 20, 2011 at 8:57 AM, Andrew Black <[hidden email]> > wrote: >> >> I just started using Pharo on windows for the first time. >> >> >> >> First, I should say that I’m really impressed. Pharo seems much more >> solid than when I last tried it. I programmed all day without getting a >> walkback! All of the tools “just worked”. Well done! It’s a lot of work >> creating a solid user experience, but you have done it. >> >> >> >> Now I have some Windows-specific questions. I’m a real windows newbi, so >> please be patient. >> >> >> >> After I downloaded Pharo.app, I dragged the whole directory to a >> convenient place, and tried to launch the Pharo.lnk file, just like the >> readme file says. But there is no such file visible in windows explorer >> (even though I have “don’t show extensions for known file types” box >> unchecked. The file shows up as Pharo. Anyway, I figured that it was >> really Pharo.lnk (Cygwin tells the truth) and double-clicked on it. >> >> >> >> This brings up an alert that says >> C:\Users\<username>\Desktop\OneClick.app\Contents\Windows\Squeak.exe the >> specified path does not exist. >> >> >> >> Is this because I moved the downloaded package? Shouldn’t the symlink be >> relative? >> >> >> >> Anyway, I looked in …\ Contents\Windows\, double-clicked on Squeak.exe, >> and everything started up just fine. >> >> >> >> I worked all day, and saved my image a few times using the Save menu on >> the desktop. Each time, I get the usual confirmatory dialog in the >> Transcript. >> >> >> >> Overnight, my machine shut down. >> >> >> >> Today, I relaunch Squeak.exe, and of course I get the virgin image! Where >> is the image that I’ve been using? The Windows “search this computer” tool >> can’t find it! What about my package cache? >> >> >> >> Eventually I find everything in Pharo.app\Contents\Resources, but not >> until I’ve had a few moments of panic! >> >> >> >> Questions: Is this the appropriate behaviour on Windows, or was there a >> user error on my part? Is it OK to move my image somewhere else? How can >> I change the current directory for Pharo on Windows? >> >> >> >> OK, so now that I’ve found my image file, how to I re-launch it? I >> double-clicked on the .image file, and I got a dialog saying that Windows >> didn’t know what program to use to open it. Fair enough. So I told it to >> use Squeak.exe. Pharo launches, and I get: “Error: invalid utf8 input >> detected”. It’s treating the image as if it were a source file: it has >> opened a MultiByteFileSTream on it. That’s not right. >> >> >> >> How do I re-launch my Pharo image? >> >> >> >> Andrew >> >> >> >> >> >> > -- Best regards, Igor Stasenko AKA sig. |
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In reply to this post by Igor Stasenko
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>> How do I re-launch my Pharo image? > squeak.exe C:/pathToMyImage/myImage.image > or just copy your image to whereever you see fit and then run squeak.exe and when it asks which image to open, choose the one you prefer. I tried that. The effect is the same as double-clicking the image file: it starts up the VM, which then tries to read the image as a UTF8 file, and gives me a walkback. If I just launch the VM, it does NOT ask me which image to open. It opens Paharo.app\Contents\Resources\Pharo.image, and complains that it can't write the corresponding Pharo.changes. This is true even though I have moved the VM into another place on my disk (along with the sources and the image + changes files that I want it to open). There is nothing wrong with the image file itself, btw. I copied it to my Mac on a memory stick, and was able to launch it and work in it for most of yesterday. I'm at my wits end with this. Am I the first person to try the COG VM on Windoze? Andrew |
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On 21 January 2011 15:04, Andrew Black <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>> >>> How do I re-launch my Pharo image? > >> squeak.exe C:/pathToMyImage/myImage.image > >> or just copy your image to whereever you see fit and then run squeak.exe and when it asks which image to open, choose the one you prefer. > > I tried that. The effect is the same as double-clicking the image file: it starts up the VM, which then tries to read the image as a UTF8 file, and gives me a walkback. > > If I just launch the VM, it does NOT ask me which image to open. It opens Paharo.app\Contents\Resources\Pharo.image, and complains that it can't write the corresponding Pharo.changes. if you open same image two times, it will bark about this. Also, if VM crash, it also sometimes could leave a read lock on that file. > This is true even though I have moved the VM into another place on my disk (along with the sources and the image + changes files that I want it to open). > > There is nothing wrong with the image file itself, btw. I copied it to my Mac on a memory stick, and was able to launch it and work in it for most of yesterday. > > I'm at my wits end with this. Am I the first person to try the COG VM on Windoze? > No. I tried Cog and built my own on Windows a lot of times.. and i had no any inconvenience with it. I just not using a pre-built 'setup' solutions, because its useless to me, since i VM hacker :) > Andrew > > -- Best regards, Igor Stasenko AKA sig. |
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In reply to this post by Andrew Black
Let me try asking this another way. Will someone who knows how to do Pharo development on Windows please tell me how to organize my files so that Pharo works? Obviously, leaving the files where they are in the unzipped install package does not work. How should I organize things so that Pharo can actually save an image, shut down, and then open it again? Where should I put the VM relative to the other files. How is the initial current directory chosen?
I've been developing in Squeak for more than 10 years. I now about images and changes and sources and Monticello and so on. I just know nothing at all about Windoze. How can it be so hard? Andrew -----Original Message----- From: [hidden email] [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Andrew Black Sent: 21 January 2011 14:04 To: Pharo Users ([hidden email]) Subject: Re: [Pharo-users] Pharo on Windows >> >> How do I re-launch my Pharo image? > squeak.exe C:/pathToMyImage/myImage.image > or just copy your image to whereever you see fit and then run squeak.exe and when it asks which image to open, choose the one you prefer. I tried that. The effect is the same as double-clicking the image file: it starts up the VM, which then tries to read the image as a UTF8 file, and gives me a walkback. If I just launch the VM, it does NOT ask me which image to open. It opens Paharo.app\Contents\Resources\Pharo.image, and complains that it can't write the corresponding Pharo.changes. This is true even though I have moved the VM into another place on my disk (along with the sources and the image + changes files that I want it to open). There is nothing wrong with the image file itself, btw. I copied it to my Mac on a memory stick, and was able to launch it and work in it for most of yesterday. I'm at my wits end with this. Am I the first person to try the COG VM on Windoze? Andrew |
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On 21 January 2011 17:49, Andrew Black <[hidden email]> wrote:
> Let me try asking this another way. Will someone who knows how to do Pharo development on Windows please tell me how to organize my files so that Pharo works? Obviously, leaving the files where they are in the unzipped install package does not work. How should I organize things so that Pharo can actually save an image, shut down, and then open it again? Where should I put the VM relative to the other files. How is the initial current directory chosen? > i usually put vm in same dir as image(s) and so i either use command-line tool or run VM and choose which image to open in dialog it opens > I've been developing in Squeak for more than 10 years. I now about images and changes and sources and Monticello and so on. I just know nothing at all about Windoze. > > How can it be so hard? > i don't know what hard you found there.. its simple. P.S. check the 'squeak.ini' file located nearby the VM, it could contain the evil defaultImage='foo/bar/image.image' which makes your VM deaf to any image name passed as argument from command line. :) > Andrew > > -----Original Message----- > From: [hidden email] [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Andrew Black > Sent: 21 January 2011 14:04 > To: Pharo Users ([hidden email]) > Subject: Re: [Pharo-users] Pharo on Windows > >>> >>> How do I re-launch my Pharo image? > >> squeak.exe C:/pathToMyImage/myImage.image > >> or just copy your image to whereever you see fit and then run squeak.exe and when it asks which image to open, choose the one you prefer. > > I tried that. The effect is the same as double-clicking the image file: it starts up the VM, which then tries to read the image as a UTF8 file, and gives me a walkback. > > If I just launch the VM, it does NOT ask me which image to open. It opens Paharo.app\Contents\Resources\Pharo.image, and complains that it can't write the corresponding Pharo.changes. > This is true even though I have moved the VM into another place on my disk (along with the sources and the image + changes files that I want it to open). > > There is nothing wrong with the image file itself, btw. I copied it to my Mac on a memory stick, and was able to launch it and work in it for most of yesterday. > > I'm at my wits end with this. Am I the first person to try the COG VM on Windoze? > > Andrew > > -- Best regards, Igor Stasenko AKA sig. |
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In reply to this post by Andrew Black
I'm using Pharo with Cog on Windows without a problem. However, I
have never used the One Click distribution. I just download the regular Pharo image and Cog separately, and use "open with.." on the context menu of the image file to find the Cog VM. There was nothing special required that's not required with every other Windows program. (Normally I'd just double click, but I have the pre-Cog Squeak VM associated with .image at the moment) On Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 3:49 AM, Andrew Black <[hidden email]> wrote: > Let me try asking this another way. Will someone who knows how to do Pharo development on Windows please tell me how to organize my files so that Pharo works? Obviously, leaving the files where they are in the unzipped install package does not work. How should I organize things so that Pharo can actually save an image, shut down, and then open it again? Where should I put the VM relative to the other files. How is the initial current directory chosen? > > I've been developing in Squeak for more than 10 years. I now about images and changes and sources and Monticello and so on. I just know nothing at all about Windoze. > > How can it be so hard? > > Andrew > |
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In reply to this post by Andrew Black
Hi Andrew, just a quick shoot. Maybe your are having this problem?
http://code.google.com/p/pharo/issues/detail?id=2374 cheers mariano On Thu, Jan 20, 2011 at 5:57 PM, Andrew Black <[hidden email]> wrote:
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