Sharing a image between several computers

Hi all,

       I've been programming in Smalltalk/Pharo for a time, and it is really nice (I love it). Usually, I work with several images at my work and home. I share those images using dropbox. However it is not practical, if your images size are 100+ MB (because dropbox is synchronizing each time that you save).

So I was wondering If you use a more practical software to share your images between several computers.

Greetings
        Oscar


 

I don't copy images, I put everything in Monticello and share the
code. But I'd still like to hear what everyone else's workflow is.

-Steven

On Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 2:39 PM, Oscar E A Callau
<[hidden email]> wrote:

>       I've been programming in Smalltalk/Pharo for a time, and it is really nice (I love it).

Cool!!!!
Spread the word among the students at the DCC :-)

Alexandre

> Usually, I work with several images at my work and home. I share those images using dropbox. However it is not practical, if your images size are 100+ MB (because dropbox is synchronizing each time that you save).
>
> So I was wondering If you use a more practical software to share your images between several computers.
>
> Greetings
> Oscar
>
>
>

--
_,.;:~^~:;._,.;:~^~:;._,.;:~^~:;._,.;:~^~:;._,.;:
Alexandre Bergel  http://www.bergel.eu
^~:;._,.;:~^~:;._,.;:~^~:;._,.;:~^~:;._,.;:~^~:;.

El jue, 28-10-2010 a las 14:40 -0700, Steven Baker escribió:
> I don't copy images, I put everything in Monticello and share the
> code. But I'd still like to hear what everyone else's workflow is.

USB pendrive?


--
Miguel Cobá
http://miguel.leugim.com.mx

I haven't been doing this long, but I use Monticello to move my packages between a Mac and 2 Linux systems. Its much faster than copying an image around.

This debate/conversation arises every so often, and it is always informative.  There are two camps: those who (almost?) never save an image, and those who move images around.  FWIW, I fall into the latter category.  One good thing about _not_ saving images is that it will force full understanding of what you put into an image and how to load it.  Given the time required to load things like Seaside, you will probably want to have at least a base image that you use and then perhaps file in (or use MC to load) your code on top of that.

Since I like to use an image for a while, I became a big fan of Zip disks; USB drives are now so big and cheap that they are now the transport of choice.

To whatever extent you choose to save and move images, a few tips.  Try to be aware of how to build the image from source (which you should save periodically) in case you get into trouble.  I use a home-grown tool called Migrate to help me; it's in the in-box if you have any interest.  Periodic backups (image/changes and sources if you ever change the latter) are a good idea.  The usual rules apply: you only have to back up what you can't afford to lose =:0   I save myself a lot of trouble by getting an image ready to test something "dangerous" - new FFI code, in Dolphin at least, opening a newly modified presenter could be the last thing one does in an image, etc.  You will gradually build your own list of "I fried an image this way once..." and learn when to take an extra backup.   Get the image ready to take the dangerous step, meaning browsers open, text ready to select or already selected, etc., and then save the image.  Maybe make a backup and verify that it loads.  Then take the plunge, if it goes wrong, learn what you can, and then exit w/o saving.  It adds a few iterations to a fix compared to fixing and saving, but you will have fewer corrupt images over time.  If all you ever save is code, the worries of corruption are reduced, but you need to keep track of the code and how to load it.

Either way, Happy Smalltalking!

Bill



________________________________________
From: [hidden email] [[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Tony Fleig [[hidden email]]
Sent: Thursday, October 28, 2010 7:47 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [Pharo-project] Sharing a image between several computers

I haven't been doing this long, but I use Monticello to move my packages between a Mac and 2 Linux systems. Its much faster than copying an image around.

TF

On Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 2:39 PM, Oscar E A Callau <[hidden email]<mailto:[hidden email]>> wrote:
Hi all,

      I've been programming in Smalltalk/Pharo for a time, and it is really nice (I love it). Usually, I work with several images at my work and home. I share those images using dropbox. However it is not practical, if your images size are 100+ MB (because dropbox is synchronizing each time that you save).

So I was wondering If you use a more practical software to share your images between several computers.

Greetings
       Oscar

On 28.10.2010, at 23:39, Oscar E A Callau wrote:

> Hi all,
>
>       I've been programming in Smalltalk/Pharo for a time, and it is really nice (I love it). Usually, I work with several images at my work and home. I share those images using dropbox. However it is not practical, if your images size are 100+ MB (because dropbox is synchronizing each time that you save).
>
> So I was wondering If you use a more practical software to share your images between several computers.
>
If you just need to carry your working image around with you an usb stick is the easiest I think. If you do it like this you should build it new from time to time. This way you see unintentional side effects you produced and that will keep you from succesful deploy your stuff elsewhere.
In my case it is different. I'm developing in pharo and deploying on gemstone so no chance to copy an image. But I also feel the need to move things around. What I need to move is two things: Code and data. For moving code I use metacello. With a single line the server is updated to the new code. That is very comfortable. But then there is data accumulated on the server I like to have in my deployment image. For this you can use SIXX to file out your data object graph and read it in in your development image.

hope this helps,

Norbert

On Oct 28, 2010, at 11:39 01PM, Oscar E A Callau wrote:

> Hi all,
>
>       I've been programming in Smalltalk/Pharo for a time, and it is really nice (I love it). Usually, I work with several images at my work and home. I share those images using dropbox. However it is not practical, if your images size are 100+ MB (because dropbox is synchronizing each time that you save).
>
> So I was wondering If you use a more practical software to share your images between several computers.
>

I use Dropbox, alot.
Synching other stuff than smalltalk images as well, but on my Mac with Dropbox installed on a Windows bootcamp partition, an Ubuntu VM, and OSX itself, it saves me lots of manual tediousness making sure I have the data I want to work on available everywhere, at the cost of some disk-space.
Usually I'm on a LAN with the other machine I have Dropbox installed on as well at least once a day, so transfer times aren't a big issue.

Never really liked the frailty of having to carry around USB sticks. :)

My Pharo images are rarely much larger than the base PharoCore, what's important to me is not having to spend lots of time downloading updates to make sure I work on the latest version on every platform.
Code I develop I usually store in the local cache (or temporary images) while its in progress, then push it to Inbox.

In my work using VW, I do the same, except there's usually data as well (stored externally), which I load in during development.
I rarely ever save images containing data though (the exception being when I'm deep in debugging sessions at the end of a work day), and then always in temporary images I delete afterwards.
Once changes are completed, they're saved to SCM, then reloaded in a fresh image, which is subsequently saved as the new development base.

So basically
- Keep your images sizes low by storing data externally.
- Prefer saving to Monticello rather than storing the image as you progress.
- Make saving images containing data an exception rather than the rule.

And Dropbox will serve you just fine (well, at least it's just wonderful for me following those rules)

Cheers,
Henry