starting point: manifests, configs, and the such

This old chestnut. First we have W3C specs:

- CACHE MANIFEST [1]
- config.xml from the widget spec [2]

And then we have analogues in the native app dev world:

- Android: AndroidManfiest.xml [3]
- iOS: Info.plist [4]
- BlackBerry: config.xml [5] <-- yay!
- WindowsPhone: App.xaml, WMAppManifest.xml ... possibly others
- Bada: Application.xml, Manifest.xml

And then we have other places that have embraced JSON:

- webOS
- Symbian
- Mozilla Open Web Apps
- Chrome Apps Store Apps

All of the things (listed earlier) tend to abstract the metadata
around the contents of the executable package. So, we have some good
precedents. In the PhoneGap project we decided to embrace and extend
from config.xml as our starting point. XML, while its lost its shine
lately, does have explicit mechanisms for validation and extension
whereas JSON does not (not really).

Point being, I think this is our most fundamental starting point. We
can't have an installable web app without this spec, and the spec for
the config.xml has been evolving but a few things remain that need to
be addressed:

1. CACHE MANIFEST use case
2. items found in the various native platforms not yet addressed
3. the concepts around WebIntents/WebActivities

* * *
Thoughts on the three points above? Should I start collecting this
info on our Wiki?


[1] http://www.w3.org/TR/html5/offline.html#manifests
[2] http://www.w3.org/TR/widgets/
[3] http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/manifest-intro.html
[4] http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/Xcode/Conceptual/ios_development_workflow/115-Configuring_Applications/configuring_applications.html
[5] http://docs.blackberry.com/en/developers/deliverables/30182/Creating_a_BB_Widget_configuration_document_834664_11.jsp

Received on Thursday, 24 November 2011 17:21:21 UTC