[ZendTo] Re: Library of files on a 'per user' basis

Jules Jules at Zend.To
Thu Jan 26 15:33:59 GMT 2012


I've added per-user libraries. See the beta section of the downloads 
page to get it!

What happens now is this:
If there is a sub-directory of the library directory named the same as 
the logged-in username, that directory is used. If not, then the 
top-level library directory is used.
I then gather a list of all the files in that directory.
If there are no files in that directory, the drop-down list is not shown 
in the user interface at all.
If there are files, those are presented as a drop-down list.

The results are:
1. You have a "default" set of files in the top dir.
2. You can have a few users who have empty subdirectories and so never 
see that the "library" functionality exists at all.
3. You can have an empty "default" top dir, but subdirectories for a few 
users. Then most of your users will never see the "library" 
functionality exists, and only those few users who do have a 
subdirectory will see it.

Use case for my site: we have 1 guy in our central IT service whose job 
it is to send software media out to people all over campus.
He used to have to write CDs and DVDs and put them in the post!
Now he sends them as ISO images using ZendTo.
He is fed up of uploading the same files to different users over and 
over again, so wants to use the "library".
I leave the top-level library directory empty, apart from just a 
subdirectory for him.
*Only he* ever sees that the library exists at all, so all the other 
users of the service on campus don't get confused by a thing they 
can't/don't use anyway.
Result ==> Happy users, and happy guy in IT service !

I've released this as a beta. I've just put the DEB and the RPM on the 
web site, you'll have to upgrade by downloading the relevant file and then
CentOS / RedHat / Fedora
     rpm -Uvh zendto-4.09-1.noarch.rpm
Ubuntu / Debian
     sudo dpkg --install zendto_4.09-1.deb
And beware you don't hose your /opt/zendto/config files by mistake!

If you don't have a recent version, and you use MySQL, you will need to 
run the 2nd "mysql" command given in /opt/zendto/sql/README.MySQL to add 
the necessary tables that the "library" uses.

Jules

-- 
Julian Field MEng CITP CEng
www.Zend.To

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'It's okay to live without all the answers' - Charlie Eppes, 2011
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  I see it shining plain,
  The happy highways where I went,
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