Distributing Server Configuration Scripts

(Update)

This feature has been implemented as described at: http://www.paraview.org/Wiki/ParaView/Distributing_Server_Configuration_Files

Motivation

Currently we have no clear mechanism to distribute pvsc files. Site administrators have to invent their own mechanisms to share pvsc files. This proposal provides an infrastructure to distribute pvsc files over the web and easily import them into ParaView. This proposal borrows ideas from the mechanism Debian uses to share the package list(s).

Solution

• The "Choose Server" dialog has a new button "Fetch Servers". When the user clicks on it, the "Choose Server" dialog becomes a "Import Servers" dialog.
• "Import Servers" dialog lists all the server configurations available at the "sources".
• The source list can be edited using "Edit Sources" which transforms the dialog into a "Edit Server Sources" dialog.
• "Edit Server Sources dialog" is a text input box where the source URLs can be listed.
• The "Import Servers" list shows server configurations available on all these sources.
• User can import any server configuration in the "Import Servers" dialog to fetch the configuration locally.
• Next time, this imported configuration will be listed in the "Choose Server" dialog and user can connect to it.

• The URL can simply point to an XML or something that lists all pvsc files for different versions and OSs of ParaView and the client can list those servers that are applicable to it. The details of the client-server exchange can be figured out in due course.

Feedback

• Support authenticated web-server