151–160 of 175 posts
This reminds me of Clipper/dBase software tools. One of my favorite pieces of software was a tiny program file + flat-file .dbf for storage. Drag and drop the folder to install or share.
Adding to the chorus of “this looks like X old thing”. This reminds me of Clipper/dBase software tools. One of my favorite pieces of software was a tiny program file + flat-file .dbf for storage. Drag and drop the folder to install or share.
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> Isn't that a lot simpler? You’re glossing over the recurring cost and annoyance of dealing with the hosting and having to secure the data. This way you just share and it’s local. Sure, if you have to share data between people, your points are valid. But this seems like a way to build apps geared for individual users, like a notes or recipes app.
For most users having to mail a file to someone is way more work than having to just share a link. The cost of cloud storage is almost nothing (since email is mentioned I assume 50MB max per project). A notes app that don't sync between all devices is just a text editor to most. I do like apps that have sensible export formats though. Having control over my data is important.
Citation very much needed. Sharing a link, especially if you’re already at your computer where the app runs, very often means emailing the link.
> The cost of cloud storage is almost nothing
“Almost nothing” is not nothing. I really wished we stopped with this idea of “I can afford it, so everyone can too”. And you’re summarily ignoring the very important point of the annoyance (especially for someone inexperienced) and security aspects, which are huge.
> A notes app that don't sync between all devices is just a text editor to most.
Maybe for you. I recommend you observe more regular people.
Also, that is a single example, not representative of the whole.
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It's not using the File System Access API, on Firefox it uses for file-picking, and the save just downloads it. It's not synchronizing anything with your filesystem.
Do you know the reason for that? The File System API does seem to be well supported on Firefox: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/File_System...
window.showOpenFilePicker()
This is my main gripe with Firefox. They force their users to either store everything in the cloud or go through the arcane "download" workflow where you have to manually save files.
My take: If your app needs to update and preserve state (using SQLite or any other DB), it is probably not something you want to pass around as a bundled file. Or at least, it's extremely limiting, compared with hosting it somewhere on the web, which is not that hard to do these days. Think of the workflow: Any time the state changes, you need to email a new Capsule file to whoever else is using the app. And one woul…
> hosting it somewhere on the web, which is not that hard to do these days. Tell any non-tech person that.
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> hosting it somewhere on the web, which is not that hard to do these days. Tell any non-tech person that.
A non-tech person could handle this: https://app.netlify.com/drop
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Do you know the reason for that? The File System API does seem to be well supported on Firefox: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/File_System...
Firefox unfortunately does not support the File System Access API. You can try by calling the most fundamental function, the one that asks the user to select a file: window.showOpenFilePicker() What Firefox supports is a "File System API" which creates something similar to the other old ways of storing data in a browser, like cookies and indexeddb. You cannot use it to edit normal files on your disk. This is my main…
I would not call it unfortunate. Browsers should not have access to the file system, USB ports, etc. Perhaps in "PWA"s, if the user has a way of giving and withdrawing consent.
> but trying to save data required hosting it somewhere With the File System Access API, webpages nowadays can read and write local files just like desktop applications: https://developer.chrome.com/docs/capabilities/web-apis/file... Try this text editor for example: https://googlechromelabs.github.io/text-editor/ It works nicely on Desktop and Mobile.