We have a couple of Mac users in the guild and we are also searching for ways to entice guild members on a "set it and forget it" basis so the roster can be up to date, accurate, blah blah that doesn't require the Win32 implementation as it seems most people are a) reluctant or b) too lazy to go through the steps to get the Win32 version working (i.e. "What's this .Net error I'm getting?"). I was delighted to see the JUniUploader getting a facelift and rewrite and view this as an easy solution or another option to add to guild members to upload their character info.

First off, the interface is beautiful...elegant...it's not often that form and function combine to make a great solution and it looks like JUniUploader is going to fit that bill...however...

I downloaded the two JAR files directly from the homepage at http://lhunath.lyndir.com/jUniUploader/

The website says 0.9.10, the application indicates 0.9.9. Invoking the update procedure via the "Check for Updates" button on the Development "page" results in a download and subsequent install. Checking the directory where the two original jar files are deposited shows the base file and the JUniUploader file. The JUniUploader file shows as 0KB. It appears the downloaded file couldn't "swap out" what was currently running in memory. Closing JUniUploader and then rerunning results in an error. This is to be expected if the JAR file reads 0KB on the system. I saw where someone posted in a couple of places the same or similar issue and I understand this to be a "windows issue". So, I've resolved, for now, not to worry with the Check For Updates feature as I'm not sure I understand at the moment the suggested workaround of utilizing the WebStart feature. I'll look into that more later.

The other more problematic issues I'm having are two (keep in mind the impressions and expectations that I have from the Win32 UniUploader binary, the .Net version, may be preventing me from understanding the configuration as it is in jUniUploader 0.9.9). The first issue, as it relates to populating the configuration, is I am not able to "type" in the URLS on the configuration page. For instance, when I type "http://" for the "Hompage URL" field, I get "http" in the field and then the cursor is "forced" back to the beginning of the string where the two // are inserted. So it looks like "//http:". The typing of the colon ":" is what throws the cursor back to the beginning of the string. I currently cannot figure out a workaround other than to paste in the full string.

The same happens for the Forums URL field.

For the UniAdmin field, it will allow me to type in http:// without the aforementioned behavior however after I type the first letter of our domain, "d", the field stops accepting character input and the interface becomes unresponsive. Almost as if the field is trying to validate the string on the fly. The log is populated with several, stacking "malformed URL" java.lang exceptions. So my workaround is to paste in the URL like I have for the previous two fields that have the strange cursor reset behavior. Or, I can wait until the interface attempts to validate the string and eventually the buffer is completely read into the field. This takes about 30 seconds to almost a minute. Perhaps the validation check can occur when the cursor leaves the field rather than the character by character check that appears to be happening now?

Once I have managed to get all of these URLs pasted or typed in, I go to the Addon Manager page to get, what I assume, is the list of addons configured within our guild's UniAdmin database. There are two we have configured there, CharacterProfiler and KLHThreatMeter and both of these addons successfully update using the Win32 version of UniUploader. When I click on the Request Addon List from jUniUploader, I get two entries: CharacterProfiler and Guild Profiler. I'm fairly certain this does not reflect what we have configured in our UniAdmin interface. I can post screenshots, if you like, of our AddOn page in UniAdmin. The only entry I see in the log related to this action are the following messages:

Updating configuration from sync URL ..
Parsing settings ..
Checking for addon upgrades ..
Downloading addon list from UniAdmin ..
Parsing addon information ..

Is there a way to access more verbose information that might possibly indicate where, exactly, it's retrieving the addon information? I have the "Verbose Errors" checkbox enabled.

I've even attempted to disable both of our addons in UniAdmin to see if the list that is pulled back within jUniUploader would be different. When updating from this state, the same two addons, CharacterProfiler and GuildProfiler are listed on the Addon page. This makes me suspect that the sync URL in memory is falling back on some default address and not what I have configured. The only other possibility I can think of is it is in fact reading our AddOn zip information in our UniAdmin database and even though the addon is "CharacterProfiler", perhaps both CharacterProfiler and GuildProfiler are embedded in the same addon and as such, it can't retrieve information for the second addon: KLHThreatMeter. However GuildProfiler is in its own structure in the addon folder so that doesn't appear likely. Just a wild thought trying to troubleshoot the confusion.

I have double checked several times, what I have in the configuration settings, even went as far as only listing the UniAdmin link to rule out other inputs or data that may be contributing to this behavior.

Any thoughts on how I can troubleshoot this behavior?

Wanted to add two important pieces of info.

Java version: 1.6.0_01-b06
OS version: Windows XP SP2

I <-- idiot.

I had the wrong brain cells firing this morning and realized I did not have the full path to the interface.php file. I only was "pathing" to the directory where UniAdmin was located (i.e. ..\uniadmin as opposed to ..\uniadmin\interface.php)

I am now able to populate the jUniUploader interface with our addons (but still extraneous, unexplainable addons - see below) and even the logo we have configured...nifty!

However, the issues described earlier with regards to typing in URLs are still relevant I believe. Granted, once it is configured...there's no need to worry about it unless changes become necessary on down the line.

Additionally, the unattributable two entries, CharacterProfiler and GuildProfiler, are still there. Please see screenshot (attached as file).

I think the author of jUU forces the CP and GP addons on the addon page

zanix wrote:I think the author of jUU forces the CP and GP addons on the addon page

Well that would explain why it's behaving like it is hardcoded. I guess ultimately, I can locate that in the code and turn that off. It would be nice if this were optional.

It was my understanding that GuildProfiler isn't necessarily for general use (we don't ask our guildies to install GuildProfiler since the interface to the roster requires authentication and that is not information we provide to anyone beyond our admins at the site). Updating of the guild roster is delegated to those same admins (there's two of us). That's why I'm not exactly certain why this would be "forced" as I didn't think GuildProfiler would be required to upload Character info to the site. Of course, I could be wrong.

I can see how "forcing" it will increase the likelihood of it working for folks that don't quite understand how add-ons work. For example, simply running the link for anyone that doesn't have CharacterProfiler installed won't work and guild officers have the added burden of ensuring people understand that pre-requisite and walk them through getting it installed. (I only managed to get 20-25 of our guildies to follow very comprehensive step by step instructions to set up the Win32 version and there are still questions and confusion.)

Can someone verify this rationale as I'm guessing at it? Also, can someone provide some insight as to why GuildProfiler is "forced"?

Well, in my opinion, no addons should be hard coded
And yes, GuildProfiler is only needed for those updating guild data

I think lhunath aimed to make jUU for Roster, whereas UU was made to be able to upload lua files to ANY site that accepts post requests for files

UniUploader stands for Universal Uploader for WoW LUA files, which is what I think jUU should be as well

First of all, allow me to appologise for not checking up on the forums often enough to give you a quick response.

I've been way too slow on updating jUU in the past month.

Now, let's discuss your problems.

The issues you describe with not being able to type properly in the fields that take URLs is indeed a bug. As soon as you input characters jUU attempts to update its configuration with them, resulting in an attempted fetch from the URL which isn't even complete yet. I will modify this behaviour to apply the text as soon as you hit the Enter key, but still save the modifications to memory so that when people forget to hit enter at least the changes will not be forgotten and apply once jUU is restarted.

The "Check for Updates" feature is depricated. It cannot be made to work reliably, unless through a system of workarounds (download the update, start a temporary application, shut down jUU, make the temporary application move the update over the existing jUU installation, restart jUU, shut down temporary application). This is only required in Windows (the check for updates feature works in mac/linux afaik). The reason for this is that Windows locks any file that is currently open (which is a feature I *HATE* about the windows OS, and also causes the terrible headaches people have when deleting adware). As a result, I cannot move the update over the existing jUU code while it is running.

The "Check for updates" feature will be removed from jUU and downloading the two JAR files (downloading jUU) manually will also be depricated behaviour. It is highly recommended that EVERYONE uses WebStart from now on.

WebStart is a Java feature that lets you click a link in a webpage which automatically downloads and installs a Java application. jUU uses this feature to make itself available to anyone with terrible ease. WebStart also takes care of updating jUU each time you try to start it by checking the internet for a newer version before launching it. You can also start jUU without having to open your browser (I will make a shortcut available that will let you start jUU from your desktop, or wherever). Don't worry too much about what exactly WebStart is; suffice it to say it takes care of launching and updating jUU for you and it can also be used to preconfigure jUU for YOUR guild by putting a custom link on your guild's webpage.

About the addons now. Character Profiler and GuildProfiler are always added to the list of addons automatically. Character Profiler is set to be a required addon, which means it's selected for install by default. GuildProfiler shouldn't be selected for install by default since unlike character profiler it's not required. My appologies if it is, I will correct this. Furthermore, I feel there is no problem with hardcoding these two addons to always be included in the list of addons. They are hardcoded to use the update URL from their author's website which means they will always automatically reflect the latest version available for them. That means you shouldn't have these addons in your UniAdmin configuration, since that is something you need to update manually whenever a new version of the addon becomes available.

I haven't been receiving much input for this product of mine which made me feel like interest for it has kind of died out and made me reluctant to keeping it updated. I will however release a new version for jUU fixing the issues you underlined.

I'm always open for suggestions or criticism. If you feel a decision I make should be different, let me know what you think it should be and why; I will take your argumentation into considderable account. Feature requests are just as welcome.

I no longer play WoW, which means I will need more input from the community that does to be able to understand new requirements as they develop. It also means I cannot test this application as well as it needs to be tested. I also do not have a Mac (I have Linux and Windows available). As a result, I rely greatly on any testing results and any reports of bugs or unexpected behaviour from the community. They are always welcome.

Greetings,
~lhunath

By the way; to see more verbose output, you need to start jUniUploader from the console or at least through a way that gives you a console window.

I'll add a button to show the console window, because it can be tricky to get the console to show on windows.

I've got most of the fixes implemented now, I'll probably submit the changes tomorrow. Time for bed now.

lhunath I LOVE YOUR APPLICATION!

the problem with the hardcoded addons is for guilds where the users are using uniadmin too, they (UU) have none or jUU users have them twice.

please continue your jUU support "my" guild will love it! (we have some linux users )

aegnor wrote:l(we have some linux users Very Happy )

And I'm going to tell all of our guild's windows users to stop using the win32 of UniUploader. It simply does not appeal to the majority of people in our guild. Who knows why.

I'm hoping however that the jUniUploader will be an attractive option since all they need to do is click a link and for the most part they're done. Much easier than what I have listed for the required steps for the Win32 version.

Most of the issues discussed here have been resolved in 0.9.11. Please share your impressions and criticism.

aegnor: Thanks by the way I try my best, and it's always nice to know it's well appreciated.

My guild's officers are now testing jUU. I will compile a list of problems/suggestions/praise/scorn for you. This means about 5 users (couple are total computer noobs, and the rest are quite skilled) are going to beating up your app. I hope we can provide you with some good feed back!

That's excellent. Curious to the results!