ursadk / appmaker

Convert any URL or executable into a stand-alone MacOS app.

AppMaker

This script is used to generate a new MacOS app which encapsulates either an executable file or a URL. If the app is generated around an executable, then the encapsulated file is run as soon as the app is opened. If a URL is given, then it is opened in a customised stand-alone Google Chrome window.

• Requirements
• Synopsis
• Changelog

Requirements

• Google Chrome is required in order to encapsulate a URL.

Synopsis

appmaker [options] <url-or-file> <path-to-app>

Create a MacOS app by encapsulating a given executable or URL into an app.
The file will be copied inside the new app, and executed on app start.

    Options                 All options are optional and
    -------                 can be supplied in any order.

    -c --copyright=<str>    Copyright for the new application
    -f --force              Overwrite existing app (use with care)
    -i --icon=<path>        A path to the app icon (must be a square)
                            Supported formats: ICNS, PNG, GIF, JPG
    -n --appname=<str>      App name, as it appears in the menu
                            Lenght: 16 characters maximum
    -v --appversion=<x.x.x> Application version number

    -l --log=<path>         Redirect all output to a file
    -q --quiet              Suppress output of the script
    -? --help               Display this help message
    --version               Script and BASH version info

    Arguments               All arguments are optional and
    ---------               can be supplied in any order.

    <url-or-file>           Path to the executable or the URL
                            to be encapsulated into the new app
    <path-to-app>           Path to the application

<> - required parameters    [] - optional parameters
Use 'less ./appmaker' to view further documentation.

Changelog

• 1.0.2

  • Bumped version number to get releases working on GitHub.
  • Updated documentation.

• 1.0.1

  • Added default values to the output of --help.
  • Updated documentation

• 1.0.0

  • Initial release of the code.

appmaker's Issues

Re-openning app window does not restore the app

It appears that once an app is generated, it can be executed and it runs without any issues.

However, after the initial window is closed (eg: with Cmd-W), clicking on the app icon does not restore the app window. Instead, we get a standard Google Chrome browser window.

To reinitialise the app, we need to quit it completely (eg: with Cmd-Q), then re-open it.