I Have A Question About The Pnd Format


mawler

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Jul 1, 2009
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I want to know more about the specifics on the way the files are handled in general.

Is the PND format a SquashFS file with UnionFS of all the files into the SquashFS file, including any added configuration files, save data, etc, or is it much simpler with just SquashFS with all extra saved data in another folder, or something else? I just want to know basically if they PND files are compressed or at least TARed for the sake of not moving lots of small data files onto the filesystem, which can annoy users when it takes so long in Windows.

How are file type associations handled, i.e, you open a file like a movie by tapping it and it executes the PND for it?

And 2 more unrelated questions, and chances are the first is yes but I want to know for sure. Can I make my own SquashFS file and mount it on the Pandora? How will root access be handled as well?
 
It's an ISO file with some extra XML data (main exectuable, icon file, menu location, file type associations, etc...) stuck on the end. A daemon monitors card inserts and scans the SD card for these PND files, and then makes them visible on the desktop or in the menu.
They are nothing more than a convenience so that developers can put all the resources in a single package, and the Pandora will know what to do with it, easy peasy.
You can do anything you want with your Pandora, including mounting different file systems.
No idea about the current plans for root access, though.
 
Theres a lot of info scattered in hard to find threads, so do some searching, but yeah, like he said.

The source is up in the git (libpnd)

That said, it is certainly not feature or code complete, but it works well. (ie: ITs got some crummy bits, but they can be fleshed out as people start using it, we have limited time :)

pndnotifyd is a daemon that watches various configured directories (including where the SD cards get mounted to), and when it detects a change it will scan through and emit .desktop type files detailing the applications it finds in the newly mounted dir tree.. if you remove a SD card (or a directory in one of the watched dirs, whatever), it will re-scan and remove .desktop of the apps nolonger present.

libpnd makes the APIs for this available, so people can leverage the code in writing their own launchers or apps; to await change notifications, to find .pnd files (or unpacked directories with PXML.xml in them), to mount a .pnd and look inside, and so on, as well as execute an app (directly in the code, or via invokation of a script that does a lot of the heavy lifting.)

All there, take a look. When it goes live, folks can take over the code and run with it :)

jeff
 
skeezix said:
Theres a lot of info scattered in hard to find threads, so do some searching, but yeah, like he said.

The source is up in the git (libpnd)

That said, it is certainly not feature or code complete, but it works well. (ie: ITs got some crummy bits, but they can be fleshed out as people start using it, we have limited time :)

pndnotifyd is a daemon that watches various configured directories (including where the SD cards get mounted to), and when it detects a change it will scan through and emit .desktop type files detailing the applications it finds in the newly mounted dir tree.. if you remove a SD card (or a directory in one of the watched dirs, whatever), it will re-scan and remove .desktop of the apps nolonger present.

libpnd makes the APIs for this available, so people can leverage the code in writing their own launchers or apps; to await change notifications, to find .pnd files (or unpacked directories with PXML.xml in them), to mount a .pnd and look inside, and so on, as well as execute an app (directly in the code, or via invokation of a script that does a lot of the heavy lifting.)

All there, take a look. When it goes live, folks can take over the code and run with it :)

jeff
There's been a lot of fuss recently about the PND format for some reason. The last day or so, there have been at least 3 threads (I'm to blame for one of them but the others just spontaneously appeared). People complained about this and that feature missing and doubted that the format is in a ready state. Could you comment on that, skeezix; is it stable enough to use (EDIT: you already have, but there are average Joes out there who'd like to know, too)?

Also, some brainstorming/semi-argumentative discussions in this thread about what the PND format can and cannot do lead me to writing this post. What do you think about it, skeezix? Something worth spending energy on?
 
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