A Proposal for Standards. Theme creators and junkies PLEASE READ and COMMENT!!

[Kyle Matthews]

Wow. Just... wow. Very easy.

So now what we are going to do, is create a big standards thread, and combine this, the standards thread, and your script into a VERY easy install for skins. PM me...

Oh, and who can toss a GUI on this?

[Cody Overcash]

tim blade. you are my new favorite person

[unknownentry]

Can someone elaborate on what the exact commands you put in to get this to work? I have tried for the last hour to get this to work using tim's stuff, but no luck.

[tehmacuser]

OK, this is getting ridiculous. Can somebody please mirror the installipb.zip file please? It keeps asking for my username/password and I'm logged in already

'Tis annoying.

[Kyle Matthews]

Mirrored.

This IS OS X only, I believe, at the moment. So Windows users, take note.

Amalone, I got your PM. That should answer your q.

[unknownentry]

Mirrored.

This IS OS X only, I believe, at the moment. So Windows users, take note.

Amalone, I got your PM. That should answer your q.

Well that explains a lot. No wonder it didn't work. I guess I will go ahead and do themes the old way. Thanks poetic.

[timblade]

I'll have it working in Windows sometime tomorrow evening when I get home.

Pf, I'll hit you up via IM early evening!

Well that explains a lot. No wonder it didn't work. I guess I will go ahead and do themes the old way. Thanks poetic.

[Kyle Matthews]

tim, I look forward to it. I'll be out from 7-10 pm GMT-5, but then I'll be back on.

[timblade]

ARGH. I got access to a computer with Windows and did some tests. I've got installipb.pl working fine with Windows... Sort of.

For some reason the version of iphoneinterface.exe I have... well... I'll load it up, then try changing to any directiory (/Applications/Calculator.app for example). I'll do putfile icon.png. It succeeds (doesn't crash). However, when I reboot the phone the icon doesn't change. Upon further inspection it looks like no matter what directory I'm in, a putfile ALWAYS put's the file into the root of the iPhone. Has anyone else run into this problem? I haven't tried doing a System Restore and then doing everything again from scratch on Windows yet.

Anyways, I've attached the latest installipb.pl as a zip file to this post. In order to run it on Windows you need ActivePerl installed (look earlier in the thread for the URL). When you're installing it, I'd recommend using the defaults (let it associate itself to .pl files and modify your PATH). After installation you should be able to open up a command prompt and just type installipb.pl . If ActivePerl is installed correctly you'll get the installipb help screen. Go fetch one of the themes I've converted to iPhoneBundle format and try installing it!

Also, keep in mind the -e option (to specify which files to allow my script to putfile) does not work yet. If you're on a Mac, there is no point in upgrading to 0.2. The only difference between 0.1 and 0.2 is Windows compatibility.

--Tim

[justin]

For some reason the version of iphoneinterface.exe I have... well... I'll load it up, then try changing to any directiory (/Applications/Calculator.app for example). I'll do putfile icon.png. It succeeds (doesn't crash). However, when I reboot the phone the icon doesn't change. Upon further inspection it looks like no matter what directory I'm in, a putfile ALWAYS put's the file into the root of the iPhone. Has anyone else run into this problem? I haven't tried doing a System Restore and then doing everything again from scratch on Windows yet.

I believe you have to specify the entire directory tree when using the putfile command in the windows version of the iPhoneInterface. So instead of "putfile icon.png" it would be "putfile /Applications/Calculator.app/icon.png"

Then again I haven't tested this. I've only read about it.

justin 8)

[timblade]

Thanks! I'll look into it!

I believe you have to specify the entire directory tree when using the putfile command in the windows version of the iPhoneInterface. So instead of "putfile icon.png" it would be "putfile /Applications/Calculator.app/icon.png"

Then again I haven't tested this. I've only read about it.

justin 8)

Hmm... The forum automatically merged these 2 posts... anyways what follows is the reply to the bottom quote!

The reason why I decided to not automatically add a Services.plist is because of two reasons. First is that for some reason, my personal iPhone syncs just fine with iTunes without being locked down! Weird... I know... I was under the impression that iTunes/syncing would break if it wasn't locked down... but it's been working fine. The second reason I opted to not auto-lockdown peoples phones is because I envision people stacking iPhoneBundles on.

A scenario would be. Let's take your great Mirrored theme. You've got the default. Then later you release a couple of different variants. Those variants only include different tinting of the dock. I'd run installipb once to install the default theme. Reboot my phone... decide that I think it's prettier with a blue tinting (transparent blue on green... probably not that pretty, but ya never know). So I run installipb again and reboot. If I automatically locked down the phone after every run, it'd slow down the installation of multiple IPB's dramatically.

What I'm thinking about doing is maybe adding a switch (-L maybe) that'll put the Lockdown stuff in place.

What do you think?

I was just wondering if there was a reason you wouldn't want the script to automatically add a new Services.plist file at the end of execution. I added the correct directories to my themes .ipb so it now does it automatically. But I think it would be better if the script would just grab a local copy of Services.plist from your phonedmg folder. Less chance of someone sneaking something nasty in that way.

Noah

[bluewoodboarder]

Yah another switch to lock the phone down would work great I think. Thanks again for this awesome script. Run into any issues since the iPhone software update? I'm going to download and install the update in a minute...

[timblade]

Yup! I was forced to do a software restore. Not a huge deal, but definitely a slight inconvenience

jailbreak and iphoneinterface seem to be working great still!

Yah another switch to lock the phone down would work great I think. Thanks again for this awesome script. Run into any issues since the iPhone software update? I'm going to download and install the update in a minute...

[timblade]

Great News! I got it working 100% under Windows!!

CDocuments and Settings\Tim\Desktop\ipb>installipb.pl bach
installipb.pl Version: 0.2.1
Created By: Tim Blade <[email protected]>

iPhoneInterface: C:/Documents and Settings/Tim/Desktop/ipb/iPhoneInterface.exe
Bundles Directory: C:/Documents and Settings/Tim/Desktop/ipb/iPhoneBundles
Target Bundle: bach.ipb
iPhone OS Version: 1.0
Target Variant: Default
C:/Documents and Settings/Tim/Desktop/ipb/iPhoneBundles/bach.ipb/1.0/Default/Applications/Calculator.app - /Applications/Calculator.app
C:/Documents and Settings/Tim/Desktop/ipb/iPhoneBundles/bach.ipb/1.0/Default/Applications/Maps.app - /Applications/Maps.app
C:/Documents and Settings/Tim/Desktop/ipb/iPhoneBundles/bach.ipb/1.0/Default/Applications/MobileCal.app - /Applications/MobileCal.app
C:/Documents and Settings/Tim/Desktop/ipb/iPhoneBundles/bach.ipb/1.0/Default/Applications/MobileMail.app - /Applications/MobileMail.app
C:/Documents and Settings/Tim/Desktop/ipb/iPhoneBundles/bach.ipb/1.0/Default/Applications/MobileMusicPlayer.app - /Applications/MobileMusicPlayer.app
C:/Documents and Settings/Tim/Desktop/ipb/iPhoneBundles/bach.ipb/1.0/Default/Applications/MobileNotes.app - /Applications/MobileNotes.app
C:/Documents and Settings/Tim/Desktop/ipb/iPhoneBundles/bach.ipb/1.0/Default/Applications/MobilePhone.app - /Applications/MobilePhone.app
C:/Documents and Settings/Tim/Desktop/ipb/iPhoneBundles/bach.ipb/1.0/Default/Applications/MobileSafari.app - /Applications/MobileSafari.app
C:/Documents and Settings/Tim/Desktop/ipb/iPhoneBundles/bach.ipb/1.0/Default/Applications/MobileSlideShow.app - /Applications/MobileSlideShow.app
C:/Documents and Settings/Tim/Desktop/ipb/iPhoneBundles/bach.ipb/1.0/Default/Applications/MobileSlideShow.app - /Applications/MobileSlideShow.app
C:/Documents and Settings/Tim/Desktop/ipb/iPhoneBundles/bach.ipb/1.0/Default/Applications/MobileSMS.app - /Applications/MobileSMS.app
C:/Documents and Settings/Tim/Desktop/ipb/iPhoneBundles/bach.ipb/1.0/Default/Applications/MobileTimer.app - /Applications/MobileTimer.app
C:/Documents and Settings/Tim/Desktop/ipb/iPhoneBundles/bach.ipb/1.0/Default/Applications/Preferences.app - /Applications/Preferences.app
C:/Documents and Settings/Tim/Desktop/ipb/iPhoneBundles/bach.ipb/1.0/Default/Applications/Stocks.app - /Applications/Stocks.app
C:/Documents and Settings/Tim/Desktop/ipb/iPhoneBundles/bach.ipb/1.0/Default/Applications/Weather.app - /Applications/Weather.app
C:/Documents and Settings/Tim/Desktop/ipb/iPhoneBundles/bach.ipb/1.0/Default/Applications/YouTube.app - /Applications/YouTube.app
C:/Documents and Settings/Tim/Desktop/ipb/iPhoneBundles/bach.ipb/1.0/Default/System/Library/CoreServices/SpringBoard.app - /System/Library/CoreServices/SpringBoard.app

[tehmacuser]

nice job tim! this looks like a very nice way to install themes ^__^

[unknownentry]

I will try it when I get home today! I can't wait!

[odiarte]

hi im not a programer but i want to mod my iphone, is there any tutoriar to do this? i like the leopard theme thaks
p.d soryy about my spelling

[Dragon3leg]

Has anyone taken the theme authors to task yet regarding the ipb format, I think it is a brilliant idea and seems to be a viable solution for modders. I would recommend that someone contact all the theme creators and have them restructure to this new "standard" I am currently testing the mod on a vista box at work after having some issues last night applying a new skin. Lets hope this works

[timblade]

rumor has it there are some easy to use applications that will be out soon to help you do so. in the mean time i'd advise that you read some of the how-to's that are out there. http://www.hacktheiphone.com/ has some great tutorials.

hi im not a programer but i want to mod my iphone, is there any tutoriar to do this? i like the leopard theme thaks
p.d soryy about my spelling

[timblade]

Ok, I've gotten version 0.3.0 complete. I now have the "only allowed file extensions" feature just about working properly (it still doesn't allow you to specify * to allow all files). This will help a lot with some of the themes that the authors used a "Create Archive" of folder on a Mac and some of the mac specific files that you _don't want on your iPhone are included (like .DS_Store).

I've also created a new iPhoneBundle out or someone's frickin rad star trek theme. Also, I updated the Bach and paperCONS themes I converted to ipb include a DisplayOrder.plist. I realized after doing the star trek theme that unless theme authors include the default displayorder in their ipb, if someone installs something like the star trek theme, then installs something like the bach theme, they'll be in for an unexpected surprise.

I'm on a super, super, super slow connection so you can hit up http://www.timmy.org/ipb/ for the updated themes and updated installipb version. I will, however, attach the installipb zip file in this post since it's so tiny.

I've pasted an example of installipb 0.3.0 working properly below.

twisted:~/phonedmg tim$ ./installipb.pl Mirrored
installipb.pl Version: 0.3.0
Created By: Tim Blade <[email protected]>

iPhoneInterface: /Users/tim/phonedmg/iPhoneInterface
Bundles Directory: /Users/tim/phonedmg/iPhoneBundles
Target Bundle: Mirrored.ipb
iPhone OS Version: 1.0
Target Variant: Default

[ignore] .DS_Store (bad extension)
[ignore] .DS_Store (bad extension)
[putfile] /Applications/Calculator.app/icon.png
[putfile] /Applications/Maps.app/icon.png
[putfile] /Applications/MobileCal.app/icon.png
[putfile] /Applications/MobileMail.app/icon.png
[putfile] /Applications/MobileMusicPlayer.app/icon.png
[putfile] /Applications/MobileNotes.app/icon.png
[putfile] /Applications/MobilePhone.app/icon.png
[putfile] /Applications/MobileSafari.app/icon.png
[putfile] /Applications/MobileSlideShow.app/icon-Camera.png
[putfile] /Applications/MobileSlideShow.app/icon-Photos.png
[putfile] /Applications/MobileSMS.app/icon.png
[putfile] /Applications/MobileTimer.app/icon.png
[putfile] /Applications/Preferences.app/icon.png
[putfile] /Applications/Stocks.app/icon.png
[putfile] /Applications/Weather.app/icon.png
[putfile] /Applications/YouTube.app/icon.png
[ignore] .DS_Store (bad extension)
[ignore] .DS_Store (bad extension)
[ignore] .DS_Store (bad extension)
[putfile] /System/Library/CoreServices/SpringBoard.app/SBDockBG2.png

I realize that creating ipb's can be somewhat of a pain in the *** for Mac users (since you have to right click on each .app and do show package contents to get the icon's in the appropriate folder using the finder). I have a couple of utilities in the works that will help with that!

Also, within the next couple of weeks or so I'll setup a homepage for all things iPhoneBundle related. I plan on documenting exactly what I've done, why I've done it, and where I plan on going. Hopefully this will help facilitate other developers in adopting this format (or constructively criticizing it and helping to make it better).

--Tim