Load .dst file from public URL dynamically

[JJediny]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
While collaborative editing #66 seems an unreasonable lift (websockets and all), having the ability to dynamically load a url as a file import via a url construction would solve alot of the workflow around shared editing/re-loading/displaying of exported files to continue to edit.

Describe the solution you'd like
I as a user would atleast like to maintain a github gist (etc), to give me a stable/public url, where I can continue to make updates without the url changing to a .dst file. If I was able to append that URL as part of the editor's URL to auto load, then all I would need to do to update and maintain my Domain Knowledge diagram would be load the full URL, make updates, re-download/update the github gist to version it. Next time I revisit the updated diagram would be there for me to pick up again.

Describe alternatives you've considered
Mermaid live editor uses a base64 scheme to encode the file contents to make it a shareable url:

• https://mermaidjs.github.io/mermaid-live-editor
• https://github.com/mermaidjs/mermaid-live-editor/blob/master/src/components/Edit.js
• Example - https://mermaidjs.github.io/mermaid-live-editor/#/edit/eyJjb2RlIjoiZ3JhcGggVERcbkFbUHJvZHVjdGlvbiBBcHBsaWNhdGlvbl0gLS0-TltVc2VyIGRyaXZlbiBldmVudF1cbk4gLS4tPiBMW0dvb2dsZSBBbmFseXRpY3NdXG5OIC0tPiBCW0FXUyBDbG91ZFdhdGNoXVxuQiAtLi0-IE9bS2luZXNpc11cbk8tLi0-SlxuRCAtLT4gTVtSYXcgZGF0YSBzMyBidWNrZXRdXG5NIC0tPiBDW0xhbWJkYSBQYXJzZXJdXG5DIC0tPiBHW0hvdCBidWNrZXQgLUludGVybWVkaWF0ZSBTMyBidWNrZXRdXG5HIC0tPiBJW0xhbWRiYSAtUmVkU2hpZnQgTG9hZGVyXVxuSSAtLT4gSltSZWRTaGlmdF1cbkogLS0-IEhbQVdTIFF1aWNrU2l0ZV1cbkogLS4tPiBLW0JsYXplcl1cbk4gLS0-IERbTG9nc3Rhc2hdXG5EIC0tPiBFW0VsYXN0aVNlYXJjaF1cbkUgLS0-IEZbS2liYW5hXVxuXG4iLCJtZXJtYWlkIjp7InRoZW1lIjoiZGVmYXVsdCJ9fQ

Additional context
The editor does need some ability to save state on the internet and dynamically load from it to be useful in standard practice.

[hofstef]

Loading/saving models from/to a stable public URL could improve collaboration. Using gist is certainly an option.
Alternatively encoding the whole model in the URL is not an option as we have to include the SVG of all icons as well (to support custom icons). The resulting strings (even if base64) can get really long and might exceed browser's URL limits.

[almereyda]

Loading files from CORS-enabled enpoints denoted in a URL fragment will improve collaboration workflows a lot.

[StevenVanDijk]

I give a course on DDD and use your site for knowledge crunching phase. Currently I have a DST with extra icons etc in a gist that participants have to download, save to their machine and then manually import. This all takes time and when they don't figure it out I have to come in and help them out. It would be very helpful if I could provide a link they could click and have the import take place automatically.

This issue seems to address my need, but it is open since 2019. Is it still considered?

As an aside, I appreciate the service you are providing to the community with this tool and understand you probably have limited time to work on this. I'm just checking the status.

[hofstef]

Hi Steven, I'm happy to read that you use Egon and Domain Storytelling in your course.
In the next weeks, we are going to take another look at integration-related ideas: Miro, load from URL, and save/load files from cloud platforms (see #84). However, I'm not making any promises. This will be an experiment to evaluate the feasability of this ideas.

[hofstef]

Worflow automation closed this ticket prematurely. We've implemented an import from URL which can be tested using the latest build. However, CORS is limiting our options. At least loading raw files from GitHub works (e.g. this example)

[hofstef]

This feature could be improved by automatically checking if the provided URL links to a downloadable raw file - at least for established providers:

• GitHub: github.com/... => raw.githubusercontent.com/...
• Dropbox: www.dropbox.com/... => dl.dropbox.com/...
• ... (research is needed if Google, Apple, NextCloud etc offer raw downloads too)

This is not always as straight forward as adding a prefix to the URL, for example Dropbox links might already contain a parameter to force a download, see documentation.