Add a QR code URL reader - Jeez I'm getting lazy.

[tohagan]

• Add a Barcode reader plugin to read the server URL.
• Modify the server to display the URL QR code on start up to include the server's IP address (should be configurable on the phonegap server in case we have multiple IPs).

Thanks for making my day lazier with this very cool app - with a QR code reader I can spend even more time chatting in the coffee room ;) .

[mwbrooks]

lol @tohagan,

I'm all about making your life easier. Everyone should spend more time enjoying a good brew.

We've been brainstorming a few ideas to make connections quicker and easier:

• your QR Code approach using qrcode-terminal
• multi-cast auto-discovery (no need to enter the actual IP address) with Suggest using Multicast to auto-discover phonegap serve machine on local network #97
• PhoneGap Build account login, which auto-pairs all your online devices

What are your thoughts?

I'll leave this issue open as a good kick in our pants to prioritize making your life easier ;)

[tohagan]

General Issues that all solutions will face ...

• Can phonegap server reliably detect the right IP address to bind to and send to the mobile device?

your QR Code approach using qrcode-terminal

Pros:

• Quick and easy if you're nearby and I think intuitive to use.
• I figure most devs are probably sitting at their desk with a handful of devices they'd like to test all at once. This is the end user story I imagined for the "Developer Nirvana" concept in Integrate with PG CLI to support custom/3rd party plugins and multiple live devices. #127.
• In the future I image that this app will want to allow devs to select a number of different URLs on the same server (e.g. multiple apps or URL bound components on the same PG server). So I wonder if you might prefer to display the QR code in the desktop browser rather than using qrcode-terminal (e.g. append a .qr suffix to a URL in the browser to display the QR code). Can do both of course.
• Might be a pain to get the IP reliably right on server start up so need to allow server to specify the binding IP if/when required. If you're showing the QR code from a browser this issue goes away since the user enters the required IP address in browser.
• QR Code can include many other things like an auth token if needed (see below).

Cons:

• No bonus if you're not nearby - but would you ever be?
• Would some devices miss out if they didn't have a camera? Very few I think.

multi-cast auto-discovery (no need to enter the actual IP address) with #97

Pros:

• Cool if you're working at home on your own network.

Cons:

• Might be a pain if you're sharing the network at work with other mobile devs 'cause someone could disrupt what you're doing. Might need a short token/pin/password you enter but that kinda defeats the purpose. Could use persisted storage to save it but then someone at work wants to borrow the same device and then ... Dahn! Someone hijacked my debug/test session again.

So I think its doable but needs some further thought.

PhoneGap Build account login, which auto-pairs all your online devices

Pros:

• Longer term I want to do a custom build that PG build does not support (See Integrate with PG CLI to support custom/3rd party plugins and multiple live devices. #127).
• Might be nice for doing remote device test farms that allows you to upload your own PG build that is bound to your localhost server via an SSH tunnel.

Cons:

• Requires Internet access so can be a pain to demo at user groups and conferences.
• Needs good security as we may be punching holes in firewalls.

'Fess Up Time

OK OK ... I give in ... Time to 'fess up. What I really wanted was a barcode / QR Code plugin pre-installed in the kit to save me having to build my own PG binaries ;) . I do Sencha Touch so currently trying to figure out how to auto update up my Sencha app on the device - not just Jasmine tests.

[tohagan]

Had a look through your code in GitHub and now see why you're keen on using qrcode-terminal (it's already in the code base). Also got a Sencha Touch app working on an iPhone with PhoneGap App using their Sench Cmd build wrapper for PhoneGap.

[tohagan]

Feel free to help yourself to code in my repo that now implements displaying and reading QR codes.

• ST Live server uses (--qr options displays QR codes for IP URL and localtunnel URL)
• ST Live client (based on your PG Dev App client code now reads Barcodes ).
• https://www.npmjs.org/package/stlive

See QR code commits for client and server

• https://github.com/tohagan/stlive/commits/master

[mwbrooks]

Closing this issue. At the moment, we have plans to add QR Code support. We can reopen the issue if this changes in the future.