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vitor

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Posts posted by vitor

    Newbie question - Workflows relying on Python 2

    in Discussion & Help

    Posted

    @xilopaint The ship is sailing. I agree that ideally the library would be updated officially, and that the second best option would be for a forum regular (such as yourself) to coordinate a community-approved successor. But we can’t force either of those; the community of Python Workflow developers at large will decide, and right now they’re looking for something.

     

    So if you have a fork which you believe to be more solid than the ones being shared, I urge you to make it public and your intentions known in that GitHub thread. The longer you wait, the harder it will be for your alternative to gain traction. It doesn’t have to be perfect now, but it should be available. I’ll eventually have to update the libraries thread and I can only recommend what is public.

    [Duplicate / Split] Python2 Workflows

    in Workflow Help & Questions

    Posted

    Respectfully, that is unreasonable and unfair.

     

    With only six posts in the forum, you don’t seem to be a regular. Otherwise, it is unlikely you’d have that view regarding Alfred’s community management. Every post in this forum—the official venue for discussion—is read, and it’s rare one does not get a reply.

     

    This could not have been completely avoided. (Most) Workflows are by third-parties and Alfred is flexible, it makes no demands over what language those people develop in. Many chose Python 2 because it is popular, shipped with macOS (Workflow developers tend to value minimal setup needed for users), and it continues to work. An overwhelming number of those Workflows were made when Python 2 was still supported and they weren’t updated (which is also up to the individual developer and contributors) because they didn’t need to be.

     

    Everyone knew Python 2 was going away; nobody expected it to happen in a point release. There’s little point in continuing to discuss that. Apple decided it and it is done. This wouldn’t have been disruptive if the Python team hadn’t botched the transition, but that too is done. They survived and learned. That is not in the slightest a reflection of Alfred’s underlying architecture, which uses the tools Apple provides.

     

    Finally, this is not scrambling. The workaround has been pondered and developed in a way to be the least disruptive to most people, getting them up and running fast without continuous futzing. The instructions install Python 2 in a self-contained fashion, meaning you can get rid of it easily and at any time. Ideally those Workflows will be ported, but that’s outside Alfred’s sole direct control. The community is discussing how to proceed. Reinstalling Python 2 and updating Workflows by request should help prioritise those the community cares the most for.

     

    I split the conversation into its own again because it’s getting too off topic and I want that thread to remain focused.

    Is there a way to get a random bookmark/item in Raindrop.io, Pocket, or browser bookmarks?

    in Workflow Help & Questions

    Posted

    Welcome @NylaTheWolf,

     

    2 hours ago, NylaTheWolf said:

    I know that there is a Random utility, but it looks like it would need to be added to the script of the workflow.

     

    Precisely. The Workflow which does the searching should be where the random option is added. You may want to ask the developer to add it. If you use Pinboard, PinPlus does allow opening random “to read” bookmarks.

    Making Python 2 Workflows work on macOS Monterey 12.3 and above

    in Workflow Help & Questions

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, iandol said:

    I don't want to affect other code and projects on my machine which assume python is 3.x.

     

    They shouldn’t assume it. While is is possible for python to link to python3, code which relies on Python 3 should call python3—that’s the official name of the binary.

     

    11 minutes ago, iandol said:

    This way

     

    Naturally, you are free to edit these to your heart’s content and build your own setup as you desire, but the updated Workflows listed here are updated in the way they can remain closest to the originals.

    Making Python 2 Workflows work on macOS Monterey 12.3 and above

    in Workflow Help & Questions

    Posted

    @michbsd Please don’t post in multiple places. That makes the conversation more difficult for everyone, including people coming after.

     

    @Smpl Technically it’s not using Homebrew, it’s using pyenv. But the reason is the same: installations are self-contained and don’t affect anything else on your system. If you ever decide you no longer want Python 2, you delete ~/.pyenv and the symlink and you’re good to go. In contrast, the download provided on Python’s website is a PKG installer which can do anything and will leave you with receipts. Plus, they don’t provide a v2 installer for Apple Silicon.

    Name of current weekday as localised string

    in Workflow Help & Questions

    Posted

    Welcome @mmm,

     

    2 hours ago, mmm said:

    I'm a programmer

     

    Then I suggest a Run Script with /bin/bash or /bin/zsh as the language:

      

    case "$(date +%A)" in
Monday)
  echo -n 'Mandag'
  ;;
Tuesday)
  echo -n 'Tirsdag'
  ;;
Wednesday)
  echo -n 'Onsdag'
  ;;
Thursday)
  echo -n 'Torsdag'
  ;;
Friday)
  echo -n 'Fredag'
  ;;
Saturday)
  echo -n 'Lørdag'
  ;;
Sunday)
  echo -n 'Søndag'
  ;;
*)
  echo 'Not a valid weekday! Should never happen.' >&2
  ;;
esac

     

    Newbie question - Workflows relying on Python 2

    in Discussion & Help

    Posted

    25 minutes ago, xilopaint said:

    A lot of Python workflows take advantage from the non-Py3 compatible Alfred-Workflow library

     

    15 minutes ago, lycopodiopsida said:

    Is there any chance it could be ported to python3?

     

    See deanishe/alfred-workflow#97. Near the bottom there are people who started on forks for Python 3 compatibility. @deanishe is the only one who can say for sure, but for now it seems unlikely the library will be updated officially.

    Newbie question - Workflows relying on Python 2

    in Discussion & Help

    Posted

    4 minutes ago, lycopodiopsida said:

    I think the general wisdom was "never use the macOS-provided python version for any serious task" so that is was more of a inconvenience since you have then to reconfigure aliases/links by hand.

     

    Again, your view of the general wisdom doesn’t match mine. I expect none of us has definitive numbers on which group is larger, so it’s not worth pursuing further.

     

    14 minutes ago, lycopodiopsida said:

    Of course, part of the problem is than Python has handled the transition from 2 -> 3 in the worst possible way

     

    Now that I would say is the general wisdom, and I’d wager the Python team might agree. Guido has even publicly said there may never be a Python 4.

     

    16 minutes ago, lycopodiopsida said:

    I don't know what is the position on Apple on Ruby, afaik it was used a lot in AppStore and old itunes app... but even if it will be excluded from the default shipment in future

     

    It’s not about the language itself, but the external scripting language runtimes. In the initial announcement, Apple mentioned Python, Ruby, and Perl. Start the REPL for either and you’ll see macOS deprecation messages.

     

    20 minutes ago, lycopodiopsida said:

    But on the other side, python2 cannot be provided forever just because some workflows are abandoned, especially since in that case the blame is more on python itself.

     

    No objections.

     

    20 minutes ago, lycopodiopsida said:

    VSCode/Pycharm CE are free as a beer, after all.

     

    But they have multiple full-time employees of for-profit corporations working on them. That’s a far cry from a single person working on a thing in their free time amidst other obligations.

     

    23 minutes ago, lycopodiopsida said:

    but for non-urgent workflows I could offer my help.

     

    Pinging @xilopaint. Someone else willing to help with Python 2 to Python 3 transitions of Workflows.

    {query} uppercase

    in Workflow Help & Questions

    Posted · Edited by vitor

    4 hours ago, giovanni said:

    I think there have been no answers because the question is unclear. can you describe in more detail?

     

    Seems to be about applying transform modifiers to {query} in addition to variables. The omission seems deliberate, since the documentation specifically mentions “clipboard and workflow variable placeholders”. For {query}, the Transform Utility should be used.

    Newbie question - Workflows relying on Python 2

    in Discussion & Help

    Posted

    5 minutes ago, lycopodiopsida said:

    How Alfred solves it, is an entirely different question which is not important

     

    I now realise I misread your earlier comment. You were saying you won’t let developers “off the hook”. That has not been the focus of my argument, which explains why we seem to mostly agree but have different conclusions. Apologies for the confusion.

     

    1 minute ago, lycopodiopsida said:

    but whether shipping such things as python with operation system is justified. I think it is fair to say that there is a general agreement in the developer's community these days, that it is not.

     

    I would say it’s at best contested. Those who provide quick tools for others and believe in lowering the barrier to learning programming generally think tools should ship with the OS. Isn’t that what most Linux distros do? Developers like @deanishe would have preferred to use a more recent version of Python but gave greater weight to the user convenience of not having to set up anything, thus used what the system provided. You seem to disagree with the choice—which is fair—but keep in mind many of those Workflows were made before Python was EOL, at a point where it was still reasonable to expect Apple might ship Python 3.

     

    For what it’s worth, I’m opting to port my Workflows from Ruby. I’m doing so to preserve the user convenience of no setup when it gets the boot from macOS, so in a way I guess I’m agreeing with you regarding updating Workflows to the changing world. But I have one final thought to share, which is that all those Workflow developers gave away their work and time for free without asking for anything in return. Do they have an obligation to update their Workflows? I wouldn’t say that. Instead, I think that as a community we should empower them to do so by helping them when they ask and lowering their burden.

     

    Do you have the availability and expertise to help Workflow developers port their Workflow to Python 3? If so, please do, there are others. If not, you may still be able to figure out what is preventing specific ports and help their creators overcome those hurdles.

     

    Calendar Workflow = creates event for everyday

    in Discussion & Help

    Posted

     

    When making a request or a bug report pertaining to a specific workflow, please do not open a new thread to discuss your issue.


    Making a new thread, while it seems like it’ll give your problem visibility, fragments the discussion and makes it less likely the author and users of the workflow (the people who can help) will see it.


    You should ask in the forum post and/or the GitHub issue tracker you linked.

    Changing the Workflow Storage Folder Name?

    in Discussion & Help

    Posted

    9 minutes ago, iandol said:

    do you know if that script is still valid to use (that gist was last updated in 2017 so I assume it possibly may not be working with V4.6.x of Alfred)?

     

    The structure for storing Workflows hasn’t changed, so there’s no reason the script shouldn’t still work.

     

    12 minutes ago, iandol said:

    I don't quite know if Alfred does or doesn't care what that folder is named, or if it clashes with some metadata stored elsewhere?

     

    I’ve been renaming mine for years, automatically every month without human intervention and never had anything break.

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