formfeed 2.2
Recompiles the report templates and keeps a copy of your local edits before it does. If anyone has hand-edited a template on this machine, that copy is the point of the tool.
formfeed recompile --keep-edits --backup ./templates.bak
84 templates, 3 local edits preservedNote from the shelf row: The backup folder is the point, not the compile.
Before you install
- Runs on: Windows, Linux, macOS. the application must be 4.0.7 to 4.1.6.
- Space: about 520 KB for the download, plus [WORKING SPACE] while it runs. A full copy of the template folder.
- Rights: an ordinary user account; no elevation and no sudo for the tool itself
- Know first: [PREREQUISITE] — whoever writes this page up properly should say here what has to be true before the tool will run at all.
Download and verify
Take the build for your platform from the [SHARE] and check it against the digest on the shelf row before you unpack anything. The digest is also printed below.
certutil -hashfile formfeed-2.2-win64.zip MD5
md5sum formfeed-2.2-linux-x64.tar.gz
md5 formfeed-2.2-macos.tar.gzExpected: 4a7d3e90cc25. The shelf row carries the same digest.
Install
Copy it into place and put it on the path. Nothing here installs a service or a scheduled task, so there is no installer to run and nothing to reboot.
Windows
Unpack the zip, then:
xcopy formfeed-2.2-win64 C:\Tools\formfeed /E /I
setx PATH "%PATH%;C:\Tools\formfeed"
formfeed --versionLinux
Unpack it and link it onto the path:
# unpack into place
sudo tar -xzf formfeed-2.2-linux-x64.tar.gz -C /opt
sudo ln -sf /opt/formfeed/formfeed /usr/local/bin/formfeed
formfeed --versionmacOS
Unpack it and link it onto the path:
# unpack into place
sudo tar -xzf formfeed-2.2-macos.tar.gz -C /opt
sudo ln -sf /opt/formfeed/formfeed /usr/local/bin/formfeed
formfeed --versionCheck it worked
Check the version first, then run the one command the tool exists for. If the output matches, it is working:
formfeed --version
formfeed recompile --keep-edits --backup ./templates.bak
84 templates, 3 local edits preservedExpected output is the line shown in the block above; anything else means [TO DO: write the failure list].
Removing it
Delete the folder and drop the path entry. The tool keeps no state of its own, so there is nothing to unregister.
rmdir /s /q C:\Tools\formfeed
sudo rm -rf /opt/formfeed /usr/local/bin/formfeed
sudo rm -rf /opt/formfeed /usr/local/bin/formfeedIf it goes wrong
- [KNOWN FAILURE 1] — the usual fixes for this tool have not been written down yet. Add them the second time somebody hits one.
- Wrong error number or a fault you cannot name: run the tool's own diagnostic first (shelf row), then the removal steps.
- Before any repair that writes to a store, take the export — backoff is the tool for it.
- If a tool on this shelf is being asked to fix something it was never written for, stop and ask the desk rather than reaching for a force flag.