Now that FeedSpider 2.x is open source, I’ve had a couple of questions about how to “build” it from source. Of course, since it’s Javascript, it’s really more of a compress and package process than a build process.

It’s fairly straightforward with just a couple of quirks depending on what platform you’re planning to build for. That being said, this guide assumes that you have at least some experience using the various developer tools. Instructions on how to setup the webOS SDK, Cordova, etc, are outside of the scope of this document.

What you need

• The FeedSpider source. Get it from GitHub.
• Apache Cordova. Use the latest version for FirefoxOS, or 2.5.0 for webOS.
• Node.js. Get it from their website.
• If packaging for webOS or LuneOS, the webOS SDK. (Note that while the files are still available from HP/Palm, the download page is no longer active).

How to Build

1. If building for webOS, set up the SDK using the instructions here.
2. Install Node.js. Instructions here.
3. Install Cordova. Instructions for FirefoxOS here, webOS here. (Note that when setting up the Cordova app for FirefoxOS, you will call it FeedSpider instead of test-app.)
4. Unzip the FeedSpider source to a directory of your choice.
5. Open up a command line and navigate to the FeedSpider source directory.
6. Run the command “tools\deploy.bat” (Windows) or “tools/deploy.sh” (Mac/Linux) without the quotes to build the package.
7. After the script run completes, you will be able to find the packaged code in the “deploy” directory under the main directory. Navigate there.
8. Remove all of the files in the Cordova application directory and copy all of the files in this directory to that directory. (Refer to the Cordova instructions for your platform for which directory the application directory is.)
9. Copy the appinfo.json (webOS), appinfo-luneos.json (LuneOS) or the manifest.webapp (FirefoxOS) file to the Cordova application directory.
10. If you copied the appinfo-luneos.json file, rename it to appinfo.json.
11. Package the application using Cordova (refer to Cordova instructions for your platform) and deploy the package using your preferred method.

That should get you going! If you run into trouble, drop an email to feedspider@feedspider.net.