Web-based substitute for BBEdit?

[Jonathan Schwartz]

Eons ago, I stood in front of the BareBones booth at MacWorld, asking
why I would need BBEdit. ;-)

Today, BBEdit is my most valuable software tool...as long as I am
sitting at my desk/in front of my laptop.

From time to time, I might not have access to BBEdit, and need to
perform a simple edit to web-based html or php pages.

Is there a web-based product that provides this functionality? I am
considering WYSYWYGEZ, but am not sure if this is the right one.

Thanks

Jonathan
--
Jonathan Schwartz
Exit 445 Group
***@exit445.com
http://www.exit445.com
415-381-1852

[Peter N Lewis]

Post by Jonathan Schwartz
Is there a web-based product that provides this functionality? I am
considering WYSYWYGEZ, but am not sure if this is the right one.

Screen Sharing would generally solve (or solve generally) this problem.

Enjoy
Peter.
--
Keyboard Maestro <http://www.keyboardmaestro.com/> Macros for your Mac
<http://www.stairways.com/> <http://download.stairways.com/>

[Jonathan Schwartz]

Hi Peter,

Good to hear from you.

While on my own machines, I can and do also use screen sharing tools
such as Timbuku and VNC to access the remote web server and perform
edist using the local copy of BBEdit.

However, I am referring to ...and let's use an extreme example...a
clients windows-based system. I can't install or download any new
software.

The equivalent for email is Mail2Web, a generic webmail app that can
be used to access your mail server.

What can I do to access my webserver and edit a php file?

Are there web-based Screen Sharing products that will talk to either
TB2 or ARD?

Is this a dumb question?

I just know that I can't do what I need to do until I am back sitting
in front of MY computer with BBedit.

Thx

J

Post by Peter N Lewis

Post by Jonathan Schwartz
Is there a web-based product that provides this functionality? I
am considering WYSYWYGEZ, but am not sure if this is the right one.

Screen Sharing would generally solve (or solve generally) this problem.
Enjoy
Peter.
--
Keyboard Maestro <http://www.keyboardmaestro.com/> Macros for your Mac
<http://www.stairways.com/> <http://download.stairways.com/>
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Jonathan Schwartz
Exit 445 Group
***@exit445.com
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415-381-1852

[Doug McNutt]

However, I am referring to ...and let's use an extreme example...a clients windows-based system. I can't install or download any new software.
What can I do to access my webserver and edit a php file?

You are dealing with security issues that are not trivial.

I can, and occasionally do, use an ssh login to my web host. There I can use VI but yeecchh.! Why isn't BBEdit available for Linux or free BSD so I could edit in an X11 window that way?

It's also possible with ssh or even ftp to download a file and edit it with - shhh MSWORD --- It takes some effort but WORD can store a simple text file ready to upload. Some mail clients - Eudora - can do it too.

There is a module called cgiwrap (sourceforge) which can be used on the web host and it will allow, with some safety, changes of userid while logged in as a web user. With a bit of scripting you can create a web page that will display a file as text in an html form. The browser will let you edit the text and "submit' it. I believe there are examples on a cgiwrap web page. Your web hosting service may already offer it

I have done it on a very small scale which involves only a few expected changes which wouldn't really hurt if attacked by a nasty. For a php script which is otherwise usable for anyone who accesses the site I would worry a whole lot.
--
--> From the U S of A, the only socialist country that refuses to admit it. <--

[Johan Solve]

Post by Doug McNutt
I can, and occasionally do, use an ssh login to my web host. There I can use VI but yeecchh.!

Pico is much more like a GUI editor.
--
Johan Sölve [FSA Member, Lasso Partner]
Web Application/Lasso/FileMaker Developer
MONTANIA SOFTWARE & SOLUTIONS
http://www.montania.se mailto:joh-***@montania.se
(spam-safe email address, replace '-' with 'a')

[Jared Earle]

Post by Johan Solve

Post by Doug McNutt
I can, and occasionally do, use an ssh login to my web host. There I can use VI but yeecchh.!

Pico is much more like a GUI editor.

's/pico/nano/'

***@sausages$ ll /usr/bin/pico
lrwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 4 Aug 28 2007 /usr/bin/pico -> nano

Web-based editing is a huge liability, especially as you'll be doing
it on machines you don't control.

You're much better off using something like Transmit and its editing
feature, especially as you can link BBEdit to be its editor. However,
if you can't use Transmit, you most likely can't use any of the other
X11 and similar suggestions offered.

If you need a web-based editor, you'd better learn about how to secure
it first. Once you've done that, you might as well use MySQL-based
websites and phpmyadmin.

Otherwise, you've got a variety of options already mentioned, plus
stuff like http://www.fckeditor.net/ and
http://www.sony-youth.com/software/eArea/
--
Jared Earle :: There is no SPORK
***@gmail.com :: http://www.23x.net
The Spodcast :: http://spodcast.org

[Johan Solve]

Post by Jared Earle

Post by Johan Solve

Post by Doug McNutt
I can, and occasionally do, use an ssh login to my web host. There I can use VI but yeecchh.!

Pico is much more like a GUI editor.

's/pico/nano/'
lrwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 4 Aug 28 2007 /usr/bin/pico -> nano

Whoa, thanks... I better alias nano for pico so I don't forget again...
--
Johan Sölve [FSA Member, Lasso Partner]
Web Application/Lasso/FileMaker Developer
MONTANIA SOFTWARE & SOLUTIONS
http://www.montania.se mailto:joh-***@montania.se
(spam-safe email address, replace '-' with 'a')

[Lewis@Gmail]

Post by Johan Solve

Post by Jared Earle

Post by Johan Solve

Post by Doug McNutt
I can, and occasionally do, use an ssh login to my web host.
There I can use VI but yeecchh.!

Pico is much more like a GUI editor.

's/pico/nano/'
lrwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 4 Aug 28 2007 /usr/bin/pico -> nano

Whoa, thanks... I better alias nano for pico so I don't forget
again...

pico IS nano on OS X

$ ls -ls `which pico`
8 lrwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 4 Oct 24 00:48 /usr/bin/pico -> nano
--
Over 3,500 gay marriages and, what, no hellfire? I was promised
hellfire. And riots. What gives? -- Mark Morford

[Johan Solve]

Post by ***@Gmail
pico IS nano on OS X

Oh, THAT's what you meant... Even better :-)
--
Johan Sölve [FSA Member, Lasso Partner]
Web Application/Lasso/FileMaker Developer
MONTANIA SOFTWARE & SOLUTIONS
http://www.montania.se mailto:joh-***@montania.se
(spam-safe email address, replace '-' with 'a')

[Lewis@Gmail]

Post by Doug McNutt

Post by Jonathan Schwartz
However, I am referring to ...and let's use an extreme example...a
clients windows-based system. I can't install or download any new
software.
What can I do to access my webserver and edit a php file?

You are dealing with security issues that are not trivial.
I can, and occasionally do, use an ssh login to my web host. There I
can use VI

it's vi, not VI.

Post by Doug McNutt
but yeecchh.!

Hey now...

Post by Doug McNutt
It's also possible with ssh or even ftp to download a file and edit
it with - shhh MSWORD

OK, now THERE'S where the yeeecchh! belongs

Even notepad.exe is better than Word for this type of editing. But,
you will almost certainly have EOL troubles.
--
May you live in interesting times

[Aaron Hsu]

Hello Jonathan,

Let me see if I can give my version of a solution...

--On March 18, 2008 6:15:14 PM -0700 Jonathan Schwartz

Post by Jonathan Schwartz
While on my own machines, I can and do also use screen sharing tools
such as Timbuku and VNC to access the remote web server and perform
edist using the local copy of BBEdit.
However, I am referring to ...and let's use an extreme example...a
clients windows-based system. I can't install or download any new
software.

[...]

Post by Jonathan Schwartz
What can I do to access my webserver and edit a php file?

I very much dislike web-based version of software, because I find them
to be slow, buggy, and overall, lacking in good integration. To solve
the problems that you are having, I use a slightly different approach.
The main problem is that of having a good editor to use on a client
machine over which you have no control, or at least, very little.

I use an external device---portable and sufficiently large---to store
the software tools that I would like to use on the clients machine. I
then also have one or two scripts that I use to set up the environment
and then clean up after myself. This works well for me because I can
usually predict the platforms which I will support, and I can have the
appropriate tools on my, say, usb drive for each platform. It will take
a little setup to start, but I find it a more satisfactory solution
than dealing with the webapps.

Here's what I would use on the various platforms:

* Mac: BBEdit or NEdit.
* Windows: Boxer
* UNIX with X: NEdit
* UNIX without X: ed or vi

All of these tools can be run from an external device, and and behave
well in the way they store configuration files, making it easy to
remove and clean up.

I hope this helps! I don't know if this would be a good solution for
you, but it works well for me.
--
Aaron Hsu <***@sacrideo.us> | Jabber: ***@jabber.org
``Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to
live at the expense of everybody else.'' - Frederic Bastiat

[Lewis@Gmail]

Post by Jonathan Schwartz
What can I do to access my webserver and edit a php file?

I think that webmin will allow you to open up a simple text form and
edit a file.

Been a while since I used webmin though.
--
I want a refund, I want a light, I want a reason for all this night
after night after night after night

[Jonathan Schwartz]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Based on the creativity of the answers, I now realize that there
isn't a a straightforward method that I was thinking I had "missed".

The truth is, I am never very far from my laptop . And I have no
mission-critical apps that can't wait an hour or two until I'm back
in front of BBEdit. But, I just wanted to know my options when the
time comes.

I still intend to try out the WYSIWYGEZ product. It appears to do
what I'm looking for. Pre-installed on my server, it appears to
allow browsing the server for the desired file, and editing in an
html environment.

Anyone have any cautions on this idea?

Thanks

Jonathan

Post by Aaron Hsu
Hello Jonathan,
Let me see if I can give my version of a solution...
--On March 18, 2008 6:15:14 PM -0700 Jonathan Schwartz

Post by Jonathan Schwartz
While on my own machines, I can and do also use screen sharing tools
such as Timbuku and VNC to access the remote web server and perform
edist using the local copy of BBEdit.
However, I am referring to ...and let's use an extreme example...a
clients windows-based system. I can't install or download any new
software.

[...]

Post by Jonathan Schwartz
What can I do to access my webserver and edit a php file?

I very much dislike web-based version of software, because I find
them to be slow, buggy, and overall, lacking in good integration. To
solve the problems that you are having, I use a slightly different
approach. The main problem is that of having a good editor to use on
a client machine over which you have no control, or at least, very
little.
I use an external device---portable and sufficiently large---to
store the software tools that I would like to use on the clients
machine. I then also have one or two scripts that I use to set up
the environment and then clean up after myself. This works well for
me because I can usually predict the platforms which I will support,
and I can have the appropriate tools on my, say, usb drive for each
platform. It will take a little setup to start, but I find it a more
satisfactory solution than dealing with the webapps.
* Mac: BBEdit or NEdit.
* Windows: Boxer
* UNIX with X: NEdit
* UNIX without X: ed or vi
All of these tools can be run from an external device, and and
behave well in the way they store configuration files, making it
easy to remove and clean up.
I hope this helps! I don't know if this would be a good solution for
you, but it works well for me.
--
``Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to
live at the expense of everybody else.'' - Frederic Bastiat

--
Jonathan Schwartz
Exit 445 Group
***@exit445.com
http://www.exit445.com
415-381-1852

[Aaron Hsu]

--On March 18, 2008 9:16:03 PM -0700 Jonathan Schwartz

Post by Jonathan Schwartz
The truth is, I am never very far from my laptop . And I have no
mission-critical apps that can't wait an hour or two until I'm back
in front of BBEdit. But, I just wanted to know my options when the
time comes.

Probably the easiest and best way to do it (securely) is to have SSH
logins, carry around a usb stick with SSH software on it, and use that.
You will end up using a command line editor, but it's great for quick
fixes or work that just has to get done. On the other hand, if you can
ensure that X Windows will be on the clients you have to use, then you
could use a graphical editor installed on the server as your editor.

Just another option. :-)
--
Aaron Hsu <***@sacrideo.us> | Jabber: ***@jabber.org
``Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to
live at the expense of everybody else.'' - Frederic Bastiat

[E David Miller]

One suggestion I haven't seen mentioned is the possibility of using
PortableApps. (http://www.portableapps.com/) Included in the suite of
apps was Notepad++, NVU, and Kompozer, all of which will run from
your USB stick without interfering in any way with the onboard OS of
the system you have commandeered.

WYSYWYGEZ appears to be (though I have not investigated thoroughly)
an actual CMS system, which would be a bit more than simply a drop-in
editor. If you're looking for a drop-in editor that you can place
server-side and access web-based to alter existing pages, it wouldn't
be hard to configure a reasonably secure mini PHP app server-side,
using the TinyMCE editor, which I have found personally to be quite
capable of clean HTML, and does have 'view source' option.

Also, if you need a Linux editor of simplicity, and the arcane
mysteries of vi and emacs are too much for you, try 'nano'.

Post by Jonathan Schwartz
Eons ago, I stood in front of the BareBones booth at MacWorld,
asking why I would need BBEdit. ;-)
Today, BBEdit is my most valuable software tool...as long as I am
sitting at my desk/in front of my laptop.
From time to time, I might not have access to BBEdit, and need to
perform a simple edit to web-based html or php pages.
Is there a web-based product that provides this functionality? I
am considering WYSYWYGEZ, but am not sure if this is the right one.
Thanks
Jonathan
--
Jonathan Schwartz
Exit 445 Group
http://www.exit445.com
415-381-1852
--
------------------------------------------------------------------
Have a feature request? Not sure the software's working correctly?
List FAQ: <http://www.barebones.com/support/lists/bbedit_talk.shtml>
List archives: <http://www.listsearch.com/BBEditTalk.lasso>

[Jonathan Schwartz]

Sorry if this post is [OFF]. Hopefully, it will help others when
BBEdit is not at hand.

An update....

I am trying out WYSIWYGEZ, from the folks at WYSIWYGPro.com.

It does work, but there's a concern. In order to edit the files,
permissions for each file must be set at full permissions.

What is the security impact of doing this? (please don't beat me up).

Thx

Jonathan
--
Jonathan Schwartz
Exit 445 Group
***@exit445.com
http://www.exit445.com
415-381-1852

[Jared Earle]

On Wed, Mar 19, 2008 at 3:29 PM, Jonathan Schwartz

Post by Jonathan Schwartz
What is the security impact of doing this? (please don't beat me up).

Firstly, they're wrong. Secondly, it depends if it's a shared machine or not.

If you're the only person that uses the machine, you're probably safe.
If there are other users, you're not.
--
Jared Earle :: There is no SPORK
***@gmail.com :: http://www.23x.net
The Spodcast :: http://spodcast.org

[Jared Earle]

On Wed, Mar 19, 2008 at 3:29 PM, Jonathan Schwartz

Post by Jonathan Schwartz
What is the security impact of doing this? (please don't beat me up).

Firstly, they're wrong. Secondly, it depends if it's a shared machine or not.

If you're the only person that uses the machine, you're probably safe.
If there are other users, you're not.
--
Jared Earle :: There is no SPORK
***@gmail.com :: http://www.23x.net
The Spodcast :: http://spodcast.org

[Jonathan Schwartz]

I own the machine. OS X Server 10.4

Admittedly, I have lived in Permissions Oblivion so far, learning
only as much as I have needed to know. I'm in the process of beefing
up my understanding right now for both my regular environment plus
the one required by this product.

Jonathan

Post by Jared Earle
On Wed, Mar 19, 2008 at 3:29 PM, Jonathan Schwartz

Post by Jonathan Schwartz
What is the security impact of doing this? (please don't beat me up).

Firstly, they're wrong. Secondly, it depends if it's a shared machine or not.
If you're the only person that uses the machine, you're probably safe.
If there are other users, you're not.
--
Jared Earle :: There is no SPORK
The Spodcast :: http://spodcast.org

--
Jonathan Schwartz
Exit 445 Group
***@exit445.com
http://www.exit445.com
415-381-1852

[Charlie Garrison]

Good morning,

On 19/3/08 at 8:29 AM -0700, Jonathan Schwartz

Post by Jonathan Schwartz
I am trying out WYSIWYGEZ, from the folks at WYSIWYGPro.com.
It does work, but there's a concern. In order to edit the
files, permissions for each file must be set at full permissions.
What is the security impact of doing this? (please don't beat me up).

Unless you own that box and you are the only user; it's like
putting a sign in front of your house telling everyone to come
inside and do whatever they like. And even if you are the only
user, it's still not safe since a *simple* security exploit can
take advantage of that. IOW, don't do it unless you want other
people to control your web site.

To be honest, I can't believe they even bother writing software
that requires completely open permissions for it to be useful.
It's almost criminal.


Charlie
--
Charlie Garrison <***@zeta.org.au>
PO Box 141, Windsor, NSW 2756, Australia

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[Lewis@Gmail]

Post by Jonathan Schwartz
Sorry if this post is [OFF]. Hopefully, it will help others when
BBEdit is not at hand.
An update....
I am trying out WYSIWYGEZ, from the folks at WYSIWYGPro.com.
It does work, but there's a concern. In order to edit the files,
permissions for each file must be set at full permissions.
What is the security impact of doing this? (please don't beat me up).

Serious enough that I would never ever consider doing that.
--
"It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents -- except
at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind
which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies),
rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame
of the lamps that struggled against the darkness."