Usage
A logical series of actions is required to get the MDI installed and running on the intended computer.
Connect to a server (remote, node modes)
If you will run the MDI web server remotely, first click the Connect button, which executes an appropriate SSH command in the black terminal window. Log in as dictated by your server.
As needed, you can type shell commands in the terminal window, or click Terminal to open a separate shell in a new window.
(Re)Install the MDI
The first time you are working on a new target computer you must click (Re)Install to install the needed MDI repositories and packages.
Usually, you can skip re-installation in future visits. However, when you want to update to a new version of R, you must (Re)Install again. You might also sometimes want to force a hard update of all code.
The MDI requires many resources to run, so initial installation will take many minutes, especially on a Linux server where code needs to be compiled. It will go much faster the second time.
Watch the installation progress in the black terminal window - you will be ready to proceed when you see a command prompt awaiting input.
Start and use the server
Once the MDI is installed, click Start to launch the MDI Apps Framework, which will load into a web browser on the right side of the app.
Notice the tall vertical open/close button in the middle or to the left of the screen. This button toggles the visibility of the server configuration and terminal panels during use (the server is always there reporting its log stream, even when you hide it).
The MDI Desktop is a minimal web browser. You will start with one Docs and one Apps tab. If desired, you can open additional Apps tabs running on the same server. Documentation links within the apps will load into the Docs tab.
Please see the documentation of the MDI Apps Framework for information on how to proceed once the interface is running.
Stop the server and disconnect
When you are done working, click the tall vertical open/close button to expose the server controls and click Stop to end your server session. In remote modes, click Disconnect to end your SSH session. You must disconnect before re-connecting to a different server.
You can also just close/quit the desktop app, without using the Stop and Disconnect buttons. Any servers and jobs running on remote computers will terminate once the SSH connection is dropped.
Quit the Desktop
Electron apps use significant system resources. You are encouraged to always close all windows, and to fully quit the app on Mac computers, when you are done using the MDI Desktop.