Meaning of GRIST_SERVERS values

Florent_F · September 14, 2023, 9:46am

When playing with the GRIST_SERVERS environment variable, we identify that we can put these values:

“home” so the Grist server can serve the home page and can manage users, orgs, etc.;
“docs” so the Grist server can operate on documents;
“static” so the Grist server can serve static assets;
“app”;

I am not sure what is the meaning of “app” in these values.

Is this to enable Grist to act as the Desktop Application?

Thanks in advance

paul-grist · September 14, 2023, 12:22pm

Hi @Florent_F, yes app is a legacy of an earlier incarnation of Grist, as a desktop application. It plays no role anymore. I see it is used in grist-electron:

github.com

gristlabs/grist-electron/blob/04a8fc54d22d8d571d97bddcc1545c0fe40f5c59/ext/app/electron/main.ts#L370-L374


      
          this.flexServer = await mergedServerMain(
            parseInt(String(port), 10),
            ['home', 'docs', 'static', 'app'], {
              loginSystem: getMinimalElectronLoginSystem.bind(null, this.credential, this.authMode),
            });

But if you read the mergedServerMain code, everything it enables is already enabled by home. For the original desktop application (which no longer exists), it was possible to run the app without having a “home” db. grist-electron just goes with the flow and uses a home db, so there is less divergent code to maintain.

Florent_F · September 14, 2023, 12:40pm

Hi @paul-grist!

Thanks for your reply . So only home docs and static interests us now.

Florent