Offline pages with utilities to carry (off-line)

[carles_pina]

Hi,


I'm preparing some IT things for a sail and we will have a small server with different utilities to share files, Kiwix (Wikipedia and other things 100% offline), etc.


I'm searching for a collection of off-line websites (to have them in the vessel's server) with things like:
-Latitude-longitude format converter
-Sunset/sunrise
-Units converter
-etc.


In the past I've programmed some of these things but I wondered if there is some some solution ready to be deployed and that would be accessible via a browser.


Thank you very much!

[StuM]

As I understand it, Kiwix downloads and stores webpages in a special format (much like linked PDF files) i.e. "vew only" which is read using a Kiwix reader application.

If that is so, it won't do anything for the sort of interactive pages you are talking about which use either server or client side scripting in a browser.
.
To do what you are wanting would require running an actual web server and having the server side PHP/Python or whatever code plus whatever client side JScript, CSS etc files are linked to by the page. Not practical at all .

[SeanPatrick]

Many websites will work just fine offline if you simply save them to your computer. In Firefox, you can right-click a vacant area of the page and select "Save as ... ".

[Lake-Effect]

Some sites can be scraped for "offline" viewing via browser, but it's quite a chore sometimes to get all the required files downloaded.

My question is... why do you want this? Most of the computer-ish things you might want to do offshore can be applications on a laptop, or apps on a tablet. And the greatest thing ever on a boat: a digital reader (Kindle, Kobo, or a tablet with reader app) - it's a library in a space smaller than a fat magazine.

And if you're into Linux, there are a few marine-oriented distros with many useful marine applications already onboard.

[carles_pina]

Hi, good morning and thanks Lake-Effect, SeanPatrick, StuM for your answers and anyone reading.



I'll reply a bit to everyone clarifying things :-)


Why do I want this? Because it is science vessel and in the past some of these utilities were useful. I'm a software engineer (doing lots of Django nowadays) and last time that I was in a vessel like this I programmed coordinate conversions, sunset/sunrise information based on the position, etc. and people found it useful.



This time I was wondering if there is some "suite" of these utilities already done that I could put on the intranet. Many of these utilities could be done in JavaScript. I was wondering if there is some package that I could pay for (or free) and have everything at once without me having to do it (so I can do other things!).


In 2019 I did get a coordinate conversion from the internet, save the HTML+JS and then copy the external references... it worked but if something is ready to be used then I rather use something specific :-)


Thanks for your answers!

[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by carles_pina

This time I was wondering if there is some "suite" of these utilities already done that I could put on the intranet.

Yes. It's called an "app store."

I'm an old IT guy myself, going all the way back to the days of mainframes, so I do get where you're coming from.

But honestly, these days, I don't see the benefit of a client-server arrangement like you describe. Sure, a file server on board, accessible by all devices, is a great idea. Even a web server might be helpful. Some folks have adapted home automation and monitoring projects like Home Assistant to do the same functions on a boat, via a browser interface.

But for the simple calculations you describe I can't see any way to beat a local app on a cell phone or tablet. Off-loading those processes to a web server gains nothing but another point of failure. Plus, if it's Javascript, it's running on the phone/tablet anyway. And of course, the phone or tablet already has some data you may need, like GPS position, time, etc.

My guess is there are already far more ready-made apps which do what you want than sample web pages you can download.

[JBP]

From your description, you will not be able to place stuff on your passengers phones, so apps are not a viable solution.
This site has some stuff that might be useful.
https://www.nauticalalmanac.it/en/
This guy had done a similar thing, maybe he would let you host a copy.
https://clockwk.com/apps/almanac/?OT...Lon=&EW=W&sys=

[waterman46]

Originally Posted by SeanPatrick

Many websites will work just fine offline if you simply save them to your computer. In Firefox, you can right-click a vacant area of the page and select "Save as ... ".

This is how to save a only a static view of a webpage. Can't enter new numbers for calculations or get different data from databases.



However, there are applicatons available for PC's and probably iphones and Android that can do all the things on the OP's list.

[carles_pina]

Thanks for the answers :-)
CapTom: I think that we are talking about different type of boats (I might have confused matters saying sail!) and/or different users. In my last big expedition (2017, 4 months) with about 40 to 50 scientists on each month having an intranet website with utilities as I was asking was very useful for them. Since I'm doing a similar one and I'm quite ready with other IT things I thought that I could prepare some utilities (or recover the 2017 ones).




I'm looking at the links posted here, thanks all!

[SeanPatrick]

Originally Posted by waterman46

This is how to save a only a static view of a webpage. Can't enter new numbers for calculations or get different data from databases.

That is not necessarily true. If the calculations are part of the page itself and/or any necessary data tables are in the page, then it should function exactly as it would online.


Obviously, if the page needs data from an external source it won't work.


Try this example: Go to this page (online celnav calculator), right-click and select "Save as ... ", then save as "Web page, complete (*.htm, *.html)". Next, disconnect from your internet connection and open the page from where you saved it. It should work perfectly. It does for me.


Cheers!