Google Chrome Extensions - Online Packaging

Question

I am coding something like an online PHP editor. So, now I have this option to port the web applications created using the editor as Chrome extensions (popup). It works okay save the fact that the files created need to be downloaded, packaged (using Chrome or cmd) and re-uploaded. I do have this provision but I find it annoying myself to go through this routine everytime I need to make an update to my application.

So, I just want to know if there is some way we can package Chrome extensions from the web itself?

Edit: I know this can be done using Ruby or even Python. Want to know if the same can be done in PHP. I tried in vain.

Answer 1

If you have a command-line packagers, you might be able to create a helper service that can have the extension POST'd to it, run the packager on your web server via exec() or similar in PHP, and then return the resulting file to the client (or save it on the server). This helper could be called via an AJAX request or direct form submission depending on your needs.