Mobgui roadmap

[MarcVanCauwenberghe]

Hi John,

Could you tell me something about the way Mobgui works and what your plans are?

I am in need of something like you are making but do not know what to think of it yet.
A few questions may clear things up a bit:

1) how does your plugin work. I see no 'touch' commands any more. Are they now hidden?

2) does your plugin use the native controls?

3) Are you going to support Android look&feel controls

4) will you implement a tabbed tableview and other more comples controls?

Have many other questions but I'ww wait for a few answers first.

Best regards,
Marc

[splash21]

Hi, Marc. Documentation will be available soon for the new plugin.

1) how does your plugin work. I see no 'touch' commands any more. Are they now hidden?
When controls are added to your stack, a behavior button is added to the 'MobGUI' card. You can alter both the control's behavior script (you can right click the control and select 'Edit Behavior' from the IDE context menu) and the control's script - just as you would do normally.

2) does your plugin use the native controls?
The plugin uses placeholders in the IDE for the native controls supported by LiveCode. These placeholders are then replaced with the native controls in the simulator and on the device. There is no difference with these controls than if you created them yourself with script - you just get the convenience of being able to drag them on to your stack without having to recode each time.

3) Are you going to support Android look&feel controls
I've just uploaded an update to the web site with an android themed button as a theme test. The aim is to allow you to create new themes and tweak the controls. See the announcement at the top of the forum for more details.

4) will you implement a tabbed tableview and other more comples controls?
You mean native controls? If they are added to LiveCode then I'll try to add them to the plugin.

[jacque]

When controls are added to your stack, a behavior button is added to the 'MobGUI' card. You can alter both the control's behavior script (you can right click the control and select 'Edit Behavior' from the IDE context menu)

Is this a MobGUI addition? It sounds really useful, but I don't see it in the IDE alone. I'm inclined to put in a feature request for it.

[splash21]

Hi, Jacque. It's a MobGUI thing, but you're right - it would be a handy little addition to the IDE in general. I've posted an example for anyone that's interested...

http://forums.runrev.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=18613

[Aji]

Hi,

In the old MobGUI there were handlers for
touchend
touchrelease
touchstart

I see under "edit behavior," I can edit mgRelease and mgTouch. Is there where I should put my code that used to be in touchStart and touchRelease?

Sorry, I'm not a pro and the scripts for mgRelease and mgTouch are rather daunting. I had previously thought that I was supposed to add my code to touchEnd, but in the new MobGUI I have no idea where I should put it now.

Thank you,
Aji

[splash21]

Hi, Aji. You can just edit the script of the controls and add the code you would normally add. The behavior scripts should not interfere with your own code any you don't need to edit them unless you want to alter something about the way ALL controls of that type in your stack behave. Try selecting the normal 'Edit Script' from the context menu instead of 'Edit Behavior'.

There are some placeholder handlers in the script of the controls - here's an example from the icon button's script...

Code: Select all

# option buttons usually act as soon as they are touched
on mouseDown
   
end mouseDown


# normal buttons usually act after a touch
on mouseUp
   
end mouseUp

If you added...

Code: Select all

answer "OK"

to the mouseUp handler, that's all the button would do when touched, but the behavior scripts would still operate - hiliting the button when touched, etc...

I've used mouse messages as they work on mobile and desktop, but you can replace them with touch messages if you prefer. Hopefully this all makes sense, but post again if you need some more info!

[Aji]

Hi Splash,

That helps. I had my head wrapped around the idea that mouseUp / touchEnd / touchRelease were not the same, but I see that there is not a meaningful difference. Your new implementation is cleaner. Thank you

Aji