Webinar Session Questions 12/03/2014

[LCNeil]

Hi Everyone,

I hope you all enjoyed yesterdays webinar.

Here are responses to the questions asked during the session. If any have been missed out, please let me know and I can add a response-


Accessing a Microsoft Access Database-

This should be possible via ODBC. A lesson on how to achieve this can be found here-

http://lessons.runrev.com/s/lessons/m/4 ... using-odbc

Should I purchase the current printed dictionary?-

I would hold off on making this purchase as we are currently updating all of our documentation. You will be able to access the most up to date dictionary entries from within the LiveCode IDE via the “Dictionary” toolbar icon

Can Xcode run on a PC-


Unfortunately not, this is an Apple restriction. You may wish to look into macincloud.com if you are looking for temporary, remote access to a mac

I want to embed an html page on a card that includes java will it work-

The best way to do this is to use a browser object. On mobile you can create a native browser control using mobileControlCreate. On desktop you can use revBrowser.
You can then use revBrowserExecuteScript for desktop and mobileControlDo execute, script on mobile to execute Javascript

Vector Graphics in LiveCode-


There are some test libraries here that mate be able to help with vector graphic import into LiveCode. These are user created libraries so we cannot guarantee their reliability-

http://andregarzia.on-rev.com/alejandro/stacks/

Wrap in code editor-

I don’t believe this is possible you can use the \ character to continue a line of code onto the next line of the script editor.

What are property profiles and how can they be used?-

Property profiles allow you to set up sets of properties and apply them to objects. Kind of like creating different templates for objects.

Is there a guide for how to build a complex app?-

The user Guide is available from the Help Menu, this covers a lot of material but there is not a separate guide on this. There are some best practices and conventions that will be covered throughout the course and if you have any particular questions please ask on the forum.

Where can I find the factors LC is using to automatically scale so I can keep the aspect ratio of e.g. a square despite the auto- scaling? Also, upon scaling, certain font sizes behave strangely -- words end goes over the next word begining and over-run the spaces between the words.-

Scaling is done automatically by the LiveCode engine. If you wish to preserve aspect ratio then any of the scaling modes apart from "exatFit" should be used. The scale factor should be able to be calculated with screen width / stack width == horizontal scale, screen height / stack height == vertical scale. You can get stack and screen sizes with screenRect and stackRect

The text issue could be a bug. Please report your finding to http://quality.runrev.com and we should be able to investigate further

How do you bridge the gap of normal object oriented languages. For example normally I would build a controller that would control certain aspects of my program aka database controller. I would then interact with this controller through an interface. How does this relate to live code and what is the similarities? aka how do I make libraries?-


You can create libraries in LiveCode either as separate stacks or as substacks. You can then re use these throughout your projects. A LiveCode app can consists of a number of stacks and substacks. You use the start using command to load in a stack and makes the command and functions it provides accessible. You can also use behaviours which allow objects to share scripts that are implemented once.

Can you code in other languages? Aka write some non-UI code in java and “import” into live code? How about c++?-

You can currently write externals in objective C for iOS. Android externals will be coming soon. We are currently updating the externals documentation/SDK to reflect the newer revisions of Xcode. However, the current implementation of these doc can be found here-
http://livecode.com/developers/guides/externals/

so it's a best practice to have multiple resolution versions of your graphics and use scripts to load the appropriate graphic? or can you just use higher res and let it scale down?

Our docs suggest using multiple resolution graphics. There is a naming scheme that LiveCode uses that will automatically use the appropriate resolution devices deepening on the device deployed too. This naming scheme can be found in the 6.5 release notes
http://downloads.livecode.com/livecode/ ... -6_5_0.pdf

Using Icon when building for Android result in manifest error-

Please ensure that you are using a valid icon format for Android (PNG). Any other formats may cause a build error.
When is LIveCode with Unicode expected to become available? Will it become available and possible to use during this school?
Yes, we are hoping to have a public beta available in the coming week/weeks. This should coincide with the coding school sessions

Please confirm that we should all be using LiveCode 6.5.2 and nothing newer-

LiveCode 6.5.2 is the latest stable release, there are some new features, in particular stack scaling which are only available in 6.6, which is still in testing. It's up to you what version you want to use, if you don't need to scale stacks at the moment I would use 6.5.2 as it is stable.

Retina iPad is to big for my screen. Is it possible to resize?

Yes, from within the simulator navigate to “Window”——>”Scale”

Do you have a suggestion for good quality graphic icons for business, schools that work well with LC?-

https://www.iconfinder.com/ is good

Can I use the Commercial License for LiveCode on more than one machine (for example macbook and windows)

Yes, as long as you own both systems then we have no issues with this.

When you load a livecode-source with in livecode, it start running the program. Can you prevent that?-


when you open a LiveCode program a number of messages are sent including preOpenStack, openStack etc. If these cause your app to start running you can Lock Messages in the menu bar before opening the stack and this will prevent these messages from being sent.

Will we be covering using mobile camera to scan bar codes?-


We won't be covering this but there is an externals available which provides this functionality http://mergext.com/home/mergzxing/

Can I also put the "setMobileKeyboardType" in the "on openCard" handler?-


Yes you can. It will take effect the next time the keybaord is shown so you can do it at any point before showing the keyboard.



Kind Regards,


Neil Roger
--
RunRev Support Team ~ http://www.runrev.com
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