Webinar Session Questions 19/03/2014
Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 1:35 pm
Using MobGUI
Q: I'm running into an issue with MobGUI. The interface only vaguely resembles the one shown in Lesson 1. Also, I'm unable to connect to the MobGUI site directly. I was looking for a more recent update.
A: Hi Johhny, We use the old version of mobGui withing the coding school course. MobGui was recently updated and our videos were recorded before this update. You will be able to download the older revision from your LiveCode store account
Q: In a nutshell - what is the advantage of using MobGui?
A: Hi Roddy, MobGui enables the rapid development of mobile applciations. it saves on having to skin your apps manually and it allows the creation of native mobile controls with little or no code. More info on mobGui can be found here mobgui.com
Q: how is the tab bar at bottom in MobGui different from a LC rectangle? What's it's purpose?
A: Hi Roddy, There is really no visual difference. The main difference is that you can references the tab bar in mobGui and have it snap to the size of your stack
Q: Did the lesson 0 MobGui tut, but it still leaves lots of gaps for doing the lessons on the newest version.
A: Hi Tim, it is a very short tutorial on getting up and running with the new version. If there is anything you would like us to show you in the new version, please let us know and we will create a tutorial explaining how to
Q: MobGUI also uses different names for some variables, e.g. uOptionText is now mgOptionText (I think).
A: Hi Brad, mgOptionText (uOptionText) are custom properties used within mobGui. Any mobGui naming changes will be announced via the mobGui website mobgui.com
Q: Has mouseDown replaced touchStart on MOBGui controls? Why
A: The mouseDown message is sent on desktop, and in the IDE, and it is mapped to touchStart on mobile so using mouseDown works automatically on all platforms. Do note that if you want to use multi-touch you need to use touch messages, but this is not necessary for most mobGUI controls.
Q: When I installed MobGUI, the screen looks very different than the Mac version that was shown in Lesson 1. My MobGUI has far less functionality/options. Am I doing it right? I see MobGUI: Splash21.
Q: Interesting. The version of MobGUI that I am using looks like a very old, limited functionality version compared to the one in the video.
Q: Hi, I am new to LiveCode and am following along with the coding school lessons. They are a littel difficult to follow as the mobgui plugin is an old version within the video lesseon whereas I am using the new version of MobGui. The interface is therefore quite different for example adding icons to the nav tabs. Any tips on the best approach to take when following along with the videos
A: Hi John, This sounds like you are using the latest version of MobGui that was recently released. The coding school uses the previous revision and this is avaliable via your store account or the mobGui website
LiveCoding School Admin
Q: can you send link for the correct forum please?
A: hi roddy, this is you may need to ask suppor@runrev.com for access if you cannot see it
Q: i have access just can't find it - which section is it in?
A: The forum is called idea2app and Coding School and should appear in the Private section when you are logged in.
Q: When I have a problem with a livecode code during the course, can I send a question with the (small) source to you? What is the email address for the support?
A: Hi Alex, you will be able to ask any questions that you have via the coding school forum. If you have any stack that you want to send then please forward these to support@runrevcom with your forum topic as the subject header
Q: silly question, is there a difference between support@runrev.com and support@livecode.com ?
A: support@livecode.com does not seem to be linked to our supprt system so please email support@runrev.com when emailing stacks
Mobile Development
Q: is it a best practice to set up a splash screen as a separate stack?
A: Hi Roddy, I usually set up any splash screen on a new card contained within my current stack. We go into splash screens during the coding school course
Q: ok thanks, but the lc controls and objects all work for mobile? I was surprised to see that my mouseUp button worked on my iPad.
A: hi roddy, yes most mouse events will work on mobile devices. you will be able to to check which ones are avaliable via the livecode dictionary. It is worth noting however that mouse events do not support multitouch
Q: Maybe the answer is in the next lessons (2):
I saw the "Grab me". Is there a "two finger pinch" as well? Is there a combination of both (for example "move a image" with one finger and make it bigger with two fingers?
A: Hi, we have lessons on using multi touch in apps at
http://lessons.runrev.com/s/lessons/m/4 ... one-object
http://lessons.runrev.com/s/lessons/m/4 ... nch-motion
Q: How can you test touch gestures in the iOS and Android emulators?
A: You can use the Option key to simulate multi touch gestures on the iOS Simulator
https://developer.apple.com/library/ios ... lator.html
It looks like the Android emulator also has multi-touch input as an experimental features from r17
http://tools.android.com/tips/hardware-emulation
Q: Are there plans to support the Intel CPU emulator in the Android simulator? This would allow to use hardware acceleration which makes the emulation of Android devices much faster.
A: Hi Werner, This is not something we have planned in our current roadmap as we currently build against ARM (highest percentage of Android deveices use this architecture) and these builds are not compatible with the x86 architecture
Q: I keep getting the message: unable to start simulator: simulator session timed out. when I press the TEST button. (build for iOS is enabled) Any idea where I need to check my config?
A: Hi Lars, This issue is not directly related to LiveCode and seems to be an issue with Xcode 5.0.2 and Mavericks on certain Mac system setups. Although we have had no recent reports of the issue, users of another development environment have discussed this behaviour here-
https://github.com/phonegap/ios-sim/issues/67
There is a few things I can suggest that could resolve the issue-
1) Create a new user account and setup both LiveCode and Xcode on this. This should rule out any account specific issues
2) Download LiveCode 6.6. RC2 and the new Xcode 5.1. This will allow you to test the latest version of Xcode to see if the issue is resolved.
General LiveCode Questions
Q: How to hilite a row in a datagrid that has certain value in one of the columns?
A: Hi Doron, the following lesson relates to retrieving a value from a specified value from a row or column in the datagrid http://lessons.runrev.com/s/lessons/m/d ... -or-column. This should give you some leads with this. The datagrid api may also help with this. If we do not get around to disucssing this in the webinar, then we will make a forum post showing how to do this
Q: what is the best way to have date input to a text field?
A: Hi David, you can use 3rd party library to implement a date picker on desktop and mobilePickDate on mobile to for the same. The follwoing stackOverFlow post might be of some assistance- http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1756 ... n-livecode. You can also use the convert command to changes a date, a time, or a date and time to a specified format
Q: An app with lots of graphics seems to take longer to start up when testing - is this the pupose of a splash screen to hide a delay n loading?
A: Hi David, The splash screen is generally usesd as a short visual introduction to your app. How are you loading you images into your stack and what are the sizes of the images you are using?
Q: I'm trying to connect to an Oracle database and I'm receiving this error message
A: Hi Said John, What version of LiveCode are you using as oracle databaes are not supported in the Community Version of LC.
Q: is there a function for parsing a HTML or JSON-RPC call? for example, the result of the GET procedure is: {"timestamp":"1395249257","current":0.01298813} I'd like to turn around and use them as values in calculations...
A: Hi, there are some JSON libraries available from
http://mergext.com/home/mergjson/
http://www.webring.org/l/rd?ring=runtim ... evstuff%2F
Q: What is the best way to write generic functionality. If I want to a function to be used across different stacks? Is it to create a "generic" stack with the functions and then import the "generic" stack as a sub stack when the generic functions are needed?
A: I would suggest having a look at Chapter 2.2 Structuring your Application in the User Guide. You can access this from the Help menu. Chapter 5 Coding in LiveCode is also very useful, particularly section 5.3 The Message Path.
Q: when i add a library stack with "start using stack" will this be included during compilation?
A: Yes, if the stack is a substack. If it is a separate stack you will need to include it in the Stacks pane of the Standalone Application Settings.
Q: Why does runRevInstaller keep starting?
A: The LiveCode updater will check for updates once a day, and inform you when there is a new veriosn available. Since going open source all our test versions become available so you will probably see the updater quite often.
Q: Why is there a black border around all windows in LiveCode?
A: I'm afraid I don't know what you are referring to, could you post on the forum or email support@runrev.com letting us know what OS you are on and perhaps a screenshot of what you are seeing so we can investigate.
Q: How do I filter what is in the Project Browser to only show the development stacks and controls?
A: It sounds like you have the option to Show LiveCode UI Elements in Lists on. You can turn this off in the View menu and then you will only see your own developmemt stacks.
Q: What is and is not case-sensitive?
A: LiveCode itself is not case senstitive, however particularly on mobile file paths adn URLs are case senstitive so you have to be careful when using those.
Q: I am having problems with slow animations on mobile devices using a button as the object. I have used the recommended process and optimisations. But performance is still slow what can I do to improve it?
A: Hi, please post an explanantion of what you are trying to do and maybe some sample code to the forum and we'll take a look and see if we can suggest any optimisations for you.
Q: I'm running into an issue with MobGUI. The interface only vaguely resembles the one shown in Lesson 1. Also, I'm unable to connect to the MobGUI site directly. I was looking for a more recent update.
A: Hi Johhny, We use the old version of mobGui withing the coding school course. MobGui was recently updated and our videos were recorded before this update. You will be able to download the older revision from your LiveCode store account
Q: In a nutshell - what is the advantage of using MobGui?
A: Hi Roddy, MobGui enables the rapid development of mobile applciations. it saves on having to skin your apps manually and it allows the creation of native mobile controls with little or no code. More info on mobGui can be found here mobgui.com
Q: how is the tab bar at bottom in MobGui different from a LC rectangle? What's it's purpose?
A: Hi Roddy, There is really no visual difference. The main difference is that you can references the tab bar in mobGui and have it snap to the size of your stack
Q: Did the lesson 0 MobGui tut, but it still leaves lots of gaps for doing the lessons on the newest version.
A: Hi Tim, it is a very short tutorial on getting up and running with the new version. If there is anything you would like us to show you in the new version, please let us know and we will create a tutorial explaining how to
Q: MobGUI also uses different names for some variables, e.g. uOptionText is now mgOptionText (I think).
A: Hi Brad, mgOptionText (uOptionText) are custom properties used within mobGui. Any mobGui naming changes will be announced via the mobGui website mobgui.com
Q: Has mouseDown replaced touchStart on MOBGui controls? Why
A: The mouseDown message is sent on desktop, and in the IDE, and it is mapped to touchStart on mobile so using mouseDown works automatically on all platforms. Do note that if you want to use multi-touch you need to use touch messages, but this is not necessary for most mobGUI controls.
Q: When I installed MobGUI, the screen looks very different than the Mac version that was shown in Lesson 1. My MobGUI has far less functionality/options. Am I doing it right? I see MobGUI: Splash21.
Q: Interesting. The version of MobGUI that I am using looks like a very old, limited functionality version compared to the one in the video.
Q: Hi, I am new to LiveCode and am following along with the coding school lessons. They are a littel difficult to follow as the mobgui plugin is an old version within the video lesseon whereas I am using the new version of MobGui. The interface is therefore quite different for example adding icons to the nav tabs. Any tips on the best approach to take when following along with the videos
A: Hi John, This sounds like you are using the latest version of MobGui that was recently released. The coding school uses the previous revision and this is avaliable via your store account or the mobGui website
LiveCoding School Admin
Q: can you send link for the correct forum please?
A: hi roddy, this is you may need to ask suppor@runrev.com for access if you cannot see it
Q: i have access just can't find it - which section is it in?
A: The forum is called idea2app and Coding School and should appear in the Private section when you are logged in.
Q: When I have a problem with a livecode code during the course, can I send a question with the (small) source to you? What is the email address for the support?
A: Hi Alex, you will be able to ask any questions that you have via the coding school forum. If you have any stack that you want to send then please forward these to support@runrevcom with your forum topic as the subject header
Q: silly question, is there a difference between support@runrev.com and support@livecode.com ?
A: support@livecode.com does not seem to be linked to our supprt system so please email support@runrev.com when emailing stacks
Mobile Development
Q: is it a best practice to set up a splash screen as a separate stack?
A: Hi Roddy, I usually set up any splash screen on a new card contained within my current stack. We go into splash screens during the coding school course
Q: ok thanks, but the lc controls and objects all work for mobile? I was surprised to see that my mouseUp button worked on my iPad.
A: hi roddy, yes most mouse events will work on mobile devices. you will be able to to check which ones are avaliable via the livecode dictionary. It is worth noting however that mouse events do not support multitouch
Q: Maybe the answer is in the next lessons (2):
I saw the "Grab me". Is there a "two finger pinch" as well? Is there a combination of both (for example "move a image" with one finger and make it bigger with two fingers?
A: Hi, we have lessons on using multi touch in apps at
http://lessons.runrev.com/s/lessons/m/4 ... one-object
http://lessons.runrev.com/s/lessons/m/4 ... nch-motion
Q: How can you test touch gestures in the iOS and Android emulators?
A: You can use the Option key to simulate multi touch gestures on the iOS Simulator
https://developer.apple.com/library/ios ... lator.html
It looks like the Android emulator also has multi-touch input as an experimental features from r17
http://tools.android.com/tips/hardware-emulation
Q: Are there plans to support the Intel CPU emulator in the Android simulator? This would allow to use hardware acceleration which makes the emulation of Android devices much faster.
A: Hi Werner, This is not something we have planned in our current roadmap as we currently build against ARM (highest percentage of Android deveices use this architecture) and these builds are not compatible with the x86 architecture
Q: I keep getting the message: unable to start simulator: simulator session timed out. when I press the TEST button. (build for iOS is enabled) Any idea where I need to check my config?
A: Hi Lars, This issue is not directly related to LiveCode and seems to be an issue with Xcode 5.0.2 and Mavericks on certain Mac system setups. Although we have had no recent reports of the issue, users of another development environment have discussed this behaviour here-
https://github.com/phonegap/ios-sim/issues/67
There is a few things I can suggest that could resolve the issue-
1) Create a new user account and setup both LiveCode and Xcode on this. This should rule out any account specific issues
2) Download LiveCode 6.6. RC2 and the new Xcode 5.1. This will allow you to test the latest version of Xcode to see if the issue is resolved.
General LiveCode Questions
Q: How to hilite a row in a datagrid that has certain value in one of the columns?
A: Hi Doron, the following lesson relates to retrieving a value from a specified value from a row or column in the datagrid http://lessons.runrev.com/s/lessons/m/d ... -or-column. This should give you some leads with this. The datagrid api may also help with this. If we do not get around to disucssing this in the webinar, then we will make a forum post showing how to do this
Q: what is the best way to have date input to a text field?
A: Hi David, you can use 3rd party library to implement a date picker on desktop and mobilePickDate on mobile to for the same. The follwoing stackOverFlow post might be of some assistance- http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1756 ... n-livecode. You can also use the convert command to changes a date, a time, or a date and time to a specified format
Q: An app with lots of graphics seems to take longer to start up when testing - is this the pupose of a splash screen to hide a delay n loading?
A: Hi David, The splash screen is generally usesd as a short visual introduction to your app. How are you loading you images into your stack and what are the sizes of the images you are using?
Q: I'm trying to connect to an Oracle database and I'm receiving this error message
A: Hi Said John, What version of LiveCode are you using as oracle databaes are not supported in the Community Version of LC.
Q: is there a function for parsing a HTML or JSON-RPC call? for example, the result of the GET procedure is: {"timestamp":"1395249257","current":0.01298813} I'd like to turn around and use them as values in calculations...
A: Hi, there are some JSON libraries available from
http://mergext.com/home/mergjson/
http://www.webring.org/l/rd?ring=runtim ... evstuff%2F
Q: What is the best way to write generic functionality. If I want to a function to be used across different stacks? Is it to create a "generic" stack with the functions and then import the "generic" stack as a sub stack when the generic functions are needed?
A: I would suggest having a look at Chapter 2.2 Structuring your Application in the User Guide. You can access this from the Help menu. Chapter 5 Coding in LiveCode is also very useful, particularly section 5.3 The Message Path.
Q: when i add a library stack with "start using stack" will this be included during compilation?
A: Yes, if the stack is a substack. If it is a separate stack you will need to include it in the Stacks pane of the Standalone Application Settings.
Q: Why does runRevInstaller keep starting?
A: The LiveCode updater will check for updates once a day, and inform you when there is a new veriosn available. Since going open source all our test versions become available so you will probably see the updater quite often.
Q: Why is there a black border around all windows in LiveCode?
A: I'm afraid I don't know what you are referring to, could you post on the forum or email support@runrev.com letting us know what OS you are on and perhaps a screenshot of what you are seeing so we can investigate.
Q: How do I filter what is in the Project Browser to only show the development stacks and controls?
A: It sounds like you have the option to Show LiveCode UI Elements in Lists on. You can turn this off in the View menu and then you will only see your own developmemt stacks.
Q: What is and is not case-sensitive?
A: LiveCode itself is not case senstitive, however particularly on mobile file paths adn URLs are case senstitive so you have to be careful when using those.
Q: I am having problems with slow animations on mobile devices using a button as the object. I have used the recommended process and optimisations. But performance is still slow what can I do to improve it?
A: Hi, please post an explanantion of what you are trying to do and maybe some sample code to the forum and we'll take a look and see if we can suggest any optimisations for you.