App works on Simulator but not Device

[DirkArnold]

Hello. I have an app that uses external mp3 and png files for its content. I have set the defaultFolder to specialFolderPath("resources"). Everything is fine in IDE, macOS executable, and iOS simulator. On an actual iOS device, however, none of the graphics or sounds appear. I get some startup data from a text file with

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put URL "File:score.txt" into gScore

and that is loading because I put in an

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answer gScore

to test it. I have looked inside the "package" and the files are there in their relative folders.

To load the graphics I typically use something along the lines of

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set the filename of image ("image" & y) to the defaultFolder & "/chapter" & y & "/images/" & fileNameOfTheImage

and I'm using similar path constructions for the audio files. (I have tried it with and without "the defaultFolder" in front.) I'm guessing iOS is pickier about how paths are constructed since only my simple one seems to work, but I haven't stumbled onto the magic syntax.

Or maybe I'm missing the subtleties of specialFolderPath.

Any thoughts?

Thanks! --Dirk

[LiveCode_Panos]

Hi Dirk,

Does this work:

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set the filename of image ("image" & y) to specialFolderPath("resources") & "/chapter" & y & "/images/" & fileNameOfTheImage

?

Best,
Panos
--

[Klaus]

And if that does not work, try this:

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set the filename of image ("image" & y) to (specialFolderPath("resources") & "/chapter" & y & "/images/" & fileNameOfTheImage)

[DirkArnold]

Thanks Panos and Klaus. Those didn't work but I think it's because I missed the actual problem:

As I mentioned above, I'm using "put URL" to get info out of text files. The one that's at the root of the specialFolderPath seems to work, as I said, but now I see that if I try to build a path...

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put ("file:chapter" & y & "/intro.txt") into theURL
put URL theURL into gChapterInfo

... "answer gChapterInfo" comes up blank on a device. How do I build a path that works with put URL? (Putting a slash after file: and in front of chapter breaks what works.)

Thanks again.

[Klaus]

Hi Dirk,

first try this:

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...
put ("file:chapter" & y & "/intro.txt") into theURL
put URL theURL into gChapterInfo
answer the result
## the result will be empty on success or give a hint on what might go wrong
...

And then mayve build an absolute path instead of relying on the defaultfolder:

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...
put ("file:" & specialfolderpath("resources") & "/chapter" & y & "/intro.txt") into theURL
put URL theURL into gChapterInfo
answer the result
...

Best

Klaus

[DirkArnold]

Learning all kinds of things but still getting nowhere.
Put URL is apparently case sensitive.
Put URL apparently requires quotes around the URL, which makes it difficult to build a path from variables or hardcode specialFolderPath("resources") into a path.
I searched the forum for tips on escaping quotes but nothing seemed to apply to this situation. How does one do it?

[Klaus]

Sorry, do not understand what your poblems are?
Quotes neccessary? Case sensitive?
No capisce.

[DirkArnold]

Hi Klaus.
While experimenting I discovered that my filename had an initial cap but my code was lowercase. Answer the result gives me "Cannot open file" unless the filename and code match exactly.

Also, if I hardcode

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put URL "file:score.txt" into gScore

it works fine. But if I put the URL into a variable (theURL in our previous conversation) the result is "Cannot open file." It seems to me that I need to put quotes around theURL, or include surrounding quotes in the variable itself, but I can't figure out how.

I hope that's a little clearer. --Dirk

PS: To reiterate, these problems only appear on an actual device. IDE, desktop, iOS simulator all work fine.

[Klaus]

Hi Dirk,

Hi Klaus.
While experimenting I discovered that my filename had an initial cap but my code was lowercase. Answer the result gives me "Cannot open file" unless the filename and code match exactly.

ah, I see, and are really not surprised!

Also, if I hardcode

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put URL "file:score.txt" into gScore

it works fine. But if I put the URL into a variable (theURL in our previous conversation) the result is "Cannot open file." It seems to me that I need to put quotes around theURL, or include surrounding quotes in the variable itself, but I can't figure out how.

Hm, I do this all the time so please doublecheck the URL with an Answer dialog and/or an IF...END IF clause:

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...
put specialfolderpath("resources") & "/chapter" & y & "/intro.txt" into tURL
## Check the path first:
answer tURL

## Now check for existence of that file. 
## If you see the diakog, the path is not correct or the file really not present:
if there is NOT a file tURL then
  answer "No such file:" && tURL
  exit to top
end if
put url("file:" & tURL) into tWhatever
...

Best

Klaus

[DirkArnold]

Hi Klaus. I guess I need to know what the correct path looks like. This *seems* ok but using your suggested code the answer is "no such file: /var/containers/Bundle/Application/bunchanumbers/MyApp.app/chapter1/intro.txt"

Is that the right place? On the simulator the path is the same from "containers/..." and the file loads, which makes me think so.

Thanks again! --Dirk

[Klaus]

Hi Dirk,

Hi Klaus. I guess I need to know what the correct path looks like.

since LC provides several specialfolderpath codes, I trust them to be correct!
This means you "only" need to know the correct path of the part that comes after these codes = YOUR stuff

This *seems* ok but using your suggested code the answer is "no such file: /var/containers/Bundle/Application/bunchanumbers/MyApp.app/chapter1/intro.txt"
Is that the right place? On the simulator the path is the same from "containers/..." and the file loads, which makes me think so.

Sorry, I have no idea, since I do not develop for mobile nor do I own any mobile device at all, not even a cellphone.
Yes, that's me!


Best

Klaus

[DirkArnold]

I should pay more attention to myself, because the problem was indeed case-sensitivity as I suspected a few days ago. I had fixed a filename but neglected to notice a capitalized folder name and continued to bash my head against the wall needlessly. I fixed up my folder names and voila! Thanks for persisting until I believed that the problem was my "stuff" and not my code.

Thanks again, Klaus!