LiveCode Forums

Hi All,

I have found a couple of posts that say you can use beacons specifivcally Ibeacons with Livecode and Monte's MergBLE

In one thread Dixie says he used kontakt.io beacons with the MergCL external instead (why)

From my understanding when MergEXT was bought in and Monte came for the Ride it was only for IOS but promised that it would be extended for other operating systems

In another thread, someone asks can Beacons be controlled using Livecode and QuailCreek answers MergBLE is available in the Indy and Business versions but doesn't say it doesn't work in Android thus intimating that it can be used in both mobile operationg systems.

The Documentation/Dictionary says OS - IOS/OSX and PLatforms - Desktop/Mobile - not very specific as IOS is mobile in the Platforms and the Word Mobile suggests BOTH IOS and Android.

My questions are thus (for other time challenged seekers of Livecode Wisdom from the trenches)

1. Can MergBL be used with Android
2. if Not then How best to do it
3. Is there any more (any?) documentation other than standard API/header calls -

Don't Make me think - show me the Banana

4. Any other Wisdom , Tips, Tricks, Do's and Don'ts (will save others a hell of a lot of searching I hope)
5. A fully working stack with Beautiful GUI crafted by Scott Rossi that does everything I would ever need with a beacon (except the ordering of Coffee and Eggs when the Fridge is empty) - well it's worth a try

KIndest Regards Lagi

Hello Lagi,

great topic..we also tried to use MergCL with kontakt.io beacons. It does allow you to ping the beacons, but the functionality was VERY limited. Plus, it was ONLY for iOS. We also did NOT get MergBLE to work properly.

You can get a VERY simple function call like getting the id of the blue tooth devices, but you are missing all the great stuff like proximity and much of the iBeacon or Eddystone functionality.

What we need to do is wrap their SDK, Wrap the iBeacon SDK from Apple and the Eddystone API for both Android and iOS. We are VERY eager to work with you and LiveCode on this. We think it will be a HUGE plus to LiveCode as the number of beacon app explode.

Let me know what I can do to help.

--Todd

@ Todd: I'm all in on this too.

Shall we collaborate on a requirements document?

I could create one on my Google Docs or either of you...

Think we need that first. Then draft a minimalist functional spec.

once have that then I'm sure lots of other developers will start kicking the can around with more ideas... we add those, then we submit to HQ for a quote to build it... I could pitch in some $ for this.

or anyway you prefer to get this project down on the ground and moving.

Thanks for the replies.

Now need to get a spec Done.

Thought I'd post the couple of answers from the Use List as well as they are pertinent to this thread plus as you can see from my subject header I wanted it to be found by others in the same predicament.
Might be a good Idea for Richard to create a new area like Brahmanathaswami suggests below ....

Lagi: yes this is really bigger than we see.

Probably need a whole forum area dedicated to NFC, Bluetooth Comms.

FWIW I talked with Jacque about this yesterday. NFC in the form of "within 4-5 cm" is available now on Android if you have Indy or business. Maybe by next year for iOS… the "beacons" are cheap. 20-30 cents each. (think WalMart Warehouse… 1000's of these stuck on shelves for inventory control) Phone picks up the ID of the chip and away you go…

Andre was telling me last year there is a lot of NFC Beacon Dev going on in Brasil. If this were all exposed in community or community plus, it could "explode"

Anyway, with 3,000 plus visitors a month, all walking in with smart phones, we have a very strong use case for anything we can do with this in Livecode.

just my two mangos in Hawaii.

and yes I don’t' have time right now to dive into it, so agreed:

" Don't Make me think - show me the Banana"

= centralized NFC/Beacon documentation, sample scripts, stacks

etc.

Brahmanathaswami

On September 27, 2017 10:40:01 AM Lagi Pittas via use-livecode
<use-livecode at lists.runrev.com> wrote:.
>
> The Documentation/Dictionary says OS - IOS/OSX and PLatforms -
> Desktop/Mobile - not very specific as IOS is mobile in the Platforms and
> the Word Mobile suggests BOTH IOS and Android.
>
> My questions are thus (for other time challenged seekers of Livecode Wisdom
> from the trenches)
>
> 1. Can MergBL be used with Android
> 2. if Not then How best to do it

The Bluetooth external is only for iOS currently. The dictionary entry is
correct, the environment it works in is mobile, the platform {the OS) is iOS.

I don't know of any way to use Bluetooth on Android.
--
Jacqueline Landman Gay | jacque at hyperactivesw.com
HyperActive Software | http://www.hyperactivesw.com

Hello Lagi,

I replied to the forum post. We tried but not much luck. With the new LCB,
we could talk about something for now. Beacons are a bit different than
most Bluetooth devices. They will require wrapping and SDK.

I am open to figuring out how we can get this done as an LC Widget Lib and
get it out to other developers.

We are wrapping the Android Finger Print Touch ID as a test. Let's see how
it goes.

--Todd

My Colleague Alejandro (No Not that one ) knows more about the intricacies and use cases for the Beacons than I do - I'm the Programmer on this he is the Big Ideas man on the Beacons but with a widget for the beacons he would become one in an instant - It's that big.

Regards Lagi

@ Lagi: shall I create a public doc on my Google Drive or would you like to do that? I'm not sure the best way to "instigate" a collaborative process... I can also open a project in Asana...and invite everyone. *someone* has to hold the keys to the "think tank" ... it would nice if there were a wiki environment right here next the forum... that would also work.

HI Brahma,

Yes that would be good, Go ahead with using Google Apps until I/we get our ducks in a row - just came back off holiday and a lot of catching up to do.

A Specification of a 1000 pages starts with a single page.
~ Lao Tzu

Lagi

I have no idea how useful this will be, but FWIW

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1y1Y ... gAlYA/edit#

Just wondering if this project went anywhere?

Beacons are dead. If you Google "eddystone" you'll find it was discontinued in 2018, and ibeacons seem to have followed.