Share My Creation Device Basic language IDE

JesseW · Dec 18, 2010

Andrew, I am VERY interested in an IDE for my DX. So, I'm watching your BasicLib very closely, and was glad to see you added functionality in this IDE thread.

But I can't seem to find the idetest.src you mentioned. Did you forget to put it in the zip you uploaded, or is it to be found elsewhere?

I am simply amazed at your participation. Please keep up the good work :sign0162:

Ps. On an off note, with the addition of the Sys command, we should now be able to access just about everything, including the omitted files and graphics, correct? Do you foresee adding native file and graphic support anytime soon?

Jesse

agraham · Dec 18, 2010

But I can't seem to find the idetest.src you mentioned.

:signOops: Sorry, I missed out the demo script from the archive and didn't notice when I tested the release as it was already on my device. It is now included in the archive so re-download to get it.

agraham · Dec 18, 2010

JesseW said:
On an off note, with the addition of the Sys command, we should now be able to access just about everything, including the omitted files and graphics, correct?

Not sure what you mean by "omitted files" but if you place a method in the Script module you can call it with the Sys function and it can do whatever you want as long as its parameters are all of type String and any return is a String. If you look at what is already implemented in the Script module you will see that you can move array data to and from the interpreter at runtime - the file functions do that.

By the way Sys is only a new name for CallHostSub which was there before. The only new functionality in 1.2 is the Call method used to implement event callbacks into the interpreter.

Do you foresee adding native file and graphic support anytime soon?

Not sure. Sys is not that inefficient performance-wise compared to implementing the function in the interpreter and it looks much the same to write and hence read so I'm not sure that losing the flexibility to change any of the platform specific functions easily is worth the effort of including more stuff in the interpreter.

JesseW · Dec 19, 2010

agraham said:
Not sure what you mean by "omitted files" ...

I meant native support for file access (and graphics) was omitted, which you answered in the next paragraph.

To me, it seems better, and more readable, to access things by name, as it's been since the inception of the language, like Open 1, "myfile", "r" and ReadLine 1, a$ and Close 1 than is a series of Sys commands, even though the outcome is the same. I'm relating from an IDE users standpoint, not the one coding the IDE itself. But I'm not the one coding the IDE, and I am VERY grateful just to have it in the first place.

I'd like to contribute something, which I will add in the next post

Jesse

JesseW · Dec 19, 2010

BasicLib IDE Help File

The first thing I did was put the .chm files on my Droid X and try opening them. No luck. :sign0148: So I converted them to HTML and uploaded them here, formatted for mobile devices. I suppose you could extract and use them anywhere, but I put mine one the sdcard/BasicLib folder. Use a file browser to navigate to the B4ScriptHTMLHelp folder and touch the index.html file to start the help system in your favorite web browser. Then you can touch the [Home] key and start the IDE. Then, you can alternate between the IDE and help system by touching and holding (called a long-touch??) the [Home] key to bring up either Running or Recent programs, depending on your version of Android.

I hope this helps someone. I intended to look at the IDE code and implement a Help menu item, but I just ran out of time. Hint...Hint...

Jesse

agraham · Dec 19, 2010

If your graphics are not appearing when you think they should you may need call Invalidate on the ImageView. Add add this method to the Script module and call it when you have finished drawing.

B4X:

' Invalidate the ImageView
Sub Invalidate(imageviewname As String)
  Dim v As View
  Dim iv As ImageView
  For i = 0 To Activity.NumberOfViews - 1
    v = Activity.GetView(i)
    If v.Tag = imageviewname Then
      If v Is ImageView Then
        iv = v
        iv.Invalidate
        Return
      End If
    End If
  Next
End Sub

agraham · Jan 3, 2011

Version 2.0, now posted, is a significant upgrade from version 1.0, please make sure you read Readme.txt as the default folder name is different than before. It now includes support for 480x800 Density 1 devices and a lot more Android device functionality is exposed to the interpreter. I've even added a method of platform help production. Of course you can always modify it to suit yourself if you need something that I have omitted. I am quite pleased with this device IDE. While the editor is a bit fiddly to use on my small phone it is pretty good on my 7" slow cr*p Chinese tablet where the only problem is the lack of performance of the device. It's not as bad as on the emulator though!

agraham · Jan 6, 2011

Version 2.1, now posted, includes a Help menu option which displays a selected html file. Also included are two help files, one for the B4Script language and one for the IDE Sys functions.

The html is displayed with the Android HTMLviewer. If the links in the displayed help file do not work then exit the help by the back button and try again. This seems to be a bug in HTMLviewer. While Googling I have seen other comments about it occurring for other people.

JesseW · Jan 7, 2011

Is there a way to make a home screen shortcut to a .src file and invoke the ide to run the script? Perhaps with an autorun param. Then when the src file exited, the ide would close too, giving the appearance of a standalone program or utility.

agraham · Jan 7, 2011

I'm afraid that it is not as easy to do that sort of thing in Andoid as in Windows or Windows Mobile.

If/when Erel provides a facility for including custom intent filters in the manifest that would make possible a runner app that would run a script when it was clicked in a file manager. I think only launchable activities and widgets can be placed as a shortcut on the home screen.

Jim Brown · Jan 25, 2011

Hi Andrew

I am having fun playing around with BasicIDE. Nice time-killer!
Since I wanted more screen real-estate I modded the IDE (adding more space and code injection)

agraham · Jan 25, 2011

Jim Brown said:
Let me know your thoughts

:sign0098: I hope you'll post it once you've got it polished and working!

agraham · Feb 17, 2011

Version 2.2 now posted uses a modified BasicLib library that now knows about Script.bas so the platform functions that previously had to be called by the Sys keyword now appear to be part of the language.

This was a big typing job to incorporate the Script.bas functions into the new BasicLibIDE and so there may be some errors that occur due to typos. Please post if you come accros any. Also to incorpporate additional functions into the script language both Script.bas and BasicLibIDE will need to be modified in tandem. If you do add your own stuff to Script.bas it can still be called using Sys or CallHostSub.

tech2k · Feb 18, 2011

Agraham,

I just tried to build your latest 2.2 and the compile errors at line 5 because I don't seem to have the new BasicLibIDE. Your version 2.1 builds/installs/runs fine on my droid 1. I have the BasicLib 1.3 and your dialog and reflection libs but cant seem to find the BasicLibIDE anywhere (am I blind or just dumb?). I think BasicIDE is the coolest app I have ever had on my droid. Thank you for this.
Ken

agraham · Feb 20, 2011

tech2k said:
am I blind or just dumb?

No, it is me that is dumb.

Because BasicLibIDE is so closely tied to the Script activity module I am not going to post it separately so I intended to include it in the archive - but didn't.

The archive now posted includes it.

I think BasicIDE is the coolest app I have ever had on my droid.

Thank you, I'm happy somebody finds it useful.

agraham · Feb 21, 2011

Version 2.3 now posted has a bug fixed that caused problems when calling a Sub from an Event. The archive includes BasicLibIDE version 1.4.

There is no longer a limit to the number of menu items that can be added.
I've also added added InputFile and InputNumber dialogs and OpenMenu and CloseMenu although CloseMenu seems of little practical use as touching anything while the menu is showing will close it.

My CollectionsExtra library is now needed to compile BasicIDE as FillArray, SortArray and SearchArray have been added.

TheDevMan · Mar 6, 2011

Wow, Great stuff. Works very well.:sign0060:

geocomputing · Apr 15, 2011

Hi,

I really like the idea of using B4A on the device, but the layout didn't scale right for my tablet (most of the controls were offscreen). That seems to be a common problem with android devices I use so I decided to change the layout file and code to programmatically lay out the controls. It now works on QVGA, HVGA and tablets, and presumably most other screen resolutions.

I thought I'd share this here as others may have difficulty getting the device ide working on their androids. If so, I've attached a zip file with a new layout file and basicide.b4a file. The layout file now just has a variant for portrait hvga, and the only change to the b4a file is the positioning and sizing of controls in the activitycreate sub.

Excellent job writing the device ide btw. Many thanks for it

Best wishes,

Andrew.

agraham · Apr 17, 2011

Version 2.4 now posted removes two unintended limitations that I discovered in event handling.

Firstly Event Subs can now call other Subs. Previously the event code terminated at the first End Sub or Return encountered.

Secondly there is no longer a potential crash of the IDE if code in an Event Sub performs an action that causes a View event to be raised (like changing the Checked property of a View) that is then called directly immediately by Android and not through the application message queue.

Share My Creation Device Basic language IDE

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