Mac / Linux users wanted

Erel · Nov 23, 2020

I want to make it easier to use B4X with Macs and Linux, with the current Windows IDE.
I wasn't able to get good enough results with Crossover.
I'm testing it with Parallels and it looks promising. It is not cheap, especially as you also need to purchase a Windows license.

If you already use B4X with Parallel then please share your experience.
If you are interested in such solution then please post here as well.

Sandman · Nov 23, 2020

I'm using Linux as my main OS, RDP'ing to a Windows 10 box iff I'm about to use B4X. That works fine for me, so I'm actually content with that solution. That said, I am still interested in a Linux solution.

(To satisfy my curiousity I did try B4J on Linux using Crossover a month or two ago. I got weird graphical artifacts with shadows under dialogs mainly, I think. It wasn't very important to me so I didn't investigate further and went back to my Win box.)

Erel · Nov 23, 2020

Sandman said:
to a Windows 10 box

Not a VM, right?

cklester · Nov 23, 2020

This would be a more expensive, but still affordable, option: https://symless.com//synergy

Windows desktops are relatively cheap, and I use Synergy daily. I was even using it with Linux Mint for a while.

Sandman · Nov 23, 2020

Erel said:
Not a VM, right?

Nope, a fairly nice Intel NUC on the LAN.

Ibrahim Saleh · Nov 23, 2020

I think if you could find a way to ease the use of the IDE in Mac, it would help a lot of people get in the community, as learning Xcode for iOS app is a steep learning curve.

rabbitBUSH · Nov 23, 2020

Erel said:
I wasn't able to get good enough results with Crossover.

Just interested : did you try just vanilla WINE? (since Crossover is a commercial based on WINE maybe it has some tricksy tweaks.)

rabbitBUSH · Nov 23, 2020

I found this site WineHQ it shows .NET results from testing under WINE : results of testing; known bugs etc..

For what its worth in your endeavours @Erel . . . .

Erel · Nov 24, 2020

rabbitBUSH said:
ust interested : did you try just vanilla WINE? (since Crossover is a commercial based on WINE maybe it has some tricksy tweaks.)

It is indeed similar to CrossOver. You can get it working but you will encounter (too) many issues.

Sandman · Nov 24, 2020

@Erel: Regarding CrossOver, when I tried it I saw on their site that they were very open to bug requests so they could improve their install instructions. Seems they've remade their site (making it awful, he muttered), so now I can't find that info. But, I imagine it's still their thinking.

My point is that this might very well be a thing you don't need to figure out yourself - if you get them involved and tell them what doesn't work they might perhaps be delighted to help.

aeric · Nov 24, 2020

I use Oracle Virtualbox.

Alexander Stolte · Nov 24, 2020

Erel said:
If you already use B4X with Parallel then please share your experience.

If i work on my macbook, then i use Parallels Desktop, in the beginning I had problems with the resolution of the B4X IDE, I could fix it and wrote down the steps in the following thread:

[B4X] Paralells Desktop 15 Windows 10 B4A,B4I,B4J and B4R looks blurry (Fix)

Hello, i have searched for a long time for a fix for this, every time i have B4A on my second monitor on my mac, then the text was blurry and this was no fun to work with... Now i have a fix for this. right-Click on the B4A,B4I,B4J or B4R icon click "open file path" right-Click on the icon...

www.b4x.com

But otherwise it can be worked well with.
Native on MacOS would be really good, because my macbook is a bit weak when I use Parallels.

NikB4x · Nov 24, 2020

Hi all,
I'm using Linux (as primary SO) with Oracle Virtualbox but also MAC OS with Parallels and also native Windows 10 on 2 machines.
Obviously native Windows 10 is the best solution for B4X. With Parallels the speed is acceptable but the graphic rendering it's not so good (at least on my PC).
With Oracle Virtualbox the graphic rendedring it's better, but the speed it's a little bit low.
So I use for 80% Windows 10 native when I need B4j and B4a, 100% MAC OS with Parallels when I use B4i and 20% Linux with Oracle Virtualbox.
For sure, a native implementation under Linux would be a great thing because the Linux OS is my preferred OS.

EnriqueGonzalez · Nov 24, 2020

I use virtualbox. B4A can only be used with b4a-bridge. but beside that i dont find many issues. i am able to compile from windows to linux with installing b4j-bridge over the later.

that being said. VB or Parallels makes a windows enviroment. while wine/crossover just translates instruccions and runs native.

Erel · Nov 24, 2020

Alexander Stolte said:
Native on MacOS would be really good, because my macbook is a bit weak when I use Parallels.

A native implementation is not planned in the near future.

NikB4x · Nov 24, 2020

Alexander Stolte said:
If i work on my macbook, then i use Parallels Desktop, in the beginning I had problems with the resolution of the B4X IDE, I could fix it and wrote down the steps in the following thread:

[B4X] Paralells Desktop 15 Windows 10 B4A,B4I,B4J and B4R looks blurry (Fix)

Hello, i have searched for a long time for a fix for this, every time i have B4A on my second monitor on my mac, then the text was blurry and this was no fun to work with... Now i have a fix for this. right-Click on the B4A,B4I,B4J or B4R icon click "open file path" right-Click on the icon...

www.b4x.com

But otherwise it can be worked well with.
Native on MacOS would be really good, because my macbook is a bit weak when I use Parallels.

Many thanks Alexander, I tried your solution and now it works much better! Now B4X works with parallels very close to windows environment.

rabbitBUSH · Nov 24, 2020

Erel said:
A native implementation is not planned in the near future.

I think we've had this debate before and it went on for a long time. [not going to look for the threads now - but I think it was during the Open Source chain.]

My guess, again, is that a native version will be IT as an option - which is what it seems you are trying to get working through Crossover or Parallels.

Incidentally, it seems some have not recogised the that the Original question was NOT based around VM implentations.

So, it would mean that an "emulation" of Windows is what is sought. And, currently it looks like WINE / Crossover (for Linux flavours) and Parallels for MacApple flavours.

This is a very OLD thing but interesting anyway . .
The Mono Project site seems to be .NET but something I read did mention VB.

OK I KNOW its more complicated than that.. . . .

.NET on Linux

EnriqueGonzalez · Nov 25, 2020

rabbitBUSH said:
The Mono Project site seems to be .NET but something I read did mention VB.

The mono project and its commercial succesor Xamarin are for C#, the B4x IDE's are made in C# thats not the issue. the issue is that the IDE's are made with WPF which is not supported with neither of those 2 technologies.

The future for the B4x IDE's is either NET Framework 5 which incidentaly is a road end and a trap made by microsoft to kill projects. OR net CORE which is the technology that probably will not be killed that soon. (by microsoft standards it could be around 10 years.)

tuhatinhvn · Nov 30, 2020

I used to use Parallels to run b4a and b4i on macbook, but it is slow, i think i will com back if has new ide for mac, current i use virtualbox to install mac on windows to build ios app

luc-dev · Nov 30, 2020

Parallels seems to be good choice on Mac OS as it runs quit fast for a VM, integrates well with OSX and you don't have too much mroblems to deal with. It is not the cheapest but one of the easiest to use and you have to consider the time it saves you or your company...

Mac / Linux users wanted

B4X founder

Expert

B4X founder

Well-Known Member

Expert

Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

B4X founder

Expert

Expert

Expert

Member

Expert

B4X founder

Member

Well-Known Member

Expert

Active Member

Member

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency