Book Image

LiveCode Mobile Development Beginner's Guide

By : Colin Holgate
Book Image

LiveCode Mobile Development Beginner's Guide

By: Colin Holgate

Overview of this book

LiveCode is a tool for developing mobile apps designed for those who don't want to use Objective-C, C++ or Java. Although it is a tool full of rich features to create apps it can be challenging to get beyond the basics and build interactive and fun apps. Using this book, you can develop various apps and this book guides you through "till you upload the apps in the appstore."LiveCode Mobile Development Beginner's Guide" will explain how to create applications with the easiest, most practical cross platform framework available, Livecode Mobile and upload the apps to the appstore with minimal effort.Throughout the book, you'll learn details that will help you become a pro at mobile app development using LiveCode. You begin with simple calculator application and quickly enhance it using LiveCode Mobile. Start by learning the interface controls for videos and images of LiveCode's environment. Dig into configuring devices, building user interfaces, and making rich media applications, then finish by uploading the mobile applications to App Stores. You will learn how to build apps for devices such as iPhone, Android with the recently developed LiveCode Mobile through sample applications of increasing complexity.

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LiveCode Mobile Development Beginner's Guide
Colin Holgate
Jul, 2012 | 246 pages
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Table of Contents (16 chapters)
LiveCode Mobile Development Beginner's Guide
LiveCode Mobile Development Beginner's Guide
Credits
Credits
About the Author
About the Author
About the Reviewers
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Preface
Free Chapter
1
LiveCode Fundamentals
LiveCode Fundamentals
Background history and metaphors
You do have LiveCode, don't you?
Learning the lay of the land
Time for action – it's a drag, but you'll like it!
Creating a hierarchy
Time for action – making and navigating between cards
Making a simple calculator application
Time for action – making the calculator buttons
Other interface controls
Debugging
RunRev's online tutorials
Summary
2
Getting Started with LiveCode Mobile
Getting Started with LiveCode Mobile
iOS, Android, or both?
Becoming an Android developer
Becoming an iOS developer
Installing Xcode
Before we can make our first mobile app
Time for action – starting an Android virtual device
Time for action – adding a Kindle Fire to ADB
Time for action – using the iOS simulator
Appiness at last!
Time for action – testing a simple stack in the simulators
Time for action – testing a simple stack on devices
Further reading
Summary
3
Building User Interfaces
Building User Interfaces
Setting up a test bed mobile app
Time for action – making the test bed stack
Time for action – calling the native e-mail application
Time for action – trying test bed stack on devices
Time for action – calling the native browser application
Time for action – showing a date picker
Time for action – loading pictures
Making OS styled buttons
Time for action – using Photoshop to prepare button states
Time for action – getting started with MobGUI
Time for action – using MobGUI to make a test bed app
Time for action – using native controls from MobGUI
Adjusting things for different screen sizes
Time for action – simple code layout example
Time for action – using the Geometry Manager to position buttons
Time for action – using MobGUI to remember layouts for us
Further reading
Summary
4
Using Remote Data and Media
Using Remote Data and Media
Stack structure
Loading and saving external data
Time for action – creating a data save stack
Creating a web "scraper" app
Time for action – setting up tab navigation
Time for action – adding the browser controls
Time for action – making a links extraction function
Time for action – adding the Links card "init" handler
Time for action – setting up the Text card
Time for action – extracting a list of media links
Time for action – setting up the Media card scripts
Time for Action – setting up the Keepers card
What now?
Summary
5
Making a Jigsaw Puzzle Application
Making a Jigsaw Puzzle Application
Image data format
Misusing imageData!
Time for action – testing a getPixel function
Time for action – making a racecourse
Time for action – making a race car
Making a jigsaw puzzle
Time for action – creating the pieces and choosing an image
Time for action – transferring imageData
Time for action – setting up touch events
Summary
6
Making a Reminder Application
Making a Reminder Application
What is a "reminder"?
When?
Time for action – creating date and time pickers
Where?
Time for action – trying out native location tracking
What?
Making the reminders app
Time for action – creating the reminder app screens
Time for action – adding Stack level functions
Time for action – making the Home card buttons work
Time for action – making the location card work
Time for action – taking in information about the reminder
Summary
7
Deploying to Your Device
Deploying to Your Device
Standalone Application Settings
Building Apps for Beta Testers
Creating an app store submission file
Uploading to the app stores
Summary
Extending LiveCode
Extending LiveCode
The story so far…
Extending LiveCode
Creating your own add-ons
Pop Quiz Answers
Pop Quiz Answers
Chapter 1, LiveCode Fundamentals
Chapter 2, Getting Started with LiveCode Mobile
Chapter 3, Building User Interfaces
Chapter 4, Using Remote Data and Media
Chapter 5, Making a Jigsaw Puzzle Application
Chapter 6, Making a Reminders Application
Index
Index

Time for action – setting up touch events

The handlers so far have all been in the card script, the plan being to have different cards with different types of puzzle. The interactivity handlers can be placed in the stack script, available to all of the cards.

  1. Open the stack script. There is only one global variable that we also need in the stack script, but there are a couple of initializing items to cover. Start the stack script with these lines:

    global snapdistance

on preopenstack
   if the platform contains "iphone" then iphoneUseDeviceResolution true
end preopenstack
   
on openstack
   set the compositorType of this stack to "Static OpenGL"
end openstack

  2. The preopenstack handler checks if the app is on iPhone, and requests that the device's native resolution is used. That will make sure that Retina displays show the best quality. The compositorType being set to Static OpenGL will help performance.

  3. The interactivity we'll use will make use of touch events. Each touch comes with an associated...

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