What do I need

[Leff]

Hi! First post from me

Started with LiveCode some days ago. I have no or little experience with programming. LiveCode is intuitve and fun to use!
I really understand that I must use some time to learn as much I can but before that I have some questions.

I am a teacher (guitar theacher in a school in norway) and was looking for a way to give my students (age 16 to 19) the best tools to practise improvisation (jazz and so on).
Been googling the entire internet... I use a lot of time gathering information and ways to explane and have not found what I think is good ways to teach. Just thought I would make an iBook, but I have bigger needs. So after some time with thinking I found out that I would love to make a cross-platform app. (free first for my students, and maybe payed when it is good enough)

The app will contain images, audio, video and much more. It will be an easy app. The design will be minimalistic (a lot of white and a flat design). I need it to work on Mac osx, windows, ios, android and maybe linux.

So to the beginner questions

First of all. I use OS X

My first attempt was an easy app with buttons redirecting to different lessons on several cards. The card had the videoplayer (just playing mp3 backingtrack) and a image area with scroll and contained a png image. Easy and fine! When saving as a standalone app the images did not appear. Just a blurry grey colored area. I saved it as an OS X app.
What can be wrong?

Then I made a new app Video Library (just using mp3 indstead of video) followed a tutorial and all worked fine. Then when making a standalone app the Video Library folder was empty. I did check in settings that the external files should be with the app. After that I just tried to moove the files in to the directory of the standalone app and the app displayed in the list the correct files but would not play them. What did I do wrong?

For me it is important that I can have a database (folder containing video, music, documents, images and so on) within the app. Then it will be easy to uppgrade the app with better backingtrack and videos when I make them. Is this a hard task to do?

I did not find a mp3 player so I just used the video player for my mp3. Do I have to use plug-ins? So much I dont know...

If you managed to read this long post I will be grateful for any help! I just have to start right from the begining. Is there some more tools I should have?

(As you see... english is not my native language. Hopefully you understand me)

[dunbarx]

Hi.

I make standalones regularly. Someone else will chime in with real information, but I am sure that you are not including either the external files or perhaps external libraries that will allow the standalone to "see" these files.

If you simply have a stack, you do not even need to look at the standalone settings. If you have substacks or other stacks, you do; these must be explicitly attached to the executable. If you have even more "distant" files, you certainly do.

Know that if any of your stacks in the standalone are to be changed, these must be attached to the executable, as that file will be locked by the OS, and it does not matter what OS you use. Check out the "splash" threads, which deal with questions of why no changes seem to be able be made to a standalone.

Now would someone who knows what they are talking about please help this person.

Craig Newman

[Klaus]

Hi Leff,

1. welcome to the forum!

2. using a PLAYER object for mp3s is correct, since there is no dedicated MP3 Player in Livecode.
The player object can hold video and sound files!

3. We need definitively MORE info (what FILENAMES are you using in the player etc...) but here is something that might be related.
Take a look and come back if you need more info/help!
http://forums.livecode.com/viewtopic.ph ... mes#p97392

4.Here some great learning resources to get the very basics of Livecode:
http://www.hyperactivesw.com/revscriptc ... ences.html


Best

Klaus

[Simon]

Hi Leff,
Just so you are prepared, when it comes to making your iOS version you will need liveCode commercial. It's an Apple thing, they don't allow open source software. And you' need the US $99 Apple Developer licence.
Aside from that liveCode can do everything you've mentioned, you'll just need to learn how to do it and we can help.
Oh, one more thing, watch the size of your "assets" the mp3's and others, I think the max without using an extension(?) file is 50 mb for Android.

Welcome to the forum,
Simon

[Leff]

Thank you for your helpe I will check out what you both said.
Other things I do have to learn is how to convert a png, or img to icon. The design, even though it is supposed to be minimalistic, is another problem...
How do I scroll inside a scroll imgage with the mac trackpad? Do I have to think of witch scroll type I use when makeing an app for win and osx?

Hi Simon,
I know that if I am going to make a commercial app I have to buy Apple Developer licence and LiveCode commercial. But thank you for mention it anyway! The first thing I will do is to create for win and osx. My students on one school use osx and on the other school they use win 8. So this is also for making my life easier I would need and automatic upgrade function too.

Thanx again

[Simon]

I would need and automatic upgrade function too.

Then for sure use the splash screen method;
http://lessons.runrev.com/m/4071/l/1737 ... pplication
While that is talking about custom properties it applies to an update as well, you would replace the entire "Main Application.livecode" file.

Simon

[Klaus]

Hi Leff,

... how to convert a png, or img to icon.

don't let the word "icon" mislead you, in Livecode this only describes the "LC way"
to display ANY image object inside of a button!

Try this:
1. Import an image object into a stack
2. Note its ID in the inspector window for this image
3. Create a new button and set its ICON property to this ID

Et voila, the image is displayed isndie of the button, even if the image is hidden!
This way you can have e.g. many versions of the same image in your stack,
but the actual IMAGE itself is only ONCE in the stack!


Best

Klaus

[Leff]

Just to spesify a bit.

When my app is good enough to use as an resource for my students I would like to have the possibility to uppgrade the app with more lessons and so on. Meaning that they would push button: "check for updates" or something like that.

So then I have to use the splash screen method?


@Klaus,
Thank you! I was also thinking of the icon recourse file for an standalone app.

[Leff]

What I need is also the GLX Application Framework? A bit googling here... Will do more tomorrow It's getting late here, and early up tomorrow.

[Simon]

So then I have to use the splash screen method?

Ahh... dumb iOS I forgot. Apple wont let you do that
But for the other OS's it would work fine.

OK you specifically said "...with more lessons and so on." this says that your application is fine you just want to add more "assets". I'm going to dive in a bit here with a method (not the only way to do this).
Suppose you have a text file (OK everybody can stop saying "here goes Simon going on about text files AGAIN" ) that looked like this:
<content>
<lesson1>
<image> scale.png </image>
<music> scale.mp3 </music>
<text>"The bebop scale, a technique first used by Charlie Parker and other pioneer bebop musicians, is a good first step to a jazz sound."</text>
</lesson1>
<lesson2>
...
</lesson2>
</content>
Your app would just keep following that text file until it reached </content>, by adding more <lessonN> to the text the app wouldn't care.

I'm going to stop there for now.
How does it sound so far?

Simon

[Leff]

Charlie Parker was one of the best! Absolutely! What and how to do thing with a text file I don't know.

[Simon]

Hi Leff,
The first thing is for you to go through these
http://www.hyperactivesw.com/revscriptc ... ences.html
Those will give you the background you need to build your app.

But I should go back to your original question. Where did my stuff go?
It sounds to me like the path to the mp3/images is incorrect. That is, the app is not in the same location as the liveCode stack. Quick test is to move the app to the stack location.

Did that help?

Simon

[Leff]

Much things to do With me it's like doing all things at the same time... Right now I'm setting up my webpage + all the things I must do.

Will try what you said Simon.

Do I have to set up a database first for easy post edit and upgrade? A lot of noob questions from me, but hey!, thats why I'm writing here
Why I'm thinking of a database is that I would like to just put new tutorials right in a folder(s) and the correct field will display the name. When clicked on it will open the nessasary files e.g. diagrams, sheet, video or audio and so on. Easy for me and easy for my students

The design/template must be resizable with elements not resizable. The action menu will be to the left (not resizable in with, but a bit in hight) and one action/option menu to the left with hide/show depending on the body-content or user requiring bigger view. I will also need a bottom controller resizable in with but not in hight.

I know that I ask a lot before doing the actual study of LiveCode. So can you tell me if this require years of learning/training or is it doable with a minimum/medium of knowledge?

[dunbarx]

I would say that you do not need a database. A whole lot of material can be stored close to LC itself, either as local resources, external files, substacks and other gadgetry. Not that learning about databases is a bad thing, but you have far bigger fish to fry, that is, learning the basics of LC. Because of this, I would recommend that everything be worked out right there, so that each task is directly involved with LC lore and technique.

LC is more than fast enough for your needs as I see them, and more than able to store whatever data you have in mind.

Craig

[Leff]

Good to hear dunbarx!

The purpose of all my questions now is to save time later in the prosess. Will study it some time and then see if i'm able to do it myselfe If not then I have to get someone else to do the actual programming and me just serving the educational stuff. But where is the fun in that