Android .obb expansion files??

[ValiantCuriosity]

Hello Android Gurus,

Two questions:
1. I've searched the forum related to .obb files. What I find are old posts that indicate nothing is available in LC to help with Android Expansion files. Creating these files for Android is a nightmare, at least for me. I'd like to know if LC currently offers anything to help create these files. That is, any file over 100 mbs. The application that I'm wanting to convert is an educational program that includes video.

2. Does LC produce video that plays nicely with Android 5.1 (Lollipop) - Android 8 (Oreo)? I've found a lot of issues playing video on Android.

In fact, Android development has been MUCH more painful than iOS for me.

Thanks for your help and, as I've said in other posts, "Happy New Year"
-Rachel

[MaxV]

Livecode 9dp11 now supports Android AAR files, JAR files and external manifests. OBB is just another way to ZIP files in a single archive and crypt it.

[jacque]

2. Does LC produce video that plays nicely with Android 5.1 (Lollipop) - Android 8 (Oreo)? I've found a lot of issues playing video on Android.

You're using a player control, right? What goes wrong?

[ValiantCuriosity]

Jackie,

First, "THANK YOU". The support of .obb files (zipped) is a REAL plus for LC.

I am struggling with the learning end of things. This will help give me a reason to continue.

My biggest complaint isn't about LC at all. It is the website. Trying to find good, working examples and help is like "finding a needle in a haystack".

By comparison, if I go to many other sites that have development tools, their websites are clean and helpful with easy to find tutorials and loads of code examples for those new to the frameworks. It is disheartening to try to work through a tutorial and then find it doesn't work properly due to some problem in the way that the tutorial as it is written. So far, I have found this in EVERY tutorial, both written and video). There is a wealth of information on the website, but finding it and applying it is difficult. I've found better helpful links within the forum.

OK, I know this is a bit of a rant, but I've been working for days to figure out simple things in LC. I'm not new to development environments. I think it should be easier to pick things up and find explanations without having to bother people in the forum.

OH, you asked about the video and Android. Traditionally, in my other coding Frameworks, I've had lots of issues playing video on Android. That is why I decided to try using LC one more time.

I am currently working through the video tutorial. I don't know how the videos play on Android since the file path is not working when I create an .apk file. The app works fine on the desktop, but the path structure when compiled must change. I don't know how to deal with this issue as I've never had trouble with it in my other IDEs. I'm trying to figure out if I need to change the defaultPath, but what to change it to has me confused.

At any rate, thank you for answering my question on the .obb files. That is HUGELY important to me.

-Rachel

[Klaus]

Hi rachel,

...
I don't know how the videos play on Android since the file path is not working when I create an .apk file. The app works fine on the desktop, but the path structure when compiled must change. I don't know how to deal with this issue as I've never had trouble with it in my other IDEs. I'm trying to figure out if I need to change the defaultPath, but what to change it to has me confused.

if you add a video (or any other file or stack) to your standalone via the "Standalone Builder Settings" stack, then you will find these files
in the standalone here -> specialfolderpath("resources")

Example:
1. You added a video named "the bore.mp4" to your standalone
2. Then you can use "mobilecontrolset" to play it in your standalone like:
...
put specialfolderpath("resources") & "/the bore.mp4" into tFileName
mobileControlSet "your native video player here", "filename", tFileName
...

Best

Klaus

[jacque]

Another great thing about specialFolderPath() is that it will work on both desktop and mobile if you set up your file structure to mimic what will happen on a mobile device. On desktop, specialFolderPath("resources") will point to the folder containing your working mainstack. On mobile, it will point to the location where resources are stored in a mobile app. Android apps use virtual file paths that can't easily be represented by a hard-coded path, but the LC engine knows how to find things located in specialFolderPath("resources").

So if you put a video loose into the same folder with your mainstack, its path will be specialFolderPath("resources") & "/myvideo.mp4". If it is in a subfolder of the mainstack's folder, the path is specialFolderPath("resources") & "/videos/myvideo.mp4". This structure works everywhere.

Also, if you get stuck on a tutorial or a lesson or with any other problem while developing your stack, search these forums. There's a very high probability the question has been asked before. Or don't be afraid to just ask us again, that's what we're here for and we want you to succeed.

[bogs]

<Emphasis mine>

... find explanations without having to bother people in the forum.

Also, if you get stuck on a tutorial or a lesson or with any other problem while developing your stack, search these forums. There's a very high probability the question has been asked before. Or don't be afraid to just ask us again, that's what we're here for and we want you to succeed.

Ditto, the more and faster you learn, the better you can come back on the answering end The conference stacks she linked to are a good read on a wide ranging amount of topics.

[ValiantCuriosity]

Thank you for the many replies! I apologize for being so dense. I spent hours yesterday trying to get the video tutorial Creating a Video Library Application to work with the recommended specialFolderPath("engine") statement in LC. Even after your kind explanations, I'm still not "getting" it.

I've created a standalone as Klaus recommended and copied my 06.mp4 video to it and tried to modify the original video tutorial found here:
http://lessons.livecode.com/m/754 (Creating a Video Library Application). I think I'm not knowledgeable enough to use the statements correctly. This is rather an involved, though well explained, tutorial.

I'd like to figure out how to modify Creating a Video Library Application to use the Android phone.

After feeling a large lack of success with the more complicated video tutorial, I then found a tutorial here http://lessons.livecode.com/m/4069/l/29 ... -on-mobile (How do I play a video in part of the screen on mobile). It is done for mobile (iOS). I thought it would be easier for me to understand the specialFolderPath("engine") statement in LC. I've read a lot of documentation (thank you for those links) and also searched the forum. This seems to be a puzzle point for many people. I can't get this to run on Android. I get a blank white screen. Is this tutorial ONLY for iOS? If so, how does one modify it for Android?

Code from the mobile tutorial:

Code: Select all

on openCard
   // Check the control doesn't already exist. If so delete and recreate it
   if "videoControl" is among the lines of mobileControls() then
      controlDelete
   end if   
   mobileControlCreate "player", "videoControl"
   
   // Set the basic properties including visibility, rectangle and video file path
   mobileControlSet "videoControl", "filename", specialFolderPath("engine") & "/06.mp4"  //06.mp4 added to the standalone via copy
   mobileControlSet "videoControl", "preserveAspect", true
   mobileControlSet "videoControl", "showController", true
   mobileControlSet "videoControl", "visible", true
   mobileControlSet "videoControl", "rect", "5,5,300,400"
   
   // Start playing the video
   mobileControlDo "videoControl", "play"
end openCard

on closeCard
   // Delete the control when we leave the card
   controlDelete
end closeCard

on controlDelete
   // Delete the control
   mobileControlDelete "videoControl"
end controlDelete

Here is a screen shot of standalone copy settings:

Here is a screen shot of what it looks like on the device:

I'm also somewhat confused by the video widget that comes with LC. Can that be used with mobile? It doesn't seem to work for me.

Thanks again for all of your support. LC is kind of fun to work with, but I'm not really sure that I am up to the learning challenge.

-Rachel

[bogs]

I think your up to the challenge, just like anything else the more you practice with it, the closer you get to the 'ah HA' moment.

Sure wish I had some advice for this situation, but I haven't messed with video or mobile at all.

[Klaus]

Hi rachel,

please try this:

Code: Select all

...
## The enigne is a bit picky when it comes to concatenated object-/filenames WITHOUT parenthis!
## Putting that path into a variable first will avoid this inconvenience
put specialFolderPath("resources") & "/06.mp4" into tFileName
mobileControlSet "videoControl", "filename", tFileName  
//06.mp4 added to the standalone via copy
mobileControlSet "videoControl", "preserveAspect", true
...

specialfolderpath("engine") is the same as specialfolderpath("resources") but only on MOBILE!
So for continuitys sake always use specialfolderpath("resources") when accessing files inside of your application package.

Widgets also work on mobile generally, if in doubt check the dictionary.
But what do you mean by "the video widget that comes with LC"?

Best

Klaus

P.S.
My name is KLAUS!
If you can't spell it, copy/paste it from somewhere!

[ValiantCuriosity]

Apologies for the misspelling of your name Klaus. Now you understand why I have problems with coding.

What I was referring to when I said "widget" is the "player" tool in LC:

Screen Shot 2018-01-04 at 1.14.36 PM.png (1.43 KiB) Viewed 11085 times

I wondered if it would be easier to use for Android video than creating the video player in code.

Thank you, yet again, for your help. I'll give your suggestions a try and see what happens. (With me, you never know )

-Rachel

[bogs]

Apologies for the misspelling of your name Klaus.

I'm surprised he even noticed it, as many times as his name has been misspelled. Honestly Klaus, if you dropped 2 or 3 letters, you'd get better results (remembering that one thread we all had so much fun with your name in)

[Klaus]

Hi bogs,

I notice EVERYTHING here in the forum!
And I will surely not relabel myself because of your deficiencies


Best

Klaus

[SparkOut]

Better to ADD letters rather than drop them, eh Klausimausi?

[Klaus]

Is monsieur a tad slaphappy? (With an emphasis on SLAP!)