Adding a no animation segue to iOS

If you want a view to just appear without any animation or transition in iOS then this quick tip for you. First off you do not have to code a custom segue like is suggested on several sites. All that is required is selecting the correct preset segue type and changing a simple setting. Selecting Present Modally and unchecking the Animates checkbox. That all that is needed to have the new view just appear without any animation or transition. That much easier than writing a custom segue.

If you need to see how to do this then watch this short little video;



Thanks and happy coding :)

iOS Xcode Auto layout device preview

When layout of a unversial app in Xcode for iOS, there a way to preview the unverisal layout on all apple device sizes within Xcode at the same time.

I been working with Xcode Swift with several companies and pretty much all of them never knew this could be done. It is a great little tip and I felt it is worth sharing with the world.




Enjoy and happy coding ;)

Make a custom button with Xojo canvas

Today we look at another Xojo canvas example on how to make a very simple custom button.
Our simple button will draw a button on screen with text that resizes and centers as the window resizes. Also will show how to add a very simple button states and add simple effects on which state is active. The sky really the limit with the canvas object in Xojo. We just touch the surface here, and show how simple it can be to get started making some custom UI elements such as a button with Xojo.

 Check out the video:

If your on iOS device (The video quality is better if you watch va the YouTube app.) here the link




Thanks and Happy coding ;)

Swift for cocoa importing files with open panel

 Today we look at programming a open panel to import files that the user selects. Most apps do things with files so this is really a good thing to know. With swift this is pretty simple and I think you will find the example easy to do your self.

My example will show importing images that the your selected, but this same panel can open anything. From text, movies, music, folders etc.

Here the video showing how to add open files to a cocoa app using swift:



Thanks again, Happy Coding ;)

Swift for Mac: Programming Image Views

Today's Swift example shows how to display images “photos” in a cocoa based app. It is actually easier with Swift and Xcode, than with most third party development tools I used.

Video to watch is here:



Thanks, happy coding ;)

Swift for Mac Cocoa: Radio Buttons

When it comes to Swift for Mac OS X cocoa there very little info to be found anywhere. Google very rarely returns anything useful. The only swift examples found for the most part are for iOS not Mac. The two platforms are not really the same even if they use the same programming languages

Personally I want to use Swift for everything, because I really like it. It is possible to inter-mix Swift and Objective-C but why? Apple set up Swift to work completely on its own two feet.

Today is a basic example on how to use AppKits Radio Buttons for a Mac cocoa base app. I go over how to get which radio the user clicked on and how to set a highlighted radio cell by swift code.

I have a video showing you this in full, Here a my video on YouTube:



Thanks, happy coding ;)

Tabbar for iOS with Swift

Working with Xcode and Swift is really simple. I keep getting amazed how fast and simple it is to use.

I keep getting people telling me that Swift and Xcode is hard. Also have some say it is s not as fast as Xojo or Livecode for iOS or Mac OS. Actually for iOS and Mac OS its just as fast if not faster. It is really not that hard once you grasp the basics of Swift and learn the ins and outs of Xcode. 

 

Today we look at using  Xcode and Swift for a iOS interface, Tab bar views. Xcode comes with a template with two such tabs. My video will go over what you need to do to add more tabs to your tab view controller. Its under 5 minutes long. So enjoy.

Video:

Thanks for watching, Happy Coding.

Make OS X Web Browser with Swift

Make OS X Web Browser with Swift

The last swift example we did was using basic text strings. This next example takes what we learned using basic text string and shows how they can be used to make a very basic web browser. By taking basically the user inputed text we will load a web page. Also we will take a basic user field input and take that string and do a basic google web search. The video still stays in the realm of basic, however you can see how quickly the project could and should start using functions and be broken into separate sources files.

Swift for Mac OS X is really not very hard to pick up and makes in a good choice for those who came from Apple Script, Basic, Ruby, Javascript or a Small Talk language to pick up quickly as it is very similar to what you already know.

Swift makes you start  to see very fast why you should consider using it over a 3rd party tool, as it simple to learn and use. Best of all it has access to everything Mac or iOS and is free to use. (note for iOS the webview is done differently. It is kind of the same, however you need to use UIWebview instead. It is also more limited than the webview for Mac in what it can do.)

This video a little long at 30 minutes but covers a bunch. Will likely revisit this project in the future with more advance topics.

Here the video:

(It supports up to 1080p and may even work with the new 1440p Beta resolution.
It may take a while for youTube to Process higher video resolutions upto a hour from posting, I suggest 1080p or higher to read the sourcecode.)

And if you on a mobile device and want to view on the you-Tube app instead here the video link (video quality is better for mobile on youTube app) http://youtu.be/khhi52p9szQ




Thanks and happy coding ;)

Hello Mac From Swift

After my last post about using swift to make cocoa apps on Mac OS X, I got a few questions on how to make an outlet. I guess it is easier to see it happen. Also got questions on how to do window layout constrains with Xcode for Mac also.  As I said it is easier to see this than read about it, So I show you in this video with a very simple basic Cocoa app Hello Mac again with using swift.

There a million swift examples for iOS but not to many for Mac OS X cocoa based apps, so again I keep sharing more swift for Mac stuff in the future. As I am a more a Mac OS developer more than an iOS one.

Here the video; Enjoy.

Note: (If you do not see 1080p resolution then wait for YouTube to process the higher res version. should be not to long)

 

From Livecode to Xojo; Center Window

I keep getting Livecode users telling me that Xojo can not do most of what Livecode can do. I here to show them, Yes it can and just how simple it is.

This weeks look at something real simple in centering a window to the main screen. With Livecode this requires a pretty simple script and in Xojo this can be done by a simple block of code or the properties window.

Here a short video showing how simple it really is.


 

Preview files with using Quick Look

One of the coolest thing I like about using Xojo is we can add functionality easily to a app deployed to a certain system. Such as adding a view to preview any file on Mac OSX with quick look within a window. This added functionality can be added using declares, macOSLib or Plugins.(Monkey bread complete plugin as one example of a plugin.)

I spent over a decade using a tool called Livecode that had no real way to add any additional functionality within views of a window. This made for very non professional looking apps that had outdated user experience and needs hacks to do anything cool. The problem with hacks, is they are not a safe way to make a app. A poor user experience also leads to less sales. 

With Xojo this is possible and without any special hack. This is one of the main reasons why I use Xojo over the now outdated Livecode that still stuck back in 2005 for most of what it does out of the box.

I will walk over how to add a quick look view within a window and also add a panel view in this video tutorial. Additional bonus items that also can be used on any platform includes; adding and removing a file list to and from a list box. And how to use classes to assign supers.

enjoy

Code Image Filters

Programming for graphics has to be the coolest thing about programming in my mind. For years I made an really cool image app called Image Blender, witch uses some really cool image filters, that I programmed.

However that app was not programed with Xojo when I first started it and updated it for the first 6 years since I first released it. When I considered convert the code base over to Xojo, I found RGBSurface and it did basic the same method as the previous programming language I used.

With Xojo there many 3rd party plugins & declares one can use. That can access pre-made imaging methods like Core Image on OSX. However with RGBSurface you can support cross-platform every platform Xojo supports from one code base. If your like me and have an need for Linux builds to have the same stuff Mac and Windows, then RGBSurface is the way to go. Here is an little video walking over how to do it with an few different image filters.


enjoy

From Livecode to Xojo Read & Write Text Files

Both Livecode and Xojo are cross platform development tools.

This week in our Livecode to Xojo series... Is how to read and write text files with both development tools. If your new to one or both tools this will show an similar way to do the same thing with both tools.

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If you find this video helpful please go to you tube and give it an like. Happy Coding :)

From Livecode to Xojo Switching Views

Both Livecode and Xojo are cross platform development tools. Both have strengths and weakness. However it no shock how much more I prefer Xojo over Livecode for desktop development, as the Xojo makes an far better and more modern final product on Mac and Linux than Livecode does. On Windows both do similarly well.

For mobile Livecode currently supports iOS and Android where Xojo will soon will do iOS, however not Android. Xojo also does the web where Livecode does the server. So again each tool has pluses and minus. 

I have used Livecode for over 8 years professionally and Xojo (and former product names) 6 years.

I also get many clients asking to convert Livecode code bases to Xojo and also Xojo code bases to Livecode so I figure I could do an few videos showing the different ways using both tools, to get one started using either or of the tools.

First in this new series is switching views. I will keep every video under 15 minutes long, even if that means editing the content down.

There many of way to switch views than what I present, but I walk over the basic ways for both tools.

Again Happy coding :)

Toolbar Toggles With Xojo

With Xojo (Real Studio) Making an Toolbar behave like an tabbed view controller does not work by default. Even with using the inspector settings. This is an walk over to how to get this to work. This will work perfectly on all platforms Mac, Windows and Linux. It does not need many steps but does require code.

I have added an screen record video (free, cause this info should really be free! ) That shows how to get this to work.



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Enjoy and Happy coding:)

Mac Retina Supported Toolbars with Real Studio (Xojo)

Supporting retina base graphics in mac apps is easy. However how would one support retina graphics in an Mac Toolbar. With Retina we know we need to make all graphic files 2 times bigger than the standard resolution image. The standard resolution images files for toolbars are 32x32 pixels so high resolution needs 64x64 pixel images loaded.

Start by using toolbar icons that are 64x64 pixels and label them with an 2x suffix. Then make or use 32x32 pixel toolbar icon images for the standard resolution images. Once you have both an 2x and standard resolution icons for each toolbutton you want to add, import those into your project.

You will also need to build for Cocoa as Carbon based windows do not support high resolution displays at all.

To do this you will need to create the toolbar by code. As of the latest release 2012 r2.1 there no built in way to do this other than by code.

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Also note that your application will also need to add the following plist setting or it will not work.

<key>NSHighResolutionCapable</key>
<true/>

If your not on an Retina based mac, you can still test your app for retina by downloading Xcode and installing the graphic add-on package. What you need is the Quartz Debugger developer tool application. Using it allows you to test for Retina based resolutions.

The code used in this video can also be used with all other image files within an retina supported app. Such as menu icons, list box icons, segmental icons and the such. Also I have examples of using pdf vector based files with segmental controls where those files alone support retina because they are using vector based images.

All the other system controls and text are fixed by simply adding the property list key:

<key>NSHighResolutionCapable</key>
<true/>

Only Images  bitmap images require the method shown in the video.

Cheers, and happy coding.

Retina Based Pattern Fills with Real Studio (Xojo)

Here is an look at how to do pattern fills with Real Studio that supports both standard and high resolution displays. It is really easy.

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Key Events with Class Cocoa Controls in Real Studio (Xojo)

The coolest part of using Real Studio is access to all the controls for each platform. Some of these controls are not built-in by default but are still available to use by using declares or Plugins (Like Monkey Bread Software, Complete Plugin or the Mac OSLib (free by the way.) to name an few.). Whatever you choose its up to you.

This however can present some interesting coding challenges to add support for certain events that are available to similar built in controls. Such as the text field keydown event can use an return key to preform an action. There is no keydown event however for an non built-in control, instead one needs to get creative and figure another way around this.

Lucky enough anything is possible by code. This is an simple look at getting an NSSearchField on OSX to search on clicking the Return or Enter key press. This without an event that supports keydown or keyup events.

The reason for this video is there no documentation, I could find to tell us how to do such. It was hours of trial and error to figuring it out. However I believe such information should be shared.

Here an simple video to show how this is done. I showing this off using OSX based controls, because I currently on mac. But should be similar on other platforms.

Mask Numbers only with text field in Cocoa

I been finding out many things that worked in Mac Carbon builds do not actually work the same in Cocoa builds. Lucky enough there are work arounds to fix many of these items.


In Carbon if we wanted to limit numbers in an text field we could simply do this in its open event. Using an mask like such:

me.text="9999"

That mask would limit numbers only and up to 4 numbers max. However masks do not work in Cocoa at all so we need to address this in an keydown event. This quick you tube video we made shows the simple and fast work around, witch does work on all platforms, Including Cocoa builds.

 I hope this helps out, moving from carbon to fully support Cocoa. As its little things like this that can make the task of converting Older Carbon apps to Cocoa not as simple as just an recompile.

Installing Livecode on Linux

I had to set up an new Linux box this week and came accross that time when to Install Livecode, again. Since we been asked this question before. How to install Livecode on Linux? I figure why not do an quick 1 minute video screen how to. Hopefully someone finds this useful. If not , oh well.