Development - Titanium
From EPOD
Android Development Guide
Development Environment Setup
Titanium
- Download and install Titanium.
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Note: downloading: always accept the license agreement. Always restart when prompted. |
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Titanium Module setup
two ways:
- Use the Dashboard window to install
- Click on My Modules
- Click on install on:
- barcode
- paint
- imageFactory
OR
- Follow instructions at:
- https://wiki.appcelerator.org/display/tis/Using+Titanium+Modules
- Install the following modules:
- barcode
- paint
- imageFactory
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Android SDK
- Download.
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Android Dev Setup
Run the ADK setup utility (called Android in Platform-tools) Download all info from 4.03 to 2.2, skipping all 3.X variants (no-one really needs Honeycomb).
XCODE v4.5
MAC ONLY
- Download
- Login to developer.apple.com with the supplied credentials.
- Click iOS Dev Center
- Click Looking for an older version of Xcode? Download Change search to Xcode 4.5 Click link to Xcode 4.5.1, around 1.5 Gb
- Install
- Double-click the downloaded file, then double-click the Xcode app inside.
- Agree to everything.
Programming Guide
The entire program set is automatically documented from the source code. This is stored in
P:\EPOD\_Development\Documentation\Android Client\index.html
Program Heirarchy
Under ePODAndroid:
- CHANGELOG.txt - All versions and changes made for the application. Keep this file updated whilst changes are being made. A formal new version will be added when files are checked in. Check in all files with descriptive notations. tiapp.xml should be checked in with the fill comment from this file.
- README.md - A descriptive header for the automatically produced source documentation.
- tiapp.xml - the main controller of the Titanium project. Contains settings, version control, extensions and parameters.
- i18n - multi-lingual files - see following section
- platform - platform-specific files - see following section
- Resources - the main coding area. Here are all the files that a developer would typically maintain or affect. See following sections.
i18n folder
Folders in here are organised per system language.
Warning:
platform folder
Warning:
Resources folder
- Android - Android-specific images
- Database - The DAL (Data Access Layer). These are functions and objects that are used to directly affect or access data from the database. All objects are documented as part of the Namespace Database
- DBConnection
- PDA_CONTAINER
- PDA_DEVICE_TYPE
- PDA_JOB
- PDA_JOB_GROUP
- PDA_LOAD
- PDA_PHOTO
- PDA_PRODUCT
- PDA_REASON_CODE
- PDA_SERVICE
- PDA_SERVICE_ACTIVITY
- EPOD_SERVICE_PRODUCT_MASTER
- PDA_SERVICE_ACTIVITY_MASTER
- PDA_SERVICE_PRODUCT
- PDA_SITE
- PDA_USER
- PDA_VEHICLE
- PENDING_DATA
- XF_AUDIT
- images - Generic images
- System - Reusable objects - documented as part of Namespace Systemm UI and Webservices.
- ui - main screen objects - documented as part of Namespace UI.
- app.js - This is the start point for the entire application.
- Warning: what calls what when
- Warning: Timed services
- Warning: Database - Version Numbering - how this works
Styling Objects
Warning: Describe the problem and solution
- Using style.js - loaded into Ti.App.style, so all the methods are available for calling through that.
- How to add new styles and the issues doing so.
- _land styles - These should be created if you want the device to move the object on orientation change, and both styles should contain the property obsRestyle = true.
- Care taken when specifying element, need to null them on orientation changes
- Use of resMod/resModX
- Standard controls with Create functions available that 'overload' the standard UI styles:
- Label
- Picker
- Button
- Table
- Table Row
- View
- ScrollView
- ImageView
- Tab
- Slider
- Switch
- TabGroup
- Table View
- Table View Row
- Text Area
- Text Field
- win - Window
- Standard Styles
- Note: Most styles also have specific Landscape versions created (_land), which are used automatically when the device changes orientation.
- small/smaller/medium/larger/large - font size helper classes
- left/right - text/object horizontal alignment helper classes
- generalButton - sets the display characteristics of a general button. Used in conjunction with positioning classes, as follows:
- btnSplitBottom
- btnSplitBottom_land
- btnBottom
- btnBottom_land
- btnSplitMiddle
- btnSplitMiddle_land
- btnMiddle
- btnTop
- btnScan
- btnLeft
- btnCenter
- btnRight
- generalText/wideText - full-width positioning
- halfText - half-screen width text box positioning (right-hand side)
- generalLabel - general label styling
- tableHead - header for a table or a title for a screen.
- tableRow - general styling for a row, taking into account resolution modifiers for size.
- evenRow - slight background styling for even rows.
- tableView_Status/_A/E/I/X/C - used to format the row based on the status of the order, or change status after receipt. Used in Job List.
- settingsRow - unused as yet.
- portraitWindow/landscapeWindow/anyWindow - basic settings for any type of window. Always use anyWindow
- instrLabel - class for instructions label on Job Details - should be an ID!
- tabContainer/tabDetails/tabProducts/tabNotes/tabInfo/tabPreworkActivities/tabMCRefs - generic tab items
- checkedBox/unCheckedBox - classes used by custom checkbox object.
- tabOn/tabOff - classes used by custom Tab object
- productTable - Warning:
- scanText/scanTextBtn - Warning:
- popupWinView - used for popup window views
- scrollViewTable - used for mainly full-screen views that scroll vertically.
- scrollViewRow - used for the above.
- claused/cancelled/normal - used for Signature - container clausing.
- Warning: custom controls
- Custom Tab
- Checkbox
- UDF - User-defined field object
ID naming conventions:
- The window to which this element belongs, plus '_', plus the ID.
Example:
- winMine_txtBlah
Iterating fields (for example in a table) would be ID'd with the iteration number:
- winMine_lblBlah1
- Warning: Vehicle checks - configurable fields and how to use them.
- Warning: Scrolling views and why they're better and worse than a table.
Other
Warning: entire section needs expanding.
- Include files once - describe why
- Describe synchronous and asynchronous parts of the code, and why return and callbacks are your friends.
- When debugging on emulator and you want to pick up latest chjanges, you could click the run button again in Titanium. Faster can be clicking on the app within the emulator - it will reload almost every change (that has been saved). Sometimes it fails though.
- above, when running again from titanium, get lots of errors regarding can't build because file is in use. You can try stopping previous background tasks, or you can persevere - usually picks up again after a few goes. Stopping and starting Titanium resolves lots of things...
- Preference changes anf i89n (multilingual) changes do NOT get picked up when restarting the app from the emulator. In fact, sometimes you may need to force this by cleaning the project and rebuilding, then installing from Titanum again.
- adb can timeout if left for a while. If you start the app on the emulator and it hangs, that's probably what happened. Start the app from Titanium. If that doesn't work, reset adb from DDMS. If that doesn't work, exit the emulator, the start the app from titanium - should load another emulator. If that doesn't work, restart your PC.
- Warning: add others here.
Notation
Follow standard notation as follows:
- global - preceded with 'g'
- variables preceded with 3-character type, for example:
- str - String
- obj - General or custom object
- lng - Long
- int - Integer
- bln - Boolean/Flag
- Titanium objects should be named as follows:
- lbl - Label
- pck - Picker
- btn - Button
- tbl - Table
- tbr - Table Row
- vw - View
- chk - Checkbox
- scr - ScrollView
- img - ImageView
- tab - Custom Tab or Tab
- sli - Slider
- swt - Switch
- tgp - TabGroup
- tvw - Table View
- tvr - Table View Row
- txt - Text Area or Text Field
- udf - User-defined field object (also obj)
- win - Window
Note: These lists are not comprehensive or infallible. They are intended to guide towards a maintainable, cohesive documentation.
Examples:
- global boolean to control Blah - g_blnBlahFlag
- text field Blah - txtBlah
- label for the text field above - lblBlah
Garbage Collection
Warning: Although there are issues with garbage collection in Titanium, this information is still being verified. As standard, we should follow these procedures as they will make for easier garbage disposal, whatever the reason.
- Create an object vars. Note: Although this doesn't obey the naming conventions above, it does allow for the easy conversion of existing code, and should be followed until all is complete. After, these conventions will change the name to objVars.
- All variables should be created under this object in that form. For example, a Blah text field would be declared as
vars.txtBlah=Ti.App.style.creatTextField('winMine_txtBlah', ' ', {});
- All events should be declared as a function variable, to easily identify them for event removal later. For example:
vars.AutoupdateEvent = function () {
vars.winMine.close();
};
- Upon closing the window:
- remove any events attached to the window or the app referencing the window, referencing the function object used to create it.
- Set the window object to null;
- Set the vars object to null;
- Close and null DB and RS objects after use, or you get runtime errors.
Source Control
When checking in items, use the Team Synchronisation view of Titanium so you can see all changes you have made from the baseline.
Click Synchronise when using for the first time - always synchronise changes before a build.
The legend on the filelist should indicate whether:
- The local file is changed and needs committing.
- The SVN file has changes in that you need to incorporate into your local files.
- Conflicting changes (both of the above).
In all cases, this view can be used to see the changes and incorporate changes into your local file until the changes have been merged - simply double-click on the file to be shown a list of all changes. Use the buttons provided to search for, incorporate or ignore changes.
The following standard rules apply to Android work:
- Assign the development to yourself (either through the standard Supimix procedures or from the Log List)
- Check out the source code through the Source Control software or direct from the Studio software.
- Make any changes and test locally.
- When complete, check in your changes with an appropriate comment, initially referencing the log. For example:
- 291925 - Fixed X when Y happens
- Update the log to Development Complete status in Supimix (or Fixed status on a log list), ensuring that you enter resolution notes.
- Assign the log to a tester, who will then test the functionality and close the log (or reassign to be released in a patch).
Commenting Code
Code is automatically documented through JSDoc, so valid commenting of code (functions, classes, properties, methods and files themselves) is important.
- Comment with /** ... */ BEFORE the declaration of the item you wish to comment.
- Multi-line comments should always be preceded with an asterisk on each line, as in the examples below.
Files should have a comment on the top as follows:
/** * @file Description of the file * @namespace ANameForTheFile * @version 1.0 */
Functions and definitions that are not part of a class should be commented as follows:
/**
* This function does blah.
* Links to external sites (like the documentation) can be done like this {@link http://172.198.45.54/calidus-assist/EPOD/index.php/PDA_Job_Details}.
* html can be inserted to make the comments look better in the generated documentation, as follows:
* <ul>
* <li>Address & Contact</li>
* <li>Instructions</li>
* </ul>
* @param {function} funJDCallback Each parameter will be documented like this. Put square brackets around them to indicate optional.
* @param {PDA_JOB} PDAJOB Links to other parts of the documentation can be made with the the link command, as follows: {@link Database.PDA_JOB}
* @returns {Ti.UI.window} The window object to be displayed.
* @memberof ANameForThisFile
*/
Class definitions/prototypes should have the main function commented as follows:
/** * This object is declared and instantiated in this file. * * @memberof ANameForThisFile * @constructor **/
Class methods and properties should be commented as follows:
/** * This method does as follows **/
Notes:
- @memberof must reference an actual namespace that has already been declared, but not necessarily within this file. So, a namespace declared in file1 as UI can be referenced in file 2. Indeed, the file itself can be made a member of another namespace, to group lots of other namespaces together. So, for example, app.js is named UI, Login.js is named Login, but is a member of UI.
- Properties and methods of a class do not need to be declared as a memberof something, as they are automatically part of the constructor class.
- All other commented functions in Namespaced files must be a member of a namespace, or they will be listed as Global functions in the documentation.
- Properties or methods of a class can be linked to with {@link namespace.class#property}
- Functions or variables in a namespace must be linked as follows: {@link namespace.function}
- @version should only be used on files. It should be version 0.1 while being written, then 1.0 when finished. The version only needs to be changed if there are major changes to the document.
- For EPOD application specifics:
- DAL objects should be a member of the Database namespace
- New screens should be a member of the UI namespace
- New connection-based files (i.e. webservices) should be a member of the Webservices namespace.
Developer Debugging
Warning:
- Running it through the emulator
- Debug mode and how it works
- SQLite3
- Root only
- How it can be accessed
- What you can do in it
- DDMS and what it can do for you.
Release
Warning: Whole section needs writing
Building
- Description - keyfile, configurations, etc.
- What process to follow:
- Where to put the build files
Releasing
- Document how the Google Play Developer website works
- No passwords!
- How to upload
- When to change the description
- Possible future use: different apk files per client possibly?
Then through market, or sideloading - show how sideloading can be enabled on a device.
Demo
As per testing setup.
