What I'm Trying to Do
I'm trying to create something that will allow customers to customize how our android application will be set up. This should be a UI editor that sits on our web server and, upon save, will communicate with our android project so that it can set itself up.
What I've Done So Far
I've been looking into something like a Business Project Management tool that can export itself as an XML (or equivalent). For example : https://demo.bpmn.io/new ... The file that even a simple diagram produces (BPMN) seems far more complicated than what we need, though.
What I Need
We can create something on our own or customize an open source project like this to better fit our needs, but I'm not sure if BPMN is the best approach and I've been having trouble finding sources to learn more about it. Is there a better approach I can take?
My project is still in its very early stages and I would like to make sure I'm at least starting off on a good path.
Related
I wanted to create my own tool for android where i will change xml and that should reflect android ui side by side likewise what android studio and eclipse does.
Can someone tell me what android studio and eclipse uses to render ui from xml as shown in screenshot.
First off: it is not really clear what you want to achieve so I think I should ask some questions first.
- Do you want to create an add-on for an existing IDE?
- Do you want to create an Android Application?
- Do you want to create an IDE similar to Android Studio/ Eclipse?
Answer: If you want to create your own IDE then you need to implement the parsers and preview using 2D drawing. The tools AndroidStudio or Eclipse use to display the XML Views are part of the IDE. As far as I know there is no tool that will display your XML preview as they do. Follow the next instructions in order to implement that part.
But regardless of the answer to any of the questions above, here are some directions.
Since you need to know what kind of content you're using, you should start with an xml parser. How to do that can be found here.
Next step would be to actually draw the Views hierarchy somewhere. For that you need a basic 2D drawing knowledge, and you can start here
Access the resources for different platform and draw them to your window, using processed xml information and Android specific images. You can access the Android specific resources (images) for different platform, through the AOSP here
I hope i managed to point out some directions.
This is a complex thing to do:
One and only solution , Making the compiler for XML, If there are openSource XML parser for java Use them.
If there are not any I am afraid you have to make your own.
unity can do it for you its funny but you can do it with unity you can make android native views like button and ... in as objects in unity and load xml for adding views in right place,its so hard but possible and intresting
My app is getting to the point where I will be highly perturbed if I lose the source somehow. This is a personal / single developer project, so something like Subversion might be overkill. I'm thinking more along the lines of the "Backup" agent that is a part of the GExperts add-on in the Delphi world. Is there such a thing (that would backup all the .java, .xml, sqlite, etc. files) specifically for or suitable for the Android platform?
In my opinion using a version controll system is not overkill at all. You can keep hand on changes all the time. Making features that you don't even know whether to include or not into main branch. Not only features but every complicated task also, for example refactoring. With VCS that's no problem to make fast fix to released product during development of a huge task which is incomplete.
I can't imagine working without any VCS. I prefer Git because is fast and easy.
I am new to Android but not to programming. I have taken C++ in school and we have been taught how to create objects, but not how to build robust programs using multiple objects. So you can see that using java to build Android apps leaves me with questions.....
thinking like an object oriented programmer, do i just shop through a list of classes until i find ones that i think would suite my app
is there a definite method of choosing the best classes for your project
do i find an app similar to the one i am trying to create and try to find what classes they used
any thoughts appreciated!!!!!!
The best way to learn (for me, at least) is by making small incremental changes to an example so I can how all the various elements of it work.
Download the examples (listed here) - but accessible from your AVD and SDK manager tool from within Eclipse (Window -> Android SDK and AVD Manager).
Start by modifying those examples. They are the best possible examples you can get for much of what you will want to do.
I'd recommend you start with Tutorials and also read about Application Fundamentals - they should get you started. Also browsing Classes is useful if you like wading through lots of technical docs (I do). Those three links are definitely worth looking at.
Well first when building Android applications you need to:
Figure out what your application will be, and how it would work.
Next you would need to find out how you will implement the android classes.
i would recommend first reading a book on Android development. One that really helped me and made me an advance developer was CommonsWare
You should really get these books. When you finish you will be well on your way.
I was using DroidDraw, working through the tutorials. Looking at the resulting XML and the Java code to tie them together, I was thinking that I could build a program to automate that process, so I started noodling something together. But before I go off and totally remake the wheel, I was wondering if something like this hasn't already been made before?
I'm thinking of something that takes the layout XML from DroidDraw, and outputs a Java application that works, and is ready for you to add your own code.
It seems pretty basic, has it been done and I've just not spotted it? I've tried Google searches, but I don't see anything similar.
The built-in UI editor that comes with Eclipse used to be pretty crappy - however, it's now getting better and better. Rev 11, which is coming out soon will a lot of new and useful features also.
Give it a try - I think you'll find this is the best tool.
The resulting XML file you can take from DroidDraw requires no Java code.. you simply setContentView(R.layout.name) and that's it!
Just use IntelliJ or Eclipse to set up a skeleton project for you, and import the XML you created via DroidDraw.
There is App Inventor. I have not tried it myself but it sounds pretty much like what you want.
As far as I know it is a very visual approach to develop an application.
I'm not looking for a mock up tool, I'm looking for a reasonable GUI design tool for the final product in the style of Apple's Interface Builder. Droid Draw is buggy, out of date and inaccurate in my experience. Using the Eclipse plug in to do a complex layout makes going to the dentist seem fun. I'd even settle for hand-coding CSS pixel coordinates over the current model. Is the solution found here: http://andrdev.blogspot.com/2010/01/gui-designer.html the best, or have one of you ninjas found something else? If there is an actively developed project that isn't ready for show yet, I'd like to know that as well.
I don't see why you'd want something like this (especially the tool you posted a link to). That would mean learning a whole new language just to use that tool. Why not learn the XML definitions directly? Yes, it's a relatively steep learning curve but once you're up to speed you'll see it's great. Also, doing XML by hand will allow you to optimize your layouts a lot (there are a few articles out there on how to do that).
As to the Eclipse plugin, I find it quite awesome, although I never use it directly. I don't add/remove/edit elements with it. I write my XML code and then test it with the plugin so I don't have to recompile the app > upload it on the emulator > run the app > go through all the activities to get to the one I'm editing right now, just to see that I need to add a little more padding.
Also, in general, it's best to use the tools you are given. Third party tools are very likely to become outdated, discontinued, deprecated, ...
In conclusion: do it the right way. Write your XML by hand. Use the Eclipse plugin as a convenience tool.