mcStandaloneBuilder b1 posted

[Richard Gaskin]

Wilhelm and the rest of the MC gang:

The first beta of the new mcStandaloneBuilder is available at the new MC 
mirror:

<http://www.metacard.livecodejournal.com/files/mccomponents/mcStandaloneBuilder.rev.gz>

This requires engine v4.5 or later, and was tested with v4.6 on OS X, 
Windows, and Linux.

This build should let you make standalones for all three platforms (OS 
X, Win, Linux) from any of them with one exception:  currently it can 
only build for OS X while running on OS X.  This is a known issue and 
will be addressed, but I didn't want to hold this up further while I 
work out the details.

This build does not support mobile in any way, and the RevWeb options in 
the UI are entirely unimplemented.  In fact, I have no need for RevWeb 
at all for the foreseeable future, so if any of you need that and are 
willing to add support for it let me know and we can coordinate how to 
add your mods to my copy of the master build.

Also, note that while most of the useful code is exposed in the unlocked 
mainstack for your perusal and enhancement if you so desire, I was 
requested by Kevin and Mark to temporarily lock the relatively small 
portion of the code currently in a substack there that makes the actual 
engine call that binds the engine to the stack file.   This lock will be 
removed in later version, but RunRev needs to first verify that their 
internal security mechanism is working as expected.  This will have no 
practical effect on using or modifying the Standalone Builder, since all 
the meaningful stuff is available for you in the mainstack, and only the 
specifics of the engine call at the end of the process are protected in 
this version.


There is currently no Help provided in this build, but I'll give you a 
few tips on using it here:

- Like LiveCode's, there are multiple tabs for platform-specific 
options, but unlike LiveCode's there's also a General tab -- if you set 
stuff there it fills in all of the OS-specific tabs for you, making the 
setup process even easier since you really only need to work with the 
stuff on one tab to build for all platforms.  App name, version, 
copyright, etc. get transferred automatically to the platform-specific 
tabs whenever you edit the values on the General tab.  This means that 
if you do make specific edits to the other tabs, those will be 
overwritten if you later modify the General tab again.  Whether this is 
a bug or a feature is for you to decide; for now it is what it is, and 
it's very handy for me personally. :)

- Settings are stored in a custom property set of the stack being built 
into a standalone, using the same property set name LC uses 
(revStandaloneSettings).  The format of the data stored there is a 
superset of the keys LC uses, so you should be able to use these 
settings interchangeably with LC's standalone builder.  Please let me 
know if you find any exceptions to that.

- When the mcStandaloneBuilder stack opens it scans all other open 
stacks to find the topmost stack which already has a 
revStandaloneSettings property set, and loads that data if it finds one. 
  This means that if you already have a stack open that you want to 
build from and have set it up previously, just opening the 
mcStandaloneBuilder will load its UI with the settings from that stack 
automatically so all you have to do is click "Build".


There are various minor bugs and annoyances, and the option to use a 
custom plist for OS X is not yet implemented (though the generated one 
works well).

A new build will be made available as soon as time permits.

In the meantime, feel free to post any bug reports you have either here 
to or me personally at bugs at fourthworld.com

I wouldn't want to overload this list with bug reports, but it may be 
helpful to discuss them here where we can all keep apprised of what's 
working, what's not, and future directions.  Your call.

-- 
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World Media Corporation
  ___________________________________________________________
  Ambassador at FourthWorld.com       http://www.FourthWorld.com