Will the new Widgets system allow LiveCoders to implement these?

Mark Schonewille m.schonewille at economy-x-talk.com
Sun Aug 3 04:39:30 EDT 2014


Hi Lyn,

As I understand it, Widgets will exist inside the stack window, just 
like controls. They are drawn in what RunRev calls a canvas, in the same 
layer as current controls. This might impose some limitations on what is 
possible.

Then again, since you can hook directly into the API of the operating 
system, you should be able to call API's that add a toolbar for 
instance. This means that widgets provide pretty much the same 
extensibility as externals, but with less effort.

If a widget doesn't always need to have a visible canvas, which is what 
I would expect, then widgets can also exist "outside" the stack window 
and you should be able to do anything you want, as long as there is an 
API for it.

--
Best regards,

Mark Schonewille

Economy-x-Talk Consulting and Software Engineering
Homepage: http://economy-x-talk.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/xtalkprogrammer
KvK: 50277553

Installer Maker for LiveCode:
http://qery.us/468

Buy my new book "Programming LiveCode for the Real Beginner" 
http://qery.us/3fi

LiveCode on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/runrev/

On 8/3/2014 10:14, Lyn Teyla wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> A preview of the Widgets & Themes project was shown last month by Kevin:
>
> http://livecode.com/blog/2014/07/08/the-next-generation-widgets-themes/
>
> --------
>
> Will the following missing GUI items be possible to implement via Widgets (i.e. solely via the new "lower-level" LiveCode)?
>
> 1. _Native_ transluscent blur effects (without faking it) on specified portions of the stack/card background (independently, i.e. without affecting its objects' opacities) as well as for individual objects and/or entire groups:
>
> http://forums.livecode.com/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=17609
>
> 2. Create a system menu bar icon:
>
> http://forums.livecode.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=14125
>
> 3. Create _native_ toolbars (and toolbar elements including buttons, search boxes, full-screen icon, etc.) without faking it:
>
> http://forums.livecode.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=14272
>
> 4. Embed CEF browser (third party library) with JavaScript integration on all platforms rather than just OS X and Windows:
>
> http://quality.runrev.com/show_bug.cgi?id=12698
>
> 5. Display _native_ alert boxes (again, without faking it which is what the current 'answer' command does) containing built-in elements such as Message Text, Informative Text, Accessory View, Icon, Title, Buttons, etc.:
>
> https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/userexperience/conceptual/applehiguidelines/Windows/Windows.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/20000961-TP10
>
> --------
>
> In the Widgets & Themes presentation, it was also mentioned that new networking and database layers will be developed using Widgets, with the final goal being to have nearly all of LiveCode written in LiveCode itself.
>
> This implies that Widgets are not limited to GUI elements, since it can interface with non-GUI routines (e.g. networking) and those from third-party libraries (e.g. databases).
>
> Does this mean that it will be possible to use Widgets to (again, solely via the new "lower-level" LiveCode):
>
> 6. Extend dragDestination (or implement an alternative to dragDestination) to return file paths:
>
> http://quality.runrev.com/show_bug.cgi?id=8634
>
> 7. Hook into the notification manager of each platform, e.g. enabling the ability to bounce the dock icon on OS X, etc.:
>
> http://lists.runrev.com/pipermail/use-livecode/2011-August/159957.html
>
> --------
>
> Once again, for all of the above, I am referring _strictly_ to the use of the new "lower-level" LiveCode that is used to implement Widgets. That means:
>
> (a) No "faking it" (drawing your own non-native stuff); and
>
> (b) Non-involvement of any other programming language (e.g. C, etc).
>
> --------
>
> Many thanks for any information that you can provide.
>
> Best,
> Lyn
>
>





More information about the use-livecode mailing list