how to create a Custom Control

[Richard Gaskin]

Sannyasin Brahmanathaswami wrote:

 > I’m still trying to wrap my head around the use cases where a widget
 > will be clearly superior architecture.

Widgets are a great choice when you're making a GUI element you expect 
to share with other developers for use across a wide range of 
applications.  They're easier to share and to update.

And if you need to use OS API calls, LC Builder is your go-to choice for 
that, such as a Widget that implements a control that takes on standard 
OS-savvy appearances on both iOS and Android.

Editable text is not currently supported in Widgets, but that'll likely 
come down the road.  For now GUI elements needing editable text would 
need to be Custom Controls.

For myself, most of the CCs I make are application-specific.  They're 
easy enough to make in LC Script that the benefit of doing so is a 
non-brainer.  For ad hoc gadgets, like anything else in LC Script 
they're a breeze to make.

I think Kevin said best back in August in a discussion of when to choose 
LCS and LCB:

    I think this is a really important principal. Always use
    the highest level language you can for any given project.
    Offering that very high level language option is a big
    part of LiveCode's reason for being.

    Previously our primary choices were between LiveCode Script
    and a lower level language such as C. Now we have a third
    choice, an intermediate LiveCode Builder. Its much faster
    [to develop in] than C but slower than Script. It is going
    to excel at certain tasks. However we should always choose
    to use it only when it offers clear advantages above
    LiveCode Script for the project that outweigh the extra
    level of effort needed to use it. I know its very tempting
    having added a whole new language to build everything in
    that, but we must carefully resist that temptation and use
    it judiciously, only for what it is best at.

<http://lists.runrev.com/pipermail/use-livecode/2015-August/217848.html>

--
Richard Gaskin
Fourth World Systems
Software Design and Development for the Desktop, Mobile, and the Web
____________________________________________________________________
Ambassador at FourthWorld.com http://www.FourthWorld.com