NOOB Help

[TI-994A]

Hi guys! It's been a year since I first purchased GLBasic, and I would like to seriously revisit it now. I hope that you can help me with these questions:

1. Does the GLBasic IDE only run on Windows & Win emulators?

2. How do we compile for OSX, iOS, Android, etc.?

3. And how do we deploy to these devices?

4. Does it have any problems with OSX Lion?

5. Can we call WinAPI and Carbon/Cocoa functions?

Truly grateful for any guidance. Thank you.

[MrTAToad]

Does the GLBasic IDE only run on Windows & Win emulators?

Yes - there were efforts to do a Mac and Linux IDE, but they didn't get that far.

How do we compile for OSX, iOS, Android, etc.?

Use Compiler -> Build multi-platform

And how do we deploy to these devices?

Using any method you like.

Does it have any problems with OSX Lion?

Dont think so

Can we call WinAPI and Carbon/Cocoa functions?

Yes

[TI-994A]

Does the GLBasic IDE only run on Windows & Win emulators?

Yes - there were efforts to do a Mac and Linux IDE, but they didn't get that far.

How do we compile for OSX, iOS, Android, etc.?

Use Compiler -> Build multi-platform

And how do we deploy to these devices?

Using any method you like.

Does it have any problems with OSX Lion?

Dont think so

Can we call WinAPI and Carbon/Cocoa functions?

Yes

Thank you very much for your quick reply. I believe that GLBasic is optimized and geared towards game programming, but I was wondering if it would be possible to program console applications as well, especially for iPhone and Android? I'm looking at simple windowed applications that accept button presses, text input, and maybe some sliding functions, mostly for business and educational applications. And if so, are there any samples?

My programming forte is BASIC, and besides some really bloated RAD tools, and WebApp creators, GLBasic seems to be the best option for fast, efficient, tight coding, that actually produces C source. Plus, it's App-Store approved!

I would really appreciate your advice. Thank you.

[Ian Price]

While GLB has primarily been geared towards game development, in reality there's not a great deal that GLB can't do. The things you mention would certainly be possible. Not sure why you'd want windowed apps on iphone or Android though. Perhpas you can enlighten us to help us give a clearer and more accurate response

As for examples of what you want, I'd be surprised if all of those things aren't already in the samples folder that comes with GLBasic tbh. If you want something specific, then we can help if you ask for them specifically, rather than asking generally.

[TI-994A]

While GLB has primarily been geared towards game development, in reality there's not a great deal that GLB can't do.

Thanks for that great answer! I've always believed GLBasic to be a powerful compiler. However, all the samples that I've seen, on the web, and included in the SAMPLES folder demonstrate its gaming prowess, with very little in the way of a program interface. The closest I've seen is the options menu of ScribbleMP, which I notice relied on DDGUI.

My preference has always been to go with user-drawn forms and controls, and that is where my questions come in. Rather than using any third-party GUI toolkits, would it be possible to go the user-drawn route? How, then, would I handle screen transitions, button animations, text processing, gesturing, etc.? Are there any of these types of examples anywhere?

Also, would this take up more system resources compared to using GUI toolkits?

Bottom-line: My interest is in BASIC for mobile platforms.

Thanks again.

[EDIT: Only text reformatting, due to a segmented original submission, posted from a Windows Mobile phone Pocket IE, which couldn't handle text editing to save its life.]

[ampos]

Notice that if you use a "native" GUI (I mean, the iOS native GUI), your program will not be compatible with other devices.

If you really need a GUI and that works with all/most devices, you should use DDGUI or create your own.

Also, DDGUI images can be changed of you draw the buttons with your paint program, AFAIK.

[Ian Price]

My interest is in BASIC for mobile platforms./QUOTE]
You say that but prior to this you stated [QUPTE]How, then, would I handle screen transitions, button
animations, text processing, gesturing, etc.?

Very little of that is BASIC in the traditional sense, but GLB can easily and readily handle all of thise things. You don't need to use a GUI to create an app that "looks" like it's using a GUI. It's very easy to re-create the affects with sprites, text and images.

For boxes and buttons check out BOXCOLL.

For images, check out DRAWSPRITE and DRAWANIM

For mouse positions use MOUSE STATE/MOUSEAXIS (IIRC). Store positions in arrays (see "comparisons" later)

For text - either use the built in PRINT functions or use a bitmap font routine. You don't have to use DDGUI or any other GUI routines. If you've got an iOS device, have a look at my B'lox! game (the full version is free right now). It uses menus, icons and pointers seemlessly throughout the app without any dedicated GUI functions.

For comparisons in text/data use arrays (see DIM )

For anything else use basic maths.

If you've only seen games created with GLB, then you've not been paying too much attention

[matchy]

2. How do we compile for OSX, iOS, Android, etc.?

That's not something you can't miss as it's in the menus. According to http://www.glbasic.com/forum/index.php?topic=6437.msg51796#msg51796 you apparently know. hmmm.

What have you done so far or is GLB just interesting?

[fuzzy70]

2. How do we compile for OSX, iOS, Android, etc.?

That's not something you can't miss as it's in the menus. According to http://www.glbasic.com/forum/index.php?topic=6437.msg51796#msg51796 you apparently know. hmmm.

What have you done so far or is GLB just interesting?

[TI-994A]

Notice that if you use a "native" GUI (I mean, the iOS native GUI), your program will not be compatible with other devices.

@ampos: Thanks for that. Clearly, OS-specific drawing functions would not be cross-compatible, and this may be one advantage of third-party GUI tools like DDGUI. However, the design constraints are immediately outweighed by the need for a truly customized UI.

That's not something you can't miss as it's in the menus. ...you apparently know. hmmm.
What have you done so far or is GLB just interesting?

@matchy: That still doesn't answer the question, as OSX and iOS platforms must be compiled with XCode. The menu options only enable output to pre-processed compilations, which then have to be completed on, and deployed from an Apple Mac. I know that now.

But like I said, it has been a year since I looked into GLBasic, and my knowledge about it is academic at best. Short of purchasing a copy, and trying out some of the examples, I've not done anything with GLBasic. At that time, my requirements for emigrating out of VB, and expanding to Apple's OSX platform, were excellently met by PureBasic. However, the burgeoning mobile platform beckons, and being a BASIC guy, here I am once again. And, I believe that GLBasic is much more than just interesting.

[TI-994A]

My interest is in BASIC for mobile platforms.

You say that but prior to this you stated

How, then, would I handle screen transitions, button animations, text processing, gesturing, etc.?

Very little of that is BASIC in the traditional sense, but GLB can easily and readily handle all of thise things.

First and foremost, thank you. You have been most responsive and helpful in addressing my queries.

When I say BASIC, I'm referring to the language, and not a particular command or feature set of any one BASIC compiler, which is quite disparate. If you look at BASIC in the most basic sense, then its not really a very viable development tool. However, the BASICs today have come a long way from the early BASICs, such as TI-Basic, GW-Basic, QBasic, etc. We used interrupt handlers then, while we use sub-classing and callbacks now; we used to address graphics and hardware directly, but now we deal with abstraction layers. The language has clearly grown, and evolved into many strong iterations. But, at its very core, its still BASIC, and that's what I'm talking about. For my current platform needs, GLBasic seems to fit the bill perfectly.

Coming back to your post, I've downloaded and tried your B'lox! game; beautifully designed and crafted! The graphics are crisp and clean, and the toggles are very responsive, exactly the type of user-drawn functionality that I'm referring to. I'll definitely take a look at the other examples that you've recommended.

To be honest, I was very skeptical, as the examples I tried on the PC looked quite shoddy, ran sluggishly, and weren't very responsive. And for some reason, ScribbleMP failed to run, getting caught in an endless loop of HOSTING SESSION, until it crashes. Suffice to say, you've opened my eyes.

Once again, thank you. Especially for your patience.

[Ian Price]

Cheers

You don't have to buy GLB to get to grips with it. There is a completely free unlimited trial available. It's only limitation is that it compiles a time limited .EXE for iOS (5 minutes IIRC), but this will still be long enough to allow you to get an idea of how your app should perform.

While there has been some less than helpful response posts on the forums recently, we are generally a very helpful bunch (or try to be).

If you need help in specific areas, then please shout out

[matchy]

@matchy: That still doesn't answer the question, as OSX and iOS platforms must be compiled with XCode. The menu options only enable output to pre-processed compilations, which then have to be completed on, and deployed from an Apple Mac. I know that now.

Now that you know you can do and show us, right?

[TI-994A]

@matchy: That still doesn't answer the question, as OSX and iOS platforms must be compiled with XCode. The menu options only enable output to pre-processed compilations, which then have to be completed on, and deployed from an Apple Mac. I know that now.

Now that you know you can do and show us, right?

Fingers crossed!

[TI-994A]

Cheers

You don't have to buy GLB to get to grips with it. There is a completely free unlimited trial available. It's only limitation is that it compiles a time limited .EXE for iOS (5 minutes IIRC), but this will still be long enough to allow you to get an idea of how your app should perform.

While there has been some less than helpful response posts on the forums recently, we are generally a very helpful bunch (or try to be).

If you need help in specific areas, then please shout out

Still, I'm proud to say that I'm a licensed user of GLBasic, hoping to churn out some serious apps very soon; preferably with your help.

Thanks Ian!