NR needs iPhone and Android Support to Survive?

[Solosid]

Hi Tim,

When you open the iphone index page in Frontpage it only shows the background image and header, basically the HTML stuff
this makes it difficult to learn the device stuff and how the code looks and behaves.

I learn by playing with examples and breaking them, so I can say 'thats how that does that'....not by 'if I do that will this do that'

so when I look at all the lua and js stuff it scares me....

cheers

Mark

[tmorten]

Originally Posted by Solosid

Hi Tim,

When you open the iphone index page in Frontpage it only shows the background image and header, basically the HTML stuff
this makes it difficult to learn the device stuff and how the code looks and behaves.

I learn by playing with examples and breaking them, so I can say 'thats how that does that'....not by 'if I do that will this do that'

so when I look at all the lua and js stuff it scares me....

cheers

Mark

Tools like Frontpage are great for layout, but if you want to get into changing functionality, I'm afraid you'll have to dig in and check out the Javascript and LUA. But I totally understand where you're coming from!

I recommend Notepad++ (http://notepad-plus-plus.org/) - it's a great free editor that has built-in syntax highlighting.

Cheers,
Tim

[Solosid]

Hi Tim,

is that similar to Scite?


Cheers

Mark

[tmorten]

I'm not familiar with Scite, but from a quick surf of its homepage, Notepad++ looks like it serves a similar role.

Cheers,
Tim

[justinm001]

it seems like it would take 10 times the work to recreate as a webserver. I know html but know minimal about lua.

Can you have girder change the page on the webserver like you can with netremote?

I know that web browsers might be the future for some stuff but for dedicated devices I can't really see this happening. My dream netremote would be a 10" or so tablet with netremote basically as the OS. I'd be able to create a homepage with weather, RSS news feeds, my calendar, google search box, and some other things. Then we'd be able to click on the weather and it'll pop up the weather then google something and it'll open google in a webpage. I'd then be able to close it and be back to my netremote homescreen. I think this would be better than a simple webpage that would be very easy for someone to exit out of. I expect netremote to be a remote and not a webpage to control stuff.

Having a webserver with girder is great if I'm away and want to makesure everythings turned off and okay but I can't see it being my main remote control.

[tmorten]

Originally Posted by justinm001

it seems like it would take 10 times the work to recreate as a webserver. I know html but know minimal about lua.

Can you have girder change the page on the webserver like you can with netremote?

I know that web browsers might be the future for some stuff but for dedicated devices I can't really see this happening. My dream netremote would be a 10" or so tablet with netremote basically as the OS. I'd be able to create a homepage with weather, RSS news feeds, my calendar, google search box, and some other things. Then we'd be able to click on the weather and it'll pop up the weather then google something and it'll open google in a webpage. I'd then be able to close it and be back to my netremote homescreen. I think this would be better than a simple webpage that would be very easy for someone to exit out of. I expect netremote to be a remote and not a webpage to control stuff.

Having a webserver with girder is great if I'm away and want to makesure everythings turned off and okay but I can't see it being my main remote control.

To answer your first question, yes, changing pages is straight-forward in the webserver.

From a user perspective, there should be no material difference in functionality between a browser-hosted application and a native application. The way that you implement is different. Running in a browser has the inherent advantages of:
1. Being server-based
2. Being cross-platform
3. Being easy to integrate with other web content

Point number 3 is a big part of what you're describing in your idealized vision, so you are definitely a good candidate to explore the webserver!

When you say "dedicated devices", it's worth noting that although there's nothing to stop you from using iPhone as just a phone, one of the things that has made it ubiquitous is its ability to do many things. Webserver is similarly flexible: if you want to keep it running all the time and treat your device as a dedicated controller, you can. If you want to open another tab, or switch from the browser to something else entirely, that is also fine.

Bottom line: The centralization, portability, and integration with other web content that the webserver provides transcends native apps. There is definitely some work involved in creating customized pages, but the reward is well worth the effort in my opinion.

Cheers,
Tim

[justinm001]

My question was can you change have girder change the page? Currently you can have girder change the page on a device using the netremote jump actions within girder. is this available with a webserver? This is nice because I can have it setup so when I come home and open the front door I can have it trigger the netremote change to lighting page so I can turn on the lights. But normally be on the "home" page. I can't see this happening with a webserver.

The problem with the webserver setup and maybe even netremote is if someone uses the remote then gets to google and closes out of the browser, they'll have to reopen the webserver or netremote. I wouldn't want netremote to be able to close on a device, only windows open inside of it. I can just see friends or family accidentally close it and i'd have to show them how to reopen it back up.

[tmorten]

Originally Posted by justinm001

My question was can you change have girder change the page? Currently you can have girder change the page on a device using the netremote jump actions within girder. is this available with a webserver? This is nice because I can have it setup so when I come home and open the front door I can have it trigger the netremote change to lighting page so I can turn on the lights. But normally be on the "home" page. I can't see this happening with a webserver.

The problem with the webserver setup and maybe even netremote is if someone uses the remote then gets to google and closes out of the browser, they'll have to reopen the webserver or netremote. I wouldn't want netremote to be able to close on a device, only windows open inside of it. I can just see friends or family accidentally close it and i'd have to show them how to reopen it back up.

The webserver can jump to other pages when prompted by Girder; I do this extensively in my setup through the use of AJAX. For example: if a control page (let's say for a television) is open on one client, and that device is shut down using another client, Girder causes the open page on ALL clients to jump to the home page. This is accomplished by running a background timer in javascript which regularly sends an AJAX request to Girder to check status. If the status comes back indicating a shutdown, the jump is triggered. On the client there are only three steps: an AJAX call, and if statement to look at the result, and a jump when appropriate. The whole thing is less than 10 lines of javascript. On the server, it just blasts out a variable value that has been updated elsewhere; literally one line of LUA code. This same technique can be used for any "forced" jump that you want to trigger.

With regard to closing the browser, I run my browser in full-screen mode. If you want to have embedded elements, such as a Google search window, RSS feeds, etc, you can have these coexist in a single layout with your Girder controls, and eliminate the need for other tabs.

Cheers,
Tim

PS - If you decide to experiment with a webserver setup, and have implementation questions such as how to trigger jumps from Girder rather than from user input, feel free to PM me.

[kwaugh]

After only a few hours, I've been able to create a few pages that duplicate the functionality of my netremote pages (not tackling the layout stuff yet, just the functionality).

Once you get the hang of AJAX, it's not too bad at all.

Of course, it's not as easy as using NRD, but you can definitely get the job done.

One area I'm puzzled by is how to get access to JRMC. The basic transport commands are easy, but how do you get access to the album covers? If anyone has any info, I'd appreciate it!

(PS - my progress was so quick that I went out and bought an iPad today!)

K

[tmorten]

Originally Posted by kwaugh

After only a few hours, I've been able to create a few pages that duplicate the functionality of my netremote pages (not tackling the layout stuff yet, just the functionality).

Once you get the hang of AJAX, it's not too bad at all.

Of course, it's not as easy as using NRD, but you can definitely get the job done.

One area I'm puzzled by is how to get access to JRMC. The basic transport commands are easy, but how do you get access to the album covers? If anyone has any info, I'd appreciate it!

(PS - my progress was so quick that I went out and bought an iPad today!)

K

Good work! I'm glad to hear that it's gone quickly - I was a bit of a slow learner, but now that I've gotten the hang of it, I'm really enjoying creating webserver pages. Album covers tripped me up as well - here's a thread that discusses it (in too much detail, so I apologize in advance): http://www.promixis.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20675)

The long and short of it is that I've posted an "experimental" version of the MediaBridge component in that thread which you can use to make GAC+ calls, providing the same album cover data that's available in NetRemote.

Cheers,
Tim