B4A next version - command line compilation

[Erel]

B4A architecture has gone a major refactoring in the purpose of better separating the UI layer and the compiler layer.

With this change it is now possible to add a command line builder. I guess that most developers will not use this feature however for developers dealing with large projects with multiple "targets" it can save a lot of time as it will allow automating the build process.

 

[thedesolatesoul]

Do you mean we can call:
C:\>b4acompiler.exe -d C:\MyProject -o MyApk.apk

 

[sorex]

yes, for changes in a shared code/class module this would speed up things.

just execute a batch file to recompile android & ios versions.
(not sure if it would work for IOS since it is way different with the remote compile)

 

[LWGShane]

I foresee this leading to a cross-platform IDE GUI as the command line builder could be ported to Mono. (CLI apps are always easier to port to Mono than GUI apps, due to less GUI baggage.)

 

[Jaames]

I see a lot of B4A IDEs in the future ...

 

[LWGShane]

@Erel

In order to do a full separation of the CLI compiler and the GUI IDE, I would suggest the following:

• Move the license checking code from the GUI IDE to the CLI complier. Have it check for a license in the same directory as the compiler each time it's run. If a license doesn't exist, then ask the user to either purchase a license or move their license into the directory of the CLI complier.
• Change from .bal/.bil files to XML. (XML is more "open". Plus, XML is super-easy to create. Would also allow members to share UIs.".)

To make a B4i version work, I'd suggest the following:

• [-local-builder "<ip.txt>"] argument. (Local Builder's IP Address would need to be in a text file called "ip.txt".)
• [-remote-builder "<login.txt>"] argument. (Login details would need to be stored in a text file called "login.txt", or maybe even included in the license file.)

The future of Anywhere Software is going to be amazing!

 

[Beja]

The future of Anywhere Software is going to be amazing!

I have no doubt in my mind.. Is it public yet? I want to buy a few stock

The 3 important points in advancing this technology should be:
1- simplicity
2- simplicity
3- simplicity

 

[sorex]

I wonder how fast we will get a rip off that will contain the compiler files as embedded resource.

Another IDE is nice, I just wonder how you will work with none core libraries and their methods that you can't see.
Will you jump back and forth to see what options you have or can that be extracted from the xml?

I guess it's all easier said than done

 

[Erel]

This is how it looks:

 

[Jim Brown]

This looks like a good move especially for 3rd party IDEs, thus giving more flexibility to the development process.
Does the new compiler support legacy and rapid build too?

 

[Erel]

Does the new compiler support legacy and rapid build too?

No. The debugger depends on the IDE too much for it to be part of a separate package.