Basic4android - do you want to help?

[Erel]

Users who like to help with the development of Basic4android can help in two fields:
- Become a beta tester. Please send me an email to [email protected] if you want to beta test Basic4android (not available yet, but also not too far away).

- Spread the word about Basic4android...
This link is currently most relevant for directing people to Basic4android: Basic4android - Basic4ppc - Windows Mobile Development

More resources will be available in the future.

 

[derez]

Development Environment ?

Erel

I do want to help, not only by spreading the word but in real work - meaning writing libraries that will complement the basic b4A in the same way it is with b4P or better.
To do it I need you to show the way to the development environment that will suit the product you prepare.

Please direct me (and other interested forum members ) to the appropriate set of tools (like eclipse IDE, android sdk and emulators) with the suitable specific versions.

Thanks !

 

[Erel]

Thank you David.
In order to run Basic4android you will need to have two components installed:
Java 6 JDK: https://cds.sun.com/is-bin/INTERSHO...ProductRef=jdk-6u21-oth-JPR@CDS-CDS_Developer
Note that the user name and password fields are OPTIONAL.

Android SDK: http://dl.google.com/android/android-sdk_r07-windows.zip
The SDK doesn't come with any Android platform installed. After installing it you should run SDK Manager.exe and install one or more platforms.
You should install Android 1.6 or higher. If you intend to write Basic4android libraries then it is recommended to download Android 1.6 (you can target higher versions if your library requires it).
It is also recommended to download: "USB Driver pacakge". This allows you to work with a real device directly from the IDE. It is not required for working with the emulator.

In order to develop Basic4android libraries you need to download Eclipse and install the Android plug-in.

Eclipse 3.5: Eclipse IDE for Java Developers | Eclipse Packages
Plug-in instructions: ADT Plugin for Eclipse | Android Developers

I will write more details about external libraries after releasing the beta version.

 

[Cableguy]

I've already joined the beta tester group, and, as Derez, would be interested in developing some libs to B4A...
But I guess that until we get a workable beta version, any work we get done will be prompt to failure laking a way to test it...
Edit: Beaten to the clock by EREL...

 

[agraham]

It is also recommended to download: "USB Driver pacakge". This allows you to work with a real device directly from the IDE.

Not all "devices" unfortunately. Many of the cheap Android tablets do not work with this driver as they do not have the correct USB IDs for this driver to recognise. It's not an infallible indication but if the device doesn't work with the Android Marketplace then it probably won't support the debugging USB driver. This is because the marketplace needs a unique ID to identify the device and I think it uses the phones IMEI, which non-phone tablets do not have, as the basis for this. Such non-phone devices usually (always?) seem to lack the "phone" USB IDs that the driver recognises.

Note this USB driver is for use with the Android "adb" utility. Devices can also connect as a memory device using the normal Windows USB drivers for USB memory. This mode does not require any external software and, as far as I know, works on all Android devices. To enable the USB for use with adb, and so the B4Android IDE, you need to go to Settings -> Applications -> Development and enable USB debugging accepting the warning. If having done this, and plugged it into your PC by USB, your PC doesn't try to load the debugging drivers but still looks like a memory device to your PC then your device (like mine ) probably doesn't support USB debugging.

All is not lost however because as long as the device can connect to your network with WiFi you should be able to connect to it this way instead of by the USB driver. Connect the device to the network by WiFi and enable USB debugging as above then at a command prompt in the Android SDK "Tools" folder, folder where adb.exe is located type

adb connect 192.168.0.10:5555

replacing the dotted quad IP address with the IP address of the device which you can find under Settings -> Wireless conntrols -> WiFi settings and press the entry for the connected network name. adb should then work normally.

I find it useful to have the Android SDK "Tools" folder on the system PATH.