Wish Open .b4xlib file with B4X IDE

[Toky Olivier]

I think it is better to open/create directly .b4xlib library with the IDE so that it is like a b4x project.
Easy to create, modify, etc...
When we click on File>>New menu, the IDE asks: Project, B4X Library, Plain file, etc...

I don't know what you think.

 

[Erel]

The b4xlib that I created are not exactly projects. They are extracted with a batch file from a project (actually three projects, one for each platform). The batch file is configured to include some of the resources and exclude others. It also copies the library to the additional libraries folder.
While it does require writing a simple batch file, the solution is very flexible. I'm not convinced that an option to export a b4xlib directly from the IDE will be flexible enough. Maybe...

 

[Toky Olivier]

But for the created b4xlib, it is easy to modify if it is associated or can be opened with an b4x IDE. As it is dedicated to b4x solutions, every IDE (at least b4j, b4i and b4a) can open it. For now, to modify a b4xlib library (for example from the forum), I should extract it to a temporary folder, even if I can open it with an b4x ide, dependecies won't be automatically satisfied. I should create one project, add the file to the project, add libs, etc... and compress it again in a .b4xlib file.
I don't know for others but for me, it is easy to double click one b4xlib file in the Additionnal lib folder, modify it in a ide with all autocomplete and IDE features (designer for layout, etc), then save it. In another opened project, I refresh only libs list and work with the newly modified file.
May be for this feature, we need to have one more Path to be configured in each ide: Shared additional libs, Or... the current ide copy the lib in each b4x additional lib folders.

Yours.

 

[Star-Dust]

Those who created the b4xlib library if they wanted others to modify it would have distributed only the module in .bas format

The b4xlib file is not created to modify or access the source but to have a single library for the three platforms, and not three different files. Even if it is possible to decompress the file it is to get the source, it would not be correct to do it without explicit connsense of the developer.

If you could access the source directly from the IDE I would delete all the b4xlib libraries

 

[Toky Olivier]

Okay... I understand. Use and share the source is not correct. But to avoid problems, may be it is better to distribute compiled libs if it is like this. I thought that b4xlib is like a bas file but for the 3 plateforms and include some resources.
If the b4xlib file is not to be accessed, so... this thread should be closed. I haven't understand it like this...

 

[Star-Dust]

for greater security the library could be compiled. But you should have a library for each platform.

Furthermore, sometimes with new IDE versions you need to re-compile libraries for correct operation. With B4Xlib this problem is avoided, because everything is compiled on time.

 

[Toky Olivier]

Some intermediate bytecode needed then...