Category Archives: News

Smart Mobile Studio 2.1 (beta-3)

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Smart Mobile Studio 2.1 (beta)

This version is actually more like a “release candidate” than a “beta”.

There’s only one issue left, and that’s related to RTTI.
If we mange to fix this issue within the next few days, then we will include that fix in the final release. If not, we’ll postpone the RTTI to the first hotfix and release this version as is.

If you would like to give this a try, you can download the installer here:

A valid license key (trial or subscription) is required.

NOTE: Since v2.0 isn’t forward compatible, you can’t open v2.1 projects in v2.0. Make sure to always backup your projects case you want to revert to v2.0 again.

—
Sincerely,
The Smart Mobile Studio Team

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Smart Mobile Studio 2.1 (beta-2)

Posted on by Posted in Announcements, Developers log, News 11 Comments

Smart Mobile Studio 2.1 (beta)

We have received lots of useful feedback from the first beta.

We have addressed most of these, but there are a few more issues we want to implement before the final release. Thus a second beta.

If you would like to give this a try, you can download the installer here:

A valid license key (trial or subscription) is required.

NOTE: Since v2.0 isn’t forward compatible, you can’t open v2.1 projects in v2.0 anymore. Make sure to always backup your projects case you want to revert to v2.0 again.

—
Sincerely,
The Smart Mobile Studio Team

Continue reading→

Small boards for hosting Smart projects

Posted on by Posted in Developers log, News

Recently there was a question about how to host Smart project on a dedicated small server to provide access in a sort of a kiosk application way. At the moment there are dozens of examples available as also shown in the Node.js on a RaspberryPi post . In contrast to microcontroller boards, this post will feature an overview over small boards, which are perfect to deliver your Smart application to a small group of clients.

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Smart Mobile Studio 2.1 (beta-1)

Posted on by Posted in Announcements, Developers log, News 3 Comments

Smart Mobile Studio 2.1 (beta)Version 2.1 of Smart Mobile Studio will soon be released.

If you would like to give this a try, you can download the installer here:

A valid license key (trial or subscription) is required.

NOTE: Since v2.0 isn’t forward compatible, you can’t open v2.1 projects in v2.0 anymore. Make sure to always backup your projects case you want to revert to v2.0 again.

—
Sincerely,
The Smart Mobile Studio Team

Continue reading→

Smart Mobile Studio 2.0 (Hotfix 2)

Posted on by Posted in Announcements, Developers log, News

The next version of Smart Mobile Studio (v2.1) is right around the corner.

We do, however, need a bit more time than first anticipated on testing and quality assurance for this release.
Thus we decided to release another hotfix for v2.0 to support the users who needs these fixes.

You can download Smart Mobile Studio 2.0.2 from the downloads section, which includes this ‘hotfix 2’.

Changelog

Fixes

  • Fixed compiler bugs.
  • Improved command-line compiler (more independent now).
  • Source code highlighter for bg color of active line.
  • Underscores allowed in component names.
  • ShowMessage bug under Chromium.
  • Update of Top/Left properties when dragging components.
  • Update component color properly.
  • Improved CTRL+Click in source code.
  • Save “whole word” option in search dialog.

Download

You can download Smart Mobile Studio 2.0.2 from the downloads section.

—
Sincerely,
The Smart Mobile Studio Team

Smart Mobile Studio 2.0 (Hotfix 1)

Posted on by Posted in Announcements, Developers log, News

While we are hard working on the next release of Smart Mobile Studio (few hints: docking, debugging, HTML projects) we also want to support existing 2.0 users. We have fixed bugs that were reported since version 2.0 and even added few improvements which didn’t make it into the original release.

You can download Smart Mobile Studio 2.0.1 from the downloads section.

Changelog

Fixes

  • Fixed compiler bugs.
  • Fixed command-line compiler.
  • Project, Show application unit could be executed when no project was open which resulted in access violation error.
  • Expand classes and Expand all actions in the Unit structure window were disabled for external forms.
  • Alignment problems of the component palette when program is not started maximized.
  • In-memory state was not refreshed after RTL reindex.
  • If the RTL database cannot be loaded during startup (even if index file exists), it is automatically reindexed.
  • Access violation in Options if no project is selected.
  • Program terminated instead of asking for license when not running maximized and valid license was not found.
  • Fixed implementation of the Focused property.
  • Fixed TPointF.Displace function. Better implementation of TPoint.AngleTo and TPointF.AngleTo.
  • Fixed project loading code. Project files referring to missing files can now be opened.
  • Fixed links on Welcome page.

Changes

  • Disabled Project.Export project, which was not implemented.
  • Disabled Build Documentation menu which was not fully implemented.
  • Exception logging is built into product.
  • Updated CSS for the grid component.
  • Class Browser is temporarily disabled (it was not working properly). We’ll fix it in the next “normal” release.

New Features

  • Added grid methods TW3Grid.AddCells, TW3Columns.Clear, TW3Columns.Delete and properties TW3Column.Alignment, TW3Column.Color.
  • Added grid demo.

Known issues

  • [CTRL] + Click on a unit might open the wrong file if Source Maps are/were used for debugging and the directory ..\www\debug is still present.

Download

You can download Smart Mobile Studio 2.0.1 from the downloads section.

—
Sincerely,
The Smart Mobile Studio Team

node.js on a Raspberry Pi

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Raspberry Pi node.jsWith the Raspberry Pi a low cost computer is available that can be used for a great variety of different purposes.  The credit-card-sized single-board computer is capable to run Linux, which is available in form of different, custom tailored distributions. Most of them can be extended easily to run node.js, which was presented in-depth in the recent posts.

This article will shed a light on how to install node.js on a Raspberry Pi. It will present some nice ideas about how to get the best out of your Raspberry Pi (& alike). Last but not least the article concludes with some benchmarks to show some limits.

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Server-side Node.js (part 1): Introduction

Posted on by Posted in Documentation, News

Node.js Logo

In the new version 2 of Smart Mobile Studio you can now create server side projects! This is possible by using node.js, which is “the next big thing”: It’s an event based server side JavaScript application using the open source and very fast Google’s V8 engine. It was initially developed to be used as a HTTP server in the cloud, but nowadays you can also use it on your own PC or on a business server. It is powered by a small executable (6 MB)V8_JavaScript_engine_logo which doesn’t need an installation. Still, it can be extended easily via the package manager npm to fulfill any desired purpose and make it versatile in a lot different situations. For example, it is used by LinkedIn, WalMart and even Microsoft(!) in the Azure cloud. Also, PayPal has recently switched from Java to Node.js…

When you start using node.js, be aware that it is very different to web browser programming: it is a server with no GUI, so no ‘document’ and ‘window’ globals and no ‘alert’ function. It doesn’t run in a sandbox so you access all files, databases etc like you can with a normal application. It has it’s own API for this, which cannot be compared to “JavaScript for HTML”: it is just JavaScript and has nothing to do with web browsers.

But be aware: it is fun and addictive! 🙂

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Smart Mobile Studio 2.0

Posted on by Posted in Developers log, News 3 Comments

This is a list of all changes since the last official release (1.1.2).

Compiler

New functionality

  • Added command line compiler smsc.
  • Added support for external variables and external class variables.
  • Scriptable HTML templates and CSS scripts.
  • CSS is compressed during compilation.
  • New ways to include an external resource:
    • {$R ‘resource.js’} or {$R ‘file:resource.js’} will copy the resource to the ‘res’ folder during compilation and link it into the program (‘<script>’ statement will be generated in the HTML code or ‘require’ will be generated for NodeJS code).
    • {$R ‘http://server/path/script.js’} or {$R ‘https://server/path/script.js’} will just link the code to the program without copying anything.
    • You can specify MIME type for the resource by prefixing it to the resource name: {$R ‘text/javascript:http://server/path/file.php’}. If the MIME type is not provided, it will be generated automatically from the extension part of the resource name.
  • Compiled program is stored in a ‘www’ subfolder (previously it was stored in a ‘bin’ subfolder).

Improved functionality

  • Improved codegen for static and static sealed classes.
  • Improved codegen for “new JObject”.

Bugs fixed

  • Fixed various codegen problems related to constant arrays, external classes and nested records.

RTL

New functionality

  • Added support for the Espruino microcontroller.
  • Added wrappers for JavaScript functions prompt() and confirm().
  • Added support for Android Home Screen applications (http://www.delphitools.info/2013/10/16/chrome-web-apps-in-android/).
  • Added TMetronome class (http://www.delphitools.info/2013/10/18/time-stepping-for-games-and-simulations/).
  • New units: w3WebWorker, w3c.WebSpeechAPI, Chrome.Serial, Firefox\Bluetooth.
  • Added methods to the w3colors unit.

Improved functionality

  • Redesigned (faster) GameView.
  • Improved TW3Button with ‘pressed’ state.
  • More IE shims.
  • Improved W3Effects.
  • Improved ColorToWebStr.
  • Improved TW3BufferedImage.SetSize.
  • Improved compiler messages window.

Bugs fixed

  • Fixed System.Diagnostics performance timer fallback (for Safari).
  • Fixed HSL delta methods in w3colors.

IDE

New functionality

  • New visual designer.
  • New component package manager.
  • New project file format, incompatible with older Smart versions. Projects are now stored with a .sproj extension and forms with a .sfm extension.
  • New, XML-based preferences file (preferences.xml) replaced INI-based file (preferences.ini).
  • Added NodeJS and WebWorkers project types.
  • Added tool that creates DataSnap service connector (Delphi Enterprise must be installed on the same computer).
  • Build automation with build scripts.
  • Source maps.
  • Lines/blocks can be moved up/down with Alt+Shift+Up/Down.
  • Internal browser allows taking screenshot of the running application.
  • Configuration option “Save projects before compilation”.
  • A project can be compiled and run even if it was never saved.
  • Implemented Open, Save, Save As, Save Project As.
  • Metadata information can be set for a project.
  • IDE state related to the project (open tabs, top line, bookmarks) is stored in the <projectname>.dsk file and is restored when a project is open.
  • Redesigned template (HTML and CSS) handling.
  • Ctrl+click ‘link’ highlighting.
  • Source code change bar to indicate changes (original, modified, saved).
  • Default project options for each project type can be configured.
  • Added compilation options ‘Automatically refresh in browser’ and ‘Handle uncaught exceptions’.
  • Added support for defining conditional compilation symbols on a project level.
  • Redesigned ‘run’ experience (http://smartmobilestudio.com/2013/10/12/new-ways-to-run-a-project/).

Improved functionality

  • Project title can contain spaces.
  • Custom HTML & CSS code is now separated from general resources
  • Better structure of project options (removed dead settings)
  • Application adapts to low-resolution displays.
  • Improved HTML highlighter, now supports embedded JavaScript, DWS, and CSS.
  • Dotted unit names are supported.
  • Snippets are stored in a separate folder, one snippet per file.
  • Redesigned server/internal browser forms and execution options.
  • Added shortcuts to toggle Compiler Messages and Mini Map visibility.
  • Improved renaming of units.

Bugs fixed

  • Code completion works in .spr files.
  • Highlighter preview (in Preferences) uses currently selected editor font.
  • Configured editor font is correctly displayed when Preview dialog is open.

Removed functionality

  • Compact toolbar.
  • Exit button in the toolbar.
  • Removed ‘Visual components project (New Project Script Demo)’ project type.

Other

New functionality

  • New demos: eSpeak, TransitionEffects, Complex Numbers.
  • Added touch and acceleration support to the “Box2D Demo” project.

Changed

  • Renamed some demos (removed ‘by XXXX’).

Removed

  • Removed demo “Box2D Integration”.

How to use Cordova

Posted on by Posted in Developers log, News

CordovaWhile the next version 2.0 is still not entirely ready, here’s a post about how your HTML5 application can be converted to a native application with Cordova (the open source base of PhoneGap). It’s a bit more tricky than with PhoneGap, but completely free of any costs and you don’t need to transmit your application to any server, which might be in times of NSA surveillance always a bit critical.

The tutorial below only covers the basics. If you want to use plugins to enhance the native experience (e.g. to access hardware directly), you need to consult the plugin’s documentation.
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