GP32 Any Coders Interested In Doing Pda Apps?

[DaveC]

I had ideas for doing a PDA type suite for the GP32. It would include programs such as graphing calcs, Address book, format conversions (length, mass, force, temp etc) dictionaries, anything else like that I (or you) can think of. I could do all of the graphics and layout and design just no code. Why do this? Well the GP32 would be good for this and unlike PDAs the data stored on your SMC stays there even with no power. With the GP32 you can put in batteries anytime and get to the data even if it sits unused for months. With PDAs you need to keep them constantly charged and they drain the batteries even when not in use, which can lead to loss of data etc. I have owned PDAs in the past but found that I only needed these basic functions once in awhile. Since I only needed to use these programs once in awhile I always found my PDAs batteries dead or close to it when I turned it on. We already have good text readers, image viewers and MP3 players so those are done.

Anyone interested?

Stuff like this:

http://www.trancreative.com/mxconv.aspx <--great one

http://www.pocketgear.com/software_detail.asp?id=10428

http://www.pocketgear.com/software_detail.asp?id=13726

 

[Blah]

Quit stealing my ideas!

Actually I was sort of passivly working on a suite of sorts mostly in my head.

 

[DaveC]

Quit stealing my ideas!

Actually I was sort of passivly working on a suite of sorts mostly in my head.

​

That is OK I can't code a byte. So it is not like I can make and release anything. If you DID do it and needed me to give ideas and/or do graphics etc for you I could though.

 

[Blah]

I'm not too great a coder either, but I guess you only get better by practicing. Simple PDA style apps would be great practice. Now if only I had a little more time and a little more will. But schools about to go out so that may give me the time and will I need.

 

[Oankali]

My GBAX 2005 submission can interest you.
Here's a link of some screenshots I've posted on GP32Spain.
The library is not finished but it is in a very advanced stage.

 

[DaveC]

My GBAX 2005 submission can interest you.
Here's a link of some screenshots I've posted on GP32Spain.
The library is not finished but it is in a very advanced stage.

​

Looks cool, what is it? It looks like a text reader or something but I can't tell from the screenshots. I don't read Spanish so I can't read the descriptions.

 

[Oankali]

My GBAX 2005 submission can interest you.
Here's a link of some screenshots I've posted on GP32Spain.
The library is not finished but it is in a very advanced stage.

​

Looks cool, what is it? It looks like a text reader or something but I can't tell from the screenshots. I don't read Spanish so I can't read the descriptions.

​

It's a C library to include a GUI in your apps.
The app you have seen is just a demo to demonstrate the capabilities of the library.
The kernel is almost stable but there is still a lot of work to do with the controls as all the basic controls I want to code are not implemented yet.

 

[DaveC]

Ok that will be good. I couldn't use it because I can't code but hopefully someone that can code will use it.

 

[Blah]

Awesome. I was thinking about porting FLTK but now I'm not

 

[pea]

hehe. Also, wait for GPDesktop
http://www.gp32.co.nz/gpdesktop.php

 

[Oankali]

hehe. Also, wait for GPDesktop
http://www.gp32.co.nz/gpdesktop.php

​

Hi Pea!
You are doing a very good job with your GPDesktop.
I didn't visit your website for a very long time and didn't know if you were working on your project. I'm glad to see that you are
Some month ago someone told in a thread that we could join our efforts but as we don't think we have the same goal in our projects I didn't ask to you.
But I must admit I have thought more than once how you were doing, how you were solving the different technical issues I was finding.
One day we should open a thread to see wich are the differences between our two solutions and why we have done it like this. What do you think?

Oankali

 

[Blah]

Yeah, but for the fonts, I would use freetype lib and some truetype fonts, they're better scalable that way and take up less space.

 

[DaveC]

Too bad there isn't an engine optimised for making non-game apps like calcs etc. It would be like Zot, Fenix, Gigas etc but for PDA style apps. That way non-coders like me could do alot of stuff.

 

[tekt5]

wow pea, that looks GREAT!

I had never seen that before. Good Luck with it.

 

[Oankali]

Yeah, but for the fonts, I would use freetype lib and some truetype fonts, they're better scalable that way and take up less space.

​

Before coding my font egine I compiled the FreeType 2 library for the GP32 to code a text reader. It was very 's very slow, so I coded my own library.
But don't think that all truetype fonts take less space. See your Fonts folder. For the GP32 we don't need all the sizes neither all the character sets.

 

[pea]

I agree Oankali. Once GPDesktop is operational, it would be good to start a thread to let people (and us) know what the differences are. I think the major difference is that you have designed tools to let people include nice GUIs in their own apps, whereas I have focused on a solution where the app can only run in GPDesktop. Both will have their advantages and disadvantages. Yours looks very nice BTW.

I agree about freetype. I haven't tried it, but I do know that it would be slow, and take up a lot of memory - both for the fonts (which are bigger than you think Blah) and the rendering code etc.

 

[Oankali]

I agree Oankali. Once GPDesktop is operational, it would be good to start a thread to let people (and us) know what the differences are. I think the major difference is that you have designed tools to let people include nice GUIs in their own apps, whereas I have focused on a solution where the app can only run in GPDesktop. Both will have their advantages and disadvantages. Yours looks very nice BTW.

[...]

​

I think you have summarized quiet well the distinction between our two projects
Meanwhile you can have a look to the html file you can find in my gbax entry. It's the document I had to write to remember me how worked the kernel of my engine after I paused the project for too much monthes.