I just ported one of my C# .net programs to run with mono on linux. Functionally it seems to be working, however under linux the program looks very different. It seems that many of the user controls have grown with respect to the main window, this results in a lot of truncation and scroll bars that are not present when built with visual studio. I tried this:
http://www.mono-project.com/FAQ:_Winforms
but that didn't help. Is there a way to make my program appear the same with mono/linux as with .net/windows? I realize that I may have to redesign the form slightly.
Also, since I loaded my .net project into mono I can't see to find the form designer? How can I the form layout of my program linux side?
So the problem here is that if you make WinForms look like Windows on Linux, people complain it doesn't look native on Linux, and if you make it look native on Linux people still complain.
That said there might be bugs causing the UI to show incorrectly - you should try to create small test cases and file bugs (and in the process you'll likely find out what works on both platforms).
There is no form designer on Linux, you need to use Visual Studio for design-time support.
Related
I'm currently trying to compile an old program (made with C++ builder 2 or 3) with the "current" Embarcadero RAD Studio XE2.
So, I was wondering whether there is an easy way to use the old code, as Borland once claimed to be fully compatible to lower versions... however I couldn't find a "project-file", only source-code (.cpp, .h, .res, etc.).
I tried to "add to project" the main .cpp, however there seem to be some wrong include-paths... it also seem to use the OWL-package and includes its important source-files...
I'm a bit confused which type of main project I have to open first, since you need to open a new project before adding the source to it. As the running .exe has a GUI, I tried a Form-Window first, but it may be better to use a console or service as the real form is produced within the code as far as I understand.
So, after installing OWL and correcting the include-paths, do you think it should be running fine? Or is there something else to take care of?
If your old project was using OWL, you're probably well outside of the supported upgrade path.
That being said, valid C++ code should still compile and work and I've heard of people using OWL with recent versions of C++Builder. (via OWLNext)
Regarding your confusion as to which type of project to use, I believe a console application would be your best bet. A forms application is completely wrong, that will bring in the VCL and give you no end of problems trying to reconcile the different windowing systems. A service application is a completely different beast as well, and isn't meant for GUI applications. A console application should work, but you'll need more. The OWLNext project has a wiki that should help quite a bit.
I've inherited a lot of custom made software for an office, and, while managing it, I've found it performs differently from machine to machine.
I mean, some controls get painted in weird ways in some machines but well in another, or just work differently, like in some machines clicking something selects it, and in the next machine clicking the same thing makes it editable.
I suspect, of course, of the myriad of DLL the software loads.
Why does it happen? Is there any way of avoiding it?
Edit:
All the machines are Windows XP SP3, Internet Explorer 8
"get paint in weird ways" to me means things like a control being painted 300 or 400 pixels bigger in a machine than in the others (overlapping part of the GUI).
I would suspect that some COM components are the issue (COMCTL32 would be my first guess), and that it isn't really a VB.NET problem. Versioning in the .NET world has been made so that the typical DLL hell issues shouldn't happen as they did before, but there are always some relics around...
Without more info I doubt that there will be a final answer to your question. You may want to start your troubleshooting by comparing Windows, Service Packs and IE versions.
Step 1. Ensure all machines have the exact same updates applied. This goes beyond the service pack. Run Windows Update on each machine and apply everything you can. I suspect you have radically different patch levels across the board.
Step 2. Ensure all machines have the native screen resolution set. This is more important for flat panels than the ancient CRT monitors.
Step 3. Look at the video drivers. Make sure you have the latest ones for those machines.
Step 4. Make sure the exact same version of your app really is deployed across all of the machines. If there are external dependencies, verify those are the same as well.
I am using C# and Visual Studio 2008.
I have a class that will turn on the scanner of my Windows Mobile Device and then will capture the read of the scanner when pressed. It will also shut down appropriately and cleanly. I am using a vendor provided SDK to do a lot of the heavy lifting.
I have this working correctly in a Mobile App, but I also need the dll to be able to be called via COM/ActiveX from a web site. I have been going around and around about how to do this. I've bounced between various settings and project types. I've tried converting it over to C++ and ATL. But so far nothing works.
I get conflicting information depending upon where I look. I need help. Can only C++ do this? Is there something I'm missing? I can't be the only person needing to do this. How can I do this?
You cannot create ActiveX/COM components in managed code with the Compact Framework. There is not EE Hosting support, so it simply cannot be done. You will have to write this in C++ (not managed C++, but old-fashioned native).
As a side note that is sometimes overlooked on COM controls, you also have to implement IObjectSafety for the control to work in a browser.
I need to build a fairly simple app but it needs to work on both PC and Mac.
It also needs to be redistributable on a disc or usb drive as a standalone desktop app.
Initially I thought AIR would be perfect for this (it ticks all the API requirements), but the difficulty is making it distributable, as the app would require the AIR runtime to be installed to run.
I came across Shu Player as an option as it seems to be able to package the AIR runtime with the app and do a (silent?) install.
However this seems to break the T&C from Adobe (as outlined here) so I'm not sure about the legality.
Another option could be Zinc but I haven't tested it so I'm not sure how well it'll fit the bill.
What would you recommend or suggest I check out?
Any suggestion much appreciated
EDIT:
There's a few more discussions on mono usage (though no real conclusion):
Here and Here
EDIT2:
Titanium could also fit the bill maybe, will check it out.
Any more comments from anyone?
EDIT3 (one year on): It's actually been almost a year since I posted that question but it seems some people still come across it every now and then, and even contribute an answer, even a year later.
Thought I'd update the question a bit. I did not get around to try the tcl/tk option at the end, time constraint and the uncertainty of the compatibility to different os versions led me to discard that as an option.
I did try Titanium for a bit but though the first impressions were ok, they really are pushing the mobile platform more than anything, and imho, the desktop implementation suffers a bit from that lack of attention. There are also some report of problems with some visual studio runtime on some OSs (can't remember the details now though).. So discarded that too.
I ended up going with XULRunner. The two major appeals were:
Firefox seems to work out of the box on most OS version, so I took it as good faith that a XULRunner app would likely be compatible with most system. Saved me a lot of testing and it turned out that it did run really well on all platforms, there hasn't been a single report of not being able to start the app
It's Javascript baby! Language learning curve was minimal. The main thing to work out is what the additional xpcom interfaces are and how to query them.
On the down side:
I thought troubleshooting errors was a sometimes difficult task, the venkman debugger is kinda clunky, ended up using the console more than anything.
The sqlite interface is a great asset for a desktop app but I often struggled to find relevant error infos when something didn't work - maybe i was doing it wrong.
It took a little while to work out how to package the app as a standalone app for both PC and Mac. The final approach was to have a "shell" mac app and a shell pc app and a couple of "compile" script that would copy the shells and add the custom source code onto it in the correct location.
One last potential issue for some, due to the nature of xulrunner apps, your source code will be deployed with the app, you can use obfuscation if you want but that's something to keep in mind if you want to protect your intellectual property
All in all, great platform for a cross-platform app. I'd highly recommend it.
Tcl/Tk has one of the best packaging solutions out there. You can easily wrap a cross-platform application (implemented in a fully working virtual filesystem) with a platform-specific binary to get a single file executable for just about any modern desktop system. Search google for the terms starkit, starpack and tclkit. Such wrapped binaries are tiny in comparison to many executables these days.
Many deride Tk as being "old" or "immature" but it's one of the oldest, most stable toolkits out there. It uses native widgets when such widgets exist.
One significant drawback of Tcl/Tk, however, is that it lacks any sort of printing support. If your application needs to print you'll have to be a bit creative. There are platform-specific solutions, and the ability to generate postscript documents, and libraries to create pdfs, but it takes a little extra effort.
Java is probably your best bet, although not all Windows PCs will necessarily have Java (most should). JavaFX is new enough you can't count on it - you'll probably find a lot of machines running Java 1.5 or (shudder) 1.4. I believe recent Mac OS still ships with 1.5 (latest version may have changed to 1.6).
Consider JavaFX
It would run everywhere with a modern JRE ..!
AIR could be an option, but only if you don't mind distributing two different files (the offline runtime installer and your app), and expecting the user to run one and then the other. You do have to submit an online form at Adobe's site saying you agree to distribute the offline installer as-is, rather than digging out individual DLLs or whatever, before they give you the installer.
Unfortunately there's currently no way to get both an AIR app and the runtime to install from one file though. I'm not sure what the deal with Shu is, or whether it's doing anything that isn't kosher.
i would recommended zink. it has all the functionalities you require for desktop. however, the las time i used it it was a bit glitchy.
i was hung up by trying to write a 6M file to the disk. thought it trough and changed the code to write 512K chunks at a time (3min work, fast).
probably it still has some little annoying glitches like making you think on root lvl but the ease of use and the features are just way too sweet to ignore.
I'm looking at rewriting an eMbedded Visual Basic app I wrote years ago. I'm unsatisified with it because of various problems clients keep having with it now and then over the years, mostly along the lines of the app not loading anymore because a required dll/activex control has gone missing! This is so frustrating and naturally difficult to debug when a client is using it far away. In alot of cases reinstalling the app doesn't fix the problem.
My preference would be to rewrite it in C# since I'm comfortable with C# and DotNet, but I'm also open to other platforms like blackberry or iTouch/iPhone so long as the platform can support maps and GPS. I'd start rewriting it in C# now but I can't be sure that I won't have the same problems in .net.
Has anyone else had similar problems with eVB apps which have gone away/persisted when moving to CF DotNet? Or would you suggest a different platform again?
Edit: Note that I wish to move away from eVB anyway, but if I move to CF DotNet I want to make sure I won't have the same missing dll/control problems.
I recommend .NET CF strongly, especially if you already know C# and .NET. Mono has been ported to the iPhone, so it is possible to write apps that will run on Windows Mobile and the iPhone. No Mono for Blackberry (yet, if ever), so that's a definite limitation. I personally can't stand Blackberries (I have both a Blackberry and a WM smartphone and the Blackberry makes me want to hang myself), but they do have a huge user base.
You should have migrated away from eVB years ago, but that's water under the bridge. If you want to continue targeting Windows CE/ Windows Mobile I'd recommend going to the CF - language is irrelevant, use what you're comfortable with.
There's no way to guarantee that whatever your "missing DLL" problem is won't happen again, since we have no idea what DLL went missing. If it was a 3rd party control, then you're at the mercy of the market. If the provider survives, it's likely their control will.
If you want to target iPhone/Blackberry then Java is more likely to be your language of choice - the tools I'm not as familiar with. Eclipse for Blackberry - iPhone may have their own tool.
As for Silverlight, you might look at it, but so far it's just way too slow to be a viable platform, at least on any WinMo device I've ever seen. We've delevered many, many CF apps for all sorts of verticals and have never had any usability problems (though we've been doing it a long time and know every limitation and what we should and should not be trying).
I suggest you take it one step further and look at Silverlight. One of the premises is that it's a more long-term-stable, portable, lightweight download and install, and it hasn't gotten krufty yet.
I think it has the potential to be the next VB for embedded. One of the difficulties with CF is that I've found it to be an insufficient subset of the real thing.
Another option is NS Basic/CE. It's highly compatible with eVB, so you will be able to keep most if not all of your code. The product has been continually updated so it runs on current devices.
The installer that NS Basic/CE creates includes all the dll files your program requires, so they will be included on installation.