I'm looking to create an application that will be executed on a Mac machine, but I don't have one to develop on. I thought this would be a great opportunity to try and take advantage of the Mono runtime. I'm trying to figure out how to develop on a Windows XP machine and prepare a deployment package for an OSX machine.
I'd like to try and make the application have a UI since my users are not very technical. Is MonoDevelop the right tool to accomplish this? Should I be trying to use Windows Forms or GTK#?
Yep , you should use mono on windows directly with GTK# , but you'll need a few tweaks on mac so you'll need a mac eventualy. Your users will have to install the mono framework on their computer too, mono doesnt produce native Mac applications.
I love mono but if the end users are not very technical I dont think it is the right solution.
Anyway , the only way to develop some real multiplatform apps is Java, since it is pre installed on Macs so users will not have to download a framework to launch your apps.
Related
I have a PDA device, I’m developing a WinForms application. I’m testing my application on simulator. Once finished my tests, I need to put a release version of the application on the PDA Device. I prefer to avoid the USB connection. Is that possible?
Thankful for your help.
Yes it is possible, as long as the device supports the version of the framework you are working with. You should, be able to drop the applications executable straight into a directory in the PDA, and run the program from there.
There was a time, not two years ago, when you could didn't need Xamarin.Mac to deploy Mono apps to the Mac App Store. To be clear, that's the store for Mac OS X desktop apps, not iOS apps.
Now the MonoMacPackager page says the following:
If you want to create self-contained Mac bundles or publish your
software to the Mac AppStore, you should get Xamarin.Mac which is a
strict superset of MonoMac.
I haven't seen a good tutorial of how to release to the Mac App Store since Xamarin.Mac came out. Is Xamarin.Mac now "required", so to speak, to release Mono apps on Mac that have UIs written in XCode/IB? Or is the "subset" which is MonoMac still enough to create these hybrid apps?
I realize I could write against GTK# or Windows.Forms and have users install Mono themselves -- or use bockbuild like Banshee still does and have things self-contained -- to create standalone apps. I'm interested instead in the ability to have Mono code interface with native UIs created in XCode and to release those apps on the Mac App Store.
I also realize there's a template for open source projects in Xamarin Studio now, which actually kind of scares me. It seems the full treatment has gone behind the Xamarin pay wall.
So, in other words, is the MonoMacPackager obsolete with respect to releasing Mono apps with native UIs that pass Mac App Store muster?
The thing is, to be able to release into the Mac App Store, your app needs to be self-contained. Which means that you need to use mkbundle, which in turn means that the license of the Mono runtime would then contaminate everything. This license is LGPL.
If your app cannot legally bind to the requirements of the LGPL, then you need a Xamarin.Mac license.
Now, if you think your app can legally bind to the requirements of the LGPL, then the deal is a bit more tricky: are you sure that you can? Because many articles out there say that the theoretical restrictions of the ToS of the Mac App Store contradict GPL/LGPL licenses.
Some other people say that this conflict can be kind of circumvented... But I wouldn't try without the advice of a lawyer.
UPDATE: Turns out there's a difference in the way you use mkbundle, read more here. (And note: the Mac App Store has different restrictions than the iOS AppStore I think.)
I recently finished an application based on Titanium, Javascript, HTML, CSS. I have only been a web designer to date so I have little experience in distributing applications. I was accustomed to the TiDev Community deploying app, which prepared the app for download and made it available for download at a given link.
But tidev community is no longer supported, so I use TideSDK Developer to package the app, which doesnt do all the hard work the other one did so nicely.
I am obviously a complete rookie to this.
Could anyone outline the steps I would need to take to go from the bundled application folder I have now (put together by TideSDK Developer), to a link that will allow customers to download and install the app or online? I know there is an issue with packaoging the app for platforms other than your own, and that appcelerator is working on a solution to this I think. I also realise I would probably have to pay to host the download online. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
You must use the tidebuilder.py script. to compile a installation package. To compile a binary for a Mac, you must run the script on a Mac, to compile a binary for windows, you must be on a windows box etc.
There is some documentation on how to use it here per platform. The command is very simple and works.
Once you have your application file (DMG for OSX or a MSI for Windows) then just distribute it however you see fit, email, putting it on your web server, whatever works for you.
My question is quite simple: I want to create an adobe AIR application for desktop (windows).
What if an user does not have AIR runtime installed ? Does newest version of AIR come now with EMBEDDED AIR runtime, so it works even for people that do not have AIR runtime installed ?
if not, what would be the simplest way to distribut my AIR application and make sure people that do not have air runtime will be able to run it ?
regards
With the Release of the AIR 3.0 SDK you are now able to distribute Air with your application using the Captive Run Time
This will allow a user to install and run your Air application without having the runtime already installed.
There are some downsides however. For mobile applications (and desktop alike) including the captive runtime can increase the package size by around 10MB. Also, for desktop applications, you will have to package the application natively (ie .exe or .dmg) but if the user doesn't have the runtime installed in the first place they can't run the .air file anyway.
I've had to do this just recently and wanted to know exactly what you just asked.
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/air/articles/badge_for_air.html
That is what you need to know and will answer your question.
All you need to do then is deploy your .air file onto a server somewhere and point the javascript code to it.
HTH
Anthoni
I'm starting to learn Objective-C and I don't have a Mac (and I don't have plans to get one), but as I see that Cocoa is a very good framework to develop in Objective-C, I want to know: Is it possible to develop using Cocoa in Windows and Linux?
Thanks.
I think that your best bet, if you want to use Cocoa, is to get a Mac. You really won't regret it. GNUstep is a neat solution, but it is impractical to distribute applications built using GNUstep, because (as far as I know), clients must have the runtime installed for it to work.
Cocotron is an amazing project as well, and in the future, it may be useful for you if you want simple apps to run on both Mac OS and Windows. But you would still need a Mac to use it.
If you are interested in using a language like Objective-C with a framework like Cocoa, but don't want to get a Mac, why don't you try web application development with Cappuccino and Objective-J?. Objective-J is an implementation of an Objcective-C-like language in JavaScript, and Cappuccino is a really amazing imitation of the Cocoa framework in Objective-J.
Some examples of what can be created using that framework are 280 Slides and the new, stunningly beautiful EnStore. That's not a perfect solution, and unless you are content to just do web applications, you should buy a Mac.
Take a look at Cocotron
The purpose of the project is to provide an easy to use cross-platform solution for Objective-C development. In particular, source code level compatibility with recent versions of Apple's frameworks (OS X 10.4 and 10.5).
The general goal is to provide complete support on any viable platform, the project is intended to be as portable as possible. However, most of the work at this time is focused on providing support for Microsoft Windows. In particular the NT based versions, 2000 up to Vista.
You can also run Snow leopard Server inside a virtual machine, like VMWare Fusion.
Apple changed it licence in 2008 to allow that, but only with server editions. I have personally used it with some success to deploy iphone applications (Although it was admitably a bit slow).
You will need decent hardware and preferably a dedicated hard-disk drive to be able to use it properly.
And considering the cost of vmware and osx server you might be better off buying a used mac.