Thread: The SDK is here!

so I have taken quite a bit of time ironing out the SDK and putting all the features in that the main application has (arrangeable buttons, color changing tables/buttons/sliders etc, border-less animating windows, bezels, lots more)

the best part in the new version is that for sliders and windows you simply use Apple's NSSliderCell and NSWindow in your custom module and NeonBoombox will automatically load my subclasses in place so that greatly reduces the care that 3rd parties need to take to make a compatible module.

I will not be posting the new SDK for sometime. Mainly due to a compatible version of Neonboombox itself not yet being available. If anyone has genuine interest in developing modules at this time feel free to contact me with a request and I will help you out.

I know its been a long while since I have updated the SDK. Fact is that the framework is done enough for anybody with know how to accomplish alot; it is the documentation that is lacking. I just don't have the time right now.

If you do decide to make you own module before I release the updated documentation be aware that there are several classes that will either disappear or be fundamentally reworked after I release NBB 1.0. (off the top of my head I would stay away from any of the window related classes and any table cell class or just be aware that those will undergo some hefty changes that will break any modules that rely on them. some may disappear and be reconstituted as categories instead.

control classes are safe for now (except for table cells).

with that said here is a sample xcode module project that you can download and do whatever you want to. all it does right now (I will continue to improve it over time) is create a control bar with a home and options button. the purpose however is to allow you to embed 3rd party applications by editing the launch.scpt and exit.scpt files included (they are just blank apple scripts right now). if you can't tell from the name they are scripts that will execute on module launch and exit respectively. you may also add scripts to the existing modules as well by creating scripts titled as explained above to a scripts subfolder in the module resource directory.

NOTE: for the scripts to be executed you must be using NBB release 9G (as of this writing it is unreleased)

hope somebody does something useful with this

EDIT:to recompile the projects you may need to relink the neonboomboxSDK framework to the one located at Noeonboombox/contents/frameworks. once it is built the resulting module can be dumped into anybody's NBB modules folder and work

EDIT2: you may also need to delete your prefs if you have set custom positions for the dial buttons. alternatively you can rename the module built in this project to something that comes after P. it will probably be many months before I create a way for the module loader to work around this issue unless 3rd party interest ramps up significantly

Edit3: new example project below

here is an updated example project. you will probably want to build it against the 1.0 RC 1 now available from the site but there should be no reason it wont link against the last build.

the module is prebuilt this time so you don't need xcode to compile it if you just want to edit the launch script to embed a different program (example uses safari).

still not perfect but I think it could work well enough with some tweaks.

EDIT: as I have mentioned elsewhere; if you have specified custom button positions for the dial you will likely need to delete your NBB prefs file to use this. Still working on a fix for this issue.

EDIT2: I believe the above issue has been resolved now

I have decided to release the source code to the XM module.

I do so in hopes that somebody with the drive and time might make it better, and hopefully allow me to roll any new features or other enhancements into the main project.

This is also a great example of how to use the NBB SDK, which is lacking documentation, but a studious coder may glean enough to make other modules. I am always willing to help.

This is only the source code for the module controller, you will need the MTCoreAudio framework, the AMSerialPort class, and the images for the stations. I didn't include these because they are not my work, the XM icons came from bugbyte and I'm sure he will give you permission to harvest them (they can be found in the distributed radio module bundle).

just google for the other 2 requirements. good luck, hope to see something come of this.

I just updated the radio source code to include the nib file.
also since i didn't mention it before, you will need to link against the NeonBoomboxSDK framework for this to compile

Originally Posted by lacning74

Oh man, I wish I learned how to program. I'm just a pathetic, selfish end-user that wants ready to go modules now!

well its never too late to lear

I swear its not hard to write xcode applications. I didn't even go to school and have only read about a quarter of the aaron hillgrass book (truly excellent IMO)... most of my learning came from starting this project; google and cocoadev are my friends.

I am always willing to help, all the hard work for the radio module is done; It is set up for communication with both the XM Direct and XM PCR and almost every useful radio command has been coded. What this module is lacking is mostly in the interface and options departments.

Thanks! As I said, I think I'm going to try and integrate this into the Amp2 front end. Thanks for releasing the code!