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iKenndac · 03-25-2005, 05:46 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by BenjaminS

AstraMac - This seems like a good project, but I have yet to see a mention of the license that it will be released under or a release. Until then I will have to wait and see how things pan out.

Hey there, I'm the guy writing AstraMac.

At the moment, AstraMac is being written with *my* equipment in mind as it's a fairly personal project. However, I'm writing it in a way that'll make it easy to make the project more general. When it does get released, it will be free but not GPL'ed, I'm afraid - it uses iPod scanning routines from the program I earn a living on and I'm not really prepared to release that code to the public. Now, making it a plugin and having the *rest* GPL'ed is something that could work. However, that'd only happen once it's fairly matured and works well. Until then, it's a personal project. Also, it isn't written in Objective-C, but in REALbasic. That might be a problem to it's usefulness as a GPL app.

AstraMac isn't an AppleScript front-end. All the Media Library and iPod stuff is handled within the program. It does use AppleScript at times - at the moment, to tell DVD player to launch and play. However, I may well use Apple's DVDPlayback.framework to do that in-program, too. Eventually I aim to have it communicate with a server to get new music (much like you stated in your first post) and all sorts of other fancy things, including talking to my car's CAN to get info about what the car is doing. That'll have to wait a while

.

I'm also going to the South of France in the car in a couple of weeks, and I want it working well before I go. Expect a lot of development between now and then!

Quote: Originally Posted by BenjaminS

Most would say this is a terrible idea, but I say what does it matter because the view will never affect model or control.

This will make it *so* much easier once you get going. Having a model to work from is much better than looking at an empty window with nothing to do but start randomly adding controls.

Quote: Originally Posted by BenjaminS

If you could help out me out with a "rule of thumb" gui design guide that i could follow it would be great. In fact this should be ANOTHER community project, a resource to help people conform to a standardized design guideline in terms of proportions and usability.

I say, custom controls all the way. A pain in the arse to set up, but you can make your own custom controls as classes. Once you've done the drawing code, you can make as many buttons as you want, like 'normal' controls. This way, you change the code in that one button class and all your buttons change too.

Also, standard system controls aren't suitable for touchscreen use. You can make buttons big, but everything else (sliders, tab-panels, checkboxes etc) is simply too small for touchscreen use.

I also recommend you keep the click-flow as short as you possibly can. With AstraMac, a single click (touch?) can get you to any major area of the program (Audio, DVD, Advanced, etc). A second touch gets you to the sub-section you need. Sometimes it ends there and you have music. If not, a third touch gets music/dvd/etc playing.

03-25-2005, 05:46 PM	#10
iKenndac Newbie Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Knebworth, UK Posts: 39	Quote: Originally Posted by BenjaminS AstraMac - This seems like a good project, but I have yet to see a mention of the license that it will be released under or a release. Until then I will have to wait and see how things pan out. Hey there, I'm the guy writing AstraMac. At the moment, AstraMac is being written with my equipment in mind as it's a fairly personal project. However, I'm writing it in a way that'll make it easy to make the project more general. When it does get released, it will be free but not GPL'ed, I'm afraid - it uses iPod scanning routines from the program I earn a living on and I'm not really prepared to release that code to the public. Now, making it a plugin and having the rest GPL'ed is something that could work. However, that'd only happen once it's fairly matured and works well. Until then, it's a personal project. Also, it isn't written in Objective-C, but in REALbasic. That might be a problem to it's usefulness as a GPL app. AstraMac isn't an AppleScript front-end. All the Media Library and iPod stuff is handled within the program. It does use AppleScript at times - at the moment, to tell DVD player to launch and play. However, I may well use Apple's DVDPlayback.framework to do that in-program, too. Eventually I aim to have it communicate with a server to get new music (much like you stated in your first post) and all sorts of other fancy things, including talking to my car's CAN to get info about what the car is doing. That'll have to wait a while . I'm also going to the South of France in the car in a couple of weeks, and I want it working well before I go. Expect a lot of development between now and then! Quote: Originally Posted by BenjaminS Most would say this is a terrible idea, but I say what does it matter because the view will never affect model or control. This will make it so much easier once you get going. Having a model to work from is much better than looking at an empty window with nothing to do but start randomly adding controls. Quote: Originally Posted by BenjaminS If you could help out me out with a "rule of thumb" gui design guide that i could follow it would be great. In fact this should be ANOTHER community project, a resource to help people conform to a standardized design guideline in terms of proportions and usability. I say, custom controls all the way. A pain in the arse to set up, but you can make your own custom controls as classes. Once you've done the drawing code, you can make as many buttons as you want, like 'normal' controls. This way, you change the code in that one button class and all your buttons change too. Also, standard system controls aren't suitable for touchscreen use. You can make buttons big, but everything else (sliders, tab-panels, checkboxes etc) is simply too small for touchscreen use. I also recommend you keep the click-flow as short as you possibly can. With AstraMac, a single click (touch?) can get you to any major area of the program (Audio, DVD, Advanced, etc). A second touch gets you to the sub-section you need. Sometimes it ends there and you have music. If not, a third touch gets music/dvd/etc playing. Last edited by iKenndac; 03-25-2005 at 05:53 PM.