1src Forums - T8 Launcher

01-18-2007, 05:26 AM	#1
hansschmucker ? Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Germany Posts: 1,363	T8 Launcher Hi everybody I've written a little launcher utility that uses a T9-like system to locate the app that you want to launch, so it can be easily operated even with sausage-like fingers like mine. It was written in one day, so there hasn't been a lot of testing... however it works absolutely perfect on my device. And it looks like I didn't even mess up the memory managment, as I can't detect any memory leaks. Two people so far have reported crashes and I really don't know why. One person mentioned that it crashes when he turns his device off and on again.... which is strange since I'm not doing anything on wakeup.... the only explanation I could offer would be another app that runs on startup, which gets confused with NativeCoords. Another person has reported a crash after entering two symbols... my guess is that he has a corrupt database in memory, but I can't verify that. Please read the FAQ first: http://tapper-ware.net/ Please, I really need feedback on this one: Normal build: http://www.tapper-ware.net/files/T8Launcher.zip Build with debug messages enabled: http://www.tapper-ware.net/files/T8Launcher-DBG.zip Hans (hansschmucker at gmail dot com) __________________ It's amazing I won. I was running against peace, prosperity, and incumbency. GEORGE W. BUSH, JUNE 14, 2001, speaking to Swedish Prime Minister Goran Perrson, unaware that a live television camera was still rolling Last edited by hansschmucker : 01-18-2007 at 05:30 AM.

01-18-2007, 06:16 AM	#2
Joel 1src Co-Founder Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Guam Posts: 4,517	"T9" actually means "Text on 9 keys" ... probably a name change is in order? But thanks for developing this.

01-18-2007, 08:04 AM	#3
hansschmucker ? Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Germany Posts: 1,363	I simply called it T8, because T9 actually needs 10 keys to type a meaningfull message... T8Launcher needs 9 keys, so the logical name is T8, right? __________________ It's amazing I won. I was running against peace, prosperity, and incumbency. GEORGE W. BUSH, JUNE 14, 2001, speaking to Swedish Prime Minister Goran Perrson, unaware that a live television camera was still rolling

01-18-2007, 05:08 PM

hansschmucker

Join Date: Jan 2003

Location: Germany

Posts: 1,363 hansschmucker is on a distinguished road

Quote:

OK, it seems like the main problem was that the interface wasn't informative enough, so the changelog is pretty UI-centric:

Made text transparent, instead of white background
Added label "Launch" to launch button
Added label "Next App" to cycle apps button
Added label "Backspace" to delete button
Added count of remaining matches to cycle apps button (including label "Remaining Matches in List:")
Added input string position to delete button (including label "Number of entered Chars:")
When there's no match for the current query string, display message and delete last character
Fixed rotation after exiting from Portrait app
Don't display hidden apps anymore

Get the new version here:
http://www.tapper-ware.net/

__________________
It's amazing I won. I was running against peace, prosperity, and incumbency.
GEORGE W. BUSH, JUNE 14, 2001, speaking to Swedish Prime Minister Goran Perrson, unaware that a live television camera was still rolling

Last edited by hansschmucker : 01-18-2007 at 05:13 PM.

01-20-2007, 11:52 AM

hansschmucker

Join Date: Jan 2003

Location: Germany

Posts: 1,363 hansschmucker is on a distinguished road

T8Launcher 0.3 released

Quote:

This is mainly a bugfixing release, but it also features a smaller footprint:

Fixed a problem where database-handles wouldn't get released, leading to a drawing problem with EDGE.
Fixed the problem with long application names "leaking" into the "abc1" button.
Optimized bitmaps for compression, bringing the filesize down to 213kb.

Get the new version here:
http://www.tapper-ware.net/

01-20-2007, 01:22 PM	#6
Pdaman Retired pda user Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Europe Posts: 1,933	Um, does this work only on the zodiacs? __________________ Sony Clie Th55 = Simple as that, the the best pda what I have ever owned! However even it didn't keep me in the Pda world. About my gadgets, I'm now just using my psp, camera and cellphone. Maybe I will someday get a new pda, but it must to have phone cababilities so I don't need to use my regular cellphone anymore. And yeah, this means I won't be hanging in here 1src that much anymore. If someone want me to remove unfinished threads from 1src or something just pm me. Keep your gadgets running!

01-20-2007, 02:54 PM	#7
hansschmucker ? Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Germany Posts: 1,363	So far, yes... well, actually it should work on 320x480 devices as well, but only in landscape mode. It's only been tested on the Zodiac so far, but I don't think there will be issues with 320x480 palmOne devices. For the Clié series things are a little different, since older devices don't support the standard widescreen API, but I think the TH55 has it. I'd really appreciate if you could test it on the TH55, but don't forget: Backup first! __________________ It's amazing I won. I was running against peace, prosperity, and incumbency. GEORGE W. BUSH, JUNE 14, 2001, speaking to Swedish Prime Minister Goran Perrson, unaware that a live television camera was still rolling

01-20-2007, 03:45 PM	#8
hansschmucker ? Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Germany Posts: 1,363	I did a little research and set up an 68k version so that I can test everything using the simulators. There is no special TH55 simulator, but from what I've seen so far, it looks like even the TH55 doesn't support the widescreen api. The good news is that I might be able to emulate it, but that will have to wait for at least a week. __________________ It's amazing I won. I was running against peace, prosperity, and incumbency. GEORGE W. BUSH, JUNE 14, 2001, speaking to Swedish Prime Minister Goran Perrson, unaware that a live television camera was still rolling

01-24-2007, 04:07 PM

hansschmucker

Join Date: Jan 2003

Location: Germany

Posts: 1,363 hansschmucker is on a distinguished road

Quote:

This release features en entirely new layout engine, which will soon allow T8launcher to work on any ARM PalmOS device, even on Cliés with their hybrid Sony Hires/Garnet Hires API. However for now it still only works on the Zodiac as I have yet to modify the screen setup to handle different screens correctly. Also, the portrait skin is still incomplete and the square aspect ratio skin doesn't even exist.
The most notable improvement in this release is the ability to enter text with the buttons and joystick:

To enter text with the joystick, just press it, move it to the desired position (let's say top-left for "abc" or center for "mn") and release it again. While you're pressing the joystick, the letters that you would enter if you released the joystick will light up.

Another way are the 4 colored buttons on the Zodiac. Just press the button(s) that point in the correct direction. For example Blue and Red (at the same time) for "abc", Red for "def" and so on. To enter "no" you have to press (at least) two opposite buttons, for example blue and green. Pressing three or four buttons at once has the same affect.

The other functions are also available: Press "Home" for Backspace, "Func" to cycle the list and one of the triggers to launch the selected application.

While the joystick feels more natural for inputing text, the buttons are actually a lot more precise, so I'd recommend using this method for text input.

* New layout engine with skining
* Added wrappers for various HiRes APIs (not used yet)
* Added partially complete 320x480 skin
* Added button input

get it at http://www.tapper-ware.net