Okay so this week's main goal for me was to get the map view working without resetting the pins back to the default red view every time the view changes or you click it.
Essentially the problem was I had to keep re-assigning the Annotation view class we are using to style the pins to re-load each time a view changed.
So logically, if I were to tell the app to re-load the MKAnnotation view each time we change the map view or click a pin, it should fix the problem...I was wrong.
I won't get into nitty gritty details, but essentially after a week of unsuccessful attempts, I realised that I needed the latest release of the SDK :(
SO a bit of a wasted week per se... well actually I won't call it wasted as I learnt more about Objective-C, however I will post updates during next week as I debug in the new SDK.
fingers crossed :P
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Week 6 - Enter the map view
Very productive week, was during mid semester break..so we did not really get a break but we did get the servlett, xml parser and map views mostly working.
Matt and Dom are in-charge of the servlet and XML parser, so i will let you read about that on thier blogs.
My job was to make the map view load properly with pins for nearby users locations, SUCCESS! :D:D:D got it working...
The next step though was to have multiple pins, otherwise it would be pointless even having a map display. Who would want to see just one user out of say 100 :P
anywho, a few tweaks here and there and I made a marker class that lets you add pins based on locations onto the map view at any time. So I called it a few times to test, and hey presto it worked :)
The final thing i wanted to get working this week was to have custom graphics as the pins...and also a button in the annotation so the user could initiate the private chat. So after even more fiddling around and tweaking this is what I finally came up with :)
Using random stick men as our graphics :P
and a little button within the annotation to switch to private chat view
well there, as i said productive week, however the pins do reset after interacting with them or switching views...but that can be fixed during next weeks coding session :P
Matt and Dom are in-charge of the servlet and XML parser, so i will let you read about that on thier blogs.
My job was to make the map view load properly with pins for nearby users locations, SUCCESS! :D:D:D got it working...
The next step though was to have multiple pins, otherwise it would be pointless even having a map display. Who would want to see just one user out of say 100 :P
anywho, a few tweaks here and there and I made a marker class that lets you add pins based on locations onto the map view at any time. So I called it a few times to test, and hey presto it worked :)
The final thing i wanted to get working this week was to have custom graphics as the pins...and also a button in the annotation so the user could initiate the private chat. So after even more fiddling around and tweaking this is what I finally came up with :)
Using random stick men as our graphics :P
and a little button within the annotation to switch to private chat view
well there, as i said productive week, however the pins do reset after interacting with them or switching views...but that can be fixed during next weeks coding session :P
Monday, April 6, 2009
Week 5 - Goodbye Google :(
Week 5 was pretty much the same as last week, though, on Dom's recommendation we are going to use a java servlett talking to an oracle server as I believe, as opposed to the google engine. Read Dom or att's blog for more info as I cant explain it as well as I don't have a good understanding on how server side apps work :S
Other than that, I’ve just been continuing trying to figure out Objective-…im getting there.
In general, am fairly confident that I can get some for of map app ready by mid-semester break, so that we can implement it into our app.
Other than that, I’ve just been continuing trying to figure out Objective-…im getting there.
In general, am fairly confident that I can get some for of map app ready by mid-semester break, so that we can implement it into our app.
Week 4 - The lull
Week 4 was fun…kind of
So generally good progress has been made. Officially, the chat app cannot be called completely anonymous anymore as we plan to show users location on a map. Yes their usernames will still be different, but if you were close to someone and got annoyed…you could ultimately find them.
There are many debates about what constitutes as ‘anonymous’, without going into too much detail, there is still a level of security/anonymity in our app, but expect a description change soon.
In my own work…am starting to get the hang of core animation and display functions for the iphone. It is tricky, but its just the syntax of objective C that im not used to.
More updates soon
So generally good progress has been made. Officially, the chat app cannot be called completely anonymous anymore as we plan to show users location on a map. Yes their usernames will still be different, but if you were close to someone and got annoyed…you could ultimately find them.
There are many debates about what constitutes as ‘anonymous’, without going into too much detail, there is still a level of security/anonymity in our app, but expect a description change soon.
In my own work…am starting to get the hang of core animation and display functions for the iphone. It is tricky, but its just the syntax of objective C that im not used to.
More updates soon
Week 3 - iPhone OS 3.0
Got a additional team member this week, really will help us implement a functional prototype on time , and leave more time for the visuals and extra functions.
iPhone OS 3.0 developers version was released, which is both good and bad. Little documentation at the moment, but at the same time it boasts some great new features…like being able to embed the Google maps into your app.
Once again the visuals sparked a heated debate amongst the group, the issue now being on the use of the default map that Google offers. Yes it works, but its still boring in my opinion, so we concluded, much to my dismay, that we would get the basic map working then amp it up to look cooler.
Another issue that arose was wether or not to include a friends list, Mat and I both opposed immediately. But we never intended to exclude said feature, merely display it a different way. So rather than the list we will be changing the color of users you have talked to often, not a drastic change, but just enough to let the user know ‘hey I spoke to penguinman123 the other day, I wonder if he saw…” and so on. Having a friends list would bulk up the app, and add unnecessary clutter to the navigation bar.
Also, from what I hear on the server side, the database for the backend of the app has been set up and can store info. We had a meeting about how to sort the XML data to make the quickest download to the phone. Currently, it gets the users location, filters accordingly and generates the right XML for the phone to download and so on. Filtering has more than the location factor, so load time should be minimal.
My job is still investigating core animation and Google maps stuff, its going alright…really need to sit down for a day and figure it out properly though :p
Matts mockup…
Here is a picture of Matts mock-ups to give you some idea of what to expect come the mid semester review, a few things are missing but you should get the gist of it...
iPhone OS 3.0 developers version was released, which is both good and bad. Little documentation at the moment, but at the same time it boasts some great new features…like being able to embed the Google maps into your app.
Once again the visuals sparked a heated debate amongst the group, the issue now being on the use of the default map that Google offers. Yes it works, but its still boring in my opinion, so we concluded, much to my dismay, that we would get the basic map working then amp it up to look cooler.
Another issue that arose was wether or not to include a friends list, Mat and I both opposed immediately. But we never intended to exclude said feature, merely display it a different way. So rather than the list we will be changing the color of users you have talked to often, not a drastic change, but just enough to let the user know ‘hey I spoke to penguinman123 the other day, I wonder if he saw…” and so on. Having a friends list would bulk up the app, and add unnecessary clutter to the navigation bar.
Also, from what I hear on the server side, the database for the backend of the app has been set up and can store info. We had a meeting about how to sort the XML data to make the quickest download to the phone. Currently, it gets the users location, filters accordingly and generates the right XML for the phone to download and so on. Filtering has more than the location factor, so load time should be minimal.
My job is still investigating core animation and Google maps stuff, its going alright…really need to sit down for a day and figure it out properly though :p
Matts mockup…
Here is a picture of Matts mock-ups to give you some idea of what to expect come the mid semester review, a few things are missing but you should get the gist of it...
Week 2 - Conflicts
‘Heating’ Visual discussions:
The thing to understand about our group is that we will argue intensely until we have a solution as each of us thinks that our idea is the right approach to take. The first debate was on how to visualize other users and their location. Few ideas were passed around, but essentially the main problem was the screen limitation and how it complicated interactions if we were to implement a more complex visualization.
One idea was to have users grouped depending on the amount of users in the area, and then visualize them as if they were in buildings. The problem with this was that the user would have to rotate the screen and zoom in a ridiculous amount to be able to see other users nicknames.
The other idea, which we eventually settled on was to display a kind of semi-3D node display. Where groups would be represented as dots with varied sizes depending on how many users in the area, and the closer you zoomed in/selected a node, the display would zoom in to the group and separate them into individual users. Groups will be sorted in a recursion style algorithm that makes grids within grids dependant on location.
(See Image).
I really liked this idea, especially seeing I’m getting into the core Graphics area of Iphone Development.
Server Side Reasoning:
Back to the google app engine, we felt if we use this as our message server/sorter. It will minimise the filtering of data and transfers on the phone, thus saving battery and so on. Another great aspect of the google app engine is that it uses google servers…which can rarely be timed out dur to request numbers :D
So quick look of tasks to complete by next week..
-- Get the backend for the Google App Engine up and running (storing messages, generating xml and filtering)
-- Research Core Animation
The thing to understand about our group is that we will argue intensely until we have a solution as each of us thinks that our idea is the right approach to take. The first debate was on how to visualize other users and their location. Few ideas were passed around, but essentially the main problem was the screen limitation and how it complicated interactions if we were to implement a more complex visualization.
One idea was to have users grouped depending on the amount of users in the area, and then visualize them as if they were in buildings. The problem with this was that the user would have to rotate the screen and zoom in a ridiculous amount to be able to see other users nicknames.
The other idea, which we eventually settled on was to display a kind of semi-3D node display. Where groups would be represented as dots with varied sizes depending on how many users in the area, and the closer you zoomed in/selected a node, the display would zoom in to the group and separate them into individual users. Groups will be sorted in a recursion style algorithm that makes grids within grids dependant on location.
(See Image).
I really liked this idea, especially seeing I’m getting into the core Graphics area of Iphone Development.
Server Side Reasoning:
Back to the google app engine, we felt if we use this as our message server/sorter. It will minimise the filtering of data and transfers on the phone, thus saving battery and so on. Another great aspect of the google app engine is that it uses google servers…which can rarely be timed out dur to request numbers :D
So quick look of tasks to complete by next week..
-- Get the backend for the Google App Engine up and running (storing messages, generating xml and filtering)
-- Research Core Animation
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Week 1 - Origins
Idea brainstorming:
So beginning of the semester, my group (Matt Salmon, Kim Eupene) and myself had a nice debate about our idea.
So initially our idea was to have a chat program, with alerts and all sorts of fun loving features. Obviously we had to look at what can be done and what can’t. So we settled on the idea of anonymous chat. A nice concept, and relatively easy to implement by the looks of it.
Research:
So obviously some research was needed, Matt had an idea to use the Google App Engine for the server side of the chat, seeing he had done extremely similar build in semester 2 of last year. I thought it was a great idea, so at least another thing was decided.
Visualizations:
A few links we found useful…
http://www.demi.org.uk
http://www.visualcomplexity.com/vc/
Development:
http://gamesfromwithin.com/?p=318
http://www.mobileorchard.com/iphone-memory-management/
http://www.mobileorchard.com/14-essential-xcode-tips-tricks-and-resources-for-iphone-devs/
So beginning of the semester, my group (Matt Salmon, Kim Eupene) and myself had a nice debate about our idea.
So initially our idea was to have a chat program, with alerts and all sorts of fun loving features. Obviously we had to look at what can be done and what can’t. So we settled on the idea of anonymous chat. A nice concept, and relatively easy to implement by the looks of it.
Research:
So obviously some research was needed, Matt had an idea to use the Google App Engine for the server side of the chat, seeing he had done extremely similar build in semester 2 of last year. I thought it was a great idea, so at least another thing was decided.
Visualizations:
A few links we found useful…
http://www.demi.org.uk
http://www.visualcomplexity.com/vc/
Development:
http://gamesfromwithin.com/?p=318
http://www.mobileorchard.com/iphone-memory-management/
http://www.mobileorchard.com/14-essential-xcode-tips-tricks-and-resources-for-iphone-devs/
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