A little progress report.
Elanor has come up with a solid answer to my original question, which was how
to use the mergPopActivity command to break out of an iOS app sandbox by
offering a file to the external world (such as the “Files” folder) on iOS
systems. Basically, if you put a file in say the documents folder within your
app and make a path tPath to it, then if the file’s name is in tFileName,
mergPopActivity tFileName,,("file:" & tPath)
will open the model window and allow the user to put the file into “Files”
folder, email it etc
So far I have not found out how to invoke another app directly from inside an
iOS app, although I think I can invoke a browser using a URL. Perhaps this is
easier than I thought. Will report.
Graham
> On 19 Oct 2020, at 11:14, Graham Samuel via use-livecode
> <use-livecode@lists.runrev.com> wrote:
>
> Thanks very much for that. Sadly on a first look, in this particular case
> there is little or no additional detail about the command. Nevertheless I
> think there should be a link to the Merg web site in the LC Dictionary itself.
>
> I rely heavily on the Dictionary, and only venture elsewhere when I am
> completely foxed, as with iOS Deployment, for me a nightmare compared with
> simply coding and debugging.
>
> It is also true that the Simulator is very limited, in particular in showing
> what’s happening when things go wrong (silent failure being a factor which
> has bitten me several times). Under the Simulator, my GPS-related app can
> only use a couple of limited examples built in to Xcode.
>
> Probably there is a way to roll your own, but only in the monstrous xCode
> universe, so very different from the familiar environment of LC. I am really
> too old to start learning all that stuff. Apart though from my own bruised
> ego, there is the issue of one of the key USPs of LC - simplicity - being
> damaged by the difficulty of deployment. I’m ranting, I suppose… will study
> the Merg info, but sadly still need Elanor to ride to the rescue!
>
> Graham
>
>> On 19 Oct 2020, at 03:23, Andrew at MidWest Coast Media
>> <and...@midwestcoastmedia.com> wrote:
>>
>> The limited documentation is at http://mergext.com/home/mergpop/
>> <http://mergext.com/home/mergpop/>
>> Glad to hear that Elanor might be working on some more documentation. This
>> feature (like push notifications and mobile camera) are difficult to test
>> since the emulator either doesn’t work or has extremely limited
>> functionality.
>>
>> I found this code snippet in an old project where I was taking a screenshot
>> of part of the screen and trying to share to Facebook or Twitter.
>>
>> export snapshot from rect tExportRect of this card to file tFilePath as PNG
>>
>> mergPopActivity "Indiana On Tap just hooked me up!",tFilePath,”"
>>
>>
>> —Andrew Bell
>>
>>
>>>
>>> Message: 13
>>> Date: Sun, 18 Oct 2020 12:58:50 +0200
>>> From: Graham Samuel <livf...@mac.com <mailto:livf...@mac.com>>
>>> To: How to use LiveCode <use-livecode@lists.runrev.com
>>> <mailto:use-livecode@lists.runrev.com>>
>>> Subject: LC iOS Command 'mergPopActivity' [was Re: The iOS "Files"
>>> folder]
>>> Message-ID: <769b3120-fcf5-4ecb-9683-ac0a303e2...@mac.com
>>> <mailto:769b3120-fcf5-4ecb-9683-ac0a303e2...@mac.com>>
>>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
>>>
>>> I have been trying to use this command, initially to allow an iOS app to
>>> put something in the ?Files? folder on an iPhone, but I?m now more
>>> interested in the whole idea of Activity Views and how to exploit them in
>>> an iOS app. I believe that the LC ?mergPopActivity' command is a wrapper
>>> for some function in the iOS native universe - connected with
>>> ?UIActivityViewController', but so far I haven?t worked out which one,
>>> since I don?t really understand much of Apple?s iOS Developer documentation
>>> (I always hope that using LC removes the need to do so!).
>>>
>>> Elanor Buchanan of the mother ship has been extremely helpful about this,
>>> and has said she hopes to improve the almost non-existent documentation of
>>> this command, but meanwhile I?m interested if anyone on this list has any
>>> insights, as I?m quite stuck and don?t want to bug Elanor too much.
>>>
>>> When you invoke the ?mergPopActivity' command in an LC script, it opens a
>>> modal window which gives a gateway into services available on your device,
>>> like email, printing, saving to ?Files?, sending to social media etc - it
>>> depends on what your device is capable of, and the apps it has loaded; so I
>>> believe that the LC command essentially implements the ?sharing? activity
>>> in iOS, which is usually invoked via an icon consisting of a square with a
>>> North-pointing arrow in it.
>>>
>>> So far so good, but I?ve only been able to do one thing so far, which is to
>>> offer a text string originating in the app to these various services. So
>>> far I have not been able to find a way to offer a file (for example, a file
>>> containing a text rather than the text itself - easy to generate within an
>>> app, but no luck in offering to email it etc). There is a ?URL? parameter
>>> but I can?t work out what it does.
>>>
>>> Anyone got any clues or shall I apologise (again) to Elanor and ask her for
>>> more help?
>>>
>>> Graham
>>>
>>> ------------------------------
>
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