Porting the Toolkit to Linux and Mac OS

[Akshay Ratan]

Hello,

Introducing myself to the BuildmLearn Community, I am Akshay Ratan, currently a third year undergraduate student of Computer Science, studying in DA-IICT, Gandhinagar. 

I really like the intent of BuildmLearn which aims to create open-source tools for learning and creating powerful applications. I had a look at 2014 Ideas page, and I was particularly interested in the project idea:  "Porting the Toolkit to Linux and Mac OS" . 

Why am I interested in this particular project ?

Well, the toolkit works very well on Windows platform, so it is an ideal thought that the toolkit should be available on non-windows Platform. I have done extensive work with Qt/C++ cross-platform and have very strong knowledge of Debian and Oneiric Linux Distros. Further, I am proficient in C++ and have written and maintained good quality code as a part of globally distributed development open-source teams. My skill sets would definitely serve very well while working on this project. Also, while working on my GSoC 2013 project, I have worked on QML and Qt UI's extensively which would give me an added advantage. I also have significant experience in Android Mobile App Development. Also, I have an expertise on GIT having worked with it from past 3 years.

What have I done till now in the BuildmLearn toolkit ?

Since I work on my Debian Kubuntu, I have git cloned the repo, built the source code and run the application. 

The images for the same are : http://imgur.com/RoKWwIv,UcYoeve

I have also started reading the codebase to get the feel of the application.

About me

A third year undergraduate student who is passionate about open-source Software development. I have been involved with the KDE organisation for a couple of years now, having done a project on KMouseTool in my Summer of KDE 2012 and then being involved in the Linux/Tablet based application called Plasma Media Center during and after my Google Summer of Code 2013 Program.

GSoC 2013 Project Link: http://akshaycode.blogspot.in/2013/07/trysts-with-my-gsoc-project-part-i.html

I am proficient in C, C++, Java, Python and well equipped with Git and Debug tools.

Please find attached my resume.

I want to contribute to the project. Please let me know in what ways can I begin with the porting, specifically what's the perspective of the existing developers and what is the design pattern to be followed while interfacing, etc.

Awaiting a reply!

Regards,

Akshay Ratan

http://akshaycode.blogspot.in/

[Pankaj Nathani]

Hi Akshay

Thanks for your interest in BuildmLearn projects. It's always great to see previous year GSoC students apply to our projects.

It seems you have a good hold on Qt since you were able to import and build the project. Porting the toolkit mainly has two parts: UI modifications and Business logic / platform code modifications: As you see most of the UI should already work on Linux / Mac.. but there may be some places where you need optimisations viz. when you try the toolkit on different screen resolutions. Whatever platform code exists for windows needs to be re-written for Linux. 

Btw, do you have a Mac? I ask since you also wrote Mac OS.

I would suggest that you start creating a list of things to be done to port the toolkit to Linux and Mac OS. Try to come up with a plan of action and timelines to implement these in a draft proposal. Send in your draft proposal for review, if you submit to us early we may provide our comments before you can submit to melange. 

[Akshay Ratan]

Hello Pankaj,

Porting the toolkit mainly has two parts: UI modifications and Business logic / platform code modifications

As you see most of the UI should already work on Linux / Mac.. but there may be some places where you need optimisations viz. when you try the toolkit on different screen resolutions. Whatever platform code exists for windows needs to be re-written for Linux. 

 

Yes, ofcourse, for instance, when we resize the application window. Also, since I haven't yet tried the application on windows, I will have to verify this: The phone simulator which appears on the right coincides with the "Start Simulating" widget which should not be the case. 

 

Btw, do you have a Mac? I ask since you also wrote Mac OS.

Well, I currently do not have, but I had already planned to buy one before the summers. 

 

I would suggest that you start creating a list of things to be done to port the toolkit to Linux and Mac OS. Try to come up with a plan of action and timelines to implement these in a draft proposal. Send in your draft proposal for review, if you submit to us early we may provide our comments before you can submit to melange. 

Thanks for the guidance! So what I will do is that I will study the application on windows to get a sense of the resolutions on different. Further, I had a look at different .cpp files which make up this project, and I was able to understand it. So I l try and make patches if possible. In any case, by this weekend, I would try and create a first draft of the things required to port the toolkit first to Linux and then Mac OS. As I have told you, I have a rich experience in Linux Distro but not in Mac OS as of now. But I am sure, I l pick up things very fast.

Please let me know any other specific technical detail which might be useful for me to begin in this project.

Thanks a lot :)

[Akshay Ratan]

Hello,

Thanks for the reply! I am in midst of my proposal drafting. 

Meanwhile, I had a couple of doubts, so I thought to make it clear. 

Firstly, I when I executed the application on Windows ( I earlier compiled and build it on Linux) , what I saw was that Windows GUI itself had some issues. 

For instance : http://wstaw.org/w/2yn5/

So my question is, is it meant to be this way with widgets overlapping or is it a local problem of maybe my resolution. Kindly confirm the same.

Then, the other thing was, which I intend to mention in my proposal was that, when we "Generate an application" in Windows, it creates another folder called "applications" in which all the applications created are there. But when we do that in Linux, no such thing is there. Conforming the same, kindly let me know if in Linux, we also need to create such a thing. Because I do not really see any way to view the application on Linux.

Regarding the question of adding Mac in my proposal: Actually to be honest I dont have much knowledge about the iOS as of now, but nevertheless I have already planned to buy one in a month, so should I research and include things about Mac porting in the proposal ?

Thanks in advance!

Regards,

Akshay Ratan

www.akshaycode.blogspot.com

On Fri, Mar 7, 2014 at 7:12 PM, Pankaj Nathani <croo...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Akshay

 

Yes, ofcourse, for instance, when we resize the application window. Also, since I haven't yet tried the application on windows, I will have to verify this: The phone simulator which appears on the right coincides with the "Start Simulating" widget which should not be the case. 

Yes, that's a problem. You may find many such problems with the UI on Linux specially on low resolutions. 

Well, I currently do not have, but I had already planned to buy one before the summers. 

Thanks for letting me know. You don't need to purchase if you don't have. You may just include only 'Porting the toolkit to Linux' in your proposal. 

 what I will do is that I will study the application on windows to get a sense of the resolutions on different. Further, I had a look at different .cpp files which make up this project, and I was able to understand it. So I l try and make patches if possible. In any case, by this weekend, I would try and create a first draft of the things required to port the toolkit first to Linux and then Mac OS.

Sure, something to read while drafting proposals: http://goo.gl/jCEcEv

Regards,

Pankaj

 

--
Akshay

[Pankaj Nathani]

Hi Akshay

 

Firstly, I when I executed the application on Windows ( I earlier compiled and build it on Linux) , what I saw was that Windows GUI itself had some issues. 

Yes, this has been reported. Typically, if you are on a higher resolution you wouldn't have this problem. This needs to be fixed.

 

 Then, the other thing was, which I intend to mention in my proposal was that, when we "Generate an application" in Windows, it creates another folder called "applications" in which all the applications created are there. But when we do that in Linux, no such thing is there. Conforming the same, kindly let me know if in Linux, we also need to create such a thing. Because I do not really see any way to view the application on Linux.

So currently, if you may have noticed our download page we support only windows: http://buildmlearn.org/download/

For the toolkit to generate apps on Linux, there needs to be some porting done. This is specifically what you need to do if you are selected for this project :-)

 

Regarding the question of adding Mac in my proposal: Actually to be honest I dont have much knowledge about the iOS as of now, but nevertheless I have already planned to buy one in a month, so should I research and include things about Mac porting in the proposal ?

iOS and Mac OS are different. It's alright if you don't include Mac OS in your proposal - we would be happy to get a decent proposal on porting and optimising the toolkit on Linux systems.