iLuaBox Wish List

[dave]

I never heard of Lua before I found iLuaBox for the iPad at the app
store, so I'm not that familiar with the language. I purchased iLuaBox
and have been playing with it for the last few days. I have to agree
with the comment made at the app store that any program that asks for
input wipes out the program listing on the input screen and the 'cat'
command needs to be used to load the program again. It's kind of
annoying, but one way I got around this was to add the 'cat' command
as the last statement in any program that asked for input. That way
the program listing would be put back on the input screen when it
ended and if I didn't need it, I would just clear the input.

I decided to create a 'wish list' of things to suggest for future
versions. As I continue to use iLuaBox, I'll probably have more
suggestions, or maybe other users can add to this list. The more
capabilities, the more sales.


Here are a few suggestions:

1.) Add another screen for the program listing so it's seperate from
the input screen and doesn't get wiped out.

2.) Make all the screens the full size of the display, not half the
screen for input and half for output. Add an icon to allow switching
between the different screens.

3.) Add an easy way to load programs.

4.) Add text cursor commands. goto(x,y) for simple text manipulation
on the screen

5.) Add graphics commands. pixel(x,y,color) for simple graphics

6.) Add sound commands. sound(frequency,duration) for simple sound

I don't know how much work is involved to add commands, and I'm not
suggesting that programming the iPad with iLuaBox will ever compare
with programming the iPad with a Mac. But, it would be nice to be able
to use all the capabilities of the iPad, if just in a simple fashion,
instead of writing a program and just watching text scroll by. Of
course, complex graphics and sound commands would be great.

Thanks

Dave.

[tskwara]

Thanks for your great suggestions Dave - some related news follows
below. All your wishes will come true (just not all at once :) !

iLuaBox Update Ready for iOS 4.2!


IMPORTANT NOTES:

- Requires iOS 4.2 or later
- iLuaBox is available only for the iPad at this time
- iLuaBox for the iPhone and iPod touch coming soon
- mLuaBox for the Mac will be available later this year from the Mac
App Store


What's New in Version 1.0.1:

- Requires iOS 4.2 or later
- Lua state is preserved during iLuaBox background state
- Input screen is now preserved during text entry
- Fixed alignment of extended keyboard

The updated version of iLuaBox was submitted to the App Store for
review.

TS

[dave]

Tom;

Some other things that I think would improve coding now that I'm
playing around with iLuaBox more.

1.) Add a screen function that would allow how the screen is displayed
from a program now that you allow full screen modes.
example screen(val) where val is 0,1,2
0 = switch to the full output screen
1 = switch to the full input screen
2 = switch to split mode (output/input) screen

I noticed that if I run a program from full input mode and the program
prompts for input, the prompt is on the output screen and I won't see
it unless I slide the screen to split mode. If I have control of the
screen, I could add a call to split screen mode before I prompt for
input and then a call to full output mode after I enter something for
whatever the program will display while running.


2.) Would it be possible to have some kind of a command history file.
Instead of constantly re-keying commands to load programs, allow the
user to bring up a history of what commands have been keyed and select
what command to put to the input screen. You could tell a command from
a program because a command won't have the -- name.lua that a
program does. Allow the history file to be like any other file. That
way the user could load the file for editing of the commands or delete
it to clear it out. The history file could be displayed from the
documentation icon.


Thanks

Dave.

> > Dave.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Tom Skwara]

Thanks for the terrific feedback Dave and Happy Thanksgiving!

On your previous note about the extra keys playing havoc on the screen scroll position, that's been fixed in the next release.

Command history has also been implemented and utilizes the double finger swipe gesture to scroll back and forth though the input screen history. This allows the recall of full-length scripts, as well as one-liners.  Recalling a full script can make experimenting a bit more fun.  Word of warning though, the history is not persistent between sessions - perhaps that may be added to a later version :)

Programmatic control of the screen mode is also included in the update!

 

TS

[dave]

Tom;

Just downloaded the latest version and started playing with it.

The setscreenmode() works great, just what I wanted.

Your Edit() function is easier to use than my original lf() function,
so I use Edit() now.

The sleep() function works a lot better/easier than the empty while
loops I was using.

The 10 command history is handy, but (there's always a but), can you
change it so it doesn't save duplicates. I noticed that when I do a
lot of Edit() commands, I end up with all Edits() in the list.

Thanks for fixing the first line comment error so fast. That was
driving me crazy.

I have another suggestion from the user point of view. Can you add a
user menu icon similar to the 'Clear output' or 'Documentation' icons.
One that would allow the user to set in the preferences a certain
amount of file names ( 5 - 10 ) that would show in the user menu
dropdown and be executed. This would allow the user to execute any
program they have with 2 taps of the screen. An example would be I
could add the Edit() function and 2 taps would execute the Edit()
function. Or the user can have whatever programs they use the most in
the list and be able to execute them with just 2 taps.

Is there any difference with just downloading the updates or removing
the complete app and re-downloading it. I'm not sure if the extras.lua
file got updated when I did the update. I had to cut and paste your
Edit() function from the documentation and put it in the extras.lua
file. If I remove the complete app, I'm thinking that would also
remove any programs I have saved. I can Edit() each of my programs and
then do a copy of the whole program and then paste them in an e-mail
and send them to my PC to save, but I was just wondering what happens
to my programs when I delete the app.

Thanks

Dave.

> >> - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

[Tom Skwara]

Thanks for the feedback Dave - glad your enjoying the recent improvements!

The 10 command history is handy, but (there's always a but), can you
change it so it doesn't save duplicates. I noticed that when I do a
lot of Edit() commands, I end up with all Edits() in the list.

The command history follows typical command line behavior commonly found in command shells such as bash.  It is simply a last-in-first-out buffer.  I'll keep your comments on this one in the suggestion box for now though.

Is there any difference with just downloading the updates or removing
the complete app and re-downloading it. I'm not sure if the extras.lua
file got updated when I did the update. I had to cut and paste your
Edit() function from the documentation and put it in the extras.lua
file.

Downloading the update will not overwrite your scripts or the example scripts that originally came with the previously installed version of iLuaBox.  This is a precaution just in case someone makes a change to the stock scripts.

You can install the latest example scripts, including the updates 'extras.lua' script by doing the following:

  - Exit iLuaBox.

  - In the iLuaBox section of the Preferences App, turn on the 'Restore Examples' setting.

  - Restart iLuaBox, all example script files, including 'extras.lua' will be overwritten by new stock files.

  - This preference setting is a one-shot function that reverts back to off when completed.

If I remove the complete app, I'm thinking that would also
remove any programs I have saved. I can Edit() each of my programs and
then do a copy of the whole program and then paste them in an e-mail
and send them to my PC to save, but I was just wondering what happens
to my programs when I delete the app.

Yep, removing the app completely will also delete your script files.  You can use iTunes to back up iLuaBox content, but it will not be accessible at the file level.  Apple rejected an earlier version of iLuaBox that featured 'iTunes File Sharing'.  This was an extremely convenient way to access your script files.  A solution is in the works.

I have another suggestion from the user point of view. Can you add a
user menu icon similar to the 'Clear output' or 'Documentation' icons.

Something like this is on the drafting board, although challenges remain on how it can be implemented intuitively and not complicate the UI.   More news to come on this - thanks for sharing your thoughts!

TS