Similar projects? Maqetta vs Dojo Toolkit?

[Toni Olivier]

Hi there

I was very excited to come aacross Maqetta, but I see it is discontinuing.  Does anyone know of a similar project, either free or free to trial, which can be used to easily create HTML5 apps that can be imported into Phonegap or Eclipse?  It doesn't have to be an online solution, it can be a stand-alone package.

I'm also struggling to understand how Dojo Toolkit and Maqetta are related.  Can anyone point me to an explanation?

Thanks!
Toni

[Jon Ferraiolo]

Sorry, I don't have any special knowledge about other possible tools. I would do the same sorts of web searches that you might do yourself.

Regarding the relationship of Dojo Toolkit and Maqetta:

* Maqetta is an authoring tool that creates HTML pages, where those pages can contain either generic HTML5 visual element and/or widgets from the Dojo Toolkit. (Maqetta has a toolkit-independent architecture, but has only implemented support for Dojo widgets)

* The Dojo Toolkit is a comprehensive JavaScript toolkit that spans nearly every feature an HTML5 developer might need for either desktop or mobile development. Dojo includes a complete set of widgets and themes, and its widgets and themes are designed for extensibility. Dojo is known for being Enterprise-friendly due to its robust architecture, complete functionality, reliability, extensibility, commercial-friendly licensing, build system, internationalization and accessibility support. For example, the vast majority of IBM software products use Dojo under the hood.

Hope that helps.

Jon Ferraiolo

[Toni Olivier]

Thanks  Jon! That does help.
I am busy deciding on a platform to introduce students to HTML5 app design, and I'm keen to use Maqetta.  I was worried when I saw maqetta.org being suspended, but I guess that doesn't mean that the project as a whole is discontinuing? 

[Sayed Arian Kooshesh]

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[David Curry]

What with Netbeans incorporating Cordova, has anyone tried using a
Maqetta project as an "existing source" for a NB Cordova project? This
might be a way to re-ignite interest in Maqetta...
Dave

[David Curry]

Ok, I just tried it. Typical "Hello World!" Maqetta mobile project.
Somewhat successful.
1) From within Maqetta, download your project.
2) Extract the zip to a favorite projects folder - mine is
NetbeansProjects. Clever, huh?
3) Within the folder for your project - "HelloCordova" for me - create
a folder called "www", and move everything into that folder. So now I
have NetbeansProjects/HelloCordova/www/[all the files and folders]. If
you don't do this, your folder will get renamed to "www" when NB creates
the project from existing source, and it goes downhill from there until
files are missing and the project no longer opens in NB. Just do this.
4) Start Netbeans (I'm using 8-beta, but should work with 7.4).
5) New Project, HTML5, from existing sources - select your project's
folder (e.g., "HelloCordova").
6) Right-click on the project in NB, select project settings, click on
"Cordova" and create the resources - select that "www" folder as the
site root.
7) Start your emulator - make sure you use Android 4.2 (or lower), 4.3
has problems at this time, so I'm told.
8) Run your app from NB - and wait, and wait.....eventually your app
will show up.

Caveats:
There are all kinds of 'errors' in the Maqetta-supplied files, including
the main html. For the main html, I told NB to not error-check those
kinds of things, but there are still errors/warnings elsewhere, like in
common.less. I can open my main html in Chrome and FF with no problems,
so I don't know why NB has problems.

The "Hello World!" text is repeated, one on top of the other, and the
header component I used in Maqetta is not obviously present like it is
in the browser. The duplicated text could be a dojo thing, or ???, but
i don't see anything really obvious that would cause this.

In short, it is possible, but you may not like the result. I'll
probably try this again with a Maqetta 'desktop' project that has just a
textbox to see if this duplicating nonsense persists. Perhaps others can
chime in to enlighten the rest of us.

I just think that Maqetta is quite nice for the GUI design, especially
single-page apps, and serves as a good starting point for generating
Cordova/PhoneGap iOS/Android apps - if the above issues can be
resolved. Too bad support is gone...
HTH,
Dave

[David Curry]

Ok, I take back the "Somewhat" - it is fully successful, at least when I
include the themes folder in www. D'Oh!
So, now we know it can be done - maybe Oracle/Netbeans will pick up
Maqetta development and support????
Dave

[Toni Olivier]

Thanks for sharing this Dave.  Can you tell me how this is different to importing a Maqetta project into Phonegap? 
Do you think it's a better route, or are you just thinking of ways to ignite interest?

[David Curry]

Toni,
I think the result is the same - an iOS/Android app - but by using Netbean's built-in support for Cordova (the innards of Phonegap, after all), you get the benefits of the IDE and its browser and emulator/device connectivity, and it is all local to your system.
Dave

[Toni Olivier]

Thanks Dave, that's helpful.  I'll check it out.

[Liza Jenifer]

The Dojo Toolkit is an extensive Javascript tool stash that compasses almost every peculiarity a Html5 designer may requirement for either desktop or portable improvement. Dojo incorporates a complete set of gadgets and topics, and its gadgets and subjects are intended for extensibility. Dojo is known for being Enterprise-accommodating because of its strong building design, complete usefulness, unwavering quality, extensibility, business inviting permitting, form framework, internationalization and availability help. Case in point, the lion's share of IBM programming items use Dojo under the hood.
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