I'm looking at purchasing the HTML5 Exporter as there's some apps I have in mind. Mainly I'll be developing apps for some of my websites. While researching mobile app development I came across PhoneGap and PhoneGap Build. PhoneGap claims to be able to convert HTML5 apps in to mobile apps for multiple mobile OSes. Does anyone have any experience in using the HTML5 Exporter and PhoneGap?
Yes, theoretically works fine with some modifications to the runtime, and the proper phonegap/cordova setup.
Mainly, the HTML5 runtime checks for the current load protocol, and since phonegap/cordova use the file protocol, it tends to fail, but if you modify the runtime's check for the status of a ajax request from 4 to 0, it works as intended.
Hopefully, a modification to the editor to indicate if the app is for web, or phonegap/cordova will get implemented at some point, so you don't have to 'hack' it.
When you say runtime you mean one of the files that's generated as part of the HTML5 app?
Kind of, the html5 runtime works in 2 ways, the dev build copies all of the runtime files 1 for 1 (at least for now) into the built html5 app, this is useful for testing, and debugging code, but the final build combines, and 'compiles' the javascript, making it extremely hard to read, and speeds it up with optimizations, and copies a single file for the built app, as far as the runtime itself goes.
The issue is that you can modify the file easily in dev build, but not final build, because it becomes obscured, so you would have to edit the files it copies from directly. Don't worry, though, I'm sure it will get feature added, and even if not, its not even adding a single line of code, its just modifying an 'if' statement.
Something like that is not an issue. While I can edit that with Notepad++, I'll probably whip up a quick program in Fusion 2.5 to make it quicker to do.
While the mobile exporters seem great, if there's a feature (i.e. extension) not available, then I can always find an HTML5 equivalent and create my own extension. It's been a many years since I've messed with JS but I'm sure I can remember quick enough my old skills.
I've even found a couple systems that turn HTML5 apps to exe. Many possibilities.
The HTML5 Extension sdk is pretty easy to use, just be aware that the final build is pumped through Google's Closure Compiler, so if your including library's plan accordingly.
If you need any extensions, let me know, I occasionally write HTML5 ones in my spare time.
In the next version, any object that has an HTML5 equivalent, can, if it wants (in the C++ code of course), be called just before the actual build process, when all the files are ready to be compiled (Final mode), or copied (Dev mode). The extension has all the pathnames to the source HTML5, the temp folders, the index.html file etc. So actually, it can change everything if it wants, poke and change the code, add libraries etc.
I had to do that for the FGL object. I opens a lot of possibilities for HTML5 objects.
And also : in dev build in the next version, only the necessary files are copied in the build folder. Not everything as I used to do up to know.
HTML5 looks very promising. I used to think the python extension would extend MMF more, however, after seeing all that's being done with HTML5 I'm now thinking that HTML5 will make it much easier for people to create things, especially extensions as minimal C knowledge is required. The rest appears to be mainly JavaScript. Once I get the HTML5 Exporter I'm thinking of cracking down and trying my hand at a WebRTC HTML5 extension. Big ambition but anything is possible.
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