World: r3wp

Order entry apps seem like the kind of thing that the existing Android 
GUI would be able to do easily.

I figured that direct use of REBOL wouldn't be something you could 
do now for your project. But it could be useful eventually to someone 
else in your situation, so it is worth discussing :)

The R3 GUI will eventually need multitouch support and support for 
modern touch-screen devices (meaning: not treating touch like a mouse). 
That support would be portable to a variety of devices, some of which 
would be running OSes that the R3 GUI already runs on.

Android can do SDL, so it should be able to do the host kit and AGG, 
in several ways

Also, Boron should be easy to port to Android

Whether you reimplement in Java or port the host kit, you would need 
the same mapping from the Java semantic model to the REBOL semantic 
model; they have little in common. That will probably be the hardest 
part to get right, especially if we do a native r3lib port and just 
rewrite the host.

If you were to port it the same way as SDL, you would have very little 
to do with the Java subsystem

Brian, this cuts the wings of a REBOL based order entry for mobile 
devices.

Later in development it is planned to use static touch screen based 
PC. This could be done in REBOL but the other part needs to be programmend 
in a solid, tested and rich enviromnent.

Maybe release 3.0 of the order entry project will be in our beloved 
language.

Kaj, if you have any links to fully native GUI applications for Android 
that don't use any Java or Dalvik at all, please post them. I have 
been looking for any indications that such things are possible, and 
haven't found any yet. The SDL seems to be linked as an NDK library, 
not as something used to make native apps. All of the native apps 
I've seen are command-line only and not runnable from an icon in 
the applications list. I'll keep looking.

It looks like you might be able to use a combination of the standard 
NDK and a third-party cross-compiler to make fully native GUI apps. 
You would get the libraries from the NDK, including SGL (that's Skia 
Graphics Library, not SDL, it owns the framebuffer). I haven't seen 
anyone try to do this yet but since it may be possible then it might 
have been done already by someone.

first of all R3 must get out for windows, linux & mac !!!!!!   regards

I have zero experience with Android but from what I read here I can 
guess what is needed:

-R3 should be ported as native Java plugin including the agg (in 
C/C++)

-we should write Andriod OS compatible Java based application wrapper 
which will include basic app event loop, window+framebuffer management, 
networking+file IO (?)

-this Java wrapper will be able to open window, detect all the OS 
events etc. and pass it to the Rebol plugin

I'd guess that if R3 was a viable way to develop for Android, we'd 
see a higher uptake of the language than from any of the other (non 
mobile) platforms.

there's a gold rush in mobile app development (still) happening

I had quick glance at the Android examples....it seems my guessing 
was not too off. Also it looks like the android developement is very 
simmilar to the J2ME stuff  in the basic sense so I might give it 
a try in their emulator to see what is possible ;)

(moving to Android group...)

Am I missing something really basic......Here's my first attempt 
in many months to play with the R3 GUI.
New console session, R3-a110.exe:
    >> load-gui
    Fetching GUI...
    GUI Version: 0.2.1
    (Developer test GUI theme)
    ** Script error: size-text has no value

    ** Where: font-char-size? make make-text-style parse fontize do do 
    either load-gui
    ** Near: font-char-size? self

You need to get a GUI build and download Henrik's compiled R3 GUI 
code. Look above here for the links.

Please, don't expect LOAD-GUI to work. It loads old Car's GUI that's 
not compatible with A110 anymore.

http://94.145.78.91/files/r3/gui/r3.exe
http://94.145.78.91/files/r3/gui/r3lib.dll
http://94.145.78.91/files/r3/gui/r3-gui.r3

Thanks.....I was trying to follow the step-by-step example:
    http://www.rebol.com/r3/docs/gui/guide.html#section-3

The recent R3 builds have focused on core changes. The GUI has been 
developed separately.

http://94.145.78.91/files/r3/gui/style-browser.r3

is perhaps useful too.

We should probably just get rid of LOAD-GUI, for the time being.

Or adapt it to load r3-gui snapshots from somewhere instead.

The load-gui issue is there too often.. we should remove/replace 
it ASAP

load-gui: func [ ][ alert "See faq" ]

ooops .. that won't work .. can't have an alert without the GUI!

I also see as a priority to fix the status of gui :

- declare publicly if r3-gui is the official gui development or not
- then fix the load-gui call function
- and finally update the gui official documentation page.

It should not be too difficult, and, to my opinion, it it really 
important and urgent, because it prevents to develop experimental 
visual applications.

Could the gui development team meet Carl in order to convince him 
to take a decision ?

the GUI team should be in daily contact with Carl via their scrum 
system

But I am not sure Carl is involved with the GUI team decisions, to 
go this or that direction. But as Carl has nothing better, I just 
hope he will integrate. But as we know Carl, he might want to revise 
the code first. Let's hope one months black-out period is over soon 
- Carl is not available on any public channel ....

Months are shorter in the Czech Republic?

Perhaps they are working hard for our Christmas gift :-)

Carl is currently only observing, but I've not seen any comments 
from him on GUI development. But at this time, the number of RM Asset 
programs and tools that requires the R3 GUI is growing, so we are 
not in a position where we can hand things over to Carl and expect 
him to evaluate, rewrite and finish it.

Last comment from Carl was about 6 hours, 40 minutes ago in RM Assets 
world.

As for docs, I'm not sure when they will be done as some GUI concepts 
are not finished, but perhaps after beginning to write the first 
apps.

Kaj: months= month's - a typo, and maybe even then incorrect wording 
...

Henrik - public channels are all dead though. Twitter, blogs, and 
even R3 Chat last login is 15 Nov. Hopefully Carl is taking a break 
to refresh, and to do some beta decisions ....

And I agree, it is a one way ticket. Carl was way too long away from 
the GUI topic. RMA surely is going to use its own gui for its own 
apps. And the official R3 GUI? Who knows, but I bet ppl will prefer 
RMA's work, than having nothing in the end ....

... after all - anyone can have suggestions to R3 GUI, so even general 
R3 community should get what will mot probably fit us all ....

mot= most

I watched Carl's AmiWest talk ... and he again calls for simplicity.

The trouble is, simplicity doesn't scale ... as seen with VID and 
IOS

ie. the case for simplicity in this format remains unproven

I wouldn't say that about VID. VID is simply incomplete. A completed 
VID would not be much more complex.

that's my point

The simple approach leads to incomplete product

I thought your point was that "simplicity doesn't scale". Simplicity 
is not the same as completeness.

doesn't scale means doesn't complete

That doesn't make sense... The VID Extension Kit won't entirely prove 
simplicity, because it needs to work around a buggy View, but when 
building all the necessary subsystems, the principle of VID is sound 
for highly scalable apps.