Save block as text file (Find text on the Blocks screen)

MIT App Inventor Help
1

Hi
2 Questions

  • Is there a way to save/download the exact contents of the block as text instead of pictures (with the exact full content, not as the BLK..). I am not a java programmer so I can't modify the open source code,, :frowning:
  • Lately I get "Page not responsive" which I though it is an internet or load issues. I am trying to use the offline AI2U but I get the same warning (with internet / WiFi turned off). Any thought?

Anticipate many thanks

2
3

Not that I am aware. You generally cannot modify the aia file without corrupting it and certainly cannot modify Blocks. What you might want to do is change the behavior of existing Blocks. You possibly can do that with an extension.

Mixing builders is a bad idea. Once upon a time it was OK. Because of major differences in the capability of builders if you use a component that is in one builder and load the Project into another builder strange things happen and often files are corrupted.

Page not responsive can happen if your Project is large or there is heavy developer usage of the MIT servers. Sometimes use of extensions can cause issues.

When you Blocks screen gets laggy or you have lots of layouts or more Screens than 10 or you get over about 7000 Blocks or so or your PC system memory is not large or have a slow DSL, developers start to have issues with large Projects.

Are you regularly saving backups using these tools checkpoints . On 'special' Projects, I save at least once an hour.

4

May be as I am not a programmer my points are not clear. Wanting to have a text file has nothing to do with CHANGING. Just that the project is very complex and it's hard to keep track and debug and just by looking at the blocks'
images... (e.g. one cannot use "Find" as in text)
Same with "Page not responsive": the development of my project was smooth w/o such interrupt over a year. It is nothing to do with the servers as it runs on stand alone, w/o net, with the same message.
Thanks for response.

5

If you use Chrome, you can

FindTextInBlocks
FindTextInBlocks783×542 36.7 KB

As you said "I am not a programmer" :cry: Your issue can have something to do with the servers and Project size and available memory and other factors A year ago, your Project was not the same size.

6

In the aia file, blocks are represented as text. Look for files with the bky extension in the aia.

7

There are 5700 blocks and few actions are spread among, so it's not easy to expand ALL the blocks and search them..
The 2nd point in more clear now, I although that modern computers (Intel i& with 8G and INVIDIA G force...) should have no 'local issues'...
Thanks anyway

8

Thanks Patryk but the AIA is much complex as the pictures are. I just wand a pure text, w/o all the dependencies within the BLK required for MIT to bring back where you left (e.g. block location, enables, expanded, etc.. you don't see the wood from the trees..)

9

Perhaps unchive can help you ?

https://unchive.kodular.io/

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10

For large projects, I build a Google Doc with downloaded Blocks Images for all procedures, events, and global variables, interspersed with text describing them.. In the text descriptions, I link to headers preceding the procedures or events relevant to that paragraph.

In my blocks, I order the blocks in the same order as the Table of Contents of my doc.

I also intersperse the blocks with naked text blocks containing headers, to let me use the arrows on the yellow error indicator to jump prev/next.

Sample doc:

Also consider starting a free github project, and saving individual Downloaded PNG files there for your procedures, events, and Ctrl-C text of your Screens from the Designer, for backup and version control.

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