as a beginner i have set up a big project and now I get more and more lost in the builder. Is there any possibility to move more than one block from one position to another at the same time or is there something like a where used list?
I tried (thanks god in a backup version) the functions "sort blocks by category" and "arrange vertically" but the result I got for me is a disaster.
Till now I arranged blocks manually by process... e.g. all together which belongs to bluetooth or file handling or all procedures in one area. But when enhancing a block there is not enough space (it overlaps to already existing blocks) and i start to move all the blocks again by hand. And that for each block because I could not find a way to select more than one block at the same time (in designer it is possible to select more objects e.g. 3 buttons to format them).
Is there any hint or best practise you can tell me?
I also usually group them by functionality when there are too many blocks...or one column per screen, when I have several virtual screens...I imagine that in the end it is what you get used to. But you cannot select several blocks at the same time.
Thank you for this idea. Sometimes one get operationally blind and it helps to talk about it. In fact I have 3 buttons which control 3 vertical arrangements which I set visible or invisible. So that are my virtual screens And it might be absolutely a perfect organizational structure to arrange the blocks also in that way. So I have the layout of my application in mind and find the corresponding blocks accordingly. Global declarations and screen events I place on top of the blocks area and all the generic stuff also on top or on bottom. At the moment I am really happy for that idea! Thank you!
@ABG Clean up Blocks I did not have tested. I expected that the tool deletes something and I do not know what. But I will give it a try in a backup version of my project.
Thank you all for your response!
Maybe another small thing: I am a programmer in business live. Started with AI2 and Arduino C++ since some month. I was happy to find that AI2 because it works very well. Originally I planned to deal with Android Development Studio. But that would mean to learn another programming language from scratch. So my small additional question is: is it possible to combine development in AI2 with development studio anyway? I expect that it is not possible but I ask to get it confirmed.
Are you talking about to move a project from one to another?
As far as I know, no. There was an old project but I think that is abandoned: Java Bridge (appinventor.org)
I can not believe it. Yes that is exactly what I mean. And the explanations shown on the page of your link match 100%... also the shown Hello World example!
The App Inventor Java Bridge is an exploratory (alpha) version of App Inventor that allows you to generate a Java equivalent of the apps you have built. The tool helps students who have learned coding in AI’s visual block-based paradigm to transition to coding in a textual programming language. Besides the educational benefits, the tool also allows for hybrid development whereby the visual blocks language is used to create a portion of the app, and Java is used to add functionality that is difficult to develop in AI. For more information on the App Inventor Java Code Generator and building the code manually, click here.
I'm really excited right now (with enthusiasm). I have to look at this.
I am little confused. Is it the same as MIT App Inventor means belong these things together or is appinventor.org something similar to that one here but different? I am not sure if it is free of charge and trustworthy. @Ramon: do you have any experience with that or someone else? I use here in that forum often the AI2 abbreviation but I mean MIT App inventor. Also that might be a little misstake by me because there is also a Version AI2 Ultimate by sourceforge and AI2Offline. I never understand if it all is the same or not.
To be hones I had never used it... I have done two tests, one generating a project directly on bridge... it seems outdated and there are components missing, but a basic project has worked and has generated the java classes (it's something).
The second test was to generate a project in AI2, export it and try to import it into the bridge...and it failed...even using very basic components present in the Bridge, it was not able to load it.
Okay. Thanks so far. I will give it a try within the next weeks. If it would be able to generate coding for my project anyway (it does not matter if it can be compiled or not) would be sufficient. I know what my project does and i learn best if I see the corresponding coding to a thing or an algorithm. Thanks again
Sobering. As I now know the keywords for a search I did it in the forum and google. Unfortunately I get an error which is also described here / there. My test project was imported and coding was generated but only for the screen. Blocks could not be imported due to the mentioned error. So the genareted coding is incomplete.
It is sad that the project was not pursued further. As also described on the web page, it would have been a great thing for educational purpose.
@ABG Thank you for the link. I had a look at it. It looks very similar to the partial / incomplete coding which was generated / converted by Java Bridge. When I will find more leasure time I will try Android Development Studio. I already downloaded it since month ago but never installed it. When I get come familiar with it it will give me also a benefit for business live. So maybe a "win win" plan.
And it might be absolutely a perfect organizational structure to arrange the blocks also in that way. So I have the layout of my application in mind and find the corresponding blocks accordingly. Global declarations and screen events I place on top of the blocks area and all the generic stuff also on top or on bottom. At the moment I am really happy for that idea! Thank you!