Tag Archives: software development

App Inventor News

App Inventor Classic (version 1) to Shut Down on July 15 

1 Comment

Most users are already using AI 2 and are unaffected by this change. But if you are still using AI Classic (version 1), then this message is very important – please click through the link to read the full story!

May 24, 2015 — MIT App Inventor Classic will shut down on July 15, 2015. After July 15, 2015, you will not be able to access or edit your existing AI Classic projects. It will be impossible to create new AI Classic projects.This shutdown applies only to AI Classic (AI1). App Inventor 2 (AI2) will not be affected.

MIT will not automatically convert your AI1 projects to AI2 projects. But MIT will provide a conversion tool that will help you convert the AI projects that are important to you into AI2 projects. We expect to release this converter in about 2 weeks (i.e., around June 8).

Source: App Inventor Classic to Shut Down on July 15 | Explore MIT App Inventor

How do you know which version you are using?
Login to App Inventor and create or open a project. If the URL address in your browser begins with
http://ai2.appinventor.mit.edu/

then you are using Version 2.

General

What is inside a .aia project file?

6 Comments

As you may know, you can save your App Inventor project to your local computer using the Projects | Export selected project (.aia) to my computer menu option:

ExportSelected

Use this feature to save a backup copy on your local computer or to share your code with others (email or transfer the file using DropBox – or similar – or merely copy to a USB thumb drive).

What is inside the .aia file?

Surprisingly, the .aia file is just a regular .zip file. You can verify by saving a copy to your local disk drive, and then rename the file to have a .zip file extension instead of .aia. Then use Windows Explorer, StuffIt Expander or other utility to open and decompress the .zip file.

PLEASE NOTE – DO NOT MODIFY THE CONTENT OF THESE FILES.  THIS INFORMATION IS NOT SOMETHING YOU NEED TO KNOW TO WRITE APP INVENTOR APPS AND IS PROVIDED “AS IS” “FOR YOUR INFORMATION” ONLY.

Continue reading What is inside a .aia project file? →

Components

Using TimePicker and DatePicker for entering time and date information

16 Comments

The TimePicker and DatePicker User Interface Controls

Entering the date and time are common features of business applications. We could use a text edit box and let the user type in times (like 10:30) or dates (12 January 2015) but both methods require the user to enter the time or date in the proper format – and the app needs to test the entered data to ensure it was entered correctly.

A better solution is to use App Inventors TimePicker and DatePicker controls. Both provide a graphical method of selecting input values. For example, the TimePicker displays the following:

TimeDate_TimePickerUIThe time is set by pressing the + or – buttons above and below the hours and minutes. The AM/PM indicator is a toggle – when it shows PM, a press changes it to AM, and when it shows AM, a press changes it to PM. With this input system, the user can never entered an invalid time (the user could, of course, enter the wrong time, but that is a different problem!)

Continue reading Using TimePicker and DatePicker for entering time and date information →