Potential new user questions...

Getting Started Newbie Questions
#1

Hi

I’m not a subscriber, but have been using Corona with it’s own simulator. I’ve been following the SDK with great interest and I’m amazed at what I see.

I’m not a game developer, but view the SDK as a possible way to publish interactive productivity and science based apps. I’m working with Objective-C/Cocoa/Cocoa Touch at present so I’m comfortable with coding.

Ok, enough of the background.

Am I correct in thinking that the Lua code I write needs to go back to ANSCA for compilation? I note that even without a subscription I can’t even test on the iOS simulator either. (This is not true of other development products I’m testing).

If this is true how do you guys cope with small iterations in code?
How well compiled is the code that comes back in terms of file size?

I don’t have fast broadband as I tend to work a lot over mobile broadband, thus the upload/download speed is relatively slow . So I imagine that something like developing an app will require many round trips over the internet, which precludes small iterative development. (Outside of what the Corona simulator can handle).

Am I seeing a problem that does not exist?

Thanks in advance for any advice/comfort you may offer.

David. [import]uid: 14167 topic_id: 10726 reply_id: 310726[/import]

#2

Hey Dave :slight_smile:

I’m not a real technical person, I just love Lua, Corona and making apps - but I can tell you that I’ve used a VERY slow connection and have not had issues.

By slow, I suppose it was around 30 - 60 kbps.

I have heard one or two folks around here mention they use mobile broadband so hopefully one of them might chime in.

Cheers,
Peach :slight_smile: [import]uid: 52491 topic_id: 10726 reply_id: 38954[/import]

#3

Oh, also, you said you CAN’T seem to test in the simulator without a subscription?

You aren’t by any chance running Windows, are you? I have a friend on a trial account who tested some code I’d written using the iPhone simulator only two days ago.

Peach [import]uid: 52491 topic_id: 10726 reply_id: 38955[/import]

#4

Peach,

I’m on a Mac. Thanks for the comments…starting to make me think there may not be much of a problem after all.

Unless I’ve missed a step, the build option is only available to subscribers - no build = no executable to run in the iOS simulator or device.

It is the problem(?) where I have to make this round trip over the internet every time I make a small change to code where I worry. Obviously that is only for code for which the Corona SDK simulator can’t handle (GPS for example).
Kind Regards, David.

[import]uid: 14167 topic_id: 10726 reply_id: 38988[/import]

#5

Umm…I think I may have confused myself here - hey! I’m an 'ol timer, so it’s natural :-).

So, I would really appreciate some help.

As I don’t have my provisioning profiles yet, could someone please tell me if the corona SDK builds your app locally to your hard disk without the need for an internet connection? (I have read the intro pages on this site, but can’t see anything specific yet)

I’ve got into my head that Corona apps are compiled in the Cloud - if that is not the case then all is well and good. Once I get my Apple profiles, and if can build locally then I’ll be very happy! :slight_smile:

Thank you.

Kind Regards, David. [import]uid: 14167 topic_id: 10726 reply_id: 38994[/import]

#6

I’ll take a stab at this…

If you want to write a Corona App and test it in THEIR simulator, you should not need an Internet connection. If one is used, its only to verify if you’re a subscriber or not, but it would seem silly to not have that information locally and risk not being able to work because of a server down somewhere. No code/game/artwork is transmitted over the Internet that I’ve seen.

Now you want to build for a device of the Xcode simulator, you have to be a Corona SDK subscriber. You will also need to be a paid Apple iOS developer as well, setup various provisioning profiles, certificates, application ID’s etc. It’s scary at first, but once you’ve done it, its not too bad. Those provisioning profiles are downloaded to a local folder on your Mac. I don’t think Corona needs to connect to Apple for anything.

There is however a connection to a server on a non-standard port during the build for device/Xcode that I’m not 100% sure what is going on. That could just be a local process running that works with Xcode to build the app and is not sitting on the Internet. But then it might and I’m not sure what’s getting passed back and forth. I think this is what you’re asking about and it would be nice if Ansca could answer that given that I’m going to possibly be without internet (or limited) for a week and I want to build apps while I’m gone.
[import]uid: 19626 topic_id: 10726 reply_id: 39031[/import]

#7

Hey again Dave,

Yeah - when you said that you could not test in the iOS simulator, that sounded like you were talking about the Corona iOS simulator and not an Xcode build, my apologies for the confusion.

Rob is spot on with his post :slight_smile:

As to the connection - you DO need a connection to build; yes. As mentioned above I can’t say for sure whether or not mobile broadband will work as I don’t personally use it - however I can say that some people here have stated they do and it does work for them.

@Rob - If you want to test it for yourself, that could be informative, plus you’d know in advance if you’d have issues while away.

Cheers,
Peach :slight_smile: [import]uid: 52491 topic_id: 10726 reply_id: 39141[/import]

#8

Many thanks Rob and Peach for your comments.

If the issue of the required network connection is just one of verification of a valid subscription then fair enough. As you say Rob, you are not aware of any code or assets going up to ANSCA.

Therefore the required bandwidth over mobile broadband should be low.

As you say Rob, the network requirement would stop work dead if there is no network available.

@Peach

If the network connection is just for subscription validation (this is an assumption on my part taken from the comments from yourself and Rob and is likely way off the mark) then would there be anyway to cache that validation for a few days to cope with network outage in a future version of the Corona SDK.

Kind Regards, David. [import]uid: 14167 topic_id: 10726 reply_id: 39170[/import]

#9

I’ve tested that without an internet connection you can run apps in the Corona SDK application.

You cannot build for devices without an internet connection. You get a lovely error messaging saying that you need one.

Now as for what assets are being sent over the Internet during a build, I have no way of knowing what’s going on. (Okay, I have the skills to find the tools to go into hacker mode and sniff it, but I’m not going to).

Rob [import]uid: 19626 topic_id: 10726 reply_id: 39175[/import]

#10

I used a Mobile 3G connection at one stage and it’d build the app but would put on a popup that I was usinga Trial version of Corona even tho I was a subscriber.
This was confirmed by Ansca as expected. For some reason there’s not enough Bandwidth to confirm I am a fully paid subscriber, but it can still build the app. [import]uid: 10389 topic_id: 10726 reply_id: 39232[/import]

#11

@WauloK - odd that you got an error in your subscription validation using Mobile 3G. How much bandwidth does it take to check that!!

kinda worrying you’ve had those problems, I hope you manage to get them sorted out. I’ll contact Ansca to see if I can get some help with this as I don’t want to waste time and money with Corona if it’s going to be a pain to use off-line/limited bandwidth connections.

Cheers, David. [import]uid: 14167 topic_id: 10726 reply_id: 40101[/import]