starting first app/previewing sencha apps

[SenchaNoob]

Hi I'm new to sencha touch, downloaded it yesterday and got the GeoTweets app working. However as I was viewing it in a standard browser (Firefox) it looked awful. What simulator or emulator should I use to preview apps on a windows machine?

I've been working on a site recently that I think would be good as a mobile app, I just don't really know where to start to start creating it. The site is currently using PHP / MySQL.

Can anyone give me any pointers? I'm also new to JS/AJAX.


Thanks in advance.

SenchaNoob

[andycramb]

SenchaTouch is currently designed to work on webkit browsers at the moment so use Safari and Chrome.

I just don't really know where to start to start creating it.

I think you may get many answers to this but I would play around with the examples and then start to build a basic UI to begin with.
I tend to use local data to begin with before I look at the server integration.
You probably need to do some reading on JS, HTML5 and CSS3.
You may want to read some of the ExtJS books that are available.
Good luck

[SenchaNoob]

Hi there, thanks for your reply. I think this might be the book to start with although it covers ExtJS 2.x, not 3.x.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Learning-Ext...f=pd_rhf_p_t_1

From what I gather ExtJS is the JS Library that Sench Touch is based on. So in order to great great apps I'll need to learn ExtJS/HTML 5/CSS3 and make use of various APIs.

This sound about right?

I think I'll take your advice and play around with the examples and see how I like it.


Thanks again,

SenchaNoob

[evant]

Some javascript knowledge definitely goes a long way. Just start with something simple, figure out how all the pieces fit together, then build from there.

The forums and the examples have plenty of info you can use.

[SenchaNoob]

Hi Evan, thanks for your reply. Would you recommend learning EXT-JS and CSS 3 in order to develop for sencha touch? It looks like if I want to do anything decent I should be learning these technologies. I've built a website and I'd like to build a mobile variation. So any more suggestions you could give would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers again,

SenchaNoob

[evant]

Yes, I would definitely learn some basic javascript before beginning. It's not like it's worlds away from other programming languages, but it has a few subtle differences.

[SagisJung]

Thanks for ur post.
And Can u tell me the detailed steps how u got GeoTweets working after downloading Sencha Touch??
I am also new to Sencha and downloaded it yesterday and tried to test-run GeoTweets which was presented as sample app at the learning center, but i couldnt and i failed.
So Really looking forward to listening to ur advice.
Waiting for ur reply.

Sincerely.
Sagis.

[jamie-c]

Hi Sagis,

There is a video tutorial for the GeoTweets App here:

http://vimeo.com/15672696

jamie

[SagisJung]

Hi, Jamie!!
Thanks for referring the helpful video tutorial..
I've seen it 3 times and grasped exactly the point how to do with it..
But the tutorial was based on iPhone simulator, and the platform on which i was trying to do Sencha Touch is Android emulator browser..
And android emulator browser doesnt display anything even though i made the same application javascript file and css file..
Even, i tried to show only Tabbed Panel without any contents, (that just includes 2 tabs; timeline and Maps), it didnt show it either..
And when i tried to open it on desktop browser, Mozilla, the same result- nothing and merely white background..
Is this because of that Sencha Touch is only applicable to iOS and not to Android??
or any other alternative way to get around with it??
Waiting for ur precious reply again..

Sincerely.
Sagis.

[alexandra.ac]

@SagisJung

Hi,

I'm also new to Sencha Touch but I managed to create a few apps, so I think I can help a little.

To answer your question, Sencha Touch should also work on Android. I have an Android phone so I can tell you for sure that it is working, although there are a number of bugs that you don't see on iPhone.

To test that your simulator is working, why don't you try opening one of the Sencha Touch apps that have already been developed - like Travel Mate - http://jag.gr/tm ?

I haven't used a simulator - so far I have worked on Safari for Windows with Firebug. The Javascript console it also pretty useful to check for errors. Do not use Mozilla, because Sencha Touch doesn't work at all with Mozilla. From my experience, if it works on desktop Safari, it should work on iPhone, although you might see some display bugs that are not present in the desktop version of the browser.

I strongly recommend that after you develop the app using a simulator or desktop browser for testing, you should check it on iPhone and Android, because the simulators are not 100% reliable.