Saturday, April 30, 2011

Silverlight update 2

I've managed to get the 2 main classes compiled, but noted several things:
  • Datatables are not supported. I've rolled my own, but I'm going to look into what I am doing and probably re-write all that. Datatables make for quick and easy data binding, but so do classes. So there may well be a complete rewrite of the classes
  • Silverlight uses IsolatedStorage - in Windows it is buried in the user/local/....someplace area, not sure where it is on a Mac. So I need to figure out how to store the files: we can only read/write to that area. I'm kinda hoping that the installer, if it includes files, will stick them in the right place. I'll find out eventually.
  • printing will have to be completely revamped. However, Silverlight uses FlowDocuments (a MS-version of PDF essentially, which are fairly easy to create and the on-screen and print results are close to identical).
So, I've managed the 1st part. Next step is to see if I can read an SEC file, and generate my set of systems and do some basic displays. I'm actually going to have a Sector class, which in turn has a list of World classes in it (or maybe even Subsector class that has the world lists, not sure yet).  When I get that working in the next few weeks (I've limited time to work on this) and it seems to work for a PC, I'll release it so anyone with a Mac can start testing to see if it actually does anything.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Cargo handler in Silverlight - Mac compatible

I'm working on converting the cargo program to Silverlight. This means it will work on Macs and any browser that supports the Silverlight plugin.  It will still be a program you download to run, but it is sandboxed and runs in your browser.

The classes are about 75% good as is. However, some things I was using (datasets, arraylists) are not supported in Silverlight, so I'll be converting them. And I'll be working on the 3rd iteration of the classes.

The interface should be a LOT nicer - I've been using XAML at work and it is really sweet in terms of presentation, customizing and data binding. All sorts of ideas are bouncing through my brain.

I'll keep things posted here.