Handwriting widget for iBooks Author - ibooks

I am looking for a widget (HTML5, Dashcode, Javascript, whatever) that will allow the user of a textbook published from iBooks Author to use their finger or stylus to hand write notes within the textbook itself. I am not sure if it is even possible.
Many students like taking handwritten notes while reading and this functionality would be awesome. The comment note is nice but I have had students say they earn better when actually writing the information.

You may be able to embed and adapt this finger painting demo (live example) in javascript within an HTML widget. Or any equivalent 'touch drawing' code.
However I would really recommend to not even try to implement this as solutions like swipe make typing on devices about as fast as handwriting.

Related

Open webpage in full screen in running sketch at Processing

I wonder how I open webpage in full screen mode in running sketch at Processing.
I am making a simple question/answer game but before solving question. I want users to register or login website first. And then when pressed a certain button on webpage it brings back to start to question.
I appreciate any suggestions.
The answer to this is going to depend on exactly what you're trying to do.
Are you trying to do this from Java mode? If so, google something like "java launch webpage".
Are you trying to do this from JavaScript mode, or with Processing.js or p5.js? If so, google something like "JavaScript fullscreen" and you'll find examples like this and this.
That will allow you to open a webapge in fullscreen mode. Then going back to your Processing sketch again depends on whether you're using Java or JavaScript.
If you're using Java, this is going to be pretty difficult, as you aren't going to be able to get events from the webpage to your Java code. You could try using an applet, but I wouldn't really recommend that since applets are pretty much dead anyway.
If you're using JavaScript, then it's a little easier. You can simply detect the button click in the webpage (by adding an onclick callback) and then call whatever functions you want to close the webpage and reactivate your Processing sketch.
It's hard to answer general "how do I do this" type questions. Stack Overflow is more designed for specific "I tried X, expected Y, but got Z instead" type questions. I really recommend that you just try something out and post an MCVE showing exactly where you're stuck. Good luck.

How should I create a desktop mockup?

I want to create a desktop mockup on Elementary OS 0.2. By "mockup" I mean something that shows off the aesthetic of the mockup, mostly just showing what selecting/clicking/hovering over a button or widget does to that particular part of the UI. I'm thinking about creating the various parts on GIMP and coding animation and transition logic into the final result. I know that something like this can be done in HTML/JS, but I want to avoid using those. Is there anything optimized for a project like this? I'm open to most languages.
Try WireframeSketcher wireframing tool. Unlike Gimp or PowerPoint, WireframeSketcher is designed specifically to help you create mockups and wireframes. It comes pre-packaged for Debian systems and can also be found in Software Center and so it works on Elementary OS too. Note that it's a commercial tool, but you can try it freely for 14 days.
Most PMs at large companies mock these things up using a presentation package like PowerPoint. If you know the routine and where to click it can look fantastic with minimal effort.
MockupUI does both wireframe and Windows native looking mockups. It uses your desktop's visual style which makes screens and widgets look as a standard Windows application. MockupUI lets you export screens as individual images, docx, pdf or html.
Actions/interactions can be explained by highlighting widgets and adding text annotations.

Entering text in Windows 8 in C#/MonoGame app

I'm writing a WinRT game for Windows 8, in C#, using the excellent MonoGame. I've reached the part where the user has achieved a high score and needs to enter their name. This is causing me more pain than I'd anticipated so I thought I'd ask for help.
First of all, is there a simple "enter some text" function that I can call, similar to Guide.BeginShowKeyboardInput in Windows Phone 7, or the ancient InputBox command in VB? I'm using Windows.UI.Popups.MessageDialog for displaying simple dialog messages, but can't find any similar thing for requesting text from the user.
Failing that, is there a way I can easily use a little piece of XAML to present a textbox for the user to use?
If neither of these are possible, I guess I'll have to wire this all up myself... I then would plan to intercept keystrokes and display the required text on screen myself. As I don't have a physical tablet (just the simulator) I'm struggling to start with this. How can I:
Detect whether the device has a physical keyboard, so I know whether or not to display the on screen keyboard?
If there is no physical keyboard, how can I show and hide the on screen keyboard?
Some of these sound like they should be easy to answer, but I've yet to track down answers to any of them.
Many thanks!
Adam.
Hey there is such a way to do this in monogame. There is a new template that allows you to create a XAML + Game game which allows you to use the game class you a used to with the xaml bits as well. These links should get you started. The monogame team rocks.
There are the three game types listed there. You want XAML + Game there is a template for it now if you get the proper version of monogame.
https://github.com/mono/MonoGame/wiki/Windows-8-Project-Types
let me know if you need more help
This is not a cross platform solution but you could use a FlyOut and place the controls for data entry on the window. FlyOut guidelines are here and UI Controls for text input guidelines are here. I have also used MessageDialog in a MonoGame for asking the user simple questions (up to 3 options) or to get a Yes|No response. You can get details of that class here.

Connection between svg elements

Is there a way to connect 2 elements in svg to achieve a "flow chart" like diagram? I have 2 boxes, an arrow between them, and I would like that if I drag one box, the arrow stays connected to the box.
I've founded that there is a spec for this feature in SVG 1.1 but is far from being completed.
I can't find any piece of code or library that does it (and I think it isn't a rare use case), and I would like to be sure that there isn't a proven way of doing it before I start making it myself.
Thanks!
You may be interested in the Dracula Graph Library which uses Raphael and does exactly what you mean:
http://www.graphdracula.net/
Update: I haven't used jquery-svg before, but I put something small together that may get you going: http://jsfiddle.net/7vJmy/2/
It takes advantage of jquery-ui draggable, but I suspect there's a nicer way to do it using the jquery.svganim.js package that's include with the library - anyway, this is all I have time for now.
Also, if you can in the future, include things like library restrictions in the question so you can get more specific answers from the get go! :) Hope that helps.

Employer wants any non-technical staff to be able to modify content - easy solution?

I'm in a bit of a pickle at work. My department designs a number of internal systems for the company, mostly data-reporting related. We have less than 10 true content pages that actually need to be maintained by a human. These pages were written in PHP and maintained through Dreamweaver by a non-technical staff members - they used the design editor, and avoided the code as much as possible. There were issues, but overall it worked well.
Recently this project was updated and converted to a ASP.NET Web Application. This resulted in some architecture changes, making the content harder to edit with a WYSIWIG editor (it's now revision controlled, it's compiled and thus must be re-deployed after modifications are made, etc.). We sort of assumed that the staff member who had been maintaining it would just continue to do so, now using Visual Studio's "Design" mode instead of Dreamweaver's. We were mistaken, and it isn't an option for technical and non-technical reasons.
The staff member will not be touching any HTML - we need a WYSIWIG editor (this is a requirement we were handed...no arguing with them over that). I started looking at CMS', mainly Drupal, but after a bit of playing around I see that content 'Blocks' don't really have a WYSIWIG editor, instead expecting HTML. Is this true for all CMS'? Is there some easy-to-setup CMS out there that comes with a WYSIWIG editor? Does anyone have any other ideas? Don't care what language it's in, I'll make something work.
This really isn't my area of expertise - I do application development primarily, with an occasional web front-end. Not sure I'm even asking the right question, but hoping someone can help.
WordPress makes use of TinyMCE, and it works pretty well for some NON techie clients of mine. You can write (PHP) scripts that will call the WP functions and pull the page content.
Back to the point, I have found the backend of WordPress to be usable and friendly to a good mix of people. We often use it for a backend and build something completely custom for the frontend, and have had good results.
http://www.cushycms.com/
They let you add easy WYSIWYG capability to any website, regardless of the technology used.
You just add a tag once in your source file, and let your users go to CushyCMS.com to add text content.
I am by no means a CMS expert, but I believe SiteCore might suit your needs. It is a .NET system, built on top of ASP.NET, and from my limited experience with it, the UI for business users is very usable.
Take a look on Joomla. It includes WYSIWYG editor. It is much simpler than Drupal
As Frank points out, TinyMCE is a great option, in fact you use it here :D. Have a look at some examples: http://tinymce.moxiecode.com/examples/full.php
The good point is that TinyMCE is just javascript, so in theory you can add it to any CMS, or in fact to any HTML form.
Also, I think is the default input method for Joomla if you are interested.
I would recommend CKEditor (the successor to the FCKEditor), I haven't used FCKEditor in ASP .NET code, but have used it in PHP with a lot of success. I haven't gotten around to converting old code to CKEditor, but plan to in the future.
If this is something where you can load HTML files from your server that has FTP access...a quick and dirty solution I have used is CushyCMS.com, you supply ftp credentials and hook up the files and they are good to go. Non-technical customers of mine have liked the editor a lot. It allows you to specifically say what you want edited and what you don't.
In PHP the way I usually architect using CushyCMS is to have the main page do a require_once on the content page and the content page has the HTML block that I want them to be able to edit.
so the code looks like this:
<?php
//...other code
require_once("page_content.php");
//...other code
?>
where page_content.php looks something like this:
<div id="whatever" class="cushycms">
editable text here
</div>
Hope this helps.
I used to think that for user friendly editing, you need a WYSIWYG editor, such as the TinyMCE that has already mentioned. Not any more.
Editing content in such a rich text editor is not very handy. Very often you end up messing up the content, and either does a technically savvy person have to come to help, or you have to switch to CODE view (= HTML) to clean up the mess.
Now I'd be far more inclined to use something Markdown, like this site (and Reddit) uses. For most purposes, you don't need rich text, and it is just as handy a WYSIWYG tool. If you need a few rich text touches, like making some text bold or italic, this works quite easily too. Lists, either numbered or bulletted, are a snap. And making links... Those WYSIWYG tools always seem to be able to mess it up in ways you can't even imagine.
Plus, this way, the resulting HTML is always clean and minimal, and it's extremely hard for the user to mess up.
What about Expression Web? It is made to edit ASP.NET web pages, and can integrate with TFS

Resources