A First Look at Nokia WRT Plug-in for Aptana Studio 2.0
From Symbian Developer Community
This is an excerpt from an original article published by Richard Bloor from All About Symbian in which he takes a look at the Nokia WRT Plug-in for Aptana Studio 2.0.
......... The first new feature allows WRT widgets to be imported directly from a *.wgz installation file (in addition to the existing ‘project’ based import). A handy feature, particularly if you want to take a look at how others have created their widgets.
The next new feature is full support for the WRT API 1.1 JavaScript extensions in Aptana’s code completion facility. This means hints and descriptions for the Platform Services APIs are provided, a feature which is particularly helpful in learning the APIs.
There have been significant improvements when it comes to previewing widgets. In line with the WRT API 1.1 support in code completion, the preview now provides simulation of Platform Service data, so a widget can read a set of sample data (provided in editable JavaScript files) and save any entered data for the duration of the preview (there is no permanent storage). This feature means developers are given enough capability to test a widget’s interaction with Platform Services, without having to rely on an S60 SDK or device.
The preview now includes a home screen mock-up for widgets that include a ‘miniview’ for the Nokia N97 home screen. At first sight this addition is not obvious as every preview opens in the full screen and nothing on the preview shows how to open the home screen view. However, when the widget’s exit option is selected the preview changes to the home screen (or, for widgets without a ‘miniview’, the display shows the application menu icon and description.) The full screen can then be reopened by clicking the ‘Return to full view’ button or application menu icon. A ‘show home screen view’ button might have made this new feature more obvious, but once learnt it is simple enough to use.
The last major change in the preview is that the current toolbar, which provides a list of devices, has been replaced by a more generic settings dialogue. This dialogue enables the selection of a supported screen resolution and its orientation, as well as the WRT API version to be used. It is doubtful that any widgets would be targeted at a specific device, so this change seems sensible. It also overcomes the need to update the plug-in each time a new device is released.
The same preview is also available if the option to run a widget in an external browser is chosen. The advantage of an external preview is that a WebKit based browser, such as Safari or Chrome can be used, which should offer rendering closer to that of an S60 device.
The main challenge that remains is that of full PC based testing.........
The complete article can be found here
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