Programming challenge

[sarossell]

Hey everyone. I was just thinking how cool it would be if we wrote our own icon creation program in sB. When I say "we", I mean anyone but myself because I'm kind of a crappy programmer. Something like a combination of Icon Slayer (http://www.gieson.com/Library/projects/ ... on_slayer/) with its various graphic enhancements and IconKit (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/iconkit ... 5296?mt=12) with it's ability to generate a json file. How hard could it be?

[rbytes]

What can you find out about the Apple icon format? I just did a quick search and could not find any technical specs for iOS icons other than the suggested sizes to use. It would be quite easy to create a pixel-based drawing program with smart Basic. One was posted recently. But without the details of what the header or wrapper needs to contain, I wouldn't be able to meet your challenge.

Sounds like a fun project. Let us know if you can find the technical specs of an iOS icon file.

[sarossell]

Hmm...I hadn't considered the need for header info and such. As far as I know, each icon file is actually just a PNG image. I'm not sure anything beyond PNG format is required. This may be helpful: http://www.libpng.org/pub/png/spec/1.2/ ... cture.html

Also, it sounds like you're considering an actual image editor. the apps I mentioned aren't anywhere close to THAT cool. They just take an existing image and create a bunch of resized images with specific, standardized Apple file names then creates a Contents.json file to keep things straight for Xcode. An editor would be much more complex, I would imagine.

[Mr. Kibernetik]

Hmm...I hadn't considered the need for header info and such. As far as I know, each icon file is actually just a PNG image. I'm not sure anything beyond PNG format is required. This may be helpful: http://www.libpng.org/pub/png/spec/1.2/ ... cture.html

Also, it sounds like you're considering an actual image editor. the apps I mentioned aren't anywhere close to THAT cool. They just take an existing image and create a bunch of resized images with specific, standardized Apple file names then creates a Contents.json file to keep things straight for Xcode. An editor would be much more complex, I would imagine.

Are you a Windows 10 user?

[sarossell]

Are you a Windows 10 user?

Only if I have to be. I can run Win10 on Parallels on my Mac, but I'm almost exclusively a Mac person. Why do you ask?

[Mr. Kibernetik]

Are you a Windows 10 user?

Only if I have to be. I can run Win10 on Parallels on my Mac, but I'm almost exclusively a Mac person. Why do you ask?

Because I have similar free application for Win10. Windows developers need 57 copies of an icon of different sizes
So I can update it for Xcode sizes if it's ncessary

[sarossell]

Well, I certainly would never suggest preventing the development of an app in the Widows world to help convert the poor souls to a proper Mac environment. I've never been able to understand why anyone would use one platform to program for another, but I must be the minority on that issue. I use Mac to build Mac. I guess you could say I drank the Apple Kool-Aid a long time ago. Of course, the two options I mentioned for the Mac are paid solutions, so perhaps another option (Windows or otherwise) may be a good idea.

[Mr. Kibernetik]

Well, I certainly would never suggest preventing the development of an app in the Widows world to help convert the poor souls to a proper Mac environment. I've never been able to understand why anyone would use one platform to program for another, but I must be the minority on that issue. I use Mac to build Mac. I guess you could say I drank the Apple Kool-Aid a long time ago. Of course, the two options I mentioned for the Mac are paid solutions, so perhaps another option (Windows or otherwise) may be a good idea.

Somebody may have several computers at home, for example Mac and Windows.
Or one can have Windows 10 smartphone but Mac computer (Windows 10 apps can run both on smartphones and desktops, so smartphone can replace desktop is some cases, so why not to use it if it is possible?).
Or one can have Win10 installed on Mac with Bootcamp as a second OS.
So there could be different cases, that is why I asked

[sarossell]

Sure, there are benefits to using Windows and my attitude is each to their own. It's just not my preferred platform. I enjoy the Apple ecosystem. I used to be exclusively Windows, but after Microsoft insulted the world with Vista following a stellar track record with XP, I moved on. Windows 7 didn't impress me enough to return and Windows 8/8.1 was yet another slap in the face. Now that Win 10 is out, I just have a very difficult time caring now that everything in my world "just works" with Apple.

[rbytes]

I found this Apple link. It lists all of the sizes and naming conventions for iOS icons.

https://developer.apple.com/library/con ... index.html

You are right. Developers just need to provide PNG files named correctly and in the right sizes. That would be very easy to program for. Smart Basic can display any photo at a precise size using the DRAW IN command. You would have to crop the image square first, and that could also be done in smart Basic.