[Q] Measuring time from/to today with negative sign for past dates - Zooper Widget General

This was posted (not by me) on the old forums but I want to discuss it over here;
I’ve started to put together a simple widget for calendar events and bumped into the problem that #C0# might have a start date in the past (when that event is just happening). In this case, #C0S# might even be yesterday. I tried to base my script on “R” and “T” parsers, but had to face the fact that these give an absolute value.
As abs() function is available among maths features, while on the other hand generating the positive/negative sign for it with additional calculations is fairly complicated, I’ve been wondering if it would be possible to provide this data in a negative form for past dates.
If there’s a reason for the absolute value, it’d be also a great help to have a simple parser that gives -1 for past dates and 1 for future ones.
A UNIX date parser for #D…# might also come handy and could give a possible workaround, although I’d rather prefer the past-date-parser.
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My suggestion is to get rid of the absolute value from the "R" and "T" parsers and replace it with negative & positive numbers. Feature request?

Related

[PRJ] longest battery power for each rom/radio/hardspl

Hi,
I read a lot about different hardspls and radios together with different roms result in faster or slower battery drain... But nobody really knows which is the best hardspl or radio combination for any rom.
that's why I set up a little website which could help with this..
http://www.smartwebdesign.ch/ppcbatt/
It's only very simple by now.. I don't want to put real work in it until I know what you think about!
If it's beeing used I will add a search interface for sure.. but for now I just want to know what you think and if people are willing to enter data...
Suggestions are highly welcome!
Greets Chaelli
nice intention
i think you should have a required field for the location where the phone is usedand the provider(some combinations work good in some regions/orivuders)
and the first fields should be drop down ones, to be able to select previously created entries, or create a new one(to be able to sort and filter data )
le:
it would be a good ideea , for all users to use the same tool to measure battery drain in standby, and with the screen turned on at maximum brightness
this would be an emphiric way of measuring battery drainage.
if you want accurate data, then only certified people can enter data into the site.
as mentioned, there are many variables, network, age of phone, how warm it is even.
dont think its possible personally, but a good idea.
Is there any software that can do a battery of tests on WinMo? Perhaps all chefs can cook them into their Roms so that it would launch right after the initial setup before any cabs are installed and perform the tests and at the end a summary will be displayed.
thx for the feedback!
@ravest: I will add these fields but not groub by them yet (useless until there is more data) - but I will add a possibility to show the details for every device/rom/radio where you can see these things (including the comments)
@others: I also thought about measuring.. but I don't think people will take the time to measure this exactely - that's why I've chosen to use a subjective measurement - usually one has a pretty good idea how one configuration works compared to another one (with the same usage pattern - which is usally not depending on the configuration but on the person...
I know that this is not good science.. but IF we get a lot of data I think the results would be usefull...
The only way to confirm battery life is in a laboratory, with the handset linked directly to certified test equipment and kept at constant transmitter/receiver levels.
Any public database of random opinions will be much less useful than individuals trying out all the different radio/ROM's for themselves.
As others have mentioned before there are too many variables on the way people use their phones, and different networks etc etc.
@optimiser: of course you are right - but I never intended to get an exact value - but an average user-feeling. People can compare different configurations on their personal phones !usually with other variables (like usage pattern, location, provider) staying stable! - and this is what's important.. one can compare the different configurations against each other
chaelli said:
@optimiser: of course you are right - but I never intended to get an exact value - but an average user-feeling.
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And therefore it is useless, as us humans, can't properly judge battery drain (which is measurable in mAmps) by "user feeling".
In order to measure battery drain you would need to set up a test procedure, which must include (beside the others) the following:
the same phone
the same period of time
same usage
and WORKING measurement tool. Not a software (because they tend to swtich of on standby mode) but plugged external measurement.
THEN you could approach some kind of fair measurement. Otherwise it's "how you feel", and as long as you are happy with your feelings, it's perfectly OK.
Cheers.

Transparent controls in native WM apps

Hey all,
I've been searching for techniques people use to make transparent controls. The problem with windows mobile is that windows always have the CLIPCHILDREN window style set. So you can't grab the contents of the parent window (in WM_ERASEBKGND for example) because it isn't there.
One technique would be to have the parent pass the handle of the background DC it uses to the child control but that involves having a memory DC around all the time. And if the child control is covering any sibling controls you'd be out of luck as well.
Another solution I've read about is to temporarily hide the child window so the parent window is forced to redraw the parts that would normally be obscured by the control. I personally do not like this approach. (the drawbacks are also discussed on some MS forum, i'm not allowed to post outside links yet, google for "Rounded Buttons : Does any one see any problems with this method" and you will find it)
So, there are ways to achieve what I'm looking for but they are far from optimal. Just wondering what everybody else is doing to achieve this.
The responses in that thread are pretty much spot on (funny to find I know over half the posters in that thread by reputation).
If you want to do this well, you really need to draw your own stuff, making a complete custom UI.
There is no proper way to do this in Windows Mobile (without runtime kernel patching, that is ).
Chainfire said:
The responses in that thread are pretty much spot on (funny to find I know over half the posters in that thread by reputation).
If you want to do this well, you really need to draw your own stuff, making a complete custom UI.
There is no proper way to do this in Windows Mobile (without runtime kernel patching, that is ).
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What do you mean by "drawing your own stuff"? I am drawing everything myself now in all control i made using AlpheBlend() where needed. But that still doesn't resolve the background issue. Or are you referring to just drawing everything in a single WM_PAINT handler and only having one screen DC?
PegNosePete said:
What do you mean by "drawing your own stuff"? I am drawing everything myself now in all control i made using AlpheBlend() where needed. But that still doesn't resolve the background issue. Or are you referring to just drawing everything in a single WM_PAINT handler and only having one screen DC?
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Well the method I use in my own new UI's is indeed per form (excluding WinAPI controls like edit boxes and such) draw using only one DC.
The problem is that any 'windowed' control, the parent will not draw to the DC if a 'windowed' control overlaps. Due to CLIPCHILDREN all data drawn to that position is simply lost.
Now, handling WM_PAINT you can get the entire update region, which tells you which parts of your form have to be redrawn. You must use this information, because blitting the entire form is very slow!
In essence, to do this right you well end up faking most of the GDI system, including your own 'fake' child windows, invalidating and revalidating portions, calculating the intersections of your 'fake' invalidated regions of the screen with the update region you get in WM_PAINT and redrawing those parts.
There are several different strategies to go about this, one is to redraw on demand, another one is to use double buffering.
I personally mostly use the double buffering technique, as this easily provides every 'fake' control with a bitmap of it's own region. A child control can then alphablend using the parent's buffer as one of the alphablend sources.
You can of course combine this with keeping state information whether a child, grandchild, etc is using alpha / transparency and this with an algorithm deciding which control needs double buffering or can draw on-demand, which can give both speed and memory use advantages. In a lot of situations you can then suffice with only double buffering the 'top' component (form) and a select number of child components.
Of course two drawbacks of per-control double buffering are speed and memory use. You can eliminate the complete-form double buffer with some smart coding and calculating. This will give you a slight speed and memory advantage. Memory use is high because many of your controls will have a copy of their current state.
This can be as complicated, feature-filled, fast and efficient as you are willing to make it. The better you can design the code the better it will work, but it is not a trivial task. There are many ways to go at this, no one way is definitely better than the other ways. It depends on what your applications does with it's display, how simple you are drawing (are you making a simple white background, or a background based on images for example gradient?), which method is more efficient.
The other method is getting the update region and actually perform redrawing of those invalidated sections (instead of copying from buffer). I can tell you from experience that if you are using image backgrounds and alphablend calls, this will be _much_ slower than double buffering (if done right).
I know all of this probaby makes little sense, I'm not a hero with explaining things ... you really have to figure this out for yourself, I guess.
Other advantages of building your own UI system are that if you do it smartly and buffering, it is very easy to port to directdraw, and possibly even GL. But I must warn you, on far the most devices actually using directdraw for this stuff is not much faster, it is in fact hardly noticable. If you manage to make a GL port, that can especially on older HTC devices (pre-HD2) be much faster.

[App Request] - Medication Mangement

What I am looking for is something I can fill in with all the medications that need to be taken during the course of a 24hr period and have the system prompt me with a pop-up at the appropriate time to do just that. It would also be nice if it could keep track of the quantity of each medication and remind me to re-order in sufficient time.
Spent ages searching online for some software and while I have found this OnTimeRx, it is not pretty and personally is lacking a function or two, not to mention it is very Americanised.
The missing functions for me are:
The reminder function for re-order is hard coded at 5 days, need this to be editable.
It is incapable of coping with the situation where you take one of a tablet at breakfast and then two of the same tablet at tea time. It will allow you to take 2 tablets, twice a day and set a reminder for each but not differing quantities.
Generally not finger friendly.
Anyone up for the challenge or able to suggest something else?
Hi Deedee
Isn't it something that calendar can handle, with recurrence functions and notifications. As for order reminder, after you have calculated once how many pills or whatever you need in a month or week, you can also set a recurrence and reminder.
Correct me if I'm wrong or missed something.
Anyhow, good health and good luck
Thanks for the concern over my health.
While it is something that could be managed by careful manipulation of calendar, reminders and recurrence, the solution being sought is something that would have all the medical details in one place. Ideally something that can also manage emergency contact details as well.

[DEV] [REQ] C++, rewrite existing code

First I would like to thank the whole forum (with few exceptions that I'd like to not mention here) for the past 2,5 years, which have been very educating for me regarding Windows Mobile as a system. During that whole time I have searched for the perfect simple-to-use, lightweight app for storing and retrieving a grocery list, yet unfortunately I have had to come to the conclusion that it does not exist to this date. There are some existing apps but these are either not simple to use or do not accomplish the simple task at all, or they are too heavy (requiring additionally the .NET framework to be installed for example, etc.).
The idea for the simple software is that one has a changeable groups and items of groceries, from which they can select the already saved ones needed at that shopping day (e.g. during a discussion with girlfriend), and later when in shop they can just check the ones they have already put into basket. I would like to see the person who will argue that it does not easily beat archaic mode of storing information, a.k.a. paper and pen.
I have found an app which, with some relatively small amount of effort can be rewritten to accomplish that task, this software is iContact AE. As far as I understand, there is judicially no problem using the source code from iContact AE as long as following the license restrictions (correct me please if I am wrong). Why AE? Just a selection based on the fact that AE has the most appealing interface and most settings. Of course, this could be a point of discussion, but so far it seems like the best choice.
CAB - http://icontactae.codeplex.com/releases/view/28951
Source - http://icontactae.codeplex.com/SourceControl/list/changesets
I created a possible, chronological tasklist in order to get from iContact AE to the shopping app, whatever it will be called (name suggestions also welcome in due time). Also, I already have a pretty clear vision about
Discuss the usability and feasibility of the selected software / it's source code and it's alternatives (as far as I remember there was the original iContact and some other derivate version).
[*]Create, discuss and review static prototypes of the interface (basically screenshots of each view).
[*]List the requirements to be implemented (or removed).
[*]Code in / remove code according the list from previous task.
[*]Create skin and graphics.
[*]Clean up rest of code, remove unnecessary parts of it (to make it more light).
[*]Test and review changes.
I can either take lead, perform or participate actively in the tasks that are listed green. I only need a competent C++ coder who can help and thinks this is a great idea.
The changes needed to the existing source code do not seem to be much at first glance, but of course as I cannot code in C++, I could be wrong. I just looked at the parts of code where to change the tabs and queries to storage files.
So there, got it off my chest. Any C++ gurus missing a simple, convenient grocery app?
OK, I will put this in another way. I will personally contribute $50 (via PayPal or if EU country, via transfer) to the coder - provided that the end result is according to the requirements, which we will agree forehand. If anyone wants to join in with contribution, You are more than welcome.
aiiro said:
OK, I will put this in another way. I will personally contribute $50 (via PayPal or if EU country, via transfer) to the coder - provided that the end result is according to the requirements, which we will agree forehand. If anyone wants to join in with contribution, You are more than welcome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I had money I to would offer some.
It's no wunder WinMo is falling behind no one wants to create apps even when offered a straight cash deal.
Amen to that. I was actually reading this and took a good hour of researching to see just how hard it might be and how time-consuming it might be. I would have loved to take this on...but alas, It would split me way too much. I am already working on my FFP_LS Pro 2.5 Improvements (Major Major improvements...I am practically re-writing the app), I am starting work on a game I plan to release (Its a rather popular game I have yet to find for WIndows Mobile), and I already volunteered to work on the Boggle Clone for WinMo ... so I am already pretty split as it is. heh...if I find free time, and nobody has taken this on, I will probably come back and make this my next project
Sorry though...I do hope some developer comes around to assist!
Thanks for Your support. I thought that I don't need to subscribe to my own threads in order to get a notification if a new post is made, but I was wrong. I certainly didn't get one for Your post. So, sorry for the late reply. I will subscribe to my own thread now

[REQ][XDA WIKI]: Feature request thread

Request 1: Add HTML Tidy to the xda wiki stack
Template:Navbox @ Wikipedia said:
Using this template on other wikis requires HTML Tidy to be turned on. A version that does not require Tidy can be found at Wikipedia:WikiProject Transwiki/Template:Navbox. (That version generally shouldn't be used here on the English Wikipedia.) More detailed information on copying {{Navbox}} to other wikis can be found on the talk page.
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I've been doing a LOT of work adding stuff to the xda wiki, but I've hit an impasse, some of the most complex templates used on Wikipedia depend on it being 'scripted' with HTML instead of pure wikimarkup.
The main example is Template:Navbox. While this specific template does have a pupre wikimarkup equivilent (if it even is an equivilent, it's not maintained at the level of the normal one). The other templates I wish to use dont have equivilents.
Template:Navbox subgroup is the one (among others) that I wish to add in but cant because it depends on HTML Tidy. The Template itself is already on the xda wiki, but if you attempt to use it it's completely broken.
I cant say it's as simple as "install on server and turn it on" but the fact of the matter is that without it most of the fun/magic stuff on wikipedia cant be brought over to the xda wiki.
Some examples of recent stuff i've made (for reference):
Samsung Galaxy S Series Navbox
Samsung Galaxy S II Series Navbox
New Samsung Portal on Main page
Entirety of Dell devices page
If you look at the several navboxes I've made they have hacks in the code to get around the fact that I'm just a normal level editor.
Request 2: We need MOAR editors!
Also this doubles as a request for more editors on the wiki: XDA is the largest android development based site on the internet, yet here we are weeks after the release of the Galaxy Nexus and Galaxy Note and the pages didnt even exist until I made stubs for them.
As of this past quarter I've generated more edits then possibly nearly every other user combined, but there's only so much I can do at this point by my self. (With my primary style being to organize page layouts and tidying stuff up vs writing new content for devices)
[Edit count itself is a bad metric, but edits that arnt mine only number in the dozens a month]
Sure it's reasonable for minor devices and varients to be stubs, but the Note has sold over a million units and yet not a single person has even bothered to make as much as a scribble on the wiki about the device. That's just an example, but ultimately if this were wikipedia, the amount of pages rated 'good' or higher would only number in the dozens. (There's also the fact that my belief is that it's a bad idea to add anything intensive for a device you dont own, standard fare on one device can super-brick another due to quirks)
It's a rather sad state of affairs that for such a large web site with 22000 active users at any one time that there's not a single good consistant repeat editor besides me.
Edit: changed wording to not be inflammatory
Request 3: Turn on Subpages on the main namespace
Mediawiki:Subpages are by default enabled on the template and user namespaces, but not on the main namespace. I believe it's done this way because of editor policy and not technical reasons.
The xda wiki would HEAVILY benefit from having it enabled since it already currently manually uses them, the previous example of:
Samsung <Series>/<model number>/article has long existed this way but without the automatically generated anchors.
The majority of pages are already ready to accept it, it might simply need to be turned on.
XDA Wiki
TheManii said:
there's not a single good editor besides me.
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IMHO that is a rather sweeping statement and is likely to put off anyone from editing the Wiki. I would dispute even your claim as a good editor would not make sweeping changes to categories without discussion on the pages involved. Should I just "undo" them?
XDA has a problem with repetitive questions leading to user dissatisfaction with overlong forums and the loss of good developers such as AdamG.
One solution may be to create a FAQ Wiki for any thread over a certain size (for example 1,000 posts) and automatically link to that thread at the top of every page and above the reply box.
Cheers
Tom
It is sweeping, but the fact is there arent many repeat editors, many devices havnt not seen edits in months because a great deal of the changes dones are a one-time batch job with a single theme.
I'm not at all saying that the other editors are bad, though yes that what the impression was (and perhaps I should have worded it better). I'm saying that few wish to stay with it for the long-haul.
There's few editors that consistantly return to add/update/expand artitles for their own devices or other devices. That's my main issue. I actively want to be proven wrong in this regard, I'm inviting other to prove me wrong. I myself am somewhat guilty of this myself, I primarly concentrate on the dell devices, but I've kept them very up to date for the previous year.
One example I have issue with is: Acer A500 -xda wiki the entire page are just forum links. I have no issue at all with the contents of the posts (just as much my opinion on them is irrelevent) but the fact they are just links and not part of the article. The fact it's not on the wiki means that other editors cannot make changes themselves, which rather defeats the point of the wiki, which leads to,
The other issue is, unless the OP is excellent at keeping the thread organizied, you often have to wade though the entire thread to keep up to date. With a thread with +200 posts even if you wanted to it's a huge effort to do that. Even in the most complex of topics, they can be broken down a couple bullet points and approx a paragraph each to elaborate. There's also 'bad' advise that doesnt get edited away on topics ('bad' as in it may simply be the case that it was the right thing at the moment but there was eventually a more 'correct' method discovered later and the original 'bad' one is still reposted for whatever reason)
I could copy the posts onto the wiki verbaitm, but you really should have the poster's permission, what if the poster isnt active? It would be a bad idea to paraphrase advise/guides without context, what if you remove an important small detail. The right way to be to frequent the device and get context, but that triples the amount of work to do so properly.
It's no secret that there's always users that refuse to read topics and simply skip straight to posting repeat questions. Short pages with clear instructions are much easier to recommend then having them read though dozens and dozens of posts (which they skipped as they posted without reading in the first place)
Discussions dont really work on a wiki, esp one without consistant-repeat (or even repeat) editors. There's a fair amount of edits for various devices, but there are obviously more devices then editors. Lets walk though it: I want to make an edit, do I post it on the topic's talk page? Short of doing so on wikipiedia proper on a popular change, you wont recieve much feedback.
Do you make a post on each of their device's forums? XDA has sub-forums for each device, but not really a sub-forum for the family itself (back to the SGS/SGS2, there's the main device's subforum and each varient's subforum but none for the entire family, i think) That means making dozens of posts to talk about each major change.
What if it's an old device such as the winmo devices? The HTC HD2 is the only one left on the active part of the xda forums, because it's obviously not just a winmo device now. You're going to have to wait a very long time as they naturally only get a couple posts a month now.
Just as much, unless a mod/admin states to the contrary, you can always assume Wikipedia:Be Bold is implied to apply. I honestly have no issue if my edits are reverted if they are constructive reverts, as that's how wikis work.
If anyone has a issue with the edits I make, you're welcome to discuss it with me and hopefully we'll find a middle road.
Also I've made a reply on User_talkaveShaw#Page Name & Categories (as a fun note: & is translated to _.26_ in links while / isnt, though mediawiki has no issue with either of them, though you cannot directly use & in page names while you can use /) You should read it if the critisim is directed towards me.
tl;dr prove me wrong, Be Bold, help make the wiki better
Edit: HTC_HD2 - NexusHD2 ICS CM9 FAQ is an excellent example of why things should be on the wiki as articles instead of just merely links to a thread. It's about 3 pages of topic points and contains the majority of the topic points instead of having to read 225 (currently) pages to get the same info. (Also, just as much if I inadvertently remove valid content, revert/add it back! That was not my intention, everyone makes mistakes. The xda wiki is pretty well off in that it has little/no intentional vanadalism, you can always assume an edit is in good faith, I dont recall more then 1-2 legitamitely bad edits in nearly a year)
I've asked someone to look at Request 1.
I'm not sure what can be done about Request 2, if people don't want to maintain it, we can't make then
Thanks!
I dont really expect req 2 to be fullfilled in any real manner. Just pointing it out.
Added request 3: enable subpages on main namespace
TheManii said:
Added request 3: enable subpages on main namespace
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Click to collapse
Our server admin has told me this has been done.
Dave
I can confirm it's on now, all the subcatagorized pages seem to be working great now
TheManii said:
I can confirm it's on now, all the subcatagorized pages seem to be working great now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks
Dave

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