Discussion Forums  >  Plugins, Customizing, Source Code

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Akshay
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06/03/13 11:51 PM (12 years ago)

JSON Snippet Keeper possibility??

i have 40 menu screens in each menu there are 40 tracks(urls) ie 40*40=1600 tracks i will use at53 video player for 1600 tracks. will purchasing JSON Snippet keeper make sense in this Scenario?? i have no idea how to use this plug in but can sense its a powerful plugin. Please let me know if its powerful in my case akshay
 
Dusko
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06/04/13 12:07 AM (12 years ago)
Yes, it should make sense for this case. JSON Snippet keeper will let you enter only your data, while keeping the proper structure of the JSON file. To make the best use of it, create one full menu screen with all the options underneath it and make sure it works. Then use the plugin to copy it and then change the data - the tracks in this case. Then only 38 more to go! I also use it for Share option in the main menu. I have only created it once and then copied it verbatim into the new apps, a great time saver. The caveat is that once you start changing the JSON on your own, then you keep on being on your own -- you must refrain from changing the app from the control panel.
 
chris1
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06/04/13 12:09 AM (12 years ago)
It could, but it will still be a lot of work. If it were me, I would modify the menu screen (assuming all menus use the same plugin) to dynamically generate a screen using the video plugin based on the json value for the menu item. That way, you write a few lines of code, then create 40 screens. Much better than creating 1600 screens (even if it is in the JSON Snippet Keeper)!
 
Akshay
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06/04/13 09:14 AM (12 years ago)
@dusko thanks .i havent used it so i dint get the full insight .i will surely try json snippet keeper by going through tutorials. but refraing from changing app from contol panel might be hindrance. @chris1 few lines of code >>40screens...WOW i am sure i will reach that stage very soon
 
chris1
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06/04/13 10:48 AM (12 years ago)
If you need help with the code, let me know. If you do a search in the forums, you'll find a post or two talking about how to dynamically create a screen using code.
 
Dusko
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06/04/13 11:56 PM (12 years ago)
> The caveat is that once you start changing the JSON on your own, then you keep on being on your own -- you must refrain from changing the app from the control panel. I wasn't quite as precise as I wanted to be. You can use the control panel in a usual way to change the parts of the app that you have generated with the control panel already. You can also change the parts of the app that were generated through the JSON Snippet Keeper, but it is best done through the JSON Snippet Keeper itself. The value of the JSON Snippet Keeper is in the modification of the PHP code inside the control panel, which makes the modification to the JSON stick in the main app database. So, I apologise if I misled you. The Keeper is a very valuable tool if used properly and in kind of a mass production parts of the app. But sometimes it still feels like a crutch and can bring problems of its own. Once mastered though, it will help you create the routine parts of an app in a routine way. If I wanted to make two apps, both of them utilising only YouTube videos, one for relaxation music and the other for sleep music, I could make the first app, copy it entirely with the Keeper into the second app and only change the videos manually directly in JSON. There are other ways of doing this, depending on your depth of programming knowledge. The JSON Snipeet Keeper is a non-programming, low tech and high manual labor solution, strictly within the confines of BuzzTouch and its control panel, JSON etc. As Chris suggested, you could change the structure of the menu plugin, but it leads into true programming in two hostile environments, that is, Java for Android and xCode for iOS. This approach breaches what BuzzTouch set out to do, i.e. to give non coders the ways to unify the development for both platforms. If you are set out to create several such apps, than this could be the way to go. The third solution is to use the server approach. In this scenario, the menu options reside on a server, somewhere on the net and your app accesses the server data to see what to do next. If you wanted to add the 41st option in the menu, then this approach would enable you to add or subtract the menus on the fly, without resubmitting the app to the store. (Note that the JSON Snippet Keeper will enable you to do that too, but the inside programming solution listed here as No. 2 will not.) To implement this, you would have to have a server (your site hosted somewhere with PHP and MySQL), the software to access the data -- usually written in PHP, and of course, the code for the app, which would then use fields such as Screen Data URL to get the data off of the server.
 
Akshay
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06/05/13 01:49 AM (12 years ago)
thanks a lot chris1 and dusko!! i use bt control panel @dusko this is a very neat explanation. i will start using the json plugin in some test app. by the way i installed couple of your apps yesterday .nice. @chris1 i will let you know .json plugin to get started...:) i couldnt instal any of your apps (no iphone)
 
Dusko
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06/05/13 02:15 AM (12 years ago)
> by the way i installed couple of your apps yesterday .nice. Thank you for downloading my apps. They make a good case study for JSON Snippet Keeper. In apps Opera Music and Canzoni Italiane you will find several identical menu options such as "Download Our Other Apps", "Share This", "Useful Numbers To Call" and others, which were all made once and then copied verbatim with a couple of keystrokes into other apps, using the JSON Snippet Keeper that we are talking here about. Even the option App Policies was made in that way although it may seem that it was not. Option Privacy in Canzoni Italiane will yield Privacy Policy for Canzoni Italiane while the same option in Opera Music will yield Privacy Policy for Opera Music The code is literally the same (save for the parameters below), using http://www.yourserver.com/privacy_policy.php?app_name=Opera+Music and http://www.yourserver.com/privacy_policy.php?app_name=Canzoni+Italiane to call a PHP script, which in turn used a simple line such as $get_app_name = htmlentities($_GET['app_name']); to read the name of the app and then used it anywhere in the HTML text with a line <?php echo $get_app_name ?> So yes, using the JSON Snippet Keeper can save you from repetative tasks if you have lots of common code with different parameters.
 
Akshay
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06/05/13 03:45 AM (12 years ago)
yes i got it ..how the plug in works. i also am planning to make a relaxation music app.(not the 1600 track app) it will involve in app music(for slow internet connctivity/no internet connectity)and also online relaxation music i plan to use at53 video player for this purpose. i plan to remove that play button click by following this http://www.buzztouch.com/forum/thread.php?tid=786902F0BA66316CFA06274&command=isSearching&currentPage=1&topicTitle=at53&createdBy=&repliedBy=&minViews=-1&maxViews=-1&minReplies=-1&maxReplies=-1&forumCategory= then in the at53 plug in page it asks which screen to redirect after video/audio is finished..i will redirect it to same screen. so the result will be >> continuous loops of any track. you also had an app for relaxation so i just... thanks
 

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