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dwaynep
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05/16/12 11:05 AM (13 years ago)

I'm not an idiot, just feel like one: Where are my icons?!?

Ok, first the mandatory info: BT 2.0 iOS 5.0/5.1 simulators Xcode 4.3.2 Max OSX 10.7.3 I have a handy group of icons that I want to use in my Menu Buttons screen for my app. I've uploaded the icon .png files to the Images section of BT. In the Screens section, I select the Menu Buttons screen and then click each of the "Selecting this button" choices and specify which png file to use as the small/large icon file for each button. In the MEnu Buttons screen I also set the Button color to "clear" (without the quotes). Then I package the project and then download it to my Mac. Unzip it then load the project into Xcode by clicking the .xcodeproj icon. Then I drag the various .png files to the BT_Art folder in Xcode and also drag the BT_Plugins folder from the Finder to the Xcode project. Everything compiles and runs smoothly in the iOS simulator....except I have no icons! Just "clear" buttons with no icon graphics (you just see the background image as if there is no button there). When I click each button "area" the proper thing happens. I've done a Clean and Build but get the same results....no icon images. Can anyone PLEASE help point me in the right direction before I have to double amy dosage of Valium....AGAIN!! Thanks in advance. -D
 
AlanMac
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05/16/12 11:11 AM (13 years ago)
Are we talking about the (up to 5) menu tabs across the bottom?
 
dwaynep
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05/16/12 11:14 AM (13 years ago)
Nope. Trying to show icons on the Home screen.
 
dwaynep
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05/16/12 11:14 AM (13 years ago)
Tap an icon instead of a Menu List
 
AlanMac
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05/16/12 11:16 AM (13 years ago)
So are you adding your own icons for your button menu?
 
AlanMac
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05/16/12 11:18 AM (13 years ago)
Are we talking about the (up to 5) menu tabs across the bottom?
 
ModiApps
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05/16/12 11:18 AM (13 years ago)
NOT an idiot!! I have been having the same problem. I was offered several suggestions to try: http://www.buzztouch.com/forum/thread.php?tid=08D94C6067DFC8D46DA41ED& but I still have no icons. I've moved on to other parts of the app. :-(
 
AlanMac
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05/16/12 11:20 AM (13 years ago)
Sorry, just managed to repeat my earlier post by using refresh doh! I have experimente with trying my own icons and I found it very hit and miss. I had some luck if I made them as png (which you did) , around 30 pixels square and have a transparent background.
 
dwaynep
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05/16/12 11:22 AM (13 years ago)
Wow. Seriously? Even though I'm working only on the iOS app right now, I went ahead and used all lower case letters with no "_" in the file names. This seems like such a basic, fundamental "step 1" kinda thing. IS there really not a solution? Surely there is....... (and I know your name isn't Surely...haha). cheers, D
 
dwaynep
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05/16/12 11:32 AM (13 years ago)
Thanks AlanMac. My icons are varying sizes. I figured (perhaps incorrectly) that I could do that and just "crop" them like we do with the main app icon. I will see if I can edit them and make them all uniform in size. Perhaps there is also some odd behavior with the size of the button specified in the Menu Button specs and the size of the icon png file (needing to match exactly, etc. maybe). Time to make app = a few hours Time to try to see icons = a few hours + a few more hours :(
 
ModiApps
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05/16/12 11:34 AM (13 years ago)
I'll try too, mine are large sized.
 
dwaynep
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05/16/12 11:36 AM (13 years ago)
Thanks AlanMac. My icons are varying sizes. I figured (perhaps incorrectly) that I could do that and just "crop" them like we do with the main app icon. I will see if I can edit them and make them all uniform in size. Perhaps there is also some odd behavior with the size of the button specified in the Menu Button specs and the size of the icon png file (needing to match exactly, etc. maybe). Time to make app = a few hours Time to try to see icons = a few hours + a few more hours :(
 
dwaynep
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05/16/12 11:41 AM (13 years ago)
Well ModiApps.....we all have a cross to haul....haha
 
dwaynep
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05/16/12 11:43 AM (13 years ago)
Well ModiApps.....we all have a cross to haul....haha
 
ModiApps
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05/16/12 11:51 AM (13 years ago)
THANKS AlanMac, the resizing worked.
 
dwaynep
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05/16/12 12:09 PM (13 years ago)
Still not working here. Changed all icons to be the same 60x60. LEft the button size at the default values (60). Still no icon images. Pretty miserably disappointing at this point.
 
AlanMac
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05/16/12 12:23 PM (13 years ago)
In my experience, I found 30x30 was about right, 50x50 was too big. Also, I found having a transparent background in the icon is crucial.
 
dwaynep
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05/16/12 12:40 PM (13 years ago)
Good point AlanMac. The icon background is, indeed, "clear" (without the quotes). So I have that covered. I'll try reducing the size even more to 30x30 and see what happens. Many, many thanks for the continued helpful hints! cheers, D
 
Fred@mySkylla com
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05/16/12 12:41 PM (13 years ago)
I'm not sure about iOS, but try adding the images to the BT_images folder, if there is one. Fred
 
AlanMac
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05/16/12 12:48 PM (13 years ago)
Fred has a point. From the top you said you added the icons to the BT_Art folder, but it is, as Fred rightly pointe out, BT_Images that the icons go into.
 
dwaynep
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05/16/12 12:54 PM (13 years ago)
Thanks for the suggestions, Fred & Alan. I had actually tried that previously. But, just to be complete, I went back and resized the icons to be 30x30, copied them to the BT_Images folder and then drug the folder into Xcode. Still no joy.
 
AlanMac
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05/16/12 01:14 PM (13 years ago)
Hmm. How about trying the buzztouch icons in the Buzztouch Default Icon Set (243 icons), (just as a test) which you can find at http://buzztouchmods.com/ It will narrow things down. If they work in your app it proves that the problem is related to the way you have created your icons. If they don't work in your app, the issue is related to how you are loading them.
 
dwaynep
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05/16/12 01:15 PM (13 years ago)
On my way..... to buzztouchmods.com ;)
 
dwaynep
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05/16/12 01:17 PM (13 years ago)
On my way..... to buzztouchmods.com ;)
 
dwaynep
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05/16/12 02:13 PM (13 years ago)
Just sold my iPhone. Reverting back to wax tablets. They're much more reliable and the "program" works first time, every time. NOTE: Menu buttons are part of why apps are so popular for the Mac and Android platforms. Unfortunately, the use and deployment of button menus in Buzztouch is still dicey (at best). Really, REALLY wished it wasn't so. :-/
 
Fred@mySkylla com
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05/16/12 02:17 PM (13 years ago)
Menu buttons are used by many. Not sure why you're having problems. Fred
 
Fred@mySkylla com
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05/16/12 02:19 PM (13 years ago)
Perhaps a screenshot of the setup of one of the buttons. Fred
 
AlanMac
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05/16/12 02:38 PM (13 years ago)
Don't give up, it really does work. You are probably very close.
 
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05/16/12 04:11 PM (13 years ago)
Hi The images need to go into the Images folder. One thing I discovered is once I add them I do need to do a "build" to be able to see them. In order to assign the image to a menu item try this: Go to Screens and Menus Choose by Nickname the the Menu - List you want them to appear on When the listing appears of the rows you have added to the menu, choose the Nickname under the heading of: Selecting this menu item... When you do this, a Menu Item Properties dialog box will appear Either add or "Select" the Icon File Name for that specific Row Title and Save it. Then "Build" your project. Make sure the images are in the BT_Images folder
 
dwaynep
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05/16/12 07:56 PM (13 years ago)
Hi Apple Fan. Thanks for the helpful advice. In fact, these are the exact steps I had followed, ad nausium, for the past 18 hours trying, in vain, the get the little buggers to appear. Nothing. In the end, I had to completely abandon anything having to do with icons, start completely over and just build a plain text list menu. About as exciting as stale bread, but at least I have something.
 
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05/16/12 08:05 PM (13 years ago)
You don't need to settle for a plain text list. Be sure to clarify in your own mind the difference between "images" and "icons" What version are you using? Have you read this? http://www.skomp.net/BT/rectangle_buttons_IOS.pdf Read what she did and apply it to you own app. It works. I've used it on two apps so far. Cheryl
 
dwaynep
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05/16/12 09:10 PM (13 years ago)
Thanks for the advice Cheryl. But before I jump off the bridge into applying images to list rows, I'd rather have a nice, attractive, square icon button. Here's where I'm at so far: 1. Again, dumped the whole deal. 2. Dumped my entire colorful icon collection. 3. Reverted to 30x30 Black & White icons that I'm pretty sure are from the "looks like poop" collection. 4. Rebuilt the entire project form scratch. A little more progress....3 of the 4 icons actually appeared. Strange this that the #2 icon didn't show up. The image files were all there in BT_Images directory along with the others. I went back and for some reason, the BT Screens page failed to save the icon image name where you specify the button label, etc. Yes, I tripled checked it all before building the .zip file. So I went back. Funny thing is that this happened a few more times: select the icon .png file name, click save, wait for the green letters saying its saved, then close. Re-open the same settings page immediately and the icon .png filename is blank. :-/ FInally got it to save. Just dumped the somewhat useful icon to another random .png file. Seemed to work this time. Only when I build the .zip file, download the .zip file, fire up Xcode, move the Plugins and Images directories into Xcode, Clean and re-Build, then run the iOS simulator.......the simulator runs an OLD version of the program. How do I know it's old? Because I changed, re-changed, and re-re-re-re-changed one of the button labels. But for some reason, iOS simulator won't run the new Built program. So at this point.....there are two new holes in the wall, the dogs won't stay in the same room with me and I've run completely out of Valium. :-/ Wonder if the neighbor lady has any Prozac left over.....
 
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05/16/12 09:26 PM (13 years ago)
Dwayne, This is a long shot. I had somewhat of a similar situation over the weekend. Some things I discovered along the way. Xcode is pretty smart in that it remembers references to images, etc. I had created an experimental app on BT Server 2.0, downloaded the source code to my computer, and then decided to build it in v1.5. The simulator kept showing the splash screen from the demo app that I completely deleted. Somehow it kept following an electronic trail to images on my hard drive. I went to the extreme and trashed it all, deleted all the previous images, deleted the previous Xcode project, and ultimately renamed the app and built from scratch. For some reason the simulator would not let go of the electronic trail of the two exact same app names. Another thing I discovered with images is that if you delete an image from you project, and upload a new image file with the same name (sometimes I forget to change the image size) you need to delete the image from the media file (v2.0) and go the the Screen where you entered the name, delete it and replace it and save it, and then build. It is that smart that it knows it's not the same image file. Go figure! Cheryl PS: Neighbors really don't like to share their Prozac. It's kind of like "Get your own box..."
 
dwaynep
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05/16/12 09:40 PM (13 years ago)
Thanks once again Cheryl. At this point, I have so little trust or admiration for the whole process that I've long learned to download a new copy of the .zip file ONLY after first completely deleting the previous versions of both the .zip file and uncompressed directory, emptying the trash and each build is on a new instance of Xcode (I exit after every "attempt") and do a Clean before each build. The old screen that it is keeping is just a Menu Label screen. I checked my config.txt file on the local disk in the newly uncompressed project folder and the Button labels it lists in there in no way shape or form match the labels that show up in the iOS simulator. Go figure. The whole thing seems.....Jacked. Up. Looks like a consecutive 3am night only to have no app, no progress, and no resolution in the morning. *sigh*. Starting to seem like it would have been faster and more efficient to start the project directly in Assembly language. At least when you move a bit....it gets moved!
 
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05/16/12 09:43 PM (13 years ago)
Ah, but all is not lost. We became acquainted, and you realized your neighbor won't share prozac. What version are you working in? Cheryl
 
dwaynep
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05/16/12 09:49 PM (13 years ago)
Thanks Cheryl. Versions: BT 2 Xcode 4.3.2 OSX 10.7.whatever
 
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05/16/12 09:54 PM (13 years ago)
SOLUTION! Ok folks, some really keen insight has been learned. For everyone with more than 10,000 points, go back to what you were previously doing.....I don't want to hear it. K? I know, I know..."You're KILLING me Smalls!". iOS Simulator: Cheryl is correct. The blasted thing, in trying to be helpful, screws up your life beyond recognition when it "remembers" the past versions of apps you ran. Why it would do this is really beyond my fathoming imagination. The developer that thought of this should be soaked in salt water to find all his paper cuts. Solution: In iOS Simulator choose iOS Simulator - Reset Content and Settings. Result: This sill clear out the previous memory of all things you just ran. After all, if you're running it AGAIN, its because the previous version didn't work. Just saying. Background Image for Home Screen: This .png file goes in BT_Art not BT_Images. Yes, I know its an image just like the rest.
 
dwaynep
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05/16/12 09:55 PM (13 years ago)
Now.....if I could only get some decent icons in there..... ;-)
 
dwaynep
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05/16/12 09:57 PM (13 years ago)
Many thanks to AlanMac, Fred, and my new friend Cheryl for all their helpful advice. I'll be sure to send y'all a fruit cake for the Holidays. ;-)
 
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05/16/12 09:59 PM (13 years ago)
Hooray!!!!!! Thanks for the update on how to solve the simulator thing. My only regret is that I didn't think to do myself. Cheryl
 
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05/16/12 10:00 PM (13 years ago)
Fruit cake? Nah, just send cash.... :)
 
dwaynep
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05/16/12 10:02 PM (13 years ago)
Really? You can get store credit at WalMart. Same as cash, right? ;)
 

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