GD Palm Friendliness

[mlepage]

OK, here is what I would like to happen.

First, I would like the ability to tell GapiDraw which of the hardware buttons to override or not override, and the same for the silkscreen buttons.

For example, on a Tungsten E, I want to be able to make my game allow the home button to return to the launcher, and the HotSync button to start a HotSync. I want to be able to have my game use the d-pad, but leave the other four hardware buttons for exiting to calendar, or whatever they should do.

Second, I would like GapiDraw to call a function that I can implement in this situation. Like OnScreenSizeChanged, I want to be able to implement something like UserSuddenlyExited. So in this function, I can save my application state like a well-behaving Palm application should.

This all gets back to the principle of not being rude to the user. The user expects those buttons to work, so they should. The user expects the application to retore its state, so it should. I can't implement this without GapiDraw's help. Therefore, GapiDraw should provide this functionality.

Please let me know if this is possible, or if you have alternative suggestions, or if I'm missing other things a proper Palm application should be doing. Thanks!

[fzammetti]

I admit I haven't done any Palm development (aside from the obligatory "Hello World" a few years back before I decided I liked PocketPC's more), but...

On the PocketPC, GAPI itself takes complete control basically of the device. All hardware buttons are overriden, the screen is completely yours, and so. Why wouldn't you want the same thing on a Palm?

I understand your point about users wanting these buttons to work, and being a nice Palm app, those are valid points. But, wouldn't they be just as valid on a PocketPC? If yes, then that's kind of saying that there are few, if any, "friendly" PocketPC apps. If no, then wouldn't the same be acceptable on a Palm?

My point is, and I could be very wrong, it seems like your asking for functionality that's probably not required. I would think you'd want your app to take over the device, as on the PocketPC, and implement your own "minimize" (like you did in Concentrix, a very nice touch by the way).

[Johan]

[mlepage]

Any news on this Johan?

It's actually a fundamental difference between how PalmOS and WinCE work.

In WinCE, the X button minimizes (not closes) an app in the multitasking OS. In PalmOS, the OS is not multi-tasking, so the app actually closes.

The important thing is, Palm users expect the home button to always close the app and take them to their launcher. There is no getting around this expectation. Further, this behaviour is required for some Palm certification. E.g. Zodiac won't certify your game without this behaviour.