tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17962397297231964682024-03-14T15:59:30.928+10:30ThunkableBlocksAll about Scratch and Thunkable!Luke Gacklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03712090091823191338noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1796239729723196468.post-80904674915745223632020-03-25T12:17:00.001+10:302020-03-25T12:17:16.056+10:30March 2020 Update
I just wanted to write to give you an update on ThunkableBlocks, over the last couple months I have been working on things in the background to help grow ThunkableBlocks and provide more useful content and wanted to share what's new on the blog.
Over the last couple of months the following are a couple milestones:
Releasing the GooglePlaces Extension
Releasing WebViewTools version 8
Luke Gacklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03712090091823191338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1796239729723196468.post-64371908181975541352020-02-29T17:41:00.002+10:302023-03-25T17:32:16.460+10:30Google Places Extension
Have you ever needed to get a user to select a place in your app? Well now you can achieve this using the Google Places API, I have developed an extension to make it easier to get started using Google Places in your app.
The Google Places API has a couple different endpoint that can be used as follows:
PlacesAutocomplete API - As a user types into a search box you can automatically use Luke Gacklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03712090091823191338noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1796239729723196468.post-5890181359185533042019-11-26T19:11:00.003+10:302019-11-26T19:11:55.805+10:30Countdown Extension now Open Source
Dear Thunkable Blocks readers,
I am now announcing that my countdown extension is now open source code, this is similar to my WebViewTools extension, extension developers may now view the code behind the extension and submit commits through GitHub if they would like to submit changes for updates to extend the functionality of the extension.
The countdown tools extension was designed to Luke Gacklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03712090091823191338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1796239729723196468.post-12510401253296617982019-04-12T14:14:00.000+09:302019-11-16T15:22:09.467+10:30April 2019 Updates: JSONTools Extension Version 4 Released
There have been a lot of things happening in the background and I released I haven't published an article in a while so I wanted to update you on some of the things I have been working on alongside announcing that Version 4 of JSONTools Extension is now available.
Incase you missed it Version 3 of JSONTools was released about a month ago which brings some fixes and added functionality, in Luke Gacklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03712090091823191338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1796239729723196468.post-37458068741132213582018-05-21T19:20:00.000+09:302018-05-21T19:20:26.134+09:30Understanding App Inventor Code Conventions
Coding Conventions in App Inventor
Coding conventions are an important part of programming, they ensure that code is consistent from developer to developer, they are essentially the rules of programming and although they are not always enforced by compilers, if you publish an extension that doesn't follow the coding conventions you'll likely receive a comment here or there telling you to Luke Gacklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03712090091823191338noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1796239729723196468.post-77108694724904610092018-02-09T22:50:00.000+10:302018-02-09T22:50:00.337+10:30How to hide the status bar in your Thunkable apps
How to hide the Android status bar in Thunkable
If you are creating a full screen app for Android, or an app that requires as much screen real estate as possible, one thing you may like to do is hide the Android status bar.
What is the status bar?
The status bar in Android is that bar at the top of the screen which shows you all your notification icons and status icons such as your Luke Gacklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03712090091823191338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1796239729723196468.post-83428549251186692002017-11-20T14:09:00.000+10:302017-11-20T14:13:40.762+10:30Generate JSON easily with simple HTML forms
JSON can be quite a powerful format to store data and is a format that you can use to power your apps on App Inventor using my JSON tools extension.
Sometimes however you may need other people to add content to your app and in this respect JSON is not the most user-friendly format to use when you need other people to contribute content who don't understand JSON.
What I've developed is a Luke Gacklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03712090091823191338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1796239729723196468.post-67697687686904723362017-10-31T21:49:00.000+10:302017-10-31T21:53:46.901+10:30Open Source App Inventor Extensions
The are quite a number of people using App Inventor and Thunkable to create their own mobile apps and many of those people are getting into creating extensions for these platforms, the great thing about developing your own extensions is that it isn't too difficult once you have your development environment set up and have a basic understanding of Java.
I have created a number of resources toLuke Gacklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03712090091823191338noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1796239729723196468.post-73239210765614498932017-08-15T11:05:00.000+09:302017-08-15T11:05:20.467+09:30Run JavaScript inside a Web Viewer with App Inventor
With the latest update to our WebViewTools extension, you can now run JavaScript in a Web Viewer in your mobile apps built on App Inventor. You can use this feature to do all sorts of useful things such as prefilling a form for a user.
Activity
Use the following steps to create a sample app which pre fills the Google Search box. In this example, the user will type their search query in the Luke Gacklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03712090091823191338noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1796239729723196468.post-22076551387554208242017-08-08T12:00:00.000+09:302017-08-08T12:00:06.558+09:30Easily create an app icon for your mobile app
Creating good looking app icons for your mobile applications can be challenging without the right tools to create them with rounded corners, shadows, and subtle gradients.
Roman Nurik is a designer and developer working on the Google Design team and has created a variety of easy to use tools for Android developers, many of these tools aren't particularly useful for App Inventor but some of Luke Gacklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03712090091823191338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1796239729723196468.post-11396347464897933702017-08-01T16:13:00.000+09:302018-05-21T19:28:52.342+09:30Create your own extensions in App Inventor
Learn how to create your own extensions in App Inventor and Thunkable with this easy to follow guide. This guide is made up of a series of lessons that will take you through what you need to get started, setting up your development environment, creating your first extension and more.
This documentation will be expanded in future to cover additional categories and teach you all the code that Luke Gacklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03712090091823191338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1796239729723196468.post-39301216608877387272017-07-25T12:00:00.001+09:302017-07-25T12:00:24.766+09:30Understanding JSON and how it works
What is JSON?
For those who are unfamiliar, JSON is a standard format for structuring data, not too dissimilar to XML, when transferring data from a client (such as your phone or web browser) to a server the data can only be text, and JSON allows you to structure your data to your needs.
JSON stands for JavaScript Object Notation and while the standard was designed with JavaScript Luke Gacklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03712090091823191338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1796239729723196468.post-3999747055139262782017-07-18T12:00:00.000+09:302017-07-19T18:20:12.049+09:30Java Code Snippets for App Inventor Extension Developers
The following is a collection of Java code snippets specific to the App Inventor platform, for those that are developing extensions for the App Inventor platform this resource may be utilised as inspiration for your custom extensions.
Whether you are a beginner learning how to create extensions or an advanced Java Software Engineer, this resource will hopefully be helpful in learning the App Luke Gacklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03712090091823191338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1796239729723196468.post-78430865927086725712017-07-15T15:29:00.008+09:302023-03-25T17:22:15.900+10:30JSONTools Extension
This is a Beta version of my JSON Tools extension for App Inventor, this extension makes it easier to work with JSON and get the information you need out of a JSON String. Many online services have API's which output in JSON format and this extension will enable you to easily decipher the JSON format.
As mentioned this is a beta release as I have been busy lately, I still wanted to release Luke Gacklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03712090091823191338noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1796239729723196468.post-4573401709739180272017-07-11T12:00:00.000+09:302018-05-21T19:30:38.589+09:30Setting up your development environment for App Inventor
Before we get stuck into coding we first have to ensure that we have the correct software installed to be able to compile our code into a working extension.
Summary of required dependencies
JDK 7u80
Ant 1.9.9
Git
App Inventor sources
Java code editor
The first step is to install the Java Development Kit, for best results stick to the latest version of JDK 7 which should be JDK 7u80. Luke Gacklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03712090091823191338noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1796239729723196468.post-62690800644991955662017-07-04T12:00:00.000+09:302018-02-06T19:55:46.133+10:30What you'll need to begin creating extensions
Creating your own extension is exciting, you're essentially adding functionality to an already awesome platform and improving it for everyone who uses it.
Creating an extension, however, is not quite as simple as dragging in blocks of code and there is some prior knowledge required.
To begin creating extensions you will need a beginner to intermediate knowledge of Java, this guide will not Luke Gacklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03712090091823191338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1796239729723196468.post-83913615626653285582017-06-27T12:00:00.000+09:302017-07-08T15:13:55.159+09:30Introduction to Extension Development
As you will know, extensions are components which extend the functionality in App Inventor.
Sites such as Thunkable and Appy builder are what's referred to as a distribution of App Inventor, because App Inventor is open source software anyone can take the code and create their own distribution easily.
Many of the available distributions offer extra features which aren't available in Luke Gacklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03712090091823191338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1796239729723196468.post-39142899754473017542017-06-19T12:00:00.000+09:302017-06-19T12:00:16.939+09:30Set text transparency in App Inventor
When looking at a label element, at first it doest look like there is any way to set the text transparency, looking at the "make color" block it looks like the block only accepts RGB and so the first thought are okay maybe it doesn't use RGBA.
However, upon further investigation, you will notice that the description of the "split color" block mentions that it returns a list of four Luke Gacklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03712090091823191338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1796239729723196468.post-56070650360591851942017-06-15T12:30:00.000+09:302017-06-15T12:30:20.606+09:30How to clear Web Viewer cookies in App Inventor
The WebViewer built into App Inventor and Thunkable doesn't have any methods built into it that allow you to clear cookies the only methods which are available are to clear the Web Viewers cache, however thanks to an extension created by us at ThunkableBlocks you can now clear a Web Viewers cookies with ease.
To clear cookies from your app simply use the ClearCookies block, this clears Luke Gacklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03712090091823191338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1796239729723196468.post-69034638478288895932017-06-13T18:54:00.003+09:302023-03-25T17:30:23.420+10:30WebViewTools Extension for App Inventor
WebView Tools is an extension which provides a range of methods for adjusting settings for a WebViewer component in App Inventor. With 25 different blocks available this post won't document every block in the extension, however, it will document the most popular blocks and the ways you could use them in your mobile apps.
Extension Usage
SetWebViewer
Before you use Luke Gacklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03712090091823191338noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1796239729723196468.post-84596967516319845122017-06-10T15:06:00.002+09:302017-06-10T15:06:50.532+09:30My backpack won't open in App Inventor or Thunkable
I've always wondered how you can delete items from the backpack in either App Inventor or Thunkable but never knew it was possible. However today I ran into a big issue, my backpack wouldn't open, I saw the interface display for about half a second then it disappeared, odd..
Then I discovered it is possible to empty the backpack, this will delete any and all blocks stored in your Luke Gacklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03712090091823191338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1796239729723196468.post-1271786884328388812017-06-07T18:43:00.001+09:302023-03-25T17:27:57.069+10:30WebViewCookieTools Extension
Clear cookies in App Inventor and Thunkable
This extension comes via a request by community member giuseppe, who is building an application inside of a WebView in App Inventor and required the ability to clear cookies from the WebView to clear out any remaining login details to completely log a user out of his application.
A cookie is a piece of temporary data stored in your browserLuke Gacklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03712090091823191338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1796239729723196468.post-27420940680708088552017-05-27T10:43:00.000+09:302018-02-06T22:29:05.847+10:30Countdown Extension for Thunkable and App Inventor
Today I am releasing my very first extension for Thunkable and App Inventor, the countdown extension. This extension provides a range of functions to get the duration between two specified dates, a startDate, and an endDate.
The first two "GetCountdown" methods return a list including the days, hours, minutes, and seconds remaining between two dates.
GetCountdownFromInstants
Luke Gacklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03712090091823191338noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1796239729723196468.post-66355739960908216742017-05-16T16:54:00.002+09:302017-05-16T17:39:52.510+09:30How to change the Google Maps Theme In Thunkabletable td {
width: 33%;
padding: 5px;
font-weight:bold;
text-align:center;
}
table tr{
padding-top:10px;
}
Google Maps themes allow you to change the colours of the different layers in Google Maps which includes things like the colour of roads, parks, and buildings.
Changing the style allows you to customise the Google Maps component to fit in with your app's style or Luke Gacklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03712090091823191338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1796239729723196468.post-21718796890816687002017-04-21T12:00:00.000+09:302017-06-08T22:16:45.699+09:30Countdown timer to a date in Thunkable
×
Note: To simplify this I have created a countdown extension which you can find here: Countdown extension
You can create a countdown to any date in Thunkable or App Inventor using the code is this exercise to calculate the number of weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds to any date.
In this example, I have created a procedure that takes in a StartDate and an Luke Gacklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03712090091823191338noreply@blogger.com0