Changes

This project is aimed at building a new platform on cordova for sugar. It shall help us to build activities for mobile using html,js and css and the interaction with the device's native api can be provided by invoking the javascript libraries. These libraries provide device specific native backing code.We can access the camera functions and many others using javascript alone.So basically the mobile apps can be built in js rather than native code which implies that knowing the native code to built an activity and to interact with device functionality is no longer a neccesity.The technologies required to complete this project are javascript,python programming knowledge and sugar built, cordova platform for developing upon.

This project is aimed at building a new platform on cordova for sugar. It shall help us to build activities for mobile using html,js and css and the interaction with the device's native api can be provided by invoking the javascript libraries. These libraries provide device specific native backing code.We can access the camera functions and many others using javascript alone.So basically the mobile apps can be built in js rather than native code which implies that knowing the native code to built an activity and to interact with device functionality is no longer a neccesity.The technologies required to complete this project are javascript,python programming knowledge and sugar built, cordova platform for developing upon.

To allow the web developers to interact with the device's native functionality, we shall build a communication between the python and javascript part by using the sugar web architecture.Once that is done, we then need to add to the cordova-js project of cordova - which provides the common API's for sending messages and triggering error and success callbacks with native framework responses.

The figure below shows how the hybrid apps help the developers to port their applications to different platforms using the cordova platform and give a view why developing the cordova container for sugar would be useful.

[[File:Cordova applications run on different platforms.png|center|500px|Figure1]]

[[File:Cordova applications run on different platforms.png|center|500px|Figure1]]

Also the application build using HTML,CSS,JS can be designed to run over various devices which in turn provides the developer to develop apps which are universal in nature. This can be achieved by making the design responsive which adapts according to the device's features.This forms a key reason why we would want to develop using HTML,CSS and JS usiing the cordova platform.The concept can be explained by the following image.

Also the application build using HTML,CSS,JS can be designed to run over various devices which in turn provides the developer to develop apps which are universal in nature. This can be achieved by making the design responsive which adapts according to the device's features.This forms a key reason why we would want to develop using HTML,CSS and JS usiing the cordova platform.The concept can be explained by the following image.

[[File:Cordova_Html_application_on_different_platforms.jpg|center|650px|Figure3]]

[[File:Cordova_Html_application_on_different_platforms.jpg|center|650px|Figure3]]

As a part of this project our major goal would be to develop the middle layer, which shall help the HTML apps to communicate with the sugar platform beneath.Hence we shall build the cordova part as well as the native APIs needed to communicate with the cordova middle layer.Finally we shall provide the javascript APIs though which the developers can make their HTML apps for the sugar platform.So the final goal of the project is to provide the javascript APIs for the developers and code some sample apps which depict the usage of those APIs in the real environment

 

To allow the web developers to interact with the device's native functionality, we shall build a communication between the python and javascript part by using the sugar web architecture.Once that is done, we then need to add to the cordova-js project of cordova - which provides the common API's for sending messages and triggering error and success callbacks with native framework responses.The high level view of the architecture to be built can be specified as follows.The cordova plugins will interact with the sugar platform through the sugar API (we need to develop that) and with the webview through its native API.This will then provide a javascript API to developers for their apps.

 

 

Hence as per the above diagram we shall be building the cordova plugins, sugar api whiich interacts with the cordova plugins,the native cordova api which interacts with the webview and the javascript API which allows the developers to make their apps directly on HTML,CSS and JS using the device functionality through plugins and customs plugins.

 

So in a nutshell develop the middle layer, which shall help the HTML apps to communicate with the sugar platform beneath.We shall build the cordova part as well as the native APIs needed to communicate with the cordova middle layer.Finally we shall provide the javascript APIs though which the developers can make their HTML apps for the sugar platform.So the final goal of the project is to provide the javascript APIs for the developers and code some sample apps which depict the usage of those APIs in the real environment

===== What is the timeline for development of your project? The Summer of Code work period is from May 19 - August 22; tell us what you will be working on each week. (As the summer goes on, you and your mentor will adjust your schedule, but it's good to have a plan at the beginning so you have an idea of where you're headed.) Note that you should probably plan to have something "working and 90% done" by the midterm evaluation (27 June); the last steps always take longer than you think, and we will consider cancelling projects which are not mostly working by then. =====

===== What is the timeline for development of your project? The Summer of Code work period is from May 19 - August 22; tell us what you will be working on each week. (As the summer goes on, you and your mentor will adjust your schedule, but it's good to have a plan at the beginning so you have an idea of where you're headed.) Note that you should probably plan to have something "working and 90% done" by the midterm evaluation (27 June); the last steps always take longer than you think, and we will consider cancelling projects which are not mostly working by then. =====