Building and deploying an Apache Cordova app using Visual Studio 2015 Community Update 3

Visual Studio 2015 Community is a free Comprehensive Windows IDE from Microsoft. You can develop both web apps as well as native apps. It is also cross-platform. Besides these you can develop a whole lot other types of projects including Databases and IoT.

Besides Visual Studio 2015 Community there are other IDEs that cover cross-platform app development using HTML5,CSS and JavaScript such as Intel XDK. Visual Studio 2015 or(VS 2013) address a whole lot of technology besides web and mobile. Here it is not the intention to compare or contrast but mention the availability. If there is a requirement for a simpler IDE then perhaps Intel XDK could be an option where as Visual Studio would require a steeper learning curve.

This post deals with creating a Apache Cordova app using Visual Studio 2015 Community Update 3.
In the New Project... window you find only one template, a Blank App available for developing a Apache Cordova JavaScript based app.

ApacheCordova_00.PNG

If you accept the default blank project you would see the following in the Solution Explorer.

ApacheCordova_01.PNG

The project can be developed at least for two platforms Android and Windows unless scripts are not needed for WP8 and IOS devices.

By default when you try to build this project, the IDE builds it for Android. The build process is lengthy and takes some time. As this computer does not have Google Chrome installed when you try to Start Debugging, you will get the following error:
==============
Severity Code Description Project File Line Source Suppression State
Error  Error: DEP10401 : The Ripple emulator requires Google Chrome to launch your app, but Chrome is not installed on this computer. Please install it from: https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/index.html. BlankCordovaApp_0   IntelliSense
=====================
In order to test this blank project you need the Ripple emulator.

However one can direct debug target to another device Windows Universal (for example).

In order to build for Windows Universal we can change it from the Project's Property page (Menu Project | Project Properties) as shown:

However when you try to run this you get this error:

Most of these errors are related to not choosing the right debug target device / emulator.

Windows as deploy target:

Windows Emulators run in Hyper-V and that needs to be working as the next message shows trying to work with Windows 10. This message is strange as Hyper-V is enabled. However, there

must have been a Windows 10 update which probably resets other settings.

I enabled Hyper-V using the Control Panel. However, you also need to restart the computer.

 As I had launched the Visual Studio as a normal user, it needs to run in elevated mode.

 Well. I still get this error message and cannot run..

 I changed my emulator to Windows x64 and the program ran without any errors and the emulator image is shown below.

 I tried to run in Window Phone emulator and it came up with many other errors. This one is hard to run in Windows 10 emulator.

 I am not sure what this error message is about. I wish there were more helpful messages.

Finally I ran the start debug for Window Phone with the Emulator 8.1 WVGA 4 inch 512 mode and the program ran without errors.

I have to see how it runs in other emulators/devices. Let you know in another post.

Paint 3D Debuts in preview for now

Microsoft has released  a preview version of Paint 3D which you can download from Windows Store and test drive.

I have been using Paint (it was not called 2D) for quite a long time although it is quite limited in many ways. I think it did get an upgrade, I do not remember when.

The new Paint 3D looks nice and it can do a lot of things.

This is what you see when you search for Paint 3D in Windows Store.

Paint 3D_00

Here is the description.

Paint 3D_01

Some more additional information.

Paint 3D_02

I downloaded the APP to my laptop (Toshiba Satellite S 70 series) with Windows 10 Professional and launched it. Here is the as launched view of the app.

Paint 3D_03
There are two videos that you should review and quite interesting.
I did a very quick test drive and the interface is very intutive. May be I will make another post for those who want step-by-step help.

But here is the first picture I created using the interface. Not really all the 3D things it can do.

Paint 3D_04

Cloud-based service- AppDome's AppFusion automates mobile apps

Less coding and more fusing is what AppDome offers on the cloud.

First of all AppFusion is a codeless platform to automate mobile integration. It is a cloud-based service that can be used by mobile developers as well as mobile professionals (Mobile IT, Ops, LOB etc) to rapidly integrate new functionality and services to mobile apps on demand without any coding.

The following are the key parts of this platform:

Mobile Integration Workflow
 Primary user interface for interacting with the services. The workflow is intuitive for uploading, fusing, signing and deploying. Also analyze fused apps plus collaboration and productivity tools.

App library
 Upload and store unlimited number of apps in a stateful, private repository.

Fusion workbench
  Choose services that the customer wants to fuse to the app and create what are called Fusion Sets to apply to apps.

AppFusion Catalog

Also to note: When you sign you can add a complete best practice mobile security suite to mobile apps - for FREE

View fusion video here:




View security related video here:



Read more details here, or even better create a trial account if it is available. Trying it out to find if it  fits your requirements.

Get your beta here.
Source: AppDome web site.

Broadening IoT adoption and building trust with IoT test beds

IOT Solutions World Congress takes place in Barcelona, Spain during 25-27 October 2016. Not many days left.

The IoT Solutions World Congress is the only event featuring live testbeds of Industrial IoT solutions and applications.

Here are some copied from their site:

Communication & Control Testbed for Microgrid Applications
ENERGY & UTILITIES
Continuous noise monitoring and sound event detection & identification
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY

Energy, Information, and Avatars
ENERGY & UTILITIES
"When a physical system is connected in such a symbiotic relationship with its virtual representation, we call the resulting interconnected system a “cyber-physical avatar”.

Industrial IoT beneath our cities. Interoperability and IPv6
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY

Remote Patient Monitoring
HEALTHCARE

"Cognizant’s Remote Patient Monitoring solution, powered by Microsoft’s Azure Internet-of-Things platform, empowers healthcare providers to transform the patient care relationship while mitigating the challenges impeding innovation and outcomes.

Sensitive Networking Testbed
MANUFACTURING
"The goal of this testbed is to display the value of new Ethernet standards referred to as Time-Sensitive Networks in a Manufacturing ecosystem of applications."

Smart Airline Baggage Management
TRANSPORTATION & LOGISTICS
"Actual smart baggage trackers / RFID sensors will be shown that generate live data when they move – illustrating how the trackers are used with and applied to airline checked bags generating baggage data and alerts. "

Surgical Kit Tracking Solution
HEALTHCARE
Inventory tracking for surgical kits

Transformation of business operations through IoT enabled edge to cloud video, sensors and advanced analytics
BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION
"Telefonica Fleet Management testbed will show how B2B customers from different industry segments can benefit from vehicle telematics solutions and the best way to support them through the digital transformation process."

Complete agenda of the IOT Congress here:
http://www.iotsworldcongress.com/congress/2016-agenda/

New JS Foundation launched

The Linux Foundation announced the launch of JS Foundation. JS Foundation will be a new project for everything that developer would be going to the open governed, open source JavaScript.

Both JQuery Foundation and Dojo Foundation plan on joining to create a more forceful new foundation.

The fact is JavaScript has become very popular.

"JavaScript is a pervasive technology, blurring the boundaries between server, client, cloud and IoT. We welcome any projects, organizations or developers looking to help bolster the JavaScript community and inspire the next wave of growth for application development."

The initial members are:

Bocoup
IBM
Ripple
Samsung
Sauce Labs
Sense Technic Systems
Site Pen
StackPath
University of Westminster
WebsiteSetup

There is also a mentor program.

The main motive for the foundation is to encourage and drive JavaScript centric projects towards broad adoption and facilitate ongoing development of related technologies.

Read for more about this interesting article here;
https://adtmag.com/articles/2016/10/17/js-foundation-launched.aspx