Construct 2 and BlackBerry WebWorks 2.0+

Hello all, I just wanted to pass along this guide for any developers targeting BlackBerry 10 with the new Cordova-based SDK.

supportforums.blackberry.com/t5/Web-and-WebWorks-Development/Construct-2-Webworks-SDK-2-0/td-p/2704887

The approach is a little different from before. We're now exporting to "HTML5" instead of "BlackBerry 10", and there is a bit of command-line in there but it's pretty straight-forward. If you do have any questions, don't hesitate to fire me a message.

Any feedback is also welcome, as the information in that post will eventually make its way to the official documentation and replace the current guide. Hopefully we'll be able to get some tighter integration with the IDE using this new approach as we currently have with the previous SDK.

Regarding plugins, I still need to explore how this new approach affects everything, but it should be close to what we had before. I'll update the document with information on plugins once I've had a chance to test a little bit.

Cheers!

WaterlooErik

how many users have the latest BlackBerry devices?

This new SDK has the same OS compatibility as the previous SDK, so the reach of your applications built with the new SDK does not change, just the manner in which the packaging process takes place.

In terms of number of users with the latest BlackBerry devices, I don't have those numbers.

For the most part, device OS updates happen very quickly. The infographic here (from July) shows 23% on 10.0 however most of that was due to the delayed U.S. launch.

developer.blackberry.com/blackberryworld

End users are updating quickly once the OS becomes available from their carrier. I recommendation today is targeting 10.2 for new projects as that will cover the 10.2.1 release as well, which should cover the majority of end users.

I'll see though if I can get more up-to-date figures than those from July.

WaterlooErik

I think with construct 2 it should be simple enough to expand your projects to newer devices but how would we go about testing our apps on the blackberry 10? Is there an emulator that could give us some understanding on the performance and how well it will run? Or is there someone we can contact to have it tested before submitting?

There is a BlackBerry 10 simulator available for download here:

developer.blackberry.com/html5/download

While it is the actual OS, it is rebuilt with an x86 architecture as opposed to the ARM architecture of BlackBerry 10 devices. In addition, performance in the simulator is dependent on the overall performance of your PC. As a result, there may be differences in behaviour between the two, though usually the simulator gives a good representation of what to expect on physical devices.

If you do not have physical hardware for testing, I am happy to test your applications and provide my detailed feedback. Simply fire me an email (eoros@blackberry.com) with a link to the BAR file and I'll give it a run on physical hardware (BlackBerry Z10/Z30).

From time to time, we do also have promotions and contests where we offer up devices as rewards. A good way to stay up to date is to monitor our DevBlog (http://devblog.blackberry.com) or just email me from time to time and I'll let you know if anything is coming up. :-)

Cheers!

WaterlooErik

Hi Erik,

thanks a lot for helping us.

Your tutorial on the BB developer portal is great and very useful.

Could you please help me setting up the testing environment?

I've followed all the tutorial steps until the 'webworks run' command. I've installed BB Webworks SDK 2.0.0.54 and the BlackBerry simulator installed on WMware and running. I've added the device by command line as described in setting_up_test_targets page and it is now in the target list ('webworks target' command). The simulator is running but I don't know how to make the execution program 'aware' of the simulated device: I keep on getting the "No connected Blackberry 10 device found" message on command prompt.

UPDATES:

With the command webworks emulate, followed by --devicepassword <password> and --target <target name>, the app was passed to the simulator and executed, but just to show a blank screen. A 'mail' inside the simulator reminds that I must verify the blackberry ID. Now I've verified it, but still get blank screen when app is launched on simulator (app is in alpha phase, but perfectly working on android). What could make this happen?

Thanks in advance

Best

A blank screen is most often due to some Javascript error during startup. Have you tried to connect Web Inspector to the simulator and monitor the console for errors? Once you see the first white screen and connect Web Inspector, pressing ctrl+r in Web Inspector will reload the application, and is a good way of monitoring everything from the start.

If you email me a ZIP of the HTML5 output, I can give it a try here as well.

zorida

Usually when the screen turns black on the simulator it's because you have enable the WebGL, so to solve this issue you have to put this attribute "Off" on the Configurations Settings of your "Project". But don't worry on a real device it will runs like a charm with or without WebGL there is just an issue of the simulator.

Aside, if you are using the BB10 Plugin, when you export your project unmark the option "Minify script" because if you minify the script it wont works. There is an issue so is just an advice in case you are using it.

Thank you all very much for your suggestions, I will let you know soon

Just as an FYI, I've had a suggestion from the community here as to why minifying isn't working. I am currently using the following signatures:

blackberry.payment.purchase

Whereas the recommendation is:

blackberry['payment']['purchase']

I'll make these changes in the next round and hopefully address the minifying issue.

Is failing minify a reason why there is fps drops?

I am getting a crazy low 6 or 5 fps on a very simple game on 10.2, z10.

Even on a simple title screeen with a hovering logo and 2 buttons.

Rapzuz

Yes it was as you said for me too, thank you. WebGL seems the cause of blank screen both on debug version of the app and preview over Wifi.

Note: I am using VMware free version with BlackBerry simulator mounted on. Apparently, no errors come out when using web inspector, except for a "viewport-ui" which is said to be ignored and, if I am not wrong, it shouldn't be related to the issue.

The minifying shouldn't affect FPS that much; most of the time it would be fairly negligible. Minifying has more of a role in script load times, but when packaged on-device with the app, even that isn't affected as much. I have seen audio (when multiple channels are mixed) cause latency issues, or if there are a lot of effects (movement, scaling, particles, etc.) going on.

hello WaterlooErik

i am having issues bulding

I have webworks 2 installed, registered my keys, and when i try webworks build i get "an error has occured" i tried everything i can find or think of.

I have tried with my phone plugged in and not, playing with mydevices as a target, and redoing keys.

I am not sure what I am doing.

I am on vista, running a Z10. I can run my program in the browser fine, but I cannot get it to run or build.

EDIT: I got it to build finally, I had to set "HOME_PATH" in my system variables.

I do get a lot of errors here and there. Once I build once, I need to make a new directory or else it says my version in my config is not valid. Even if I increment the build number. Not sure why. Anyways, got it building now.

I too would like insight from someone who has published successfully to blackberry, seems to me like only the "chosen ones" make it past webworks. After going thru command line to build my app I get error messages about version id even though nothin seems to be conflicting since Ive never submitted to BB10 I just leave my version ID at 1.0 and make the adjustments to the config.xml & index.html accordingly.