Genero Mobile Development Client for iOS

Genero supports two types of GMI front-end Genero apps for iOS:

• The ready-to-use "Genero Mobile Development Client" for iOS, available through the App Store.
  Important:

  Due to Apple® limitations, the Genero Mobile Development Client app is not allowed to listen to a TCP port to provide a GUI service. In order to establish the GUI front-end connection, the front-end must connect to the runtime system running on the development machine.

• A self-made GMI front-end, using the gmibuildtool to build a GMI front-end app with your own Apple developer account. With this configuration, you perform a direct GUI connection based on FGLSERVER.

On the development server, start the application using the fglrun --gui-listen=portnum command:

fglrun --gui-listen=6500 main.42m

On the iOS device, enter the following in the URL field:

fgl://dev-server-hostname:6500

To build your own GMI front-end:

1. Your macOS computer must be setup with Xcode® and Genero BDL environment as when creating of Genero Mobile for iOS apps. For more details, see Install Genero Mobile for iOS (single version).
2. Make sure that the installed fjs-gmi*.zip archive is unzipped into FGLDIR.
3. Go to the $FGLDIR/demo/MobileDemo/gmiclient directory.
4. Delete the complete build directory, if it exists. (This can be done with a make clean command.)
5. Compile the GMI front-end program files (main.42m, main.42f, etc):

   $ make

   See $FGLDIR/demo/MobileDemo/gmiclient/Makefile for details.
6. Build the GMI front-end:
   • To build and install the GMI front-end on the simulator, first make sure that the simulator is started (open -a Simulator command), then execute the make command with the gmi.install rule:

     $ open -a Simulator
     $ make gmi.install

   • To build and install the GMI front-end on the device plugged to your Mac, get a development certificate (for the IDENTITY makefile variable) and provisioning profile (for the PROVISIONING_PROFILE makefile variable), then execute the make command with the gmi.install rule, by specifying the TARGET, the IDENTITY, and the PROVISIONING_PROFILE variables:

     $ make TARGET=phone IDENTITY=WKRRJZ999 \
         PROVISIONING_PROFILE="~/Library/MobileDevice/Provisioning Profiles/myapp.mobileprovision" \
         gmi.install

This section describes the interface of the Genero Mobile Development Client for iOS available through the App Store. Once installed, you can access the front-end by tapping on the Genero icon in the home screen of the device. If using iOS 14 or later, you may find the icon in the App Library, which appears as the last page in the home screen. Once launched, you are taken to the home page, as shown in Figure 1.

Settings on the home page allow you to perform the functions listed.

• Enter URL: Enter the IP address/hostname and the TCP port for the server application. The URL can be the URL of an application running on a Genero Application Server (GAS) or an application started with fglrun --gui-listen:

  http://dev-server-hostname:tcp-port/gas/ua/r/myApp

  Alternatively, it can be a URL connecting directly to the FGL runtime with a URL using the fgl:// format:

  fgl://dev-server-hostname:tcp-port

  For more information on starting an application on the server, see Install and use the Genero Mobile Development Client for iOS.
• Options/Timeout: This setting allows you to set a timeout (in seconds) of when the device stops trying to connect to the runtime. The default is 5 seconds. After the timeout, the button Connect to Dev URL becomes active again. The timeout can not be interrupted. When using a long timeout, you need to wait until the timeout is reached if the connection cannot be made.
• Options/Permanent retry: This setting means the GMI front-end will indefinitely try to reconnect to an application that is stopped. If you stop the application on the server, and then restart it, the device automatically reconnects. While the application is disconnected, a dialog displays a message with the number of seconds to the next reconnect attempt. You can cancel the permanent retry by tapping the cancel button on the dialog. Clear the option, if you wish to disable the permanent retry feature.
• HTTP viewing URL (AUI tree): On your server you can enter the URL displayed in a browser page to view the application AUI tree. For example, enter the device IP address and the TCP port displayed in the field. If using the emulator, you can enter localhost and TCP port.
• Results: This field displays the GBC version embedded in the installation used to render the application forms on the device. All connecting apps use the GBC on the server side.

This section describes the interface of the self-made Genero Mobile Development Client for iOS—also known as the GMI client. For more information on creating the application, see Build your own GMI front-end. Once installed, you can access the front-end by tapping on the GC (GMI client) icon in the home screen of the device. If using iOS 14 or later, you may find the icon in the App Library, which appears as the last page in the home screen. Once launched, you are taken to the home page as shown in Figure 2.

The home page display details for the remote GUI connection and the HTTP URL for viewing the AUI tree of the current application:

• On your server you can set FGLSERVER with the IP address/hostname and the TCP port to start an application with fglrun --gui-listen and display its forms to the device.
• On your server you can enter the URL displayed in a browser page to view the application AUI tree. For example, enter the device IP address and the TCP port displayed. If using the emulator, you can enter localhost and TCP port.

Details of the GBC version embedded in the installation used to render the application forms on the device is displayed.