What is your opinion about helper blocks in App Inventor? (GSoC Project - User Feedback)

Peter · February 8, 2021, 9:44am

To get to the assets blocks

I have to choose one of the components in my project and get it there. Would it be possible to generate this block if I drag and drop one of the files from the media pane?

ewpatton · February 8, 2021, 7:09pm

@Peter, that's certainly an interesting idea. In theory it's possible but it will take a bit of work to make it happen.

BeksOmega · February 8, 2021, 9:42pm

Hi Peter! Thanks for the suggestion, I think it sounds like a cool idea! As such, I filed an issue to track it. If you have any further things you'd like to add, feel free to leave a comment there.

Aarush_Kumar · May 21, 2021, 3:47pm

can we actually do something like this if we wanna make our own?

ewpatton · May 21, 2021, 4:27pm

If you follow Beka's link above to her final GSOC writeup there is a link from that page about how to add your own helper blocks for components (which should include extensions). Note that while her work has been merged into ucr, it won't be publicly available in the production version of App Inventor until sometime mid-July when our next release goes out.

BeksOmega · May 21, 2021, 7:36pm

Yep! Like Evan said, this should work with extensions. I tested it before putting up the PR, so unless something in App Inventor has changed since then it should be good. Extension compatibility was one of the priorities for the project =)

Here is the documentation for adding helper blocks (all kinds) to your component. And here is the document specifically for static dropdown blocks (which are a bit more involved hehe). Best of luck! If you have further questions about it feel free to message me or post a new message in the extension developer category

Oh and if you make somethig cool with it, send me a link once the helper blocks are in the production version of App Inventor! I'd love to see what people make

Best,
--Beka

Aarush_Kumar · May 22, 2021, 3:13am

the main thing is where is the OptionList and Default annotation inside common

BeksOmega · May 22, 2021, 6:45pm

Hmmm I'm not sure if this is what you're asking, but the files live here. Currenlty they're only on the ucr branch though, not master =)

KodedScorpius · May 22, 2021, 11:07pm

I absolutely like that this was able to merged *🤌*, can't wait to add it to my extensions!

Aarush_Kumar · June 23, 2021, 7:19am

also @BeksOmega for making extension what we need to import for IDropdown Interface?

Patryk_F · June 23, 2021, 8:35am

It doesn't work yet, works after nb187 update.
Here is the documentation, don't ask for anything that is already described ...

Aarush_Kumar · June 23, 2021, 8:37am

i just wanna know what to import for IDropdown interface if you can find it in docs then pls show it

Techno_Vedang · June 23, 2021, 11:02am

I am not sure but there could be an annotation same like methods and events

Aarush_Kumar · June 23, 2021, 11:03am

i saw the code but i did not saw?

BeksOmega · June 23, 2021, 1:37pm

In the final implementation IDropdown was renamed to OptionList<>. You can use it as specified here:

import com.google.appinventor.components.common.OptionList;

public enum Animal implements OptionList<String> {
  // Enum values etc...
}

Best wishes =)
Beka

Aarush_Kumar · June 23, 2021, 1:38pm

thanks @BeksOmega

Aarush_Kumar · June 23, 2021, 1:40pm

when i used your code to make extension i got error -

 [javac] An annotation processor threw an uncaught exception.
    [javac] Consult the following stack trace for details.
    [javac] java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: OptionList Class: com.aktech.test.Animal is not available. Make sure that it is available to the compiler.
    [javac]     at com.google.appinventor.components.scripts.ComponentProcessor.tryAddOptionList(ComponentProcessor.java:1923)
    [javac]     at com.google.appinventor.components.scripts.ComponentProcessor.optionListToHelperKey(ComponentProcessor.java:1898)
    [javac]     at com.google.appinventor.components.scripts.ComponentProcessor.hasOptionListHelper(ComponentProcessor.java:1865)
    [javac]     at com.google.appinventor.components.scripts.ComponentProcessor.elementToHelperKey(ComponentProcessor.java:1823)
    [javac]     at com.google.appinventor.components.scripts.ComponentProcessor.varElemToParameter(ComponentProcessor.java:2075)
    [javac]     at com.google.appinventor.components.scripts.ComponentProcessor.processMethods(ComponentProcessor.java:2524)
    [javac]     at com.google.appinventor.components.scripts.ComponentProcessor.processComponent(ComponentProcessor.java:1709)
    [javac]     at com.google.appinventor.components.scripts.ComponentProcessor.process(ComponentProcessor.java:1417)
    [javac]     at com.sun.tools.javac.processing.JavacProcessingEnvironment.callProcessor(JavacProcessingEnvironment.java:794)
    [javac]     at com.sun.tools.javac.processing.JavacProcessingEnvironment.discoverAndRunProcs(JavacProcessingEnvironment.java:705)
    [javac]     at com.sun.tools.javac.processing.JavacProcessingEnvironment.access$1800(JavacProcessingEnvironment.java:91)
    [javac]     at com.sun.tools.javac.processing.JavacProcessingEnvironment$Round.run(JavacProcessingEnvironment.java:1035)
    [javac]     at com.sun.tools.javac.processing.JavacProcessingEnvironment.doProcessing(JavacProcessingEnvironment.java:1176)
    [javac]     at com.sun.tools.javac.main.JavaCompiler.processAnnotations(JavaCompiler.java:1170)
    [javac]     at com.sun.tools.javac.main.JavaCompiler.compile(JavaCompiler.java:856)
    [javac]     at com.sun.tools.javac.main.Main.compile(Main.java:523)
    [javac]     at com.sun.tools.javac.main.Main.compile(Main.java:381)
    [javac]     at com.sun.tools.javac.main.Main.compile(Main.java:370)
    [javac]     at com.sun.tools.javac.main.Main.compile(Main.java:361)
    [javac]     at com.sun.tools.javac.Main.compile(Main.java:56)
    [javac]     at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
    [javac]     at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62)
    [javac]     at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    [javac]     at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:498)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.compilers.Javac13.execute(Javac13.java:57)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.Javac.compile(Javac.java:1388)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.Javac.execute(Javac.java:1117)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.UnknownElement.execute(UnknownElement.java:292)
    [javac]     at sun.reflect.GeneratedMethodAccessor4.invoke(Unknown Source)
    [javac]     at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    [javac]     at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:498)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.dispatch.DispatchUtils.execute(DispatchUtils.java:99)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.Task.perform(Task.java:350)
    [javac]     at java.util.Vector.forEach(Vector.java:1277)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.Sequential.execute(Sequential.java:67)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.UnknownElement.execute(UnknownElement.java:292)
    [javac]     at sun.reflect.GeneratedMethodAccessor4.invoke(Unknown Source)
    [javac]     at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    [javac]     at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:498)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.dispatch.DispatchUtils.execute(DispatchUtils.java:99)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.Task.perform(Task.java:350)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.MacroInstance.execute(MacroInstance.java:391)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.UnknownElement.execute(UnknownElement.java:292)
    [javac]     at sun.reflect.GeneratedMethodAccessor4.invoke(Unknown Source)
    [javac]     at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    [javac]     at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:498)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.dispatch.DispatchUtils.execute(DispatchUtils.java:99)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.Task.perform(Task.java:350)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.Target.execute(Target.java:449)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.Target.performTasks(Target.java:470)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.Project.executeSortedTargets(Project.java:1401)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.helper.SingleCheckExecutor.executeTargets(SingleCheckExecutor.java:36)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.Project.executeTargets(Project.java:1264)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.Ant.execute(Ant.java:437)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.UnknownElement.execute(UnknownElement.java:292)
    [javac]     at sun.reflect.GeneratedMethodAccessor4.invoke(Unknown Source)
    [javac]     at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    [javac]     at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:498)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.dispatch.DispatchUtils.execute(DispatchUtils.java:99)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.Task.perform(Task.java:350)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.Target.execute(Target.java:449)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.Target.performTasks(Target.java:470)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.Project.executeSortedTargets(Project.java:1401)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.Project.executeTarget(Project.java:1374)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.helper.DefaultExecutor.executeTargets(DefaultExecutor.java:41)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.Project.executeTargets(Project.java:1264)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.Main.runBuild(Main.java:827)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.Main.startAnt(Main.java:223)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.launch.Launcher.run(Launcher.java:284)
    [javac]     at org.apache.tools.ant.launch.Launcher.main(Launcher.java:101)

BUILD FAILED
C:\AppinventorShadowBlock\appinventor-sources-ucr\appinventor\build.xml:46: The following error occurred while executing this line:
C:\AppinventorShadowBlock\appinventor-sources-ucr\appinventor\components\build.xml:217: The following error occurred while executing this line:
C:\AppinventorShadowBlock\appinventor-sources-ucr\appinventor\build-common.xml:125: Compile failed; see the compiler error output for details.

BeksOmega · June 23, 2021, 11:19pm

I'm sorry man, I'm quite busy with other projects at the moment and I'm not set up for App Inventor development right now If you start a new thread with info about what you're doing and that stack trace I'm sure someone more active can help you out =)

Sorry I can't be more help Best of luck on your project!
--Beka

Know_About_IT · June 24, 2021, 2:18am

Do your sources even have the code of her pr ? U will need to manually add it for now as I think it is not yet merged with master

Aarush_Kumar · June 24, 2021, 5:26am

i am using her sources only

What is *your* opinion about helper blocks in App Inventor? (GSoC Project - User Feedback)

What is your opinion about helper blocks in App Inventor? (GSoC Project - User Feedback)