I have been searching all over for an app to do something I want to do, which I know lots of other people will want to have as well. There is only ONE such app on the app store, it is paid-for, and it is by all the reviews somewhat poor. So I thought it might be interesting to have a go at learning to develop my own app. I have had a go at website design before just for the heck of it, so I had a bit of a go at HTML and CSS some years ago. I know that I will need to refresh and update skills quite a bit as well as learn Java, but I am ready to do that.
What I need help with is working out which things I will need to learn. There seems to be an awful lot of stuff about interacting with contact lists, the phone, the camera, etc. I really don’t need that sort of stuff, at least at the minute. All I want to do is be able to draw knitting patterns in chart form.
So far I know that I need to be able to draw a grid, and add letters and symbols to the grid. I may need to design some symbols myself, and be able to change the colour of squares in the grid individually. I need to be able to save the grids as files. So far they will look like a spreadsheet. It would be useful to be able to have the symbols/letters in a drop-down menu so that they can be explained (e.g. so that a symbol can represent a complicated technical process).
Ideally, if it gets really polished, I should be able to have solid lines around “live” squares in the grid, and remove them from unused squares to create unique shapes.
Has anyone any idea where I need to start, or whether there are some templates that they have found that might be useful to get me started? Any help would be much appreciated!
Okay, so I admit I was a bit vague. After playing around with Eclipse for a few hours, the ideas around how my app would need to work are a little clearer.
I have realised that a database style spreadsheet file for the patterns/charts would be best, rather than try to create an interactive image. It makes adding the content much easier for the users.
There will also have to be at least one database to store all the spreadsheet files into, so that they can be retrieved later.
It would be good if users could access their saved patterns/charts in a read-only format so that they can use the patterns without accidentally editing them once they are completed.
So: More focussed questions now.
Has anyone else created a spreadsheet with pre-set options for the content of the cells? How might I achieve this?
Some of the cells might need pre-set options that cover more than one cell. I know I can do this in Excel, but will this be possible in an app spreadsheet?
Is it possible to have one spreadsheet which is accessed in an editable format by one action within the app, and as a read-only file by another action within the same app?
This is one steep learning curve. The triumph over just getting radio buttons to appear in the right order and properly aligned was exhausting. I’m sure if I started again it would be much easier next time!
@Yorkslass - I’ve moved your post into the General Web Dev category, in the hope it might get a bit more attention here.
One question I have (as a knitter), is whether you’re trying to maintain the ratio aspect of your stitches? So, for example, you want 22 cells x 30 rows to form a square, rather than using square cells. That would be important for intarsia/picture designs, but maybe less so for other types of pattern.
I don’t know if you’re familiar with this site, which has charts in that format:
Thanks! I think it might even help to cross-post into the Databases tab, but as I said, I’m a beginner and a newbie.
I think that the ratio aspect of the grid (to allow the pattern to show relative tension) is possible to add, as long as I can do what I had envisaged with the charts.
I want to create a database sheet so that if someone clicks “create new”, they are then asked for the number of rows and columns they need to draw the chart, and if that can be done, I think adding the aspect ratio (independent size pixels) for each should also be possible.
Then I want the user to be able to retrieve their saved chart two ways - one so that they can add to it or edit it if they need to, and one so that they access it in a read-only format so that they cannot accidentally edit it while swiping up or down the screen to read it.
I also wanted to be able to give a few sample patterns to get people started and demonstrate what they could do with the charts.
I hadn’t seen the site you posted - thanks for that. There is another one that a nice Icelander wrote for his wife and daughters to design lopapeysa jumpers on. It is fantastic, and free! try this - http://knittingpatterns.is/#/Design I warn you that if you haven’t used it before, Icelandic wool is great to knit with but comes out very warm!
BTW - are you on the Ravelry site? It would be good to have more friends who cross the knitting and computing spheres.
If you think Databases would be a better place, I can move the topic there. (We don’t allow cross-posting as we find it just leads to confusion, having the same issue discussed in two different places.)
[quote=“Yorkslass, post:4, topic:204550”]
There is another one that a nice Icelander wrote for his wife and daughters to design lopapeysa jumpers on. It is fantastic, and free! try this - http://knittingpatterns.is/#/Design
[/quote]Looks good, but I’ll need to wait to explore it. (I’m on Linux, so Silverlight isn’t an option, and the open-source alternative, Moonlight, is no longer maintained and not recommended. I’ll need to have a look at it on Windows.)
[quote=“Yorkslass, post:4, topic:204550”]
I warn you that if you haven’t used it before, Icelandic wool is great to knit with but comes out very warm!
[/quote]I’m in Scotland - warm is good.
[quote=“Yorkslass, post:4, topic:204550”]
BTW - are you on the Ravelry site? It would be good to have more friends who cross the knitting and computing spheres.
[/quote]I have an account on Ravelry, but I don’t really use it - my account, that is. I visit the site quite a bit to look for patterns or information.
@Ophelie, the head of Content and Community here, is also a keen knitter. @ParkinT is married to an obsessive knitter (by his account of her ). I don’t know if either of them would have ideas on how to achieve what you want. I’m afraid it’s outside my areas of competence.
). I don’t know if either of them would have ideas on how to achieve what you want. I’m afraid it’s outside my areas of competence.