Cool refactoring going on in Project Siena

This is just a shout out to the Project Siena team - Refactoring a Screen Name change is awesome! :)
This is one of those things that can break a project quickly - an object (like a screen) is renamed. Typically when one changes a name of an object it means lot of time looking through code to make the change. Easy to miss one here or there when
you have a lot of code.
In Project Siena, however, when you change your screen name, *every* time it's referenced in code it's changed.
Wow! What a time saver and a way of reducing "why isn't this working?!?"
It's another "fun" addition that makes working with Siena even more enjoyable.
Thor

Thanks for the feedback, Thor :-)
Robin

Similar Messages

How to incorporate live tiles into a Project Siena app (kinda)

Hi guys,
I have been playing around with getting some live tiles into my project siena app (Astronomy Action Centre), and at last I have managed it.
What I did was as follows
Publish your app as normal and import it into Visual Studio
When you have it imported paste this code into the init.js file. I pasted mine into the following location of that file. Near the top of the file (just before the var statements)
CODE TO PASTE
var notifications = Windows.UI.Notifications;
                var recurrence = notifications.PeriodicUpdateRecurrence.hour;
                var urls = [
                    new Windows.Foundation.Uri("url1"),
                    new Windows.Foundation.Uri("url2"),
                    new Windows.Foundation.Uri("url3"),
                    new Windows.Foundation.Uri("url4"),
                    new Windows.Foundation.Uri("url5")
                notifications.TileUpdateManager.createTileUpdaterForApplication().enableNotificationQueue(true);
                notifications.TileUpdateManager.createTileUpdaterForApplication().startPeriodicUpdateBatch(urls, recurrence);
END OF PASTE
What you need to do now is replace the url1,url2,url3,url4,url5 with data sources.
I got mine from http://www.buildmypinnedsite.com/en
This site creates live tiles for your webpage but we are going to use the datasources for our app.
Enter the RSS details of the site that you want to have as a live tile into this site.
Here is the RSS url from my own site
http://www.viewfromascope.com/feed/
follow the steps through to the last one and you will get a code like this
<meta
name="msapplication-TileColor"
content="#000000"/>
<meta
name="msapplication-notification"
content="frequency=30;polling-uri=http://notifications.buildmypinnedsite.com/?feed=http://www.viewfromascope.com/feed/&id=1;polling-uri2=http://notifications.buildmypinnedsite.com/?feed=http://www.viewfromascope.com/feed/&id=2;polling-uri3=http://notifications.buildmypinnedsite.com/?feed=http://www.viewfromascope.com/feed/&id=3;polling-uri4=http://notifications.buildmypinnedsite.com/?feed=http://www.viewfromascope.com/feed/&id=4;polling-uri5=http://notifications.buildmypinnedsite.com/?feed=http://www.viewfromascope.com/feed/&id=5;
cycle=1"/>
Now copy the links below in place of the url1,url2,url3,url4,url5 in the code we pasted into visual studio.
http://notifications.buildmypinnedsite.com/?feed=http://www.viewfromascope.com/feed/&id=1
http://notifications.buildmypinnedsite.com/?feed=http://www.viewfromascope.com/feed/&id=2
http://notifications.buildmypinnedsite.com/?feed=http://www.viewfromascope.com/feed/&id=3
http://notifications.buildmypinnedsite.com/?feed=http://www.viewfromascope.com/feed/&id=4
http://notifications.buildmypinnedsite.com/?feed=http://www.viewfromascope.com/feed/&id=5
Now save and run your app, if you browse to your Start menu and pin your app you should see the live tiles updating.
the caveat is that you have no control over the layout of the tiles, it seems to work best in wide and square format, the large tile updates but keeps repeating the same news.
So there it is live tiles on a project siena app.
if anyone can add to this I would love to hear from you, or if you have any questions please let me know.
Latest Version of my own Project Siena App with live tiles
http://apps.microsoft.com/webpdp/app/0c8cff77-1e0f-445b-9628-92fe602d2c98
Ronan

If you aren't going to use a live tile on an actual website, you don't have to use buildmypinnedsite dot com.
Here is a template. If you have multiple REST/RSS sources, you can use different sources for each of the 5 items that are cycled. They can be from different sites. You need to check if images in the feeds are enclosures. If they are, then the feed won't
work properly. You can use text and image based feeds or text only, just don't use any that have enclosed images. Here is a template you can copy and paste. replace the red text with your own customized information.
var notifications = Windows.UI.Notifications;
var recurrence = notifications.PeriodicUpdateRecurrence.HalfHour;
var urls = [
new Windows.Foundation.Uri("http://notifications.buildmypinnedsite.com/?feed=http://whateverrssfeed1&id=1"),
new Windows.Foundation.Uri("http://notifications.buildmypinnedsite.com/?feed=http://whateverrssfeed2&id=2"),
new Windows.Foundation.Uri("http://notifications.buildmypinnedsite.com/?feed=http://whateverrssfeed3&id=3"),
new Windows.Foundation.Uri("http://notifications.buildmypinnedsite.com/?feed=http://whateverrssfeed4&id=4"),
new Windows.Foundation.Uri("http://notifications.buildmypinnedsite.com/?feed=http://whateverrssfeed5&id=5")
notifications.TileUpdateManager.createTileUpdaterForApplication().enableNotificationQueue(true);
notifications.TileUpdateManager.createTileUpdaterForApplication().startPeriodicUpdateBatch(urls, recurrence);
-- Barb Bowman

My first Project Siena APP! - Cooking Utility Belt

Just started using Project Siena and I built my first app. What a fun experience. There was a bit of a learning curve and some additional documentation would have helped but the forum came through for me. Here is my app, check it out :)
Cooking Utility Belt
Tim

Doing some more research, I came across this in the free e-book from Microsoft Press, Programming Windows Store Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (Second Edition):
For basic licensing and trial enforcement, the good news is that both are effortless: the app doesn’t need to do anything at all! A user cannot acquire your app without going through the Store, and even if he did manage to, he’d have to have a developer
license to install and run it. Furthermore, because the Store automatically tracks trial periods for apps, Windows will simply not launch an app once the trial is expired. Instead, Windows will redirect the user to the product’s page in the Store where the
user can purchase a full license.
What that means to me is that when submitting the app in the store you can select if it's a trial mode or not.
Although it's not as elegant of a solution with code, at least there isn't a concern of losing functionality when a new version of Siena is released, either!
Thor

My latest Project Siena App is now in the store

I decided to build yet another Project Siena App the other day when I was semi snowed in.
My NWS-NOAA Weather Prediction Mini Center Windows 8 app lets you quickly view the National Forecast Chart for three days, shows the Quantitative Precipitation Forecasts for up to 7 days, and view Excessive Rainfall Forecasts. It’s available now in the
Windows Store (for USA). You can read more about it (and my love for Project Siena) at
http://digitalmediaphile.com/index.php/2014/02/20/my-weather-prediction-mini-center-app-is-now-available/.
This very simple app went through store certification in record time yesterday. Made my head spin.
Submitted at 1:15pm
Approved at 2:10pm
Available at 2:45pm
All times above Eastern.
Main screen:
Can't wait to see what the next release of Project Siena brings. Hoping for Portrait view CSS support and Windows 8.1 target support.
-- Barb Bowman

On Tue, 6 May 2014 11:05:13 +0000, MonaTech wrote:
>In terms of styling what I do is
>
>1. create an excel file with 1 column titled num1 or something
>
>2. Beneath that add sequential numbers 1,2,3,4,5 (the numbers correspond to the number of pages in your gallery), create a table and save the file
>
>3. Add that file as a data source.
>
>4. Create a custom gallery and make set the items to the table,
>
>5. Start adding your elements to the first section of the gallery
>
>6. in the visible property add if(thisitem!num1=1,true,false)
>
>This will make that element appear on the first section of the gallery, if you put if(thisitem!num1=2,true,false) then it will appear in the second element and so on.
>
>It does get a little awkward when you start adding more elements but if you label each element correctly it makes live an awful lot easier.
>
>Using this method you can add items of different sizes and shapes to each element of the custom gallery. So you could make something like the bing news app if you like.
>
>I hope this helps, if you have any other questions please let me know, also I would love to see your siena forum app, I really like the layouts of your other apps and would be keen to see your app on the forum.
that's really cool. I like that alot.
After I saw your post about the app, I stopped playing with mine ;-) Maybe
I'll finish it... But since yours works, I didn't see any need <G> as I was not sure how to fix the messy HTML tags in the description. Like I said, MS has an RSS feed that leaves a lot to be desired.
-- Barb Bowman

My 2 Project Siena Apps listed as New and Rising in Windows Store

Hmmn, my two latest Project Siena apps, GOES Satellite Imagery and Doppler Radar Mosaic Imagery are
listed as new and rising with some heavyweight products like BBC and Weather Channel. I must be hallucinating. I have no idea what being listed with such heavy hitters means, but...
-- Barb Bowman

Nice one Barb, congratulations

Error in saving and Project Siena close/crash

I am new to Project Siena and when I try to save my work, I receive an error:
"Error: test.siena cannot be saved. The file may be in use by another application"
Another problem is when I load a WADL, the Project Sienna closes or crashes. The WADL I am loading comes from the WADL generator tool.
Any thoughts on how to resolve these problems?
Thanks

Hi Medel,
We fully support Windows 8.1 Enterprise, therefore it is alright to use that SKU. As long as you have Windows 8.1, all that Siena needs, will be provided by the Operating System.
As a follow up for you, on the other laptop, if you do the following what happens?
1) Reboot
2) Start Siena, once the machine comes back up
3) Start a new document and save as something other than "test.siena", on your desktop
Does it save? If it does not, you may have to post on the Windows Forum and see what suggestions are available.
Thanks.

Can I convert Facebook time Text to Project Siena's Date value ?

Can I convert Facebook time Text to Project Siena's Date value ?
I want to show create_time on screen by my Localtime formatted text.
Facebook time Text = 2014-07-14T11:22+0000
I want to show = 2014/07/14 18:22
My Time Zone is +09:00, Osaka/Japan.
Currently I try it by Text/Replace/Replace/Replace/Left/DateValue/+ , etc.
And I ask more simple way.
Regards,
Yoshihiro Kawabata

Thank you Andy , and Robin, I can.
Text(TimeValue(Substitute(ThisItem!created_time,"+0000",".000Z")),"yyyy/mm/dd hh:mm")
At Facebook Albums's Gallary, I can convert from Facebook created_time to Localtime Text DateTime.
and I hope more easy way like Excel Power Query's one.
Regards,
Yoshihiro Kawabata

Can I convert Twitter time Text to Project Siena's Date Value ?

Can I convert Twitter time Text to Project Siena's Date Value ?
I want to show localtime of Twitter created_at.
Twitter time text = ThisItem!created_at , ex: Tue Jul 15 17:19:00 +0000 2014
I want to show 2014/07/16 02:19 by Japan localtime.
Regards,
Yoshihiro Kawabata

Siena uses JavaScript to parse date/times, via the TimeValue function. A good specification regarding what is acceptable can be found here:
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Date/parse
The example above is truly bizarre: I thought I had seen it all. You will need to turn that form into one of those listed on the above site, using string functions to chop it up and reassemble it into a saner form.

URGENT: Can't publish app after November update - Project Siena

Hi,
I have several apps that I want to publish, but am unsuccessful.
After update in November came out my Siena refused to publish so I reinstalled it from the App Store just now. Even though I did this, in the new version, the same message keeps appearing.
Why can't I publish?
This is pretty urgent, as I need to present the apps in 24 hours to our customer. My ass is on the line...
Any help appreciated - BIG THANKS
Peter

Peter,
I'm not sure if you're working with a company issued device that may have restrictions which are causing you problems (we've seen this in the forums for previous versions) and considering you have a short turn-around, have you tried installing Project Siena
on another PC?
Another route would be to set up a virtual machine and install Siena. Microsoft offers 90 day virtual machines in various platforms that may help in getting things set up quicker:
https://modern.ie/en-us/virtualization-tools#downloads
Thor

Question About the Pen Control in Project Siena

Hi, good day.
I'am working on some tech demos with Project Siena, and I need to use the pen control so that the user draw some lines in the main page of the app. I decided to hide the pen controls, so there's only a white canvas. Sometimes the user will need to erase
some strokes... and because I hide the controls, I need a way to toggle between Draw Mode and Erase Mode.
I added a Toggle Switch so that in the OnCheck method I could add this expression "PenMode!Draw" or "PenMode!Erase",
but it doesn't help. I think I am using a wrong way. Are there any suggestions on how to switch between draw and erase mode within the pen control, without showing the controls?
Also, is there any way to erase or reset ALL the strokes in the pen control? For example, drawing some lines inside the pen control, and that the user can clean all the strokes at once.
Thanks,
Antonio S.

Antonio,
It is possible to do both.
I have uploaded an example of this called Pen Control to the following:
https://onedrive.live.com/#cid=5CEEF21796F5830D&id=5CEEF21796F5830D%218724
For the Mode Toggle:
Set the Mode (Design > More > Mode) to CTRLpen
Create a Slider with the Min set to 0, and the Max set to 1.
Set the Slider's On Change to the following:
If(Slider1!Value = 0,UpdateContext({CTRLpen: PenMode!Draw}),UpdateContext({CTRLpen: PenMode!Erase}))
For the Erase All
Set the Pen's Clear to PenClear
Create a button.
Set the Button's On Select to the following:
UpdateContext({PenClear: true}); UpdateContext({PenClear: false})
Note:
CTRLpen and PenClear are names I made up. You can replace them with whatever names you want to use, as long as they are not names reserved by Siena.
-Bruton

How to include Image from RSS grab by Project Siena

hi
i recently tried to create a RSS reader app using Project Siena but i found out that it doesnt grab photos/images together..im using wordpress blog rss. Is it possible to add any extra code like encoded: in the Source Code... because im currently doing for
other website..

Hi Myh,
Building off StonyArc's suggestion, what you would need to do is add the RSS Feed as a REST data source. Assuming you leverage the following RSS Feed in REST https://en.blog.wordpress.com/feed/ via
the "Configure a connection" option and the added data source name is
feed. You would then need to the following:
1) Drop an "Image Gallery with Caption" and set its 'Items'
property to feed!channel!item as this contains all the items from the feed.
2) Edit the Gallery template and set the Image control within the gallery to
'media:thumbnail'!'$attributes'!url
This should now bring up the image per post. Note that all posts, do not have images, therefore some items within the gallery will be blank.
Hope this helps. Thanks.

Live Tile - Project Siena App

I understand that it is not possible to create / configure a live tile within Project Siena.
But is it possible to add this functionality once the project has been transferred to visual studio.
I have been looking online and have seen some examples of creating a live tile but I have no idea where the code should go within the project.
Any help would be most appreciated.
Ronan

Hi MonaTech,
as you've noticed Live Tiles are not supported in Siena Beta 2. If you want to invest time in experimenting with a homegrown solution in this area, I can provide a hint for a starting point. That said, please be aware that once you start modifying the published
package you are completely at your own risk and any modifications you do today are not guaranteed to work in the future as the layout of the published package is implementation detail and not an interface.
You can take a look at js/init.js in the published package. It contains the initialization logic of the published app and you might find it to be a useful starting point.
Hope this helps!
Manski

Using s SQL server as a data source for Project Siena (An AX SQL database more specificaly)?

I cant seem to find this information on the internet yet so I figured I would ask my question here.
I would like to pull data from a Dynamics AX sql database to use in a project siena app. I have heard that this is something that is planned for a future release of Siena but is there any way this can be done currently?
Thank you

Hi Philip,
It's not supported in the current version. The following thread from Vijay outlines some of the features targeted for the next release:
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/405aed19-21b8-4a36-bf45-b1d962567c3b/some-functionality-in-the-next-siena-refresh?forum=projectsiena. As you can see, it will include read/write over web services. So, if your data is exposed using services,
you should be able to meet your requirements.
Thanks
Robin

I can't download Project Siena Beta3 from Store

Dear officers,
First of all thank you for developing "Project Siena" I was waiting for Beta3 for a long time. I am a little disappointed when I first saw whats new in the third Beta. I was waiting for Barcode / Text recognition (via camera) implementation. But
I am hopefully waiting to see it in the next versions. My problem is;
- I can not access to Windows Store through my Work-laptop.But I can install appx files by running with Powershell. Is there a place where I can download Beta3 in "*.appx" format?
-Or any other methots without the official Store is welcome.
Thanks in advance.
Oguz

I'm wondering if maybe there was an oversight and it just didn't get listed for your region?
Maybe the following would be a temporary work-around to get it installed - switch your region with the below help and maybe then you'll be able to see it / install?
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/use-windows-store-country-region-help
(below text were steps I found in a different post - I don't recall where I found this as this was several days ago and came from a MS employee responding to a similar type of inquiry not related to Siena)
Some apps are unavailable in some countries or regions. In this case, if someone shared a link to an app with you, you’ll be able to see the app description page on the web but when you try to view the app in the Store, you’ll see a message that the app
isn’t available. To check your country or region setting perform the steps mentioned below:
a: Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and tap Settings.
(If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Settings.)
b: Tap or click Change PC settings.
c: Tap or click Time and language, then tap Region and language
d: Under Country or region, look to see that your location is set correctly, and change it if it's not
Thor

Can I change Gallary template hight by item's condition in Project Siena ?

Can I change Gallary template hight by item's condition in Project Siena ?
I want to enlarge item height in Twitter Timeline Gallary at item have media.
Gallary Layout = Vertical
Gallary Data = Twitter!Timeline()
NG : Gallary Template Height is If(IsBlank(ThisItem!entities!media), 150, 200)
Regards,
Yoshihiro Kawabata

You can find the suggestions thread here:
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/2e1f9446-56b2-419a-9c17-7037d2cd6146/from-the-community-overview-of-requested-additional-functionality?forum=projectsiena
Thor

Cool refactoring going on in Project Siena

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