Creating Dashboard Widgets

Ok, I'm trying to create my first Dashboard widget; and I need some help. Heres my Info.plist:
<plist>
<dict>
<key>CFBundleIdentifier</key>
<string>com.JZ.widget.Mailer</string>
<key>MainHTML</key>
<string>index.html</string>
</dict>
</plist>
Heres my index.html:
<html>
<head>
<script>
function launchMail() {
var commandLine = "/usr/bin/osascript -e 'tell application \"Mail\"\nactivate\nend tell\n'";
widget.system(commandLine, null);
</script>
</head>
<body>
img src=Mail.png onmousedown="launchMail();" (NOTE: Tags removed.)
</body>
</html>
It returns the "Not a valid widget" error... What's wrong?

You are missing a number of required keys in your plist. See the section titled The Info.plist File on Apple's "Developing Dashboard Widgets" page.

Similar Messages

Seeking support boards for developing dashboard widgets?

i posted this 4 days ago to the "Software Development 101" board here on apple support. absolutely no response. 7 people viewed it, none responded.
it's just a very simple question - can i get help here or could someone please point me towards support boards, on apple or third party, which can help me out with some snags i've run into in creating dashboard widgets? that's all, really.
any response and help would be appreciated.
here's my original message from four days ago...
hi,
i'm trying my hand at the most rudimentary of developing for mac os x - developing a dashboard widget, using html, css & javascript.
i'm trying to make a simple widget that uses the real audio plug-in in the system (if you downloaded real player) to play a local portland, oregon fm classical radio station, kbps-fm 89.9 (www.allclassical.org).
i'm running into some snags both in making the "i" info button flip the thing around (it was working before, but since i added in the code that makes the real player plug in work, no matter where i place the position of the "i" flipper, it doesn't show up), and in the graphics i'm trying to create for the widget.
should i seek help here? are there better boards/forums for mac os x dashboard widget creation i can go to, and if so, can anyone direct me there? i know about adc, and am a (free) member, but they don't have discussion boards there and i don't want to pay oodles in tech support just to get some basic javascript and css questions handled.
if anyone could please direct me to where i can ask these questions or help me out, please let me know. thanx.
-- faddah yuetsu wolf
portland, oregon
[email protected]

Check the Apple Mailing Lists. There are several lists that might be interesting to you. There is even a "Dashboard-Dev" list. Usually the topics discussed in the mailing lists are much more in-depth than anything on these forums.
Before posting, make sure to use the archive search feature to check similar problems and/or solutions to try.
Sorry about not responding sooner. You message hit the "sweet spot" on Friday. I generally only check this forum during the (work) week due to boredom. Once I leave work for the week-end, I'm too busy programming on my Mac myself.

Using Google GWT to create (Dashcode) widgets for iBook Author I would like to embed interactive widgets in iBooks using iBookAuthor. The widgets in question started life in Java but GWT has allowed them to be converted to javascript and to run on web pa

I would like to embed interactive widgets in iBooks using iBookAuthor. The widgets in question started life in Java but GWT has allowed them to be converted to javascript and to run on web pages (for example, http://softoption.us/content/node/437 scroll to the bottom). In theory, iBookAuthor can bring in most html5, and much javascript. The technique is to wrap the html in a folder, with 2 extra files, a plist and a default png and then change the extension of the folder to ‘.wdgt’. This is the technique for making Dashboard widgets for the Mac, and Apple even have the Dashcode software to do it. So what you really do is to make a Dashboard widget, then iBookAuthor can import it. So far, so good. And some folk have been doing this, for example http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/2/prweb9242432.htm http://www.panophoto.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=10417&p=158330#p158423 However, if you start with GWT and create a single page with one button and a Hello World, compile it, and get the WAR file (I use Eclipse here)… the Safari browser and others will run it properly (even on an iPad). Then if you wrap it, a proper Dashboard widget is created, which runs properly on a Mac. Then if you go to iBookAuthor and put a custom widget in the Text, then drag it in. It is accepted by the text and shown as being there. However, if you use Preview to look at it on an iPad, it is gone (or was never there in the first place). Anyone any ideas on this? [And iBook Author seems to give no warnings.] The widget is at https://dl.dropbox.com/u/46713473/Test6.wdgt.zip I have bells and whistles that I’d like to get into an iBook!
Thanks for any insights.
Martin

I do have a little to add, which might help someone. Indeed, opening a blank page and dragging the widget straight in seems good in difficult cases. But, actually, I was also able to insert successfully from the Toolbar especially to blank pages. So, it may have been something to do with the columns and stuff like that. Anyway back then the insertion would show in iBooks Author but not in the Preview on the iPad. I moved on to actual Google Web Toolkit output javascript. Basically I had three at hand to try: a Hello World with a button which went straight it, one of moderate complexity, (for example with a built in Lisp interpreter), which also went straight in, and finally a more complex one that initially was rejected by iBook Author. Author complained that there was an unsupported media file (of course, Author does not tell you which one it is, that would be too easy). [Remember, this was a proper working Dashboard widget which could be installed on a Mac]. Among other things I had read remarks about .gif files. When looking through the GWT war directory at the actual javascript etc files, I noticed there were two gifs there one called ‘clear.cache.gif ‘ and a second one called ‘0F89659FF3F324AE4116F700257E32BD.cache.gif’. (Now, there is obfuscation so the numbers here may be different from case to case.) The clear.cache.gif did not seem to be anything special. But the other one is an animation. It is three little boxes that twinkle (rather like a waiting spinning cursor). So, I opened that file and saved it to itself (that picks the top frame of the animation and saves only that, leaving you with an unanimated gif). The resulting widget drags and drops into iBooks Author (and seems to work properly at a quick glance). So, if you are having trouble with ‘unsupported media files’ converting animated gifs into unanimated gifs might help in some cases.

How to: Embed YouTube in Ibook/Location of File, Open in Dashboard Widget Code?

Hi,
I am new to the whole Mac experience and loving it after 25 years locked into the MSGATES paradigm. I have been playing around with Ibook and have made a book. I would like to embed a You Tube file and it seems it is not as simple as slecting an HTML widget and then dropping in the Youtube embed code. Or is it?
Instructions are to create a widget and then drag the widget code into the HTML widget in iBooks. I was able to make it as far as to learn I can make my YouTube video a custom dashboard widget using the "File," "Open in Dashboard" method in Safari.
Once I did this I was able to select the portion of the YouTUBE page and click to make the YouTube widget. Presto, easy as pie. But where is the .wdgt file (and/or other related files to this custom dashboard widget) stored? I was able to find the widget directory in my root but only the preinstalled widgets were there--not the the widget I was able to make with the "File," "Open in Dashboard" method.
Is this the most straightforward way to embed a You Tube file, or is there another way?
It seems this should/can be as easy as just dropping the embed code into the HTML widget in iBooks. perhaps a consideration for the next version of iBooks...
Lov'in the Apple experience

We use a container thats ratio matches the video and insert following format into the folio overlay controls for Web Content: https://www.youtube.com/embed/ jyOFS5lAG68 *PLEASE NOTE: there is a space between the embed/ the video ID. Remove it to see how the video looks when you paste the link.
We found this works on both iOS and Android.
-Ry-

Change Subviews in a Dashboard Widget

I am trying to make a Dashboard widget, but the way I am trying to make it would involve using more than two subviews. The two that are already there by default are the front and the back, and I already know how to create more. The problem is that I can't find any way to get the widget to show any subviews. I need to know how to make it so that the user can click on a button and there will be a transition to a new view, similar to how the info icon takes you to the back. It seems like a simple process, but I need a lot of help here. I tried using the same code (slightly modified) that was used to make the info icon take you to the back, but it doesn't work. A lot of help or a good tutorial would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Try this resource - search on subview...

Support boards for developing dashboard widgets? any response, please??

i don't mean to be a noodge, but 4 days ago i posted a simple request asking if i could get support here for some questions i had as regards some snags i ran into making dashboard widgets. while other people's questions about ruby/rails, c and objective c and even powerpoint (shouldn't that be in a microsquish support forum??) have been responded to.
all i want to know is, can anyone help me here or at least point me to other support boards that offer help for those developing dashboard widgets? is that too much to ask?
my original message i posted 4 days ago is below. i would appreciate response from anyone, please. i can't believe i'm the only person out here seeking support for my *.html, *.css and javascript files for dashboard widgets.
hi,
i'm trying my hand at the most rudimentary of developing for mac os x - developing a dashboard widget, using html, css & javascript.
i'm trying to make a simple widget that uses the real audio plug-in in the system (if you downloaded real player) to play a local portland, oregon fm classical radio station, kbps-fm 89.9 (www.allclassical.org).
i'm running into some snags both in making the "i" info button flip the thing around (it was working before, but since i added in the code that makes the real player plug in work, no matter where i place the position of the "i" flipper, it doesn't show up), and in the graphics i'm trying to create for the widget.
should i seek help here? are there better boards/forums for mac os x dashboard widget creation i can go to, and if so, can anyone direct me there? i know about adc, and am a (free) member, but they don't have discussion boards there and i don't want to pay oodles in tech support just to get some basic javascript and css questions handled.
if anyone could please direct me to where i can ask these questions or help me out, please let me know. thanx.
-- faddah yuetsu wolf
portland, oregon
[email protected]

Hi
i don't mean to be a noodge, but 4 days ago i posted
a simple request asking if i could get support here
for some questions i had as regards some snags i ran
into making dashboard widgets. while other people's
questions about ruby/rails, c and objective c and
even powerpoint (shouldn't that be in a microsquish
support forum??) have been responded to.
You shouldn't take the lack of response as a personal insult The nature of these forums (fora?) is that people respond to those messages where they can help and don't respond when they can't help. FWIW I've got two unresolved questions dating back to Mar 17th!
In my opinion, the Developer forums would be absolutely ideal and on-topic places to discuss Widget development..... but it looks like very few experienced Widget developers hang out here, so any questions would most likely go unanswered. My own skill area in limited to Java so I can't help out with widgets. No doubt the other forum regulars are in a similar position.
Bob

Dashboard widget to open PDF in ibook

I am in the beginning process of creating an iBook with iBook Author and need a bit of help if this is even possible. I need to make a dashboard widget using Dashcode that will download a PDF within the widget itself and have it open in iBooks. I have already used HTML to access the PDF in this way but want it to open in iBooks because it will read thr PDF better. Any idea how I can build this concept in Dashcode as a widget. Thanks for all!

Well, no luck after the updates. PDF problem still persists.
Beside this, it seems to have other compatible issues with website like ims.netiquette.com.sg too. A bug is preventing me tapping and keying in directly onto web form boxes , after I make item selection from drop-down menu.
This is truly a disaster...

Dashboard Widgets Not Responding... :(

Hello There apple guys...
well like the tittle says, mi widgets from my dashboard are not refreshing nor responding... i've tried, deleting preferences files. (both)... repaired permissions from the boot disk and nothing seems to work. when i use "killAll Dock" command on terminal, they work for at least 5 seconds. then they got froze..

monty77 wrote:
Hi all,
Just installed Leopard fresh on my late 2008 mbp and everything is just swell, apart from none of my dashboard widgets working
Why did you do that? Was there some problem?
The dashboard fires up OK but any widget I drag onto the screen doesn't work. e.g. the clock has no hands, calendar has no date etc .. When I close a widget it crashes the dashboard completely and I'm dumped back to the desktop.
Try creating a new user account and see if the problem occurs in that one.
When posting a crash log, you might want to remove any personal names, etc before making it public.
I don't see anything in your log, but it pays to be careful.
Your computer name in the crash log seems to have hyphens in it. It's best to have a computer name with no spaces, no special characters, etc., but that may not be the problem here, just a suggestion.
The crash seems to involve vImage and a graphic png or at least the libpng library but I don't see anything specific.
Someone else with better crashlog smarts will probably help you more.
Message was edited by: nerowolfe

8.81 B1iC error when enabling Dashboard Widget

Hi,
In the B1 client when enabling the Dashboards (Cockpit -> General Settings -> Enable Dashboard Widget) I get the following error in red at the bottom of the screen (and in the client message log):
Install SAP Business One Integration Service before enabling the dashboard widget Message ID = 1290000001
I have a clean install of 8.81 PL00 and the Integration Component, company database is a new a demo database (SBODemoAU).
The B1iC install created the correct SLD and I have tested the B1DI & JDBC connections and both report successful connections.
There is also a successful message in the Integration Framework message log for trigger object 1210000008 which I believe from the doco and previous versions that this is the Dashboard deployment to the Bizstore.
I have gone through the B1iC Troubleshooting guide as much as possible (it does not yet have the 8.81 updates) but nothing helps.
I understand the B1iServer address is now automatically created in 8.81 but how do I check the correct value and fix this problem.
I have spent a few days on this trying different things, sniffing the network, analyzing SQL calls, so any help would be appreciated.

I too am finding the same issues. Am on 8.81 PL7. (8.81.315). B1DI and JDBC test good. Cockpit at Company level enabled. Enable dashboard widget does not work. I receive "Ensure that SAP Business One Integration Service and SAP Business One Event Sender Service have been started; then wait 1 minute and try again" Both are running and have been for 24 hours.
From an earlier post about port 8443, here is an extract from my C:\Program Files (x86)\SAP\SAP Business One Integration\B1iServer\Tomcat\conf\server.xml
-->
<Connector port="8080" protocol="HTTP/1.1" connectionTimeout="20000" redirectPort="8443" enableLookups="false" server=" "/>
    <Connector executor="tomcatThreadPool"
               port="8080" protocol="HTTP/1.1"
               connectionTimeout="20000"
               redirectPort="8443" />
    -->
          
     <Connector port="8009" protocol="AJP/1.3" redirectPort="8443"/>
Any thoughts on how to resolve?

Creating html widget to access websites from an iBook

For the book I'm creating, it is essential for readers to be able to access discussion areas that take place on external websites. So far, in Dashcode, I've only been able to succeed in creating web application widgets that do this, while the dashboard widgets don't work within the iBook preview.
I created a button and assigned a handler that says:
function pushButton(event)
var websiteURL = "http://digitallearningprocess.net/";
location = websiteURL
How has anyone else accomplished this task? I've seen conflicting reports suggesting whether it is even possible.
Thanks!

Thanks, David -
Yes, I realize it is possible to use the "insert hyperlink" commands, but I was hoping to pass login credentials by way of a widget. For now, I appreciate your suggestion and will use that method (and providing generic login information right there in the text as well). It would be wonderful to be able to provide links to various LMS or CMS platforms that schools already use, to extend the iBook functionality. Utlimately that's my goal.
Thanks again! - Ferdi

Creating a Widget with Xcode

Does anyone know of a website that shows an easy way of creating a widget with Xcode? Like even if they have you build a test widget so i get the idea of how to do it? I'm completly new to programing so i would love to learn how.

Xcode is not really meant for building widgets. Widgets are built primarily with html, css and javascript. You can code them by hand or you can get a copy of the recently released "Dashcode" beta.
Dashcode is a development tool specifically for building widgets. It is supposed to be released along with Leopard but Apple recently released a beta that's supposed to run in Tiger (I haven't tried it yet). If you've signed up for a free online developer account at Apple Developer Connection you can logon and download the beta.
Steve
PS - by the way, if you go to Apple Developer Connection and do a search for "widget" you'll get some hits on Dashboard tutorials and programming guides (these are not geared toward "Dashcode" and should be useful even if you're handcoding your widget)

Convert a web clip widget into an actual dashboard widget with Dashcode?

So, I have created a widget using the Safari web clip option. I want to make it a permanent widget & not have to recreate it every time I relaunch my computer. I know Dashcode is used to make widgets, but is there a way to take my web clip widget and save it/export it and import it into Dashcode and make it a true widget I can save and have in my dashboard at all times?
Or does Dashcode only allow for building a widget from scratch?
At this time, I see no place where my temporary web clip widget has been saved on the computer, so not sure where it is even living to try to import it?

bump.. any help?
I have used some utilities to reveal hidden files and I cannot even find a hidden webclip widget of the widget I made... so I have no idea where its data is stored as it is not in either the root or users "widgets" directory. The webclip widget I made persist through relaunches of the computer, but is not an available widget in your dashboard to select from so if you close it, you have to go back and remake it.

Dashboard/Widget freeze~unresponsive

Yesterday morning the widgets quit working. I'd updated to 5.5 a couple days ago but don't know if it's related. Looked around here yesterday; I did update with the 5.5combo yesterday but no change.
When I first start up some of the widgets work for just a moment-the calendar gets the date and the weather widgets nail down their info but then nothing else. Some of them just stay blank.
I've run the utilities~repair Launch Services, Repair Permisssions, Scripts, etc.
No other issues~everything else cruising just fine~I guess if I knew how to read Console messages I could figure something out..

Hi again Mr:
Glad all is well!
Preference files (plist) sometimes (rare, but it happens) become corrupted. When that occurs, all sorts of strange behavior can result. After you deleted the preference files (both affect dashboard/widget behavior) and restarted, OS X automatically created new preference files with default values.
Deleting preference files does not always "fix" things, but it is easy to do and a more or less standard suggestion I make when people are having problems.
Barry

How come Safari will not open the dashboard widgets?

I need some help I was trying to open some dashboard widgets I kept getting a error message from Safari. Stating that this page was not able to open? Any help would be greatly appreciated!! Please any suggestion

Could be the com.apple.Safari.plisy file in ~/Library/Preferences/. Try removing that first. If no change, move ~/Library/Safari/ to your desktop. If no change, try creating/logging into a test user account.

Dashboard widgets not working. I trash the dashboard .plist and redo all widgets then after a restart. Widget not working again.

Dashboard widgets not working. I trash the dashboard .plist and redo all widgets then after a restart. Widget not working again.

Yes hello,
My widgets are not working as well, i looked on forms and it seams that the 10.5 update fix there problems. I also did an archive and install from 10.4... One of the major reasons i purchased the upgrade was to use widgets to clip parts of safari, i'am totaly bummed because all forums i find end with the question un answered. i'am a little bummed becuase there are a couple of things that worked with 10.4 that are not working in 10.5 (like some meg moives not playing.
i do not wish to create a new account because i do not want to reinstall all my software, photoshop, final cut, dvd studio pro.. etc.
i hope to find the fix some how.
I have opened up the console application and when i select widgets load or delete them i see no activity in the console. I'am not familiar with the console app. or command lines.
is there any more info on this matter? is there any support from apple?
Thankyou

Creating Dashboard Widgets

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