[Development] Platform Content Selection

[Attila Csipa]

On 10-Jan-13 04:25, Alan Alpert wrote:
> So I'll try to replace "cross-platform" now with "cross-device".
\> but I still prefer run-time). Android has the same problem, I have a
> lot of apps on my Nexus 7 which either literally or metaphorically do
> not work on that device. There are also apps that just have an ugly
> black border thanks to the auto-compatibility layer. As a convenience
> GUI toolkit, I think Qt should have some way to help application
> developers with this problem. I'm just focused on QML because I'm
> always focused on QML :) .

Have it clear if the selection is features, platform or devices, because 
if you have a vague mix, the results will be weird. "BB10" means very 
little in this context - I know you will adjust margins, but you will 
also have to leave out WebView elements, QtMultimediaKit, etc, and 
that's an adaptation that's not reusable if it all gets stuck under a 
"BB10" directory/tag (for example iOS might also not have QtWebkit). To 
me a "BB10" tag sounds more like "cascades" because that's one thing 
that has 1:1 relation with the platform. Devices tags are also a weird 
proposition (so do we now get a "2013 13" Macbook Air" tag? or is this 
mobile-only? do we mash all 10 variants of SGS3 into one?). The Qt 
heritage so far was, to maximize portability level, to "test for 
features" - something sadly currenly NOT possible in an easy way in QML. 
The other problem with "BB10" or "Android" style tags is "which 
version"? BB10 might put in features from upstream Qt later, but how 
would you know if your selected QML was meant for BB10 10.0 or 10.1, ICS 
or JB Android (back to the imports story)? There are and will be cases 
where the same binary needs to run on different Qt setups. Device 
firmware upgrade cycles are not guaranteed, and while some platforms 
might do ministro/smartinstaller-style upgrades, it's still not a 
complete solution - users probably won't be happy people triggering tens 
of megs of Qt downloads every now and then just because an extra 
property has been introduced. I still think "then don't use it" is a 
poor argument as it means "You're stuck with the first major Qt release 
for that platform forever".



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