[Qt-qml] QtZibit: Simile-Widgets.org Exhibit runs local in QtWebKit rendering from QML/Json.

[Niels Mayer]

Introducing http://code.google.com/p/qtzibit/  - Simile-widgets'
"Exhibit" running locally in QtWebKit, rendering arbitrary Json data
models from QML, Qt or QtMobility.

Some examples implemented in Exhibit: http://simile-widgets.org/exhibit/

With QtZibit, such apps could run locally (although the
google-map-based ones require an internet connection, the timeline,
timeplot, chart, visualizations don't). These can run "standalone" and
the associated JavaScript is loaded in from the local filesystem,
computed in QML/JavaScript/C++ or transferred from the web or local
SQL datastore. QtZibit can be used to visualize arbitrary datamodels
from JSON in QML, and in-turn, this JSON can be rendered via QtWebKit
in Exhibit. In many ways, it duplicates or complements the
"delegate"-based rendering of datamodels in Qt/QML, but uses Web-based
layouts and rendering.

For example, in
http://trunk.simile-widgets.org/exhibit/examples/polymap/medieval-mediterranean.html
, the rendered data comes from JSON elements that look like:

  {"id":"15 - Madonna and Child",
   "label":"15 - Madonna and Child",
   "type":"Item",
   "uri":"http://trunk.simile-widgets.org/exhibit/examples/polymap/item#15%20-%20Madonna%20and%20Child",
   "modified":"no",
   "Image":"http://lh5.ggpht.com/_eb5gxCGMANM/SZ8XlfMwLiI/AAAAAAAAAGE/SbO0e2TncR0/s144/CImabueMadonna.jpg",
   "Century":"13th",
   "Building+Name":"Church - Santa Trinita",
   "latlng":"43.770031,11.250994",
   "Medium":"gesso",
   "Author":"Cimabue",
   "Title":"Madonna and Child",
   "City":"Florence",
   "origin":"http://trunk.simile-widgets.org/exhibit/examples/polymap/medieval-mediterranean.html#15%20-%20Madonna%20and%20Child"
  },

(See http://trunk.simile-widgets.org/exhibit/examples/polymap/ JSON
files visualized by these these "mashups" ; other examples at
http://trunk.simile-widgets.org/exhibit/examples/ )

The map elements in the "medieval mediterranean" example above are
rendered by extracting ".latlng" ".polyline", etc. entities from the
JSON data elements such as the one from the prior example.

                <div ex:role="view"
                    id="the-map"
                    ex:viewClass="Map"
                    ex:center="43.76852162810477,11.252446174621582"
                    ex:zoom="15"
                    ex:latlng=".latlng"
                    ex:polyline=".polyline"
                    ex:mapHeight="600"
                    ex:borderWidth="7"
                    ex:borderOpacity="1"
                    ex:overviewControl="true"
                    ex:size="large"
                    >
                </div>

Exhibit also has capabilities for rendering SPARQL queries, which
might be useful to combine with the existing "semantic desktop"
facilities in MeeGo/Harmattan that are based on
http://projects.gnome.org/tracker/ . One app that would be pretty cool
for would be to geolocate all phone events onto a map, or be able to
dial around &  visualize all phone events on a single timeline, etc.
Or similarly, automatically render thumbnails for captured media on a
map or timeline based on tracker-extracted metadata.

Niels
http://nielsmayer.com

PS: For Harmattan ( http://swipe.nokia.com/ ) , it sure would be nice
if someone developed an Ovi Maps plugin that worked just like the
Google/OpenLayers/OpenStreetMap/VirtualEarth maps Exhibit supports
currently:
 http://code.google.com/p/simile-widgets/source/browse/exhibit/trunk/src/webapp/api/extensions/map/map-extension.js

PPS: Unlike the web version, a Mobile or WebKit version of Exhibit can
call out from Exhibit back to QML and therefore allows invocation of
C++ primitives from an Exhibit UI -- Using
http://doc.qt.nokia.com/4.7/qml-webview.html#javaScriptWindowObjects-prop
... which means apps like
http://nielsmayer.com/xwiki/bin/view/Timeline/NprTimeline won't need
Flash for media playback, they'll just invoke QtMultimediaKit Audio or
Video players....