Java Reference
In-Depth Information
Widgets in the WidSets platform are mainly used to read RSS feeds
from data services. In fact, this is such a common task that the creation of
a feed reader is very straightforward and can be performed with the help
of a wizard on the WidSets site or in the mobile dashboard. However,
widgets created for WidSets are not limited to being news readers; in
fact, by using the WidSets SDK (Software Development Kit) and the WSL
(WidSets Scripting Language), it is possible to create rich applications
using advanced features such as:
•
Taking pictures with the device's camera
•
Playing sounds
•
Rendering HTML content
•
Using WSL's rich library of UI components, such as lists, dialogs, and
surfaces
•
Accessing content-fetching services provided by the WidSets server.
The content-fetching services allow easy retrieval and parsing of RSS
and ATOM feeds, downloading of HTML content, fetching and scaling
images for mobile devices, and more. Here is a summary of the main
classes and APIs available in the WSL:
•
GUI components:
Animation
,
Banner
,
Camera
,
Canvas
,
Choice
,
Component
,
Flow
,
Graphics
,
Image
,
Label
,
Menu
,
Picture
,
Popup
,
Prompt
,
Progress
,
Scrollable
,
Shell
,
Text
,
Ticker
,
View
•
Persistent data storage:
Store
•
System:
Timer
,
System
,
Config
,
Widget
, I/O streams, data struc-
tures
•
Date and time
•
Sound: Classes for playing sound files
•
Utility functions, including those which call services provided by the
WidSets server.
Widgets are not limited to being data consumers, but can also be used
to develop games, productivity applications, customized web services
clients, multimedia applications, and so on. In the following sections, we
see how to use WidSets by picking widgets created by other users or by
creating your own.
