It's Project Managers time

While developing apps, it is very easy to have the application split over to multiple files. If it is an Objective-C application, automatically there are twice the number of files, one for the header and one for the implementation. However xCode does a good job in managing those. But if you are developing with Lua, what do you do? There is no Editor or IDE that helps manage your files. Well not true entirely, there are a couple of offerings

Since the only application in this space has been Corona Project Manager, any other software that will be released will be compared and be in the shadow of CPM. It's the same with the iPad, every manufacturer that manufacturers a new tablet, it will be compared ans asked "Is it the next iPad killer?" Similarly all new software in this sphere will carry the burden of being asked is it the next CPM killer?

Well, first let's look at the new kid in town, it's called Corona Commander. The developer has actually based it inspired by Eclipse. So on startup, the screen is a dual pane window, with a couple of buttons on the toolbar. The buttons are quite intuitive, as they explicitly state their function, starting from New, Import, Run project, Preferences and About. On clicking the new button the user is provided with a window for setting up the project name, project ID (I did not quite get what this is) and the project path. I face a few issues where it would not save and create a directory, till I restarted the app.Upon clicking import, it populates a list of libraries, currently three, Crawlspace Library, Director 1.4 and MiddleClass (a library used for working with objects created using your own classes) On the same screen is a button that states Browse for local files and a checkbox with copy files instead of linking. So I set upon testing the app, at first I could not create the directory, I don't know what the resolution was, it just worked after a couple of tries. All my attempts to drag/drop the files onto the project were met with the app ignoring my drag/drop files. However if I drag/dropped a single file, it would get displayed and it was still not added to the project.

After a couple of tires, it hit me to try any import local files. which took me to the folders from where I could copy my files into the project. This journey was one with a few bumps, but on running the project, It started the simulator and captures the input from the console so the developer can see what's happening. The editor is fully corona syntax compatible and separated the files into three categories, "Source Files", "Images" and "Other files".

There are a couple of things that the developer has on the roadmap for Corona Commander like Autocomplete, etc in the near future updates. It is under the shadow of CPM which is priced at $79.99 AUD ($74.99 USD) where as Corona Commander is priced at $74.99 AUD ($69.99 USD), do not bother with the exchange rate conversion, that is Appple's exchange rate, not the banks.

Perhaps one of the interesting features of this product is the fact that it has been written in HTML and Javascript probably using the Poco C++ OpenSource libraries via Titanium, it is an indication of the power that HTML5 can bring us, so maybe if the developer gets this right, they can even have a web-based editor that would work off the iOS devices and the desktops. I would say that the product has promise as there are not many competitors in this space, however I think it is slightly on the higher side in terms of pricing. However new updates that will be available, hopefully will empower this software to face up to competition. So all the best to Tomas, the author on this software.

SCREENSHOTS






SUMMARY
Software : Corona Commander
Version : 1.0
Publisher : Tomas Persson
Website : http://www.coronacommander.com/
Twitter : @mudderman
Platform : Mac OS X (10.6.6 or higher)
Price : $69.99
Mac App Store : http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/corona-commander/id473782738?mt=12

And we have a copy of Corona Commander for one lucky winner, all you need to do
1. Follow @whatsin4me
2. Retweet the message "Read reviewme.oz-apps.com, follow @whatsin4me and RT this msg. You might win a copy of #CoronaCommander from @mudderman"
or
Follow us on Facebook by liking our page at
http://www.facebook.com/pages/ReviewMe/137640632964588

Comments