RubyMotionQuery - RMQ

A fast, non-polluting, chaining, front-end library. It’s like jQuery for RubyMotion. Templates, stylesheets, events, animations, etc.

The RMQ website is a great place to start.

Also this 6 minute intro video

And this 36 minute video: Creating an Image Browser app in RubyMotion and RubyMotionQuery

General

Some of the very cool features:

events and gestures
view factory
stylesheets
actions
position
selecting (querying views)
templates
traversal through view hierarchy (moving around the tree)
animations
tagging
colors
fonts
image utilities
app
device

RMQ only works in iOS, not OS X

Other wrapper libraries

There are a lot of great wrappers out there such as Teacup and Sugarcube. I've used these and I enjoy them. However, many of the wrappers heavily pollute the standard classes, which is great if you like that sort of thing. RMQ is designed to have minimal pollution, to be very simple and high performance (it will be when it's done). RMQ shouldn't conflict with anything.

RMQ doesn't require any other wrapper or gem.

If you preferred jQuery over Prototype, you'll love RMQ.

Some of the code in RMQ came from BubbleWrap and Sugarcube. Not too much but some did. I thank you BubbleWrap and Sugarcube teams for your work.

Quick Start

gem install ruby_motion_query
rmq create my_app
cd my_app
bundle
rake

Or, if you use rbenv:

gem install ruby_motion_query
rbenv rehash
rmq create my_app
cd my_app
bundle
rake

Installation

RMQ requires no other gems. If you use stuff like scale and certain animations it will require some frameworks (like QuartzCore or CoreGraphics)

gem install ruby_motion_query

If you use rbenv

rbenv rehash

Require it

require 'ruby_motion_query'

or add it to your Gemfile:

gem 'ruby_motion_query'

for bleeding edge, add this to your Gemfile:

gem 'ruby_motion_query', :git => 'git@github.com:infinitered/rmq.git'

Deprecation

RubyMotionQuery::RMQ.weak_ref(object) - no longer needed post RubyMotion 2.18
UIView#rmq_did_create(self_in_rmq) - Use rmq_build instead
RubyMotionQuery::RMQ.weak_ref_to_strong_ref(object) - no longer needed post RubyMotion 2.24

Usage

Example App

Clone this repo and run the example app to see an example of use.

git clone git@github.com:infinitered/rmq.git cd rmq rake

The example app works in any orientation, on both iPhone and iPad. Notice how the benchmark popup is done with RMQ, then think about how you'd do that without it.

What's an rmq instance?

an rmq instance is an array-like object containing UIViews
rmq() never returns nil. If nothing is selected, it's an empty [ ] array-like object
an rmq object always (almost always) returns either itself or a new rmq object. This is how chaining works. You do not need to worry if an rmq is blank or not, everything always works without throwing a nil exception
jQuery uses the DOM, what is rmq using for the "DOM"? It uses the controller it was called in. The "DOM" is the controller's subview tree. If you call rmq inside a view, it will attach to the controller that the view is currently in or to the current screen's controller

Basic syntax

The main command is rmq and you use it everywhere. You can rename this by aliasing the methods in ext.rb.

# Like jQuery you wrap your objects or selectors in a rmq(), here are some examples
rmq(my_view).show
rmq(UILabel).hide

# You can use zero or more selectors, all these are valid
rmq(my_view, UILabel).hide
rmq(:a_tag, :a_style_name, UIImageView).hide
rmq(hidden: true).show

# If you use a set of selectors, they are an "or", to do an "and" use .and
rmq(UIImageView).and(hidden: true).show

rmq by itself is the rmq instance of the current UIViewController if you're inside a UIViewController.

If you're inside a UIView you've created, rmq.closest(UIControl) is the same as rmq(self).closest(UIControl).

rmq is always an array-like object (enumerablish), never nil, etc:

Because of this, you never have to check if your selectors return anything before calling actions or other methods on your rmq object.

# This will hide any UILabel in the controller, if any exist. If not, nothing happens
rmq(UILabel).hide

# Because of this, you can create chains without worry of exceptions
rmq(:this_tag_does_not_exist).show.apply_style(:my_style_name).on(:touch_down){puts 'score!'}

Almost all methods of an rmq object return either itself or another rmq object, so you can chain:

rmq.append(UILabel, :label_style).on(:tap){|sender,event| sender.hide}

# or

rmq.closest(AddEntry).find(:delete_button).hide
rmq(AddEntry).find(UILabel).blink

If you want the actual inner object(s), use .get

# returns my_view
rmq(my_view).get

# returns an array
rmq(UILabel).get

Command-line Tool and Generators

Like Rails, RMQ provides a command-line tool, mostly for generating files. Create a new app:

> rmq create my_app

To get all the commands available just do:

> rmq

To generate controllers, models, views, etc, do the following:

 > rmq create model foo
 > rmq create controller bar
 > rmq create view foo_bar
 > rmq create shared some_class_used_app_wide
 > rmq create lib some_class_used_by_multiple_apps

 > rmq create collection_view_controller foos
 > rmq create table_view_controller bars

 > rmq create view my_view dry_run

I recomend you play around with it, do this:

> cd
> cd Desktop
> rmq create test_rmq_app
> cd test_rmq_app
> rmq create table_view_controller people
> rmq create view group
> bundle
> rake

Selectors

Constant
:a_tag
:a_style_name
my_view_instance
text: 'you can select via attributes also'
:another_tag, UILabel, text: 'an array' <- this is an "or", use .and for and

The more common use is to select any view or views you have assigned to variables, then perform actions on them. For example:

view_1 = UIView.alloc.initWithFrame([[10,10],[100, 10]])
view_2 = UIView.alloc.initWithFrame([[10,20],[100, 10]])
@view_3 = rmq.append(UIView, :some_style).get

rmq(view_1).layout(l: 20, t: 40, w: 80, h: 20)

rmq(view_1, view_2, @view_3).hide
a = [view_1, view_2, @view_3]

rmq(a).distribute(:vertical, margin: 10)

rmq(a).on(:tap) do |sender|
   puts 'Tapped'
end

Subviews - appending, creating, etc

build: takes an existing view, applies the style if it exists, then calls rmq_build method
create: creates the view when given the class, or uses an existing view you pass it, then does a [build]
append: [create] + appends the view to the end of the subview tree or to then end of the children of a view (if called on an rmq object with that view in it)
prepend: Same as [append], but inserts the view to beginning of the subview tree (overall or view's children)
insert: Same as [append], but inserts the view at the index of the subview tree (overall or view's children)

rmq.append(UILabel) # Creates a UILabel in the current controller
rmq.append(UILabel, :my_label_style)
rmq.append(UILabel.alloc.initWithFrame([[0,0],[10,10]]), :my_label_style)

rmq(my_view).append(UIButton)
rmq(my_view).remove
rmq(my_vuew).children.remove

rmq(UIView).append(UIButton, :delete_me) # A custom button for all views

rmq.unshift(UILabel) # Adds to index 0 of the subviews
rmq.unshift(UILabel, :my_style)
rmq.insert(UILabel, at_index: 2)
rmq.insert(UILabel, at_index: 2, style: :my_style)
rmq.insert(UILabel, below_view: some_view_of_mine)
rmq.insert(UILabel, below_view: some_view_of_mine, style: :my_style)

rmq(my_view).parent  # .superview works too
rmq(my_view).parents # all parents up the tree, up to the root
rmq(my_view).children
rmq(my_view).find # children, grandchildren, etc
rmq.root_view
rmq.view_controller

Create a view

If you want to create a view but not add it to the subviews of any other view, you can use #create. It's basically #append without the actual appending. This is very handy for stuff like table cells:

# In your controller that is a delegate for a UITableView
def tableView(table_view, cellForRowAtIndexPath: index_path)
  cell = table_view.dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier(CELL_IDENTIFIER) || begin
    rmq.create(StoreCell, :store_cell, reuse_identifier: CELL_IDENTIFIER).get

    # If you want to change the style of the cell, you can do something like this:
    # rmq.create(StoreCell, :store_cell, reuse_identifier: CELL_IDENTIFIER, cell_style: UITableViewCellStyleSubtitle).get
  end
end

# Your cell
class StoreCell < UITableViewCell
  def rmq_build
    q = rmq(self.contentView)
    q.append(UILabel, :title_label) # <- this works even though this object isn't in a controller

    # Use built in views, this assumes you're using the UITableViewCellStyleSubtitle style for the cell
    q.build(self.textLabel, :cell_label)
    q.build(self.imageView, :cell_image)
    q.build(self.detailTextLabel, :cell_label_detail)
  end
end

Traversing

Moving around the subview tree.

Used often:

view_controller
root_view # View of the view_controller

The rest of traversing isn't used too often, but when you need it, it's super handy. The most common methods used are:

window # Window of the root_view
all
closest
find

These are less common:

and
not
and_self
back - rmq(test_view).find(UIImageView).tag(:foo).back.find(UILabel).tag(:bar)
children
siblings
next
prev
parent
parents
filter

Enumerablish

A rmq object is like an enumerable, but each method returns a rmq object instead of a enumerable. For example, these methods:

each
map
select
grep
detect
inject
first
last
[]
<<
etc

all return another rmq instance, so you can chain.

You can also do rmq.length and rmq[0] like an array

.to_a gives you an actual array, so will .get (this is preferred)

Layout/Frame System & Position

Options for layout, move, and frame:

:full
:left    :l    :from_right      :fr
:top     :t    :from_right      :fb
:width   :w
:height  :h

Options for nudge:

:left    :l
:right   :r
:up      :u
:down    :d

Values for each option can be:

signed int
float

# In a style
def some_style(st)
  st.frame = {l: 20, t: 20, w: 100, h: 50}
end


# Layout, move, or resize selected views
rmq(your_view).layout(left: 20, top: 20, width: 100, height: 50)
rmq(your_view).layout(l: 20)
rmq(your_view).layout(left: 20)
rmq(your_view).layout(l: 20, t: 20, w: 100, h: 50)
rmq(your_view).layout(left: 20, top: 20, width: 100, height: 50)

rmq(your_view).move(left: 20) # alias for layout
rmq(your_view).move(l: 30, t: 50) # alias for layout
rmq(your_view).resize(width: 100, height: 50) # alias for layout

# Nudge pushes them in a direction
rmq(your_view).nudge(d: 20)
rmq(your_view).nudge(down: 20)
rmq(your_view).nudge(l: 20, r: 20, u: 100, d: 50)
rmq(your_view).nudge(left: 20, right: 20, up: 100, down: 50)

# Distribute
rmq(UIButton).distribute
rmq(UIButton).distribute(:vertical)
rmq(UIButton).distribute(:horizontal)
rmq(UIButton).distribute(:vertical, margin: 20)
rmq(my_view, my_other_view, third_view).distribute(:vertical, margin: 10)
rmq(UIButton).distribute(:vertical, margins: [5,5,10,5,10,5,10,20])

Events and Gestures

On / Off

To add an event, use .on, to remove it it, use .off

# Simple example
rmq(UIView).on(:tap){|sender| rmq(sender).hide}

# Adding an Event during creation
view_q = rmq.append(UIView).on(:tap) do |sender, event|
  # do something here
end

# removing an Event
view_q.off(:tap)

# or you remove them all
view_q.off

# like everything in RMQ, this works on all items selected
rmq(UIView).off(:tap)

RubyMotionQuery::Event

In RMQ events and gestures are normalized with the same API. For example removing events or gestures is foo.off, and the appropriate thing happens.

If you see Event, just remember that's either an event or gesture. I decided to call them Events

Type of events and gestures

# Events on controls
:touch
:touch_up
:touch_down
:touch_start
:touch_stop
:change

:touch_down_repeat
:touch_drag_inside
:touch_drag_outside
:touch_drag_enter
:touch_drag_exit
:touch_up_inside
:touch_up_outside
:touch_cancel

:value_changed

:editing_did_begin
:editing_changed
:editing_did_change
:editing_did_end
:editing_did_endonexit

:all_touch
:all_editing

:application
:system
:all

# Gestures
:tap
:pinch
:rotate
:swipe
:pan
:long_press

Interesting methods of an RubyMotionQuery::Event:

foo.sender
foo.event

foo.gesture?
foo.recognizer
foo.gesture

foo.location
foo.location_in

foo.sdk_event_or_recognizer

TODO, need many examples here

RubyMotionQuery::Events

The internal store of events in a UIView. It's rmq.events, you won't use it too often

Actions

rmq(UILabel).attr(text: 'Foo bar')
rmq(UILabel).send(:some_method, args)
rmq(my_view).hide
rmq(my_view).show
rmq(my_view).toggle
rmq(my_view).toggle_enabled
rmq(my_text_field).focus # or .become_first_responder

Animate

rmq(my_view).animate(
  duration: 0.3,
  animations: lambda{|q|
    q.move left: 20
  }
)

# As an example, this is the implementation of .animations.throb
rmq(selectors).animate(
  duration: 0.1,
  animations: -> (q) {
    q.style {|st| st.scale = 1.1}
  },
  completion: -> (did_finish, q) {
    q.animate(
      duration: 0.4,
      animations: -> (cq) {
        cq.style {|st| st.scale = 1.0}
      }
    )
  }
)

# You can pass any options that animateWithDuration allows: options: YOUR_OPTIONS

Animations

Current animations included:

rmq(my_view).animations.fade_in
rmq(my_view).animations.fade_in(duration: 0.8)
rmq(my_view).animations.fade_out
rmq(my_view).animations.fade_out(duration: 0.8)

rmq(my_view).animations.blink
rmq(my_view).animations.throb
rmq(my_view).animations.drop_and_spin

rmq.animations.start_spinner
rmq.animations.stop_spinner

Color

rmq.color.red
rmq.color.from_hex('#ffffff')
rmq.color.from_hex('ffffff')
rmq.color.from_rgba(128, 128, 128, 0.5)

# Add a new standard color
rmq.color.add_named :pitch_black, '#000000'
# Or
rmq.color.add_named :pitch_black, rmq.color.black

# In a stylesheet you don't need the rmq
color.pitch_black
color.red

Font

rmq.font.system(12)
rmq.font_with_name('Helvetica', 18)
rmq.font.family_list # useful in console
rmq.font.for_family('Helvetica') # useful in console

# Add a new standard font
font_family = 'Helvetica Neue'
font.add_named :large,    font_family, 36
font.add_named :medium,   font_family, 24
font.add_named :small,    font_family, 18

# then use them like so
rmq.font.large
rmq.font.small

# In a stylesheet you don't need the rmq
font.medium
font.system(14)

Images

RMQ provides various features for dealing with images.

If you want to load an image from your /resources folder (which is where they should be), you can either load it and cache it (imageNamed) or load it and not cache it (NSBundle.mainBundle.pathForResource):

 rmq.image.resource('foo')  # /resources/foo@2x.png
 rmq.image.resource('foo', cached: false)
 # In a stylesheet
 st.background_image = image.resource('foo')

Capped images

Sometimes when you apply a background_image to a view you want the image to stretch to the size of the view without stretching the corners of the image, for example if you're making a rounded button. The SDK has a nice feature for this, called UIImage#resizableImageWithCapInsets. It stretches the center of your image, but not the corners.

Let's say you want to create this, like we did in Temple:

The red bar grows horizontally. But it has rounded caps. So we created this image , which is the caps, plus one pixel to stretch. Here it is blown up and I dimmed the 4 caps:

Basically just the center line of it stretches, the other 4 quadrants do not. RMQ makes this very easy. You create a UIImageView, then in the style (or anywhere) you set the image like so:

 rmq.append(UIImageView, :your_style)
 # Then in your style
 st.image = image.resource_resizable('your_image', top: 4, left: 4, right: 4, bottom: 4)

The top, left, etc, tell which parts of the image not to stretch. You can now resize your view and it will look great.

Snapshot of a view

Lastly you can get an image of a view, meaning a "screenshot" of it:

 my_image_view.image = rmq.image.from_view(some_view)

Other examples

RubyMotionQuery::ImageUtils.resource('logo')
rmq.image.resource('logo')
rmq.image.resource('subfolder/foo')
rmq.image.resource_for_device('logo') # will look for 4inch or 3.5inch
rmq.image.resource('logo', cached: false)

rmq.image.resource_resizable('foo', left: 10, top: 10, right: 10, bottom: 10)

rmq.image.from_view(my_view)

# In a stylesheet you don't need the rmq
image.resource('logo')

App

RubyMotionQuery::App.window
rmq.app.window
rmq.app.delegate
rmq.app.environment
rmq.app.release? # .production? also
rmq.app.test?
rmq.app.development?
rmq.app.version
rmq.app.name
rmq.app.identifier
rmq.app.resource_path
rmq.app.document_path

Device

RubyMotionQuery::Device.screen
rmq.device.screen
rmq.device.width # screen width
rmq.device.height # screen height
rmq.device.ipad?
rmq.device.iphone?
rmq.device.four_inch?
rmq.device.retina?

# return values are :unknown, :portrait, :portrait_upside_down, :landscape_left,
# :landscape_right, :face_up, :face_down
rmq.device.orientation
rmq.device.landscape?
rmq.device.portrait?

Format

A performant way to format numbers and dates.

rmq.format.number(1232, '#,##0.##')
rmq.format.date(Time.now, 'EEE, MMM d, ''yy')
rmq.format.numeric_formatter(your_format_here) # returns cached numeric formatter
rmq.format.date_formatter(your_format_here) # returns cached date formatter

See http://www.unicode.org/reports/tr35/tr35-19.html#Date_Format_Patterns for more information about date format strings.

Utils

These are mostly used internally by rmq.

RubyMotionQuery::RMQ.is_class?(foo)
RubyMotionQuery::RMQ.is_blank?(foo)
RubyMotionQuery::RMQ.controller_for_view(view)
RubyMotionQuery::RMQ.view_to_s(view)
RubyMotionQuery::RMQ.weak_ref(foo)

Pollution

The following are the only pollution in RMQ

UIView
- rmq
- rmq_data
UIViewController
- rmq
- rmq_data
Object
- rmq

Console Fun

rmq.log :tree
rmq.all.log
rmq.all.log :wide
rmq(UIView).show
rmq(UILabel).animations.blink
rmq(UIButton).nudge l: 10

A recommended project structure

app
- controllers
  - your_controller.rb
  - your_other_controller.rb
- models
- shared
- stylers - ui_view_styler.rb - ui_button_styler.rb - etc
- stylesheets
  - application_stylesheet.rb (inherit from RubyMotionQuery::Stylesheet)
  - your_stylesheet.rb (inherit from ApplicationStylesheet)
  - your_other_stylesheet.rb (inherit from ApplicationStylesheet)
  - your_view_stylesheet.rb (module, included an any controller's stylesheet that needs it)
- views
lib
resource
spec
- controllers
- lib
- models
- shared
- stylers
- views

Debugging

Adding rmq_debug=true to rake turns on some debugging features that are too slow or verbose to include in a normal build. It's great for normal use in the simulator, but you'll want to leave it off if you're measuring performance.

rake rmq_debug=true

Use this to add your optional debugging code

rmq.debugging?
=> true

rmq.log :tree
rmq.all.log
rmq.all.log :wide

rmq(Section).log :tree
# 163792144 is the ID a button
rmq(163792144).style{|st| st.background_color = rmq.color.blue}

rmq(Section).children.and_self.log :wide

rmq(UILabel).animations.blink

# Show subview index and thus zorder of Section within Section's parent
rmq(Section).parent.children.log

Styles and stylesheets

A very lightweight style system, designed for a low memory footprint, fast startup, and fast operation. Most everything is done at compile-time, as it's all just ruby code. Low magic.

You don't have to use this system, you can use Teacup instead, or whatever you like. RMQ works great without using the style system.

Example controller

class MainController < UIViewController

  def viewDidLoad
    super

    rmq.stylesheet = MainStyleSheet # Each controller has its own stylesheet
    view.rmq.apply_style :root_view

    @title_label = rmq.append(UILabel, :title_label).get

    image_view = rmq.append(UIImageView).get
    # Apply style anywhere
    image_view.apply_style(:logo)

    rmq.append(UIButton, :make_labels_blink).on(:tap) do |sender|
      rmq(UILabel).animations.blink
    end

    rmq.append(UIButton.buttonWithType(UIButtonTypeRoundedRect), :make_buttons_throb).on(:tap) do |sender|
      rmq(UIButton).animations.throb
    end

    rmq.append(UIView, :section).tap do |section|
      section.append(UILabel, :section_title)

      section.append(UILabel, :section_enabled_title)

      section.append(UISwitch, :section_enabled).on(:change) do |sender|
        style = sender.isOn ? :section_button_enabled : :section_button_disabled
        buttons = sender.rmq.parent.find(UIButton).apply_style(style)
      end

      section.append(UIButton, :start_spinner).on(:tap) do |sender|
        rmq.animations.start_spinner
      end

      section.append(UIButton, :stop_spinner).on(:tap) do |sender|
        rmq.animations.stop_spinner
      end
    end

  end
end

Example stylesheet

class ApplicationStylesheet < RubyMotionQuery::Stylesheet
  PADDING = 10

  def application_setup
    font_family = 'Helvetica Neue'
    font.add_named :large,    font_family, 36
    font.add_named :medium,   font_family, 24
    font.add_named :small,    font_family, 18

    color.add_named :translucent_black, color.from_rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4)
    color.add_named :battleship_gray,   '#7F7F7F'
  end

  def label(st)
    st.background_color = color.clear
  end

end

class MainStylesheet < ApplicationStylesheet
  def setup
    # Add stylesheet specific setup stuff here.
    # Add application specific setup stuff in application_stylesheet.rb
  end

  def root_view(st)
    st.background_color = color.white
  end

  def logo(st)
    st.frame = {t: 10, w: 200, h: 96}
    st.centered = :horizontal
    st.image = image.resource('logo')
  end

  def title_label(st)
    label st # stack styles
    st.frame = {l: PADDING, t: 120, w: 200, h: 20}
    st.text = 'Test label'
    st.color = color.from_rgba(34, 132, 198, 1.0)
    st.font = font.medium
  end

  def make_labels_blink(st)
    st.frame = {t: 120, w: 150, h: 20}
    st.from_right = PADDING

    # ipad? (and landscape?, etc) is just a convenience methods for
    # rmq.device.ipad?

    # Here is a complete example of different formatting for orientations
    # and devices
    #  if ipad?
    #    if landscape?
    #      st.frame = {l: 20, t: 120, w: 150, h: four_inch? ? 20 : 30}
    #    else
    #      st.frame = {l: 90, t: 120, w: 150, h: four_inch? ? 25 : 35}
    #    end
    #  else
    #    if landscape?
    #      st.frame = {l: 20, t: 20, w: 150, h: four_inch? ? 22 : 32}
    #    else
    #      st.frame = {l: 90, t: 20, w: 150, h: four_inch? ? 30 : 40}
    #    end
    #  end

    # If you don't want something to be reapplied during orientation
    # changes (assuming you're reapplying during orientation changes
    # in your controller, it's not automatic)
    unless st.view_has_been_styled?
      st.text = 'Blink labels'
      st.font = font.system(10)
      st.color = color.white
      st.background_color = color.from_hex('ed1160')
    end
  end

  def make_buttons_throb(st)
    st.frame = {t: 150, w: 150, h: 20}
    st.from_right = PADDING
    st.text = 'Throb buttons'
    st.color = color.black
  end

  def section(st)
    st.frame = {from_bottom: PADDING, w: 270, h: 110}

    if landscape? && iphone?
      st.left = PADDING
    else
      st.centered = :horizontal
    end

    st.z_position = 1
    st.background_color = color.battleship_gray
  end

  def section_label(st)
    label st
    st.color = color.white
  end

  def section_title(st)
    section_label st
    st.frame = {l: PADDING, t: PADDING, w: 150, h: 20}
    st.text = 'Section title'
  end

  def section_enabled(st)
    label st
    st.frame = {l: PADDING, t: 30}
    st.on = true
  end

  def section_enabled_title(st)
    section_label st
    st.frame = {l: 93, t: 34, w: 150, h: 20}
    st.text = 'Enabled'
  end

  def section_buttons(st)
    st.frame = {l: PADDING, t: 64, w: 120, h: 40}
    st.background_color = color.black
    section_button_enabled st
  end

  def start_spinner(st)
    section_buttons st
    st.text = 'Start spinner'
  end

  def stop_spinner(st)
    section_buttons st
    st.from_right = PADDING
    st.text = 'Stop spinner'
  end

  def section_button_disabled(st)
    st.enabled = false
    st.color = color.dark_gray
  end

  def section_button_enabled(st)
    st.enabled = true
    st.color = color.white
  end

  def animate_move(st)
    st.scale = 1.0
    st.frame = {t: 180, w: 150, h: 20}
    st.from_right = PADDING
    st.text = 'Animate move and scale'
    st.font = font.system(10)
    st.color = color.white
    st.background_color = color.from_hex('ed1160')
    st.z_position = 99
    st.color = color.white
  end

  def overlay(st)
    st.frame = :full
    st.background_color = color.translucent_black
    st.hidden = true
    st.z_position = 99
  end

  def benchmarks_results_wrapper(st)
    st.hidden = true
    st.frame = {w: app_width - 20, h: 120}
    st.centered = :both
    st.background_color = color.white
    st.z_position = 100
  end

  def benchmarks_results_label(st)
    label st
    st.padded = {l: 10, t: 10, b:10, r: 10}
    st.text_alignment = :left
    st.color = color.black
    st.font = font.system(10)

    # If the styler doesn't have the method, you can add it or
    # just use st.view to get the actual object
    st.view.numberOfLines = 0
    st.view.lineBreakMode = NSLineBreakByWordWrapping
  end

  def run_benchmarks(st)
    st.frame = {l: PADDING, t: 150, w: 130, h: 20}
    st.text = 'Run benchmarks'
    st.font = font.system(11)
    st.color = color.white
    st.enabled = true
    st.background_color = color.from_hex('faa619')
  end

  def run_benchmarks_disabled(st)
    st.enabled = false
    st.color = color.from_hex('de8714')
  end

  def benchmark(st)
    st.hidden = false
    st.text = 'foo'
    st.color = color.white
    st.left = 10
  end

end

Stylers

A styler wraps around a view, augmenting it with styling power and sugar.

Each UIView subclass can have its own styler (many exist in RMQ, but not all yet). There is a UIViewStyler class they all inherit from, and a UIControlStyler controls inherit from. Much of the code is in UIViewStyler.

When you create a "style method", it will be passed the view, wrapped in a styler. You can get the view using st.view.

UIViewStyler

Here is a silly example, showing you a bunch of methods the UIViewStyler gives you:

def ui_view_kitchen_sink(st)
  st.frame = {l: 1, t: 2, w: 3, h: 4}
  st.frame = {left: 1, top: 2, width: 3, height: 4}
  st.frame = {from_right: 1, from_bottom: 2, width: 3, height: 4}
  st.frame = {fr: 1, fb: 2, w: 3, h: 4}
  st.left = 20
  st.top = 30
  st.width = 40
  st.height = 50
  st.right = 100
  st.bottom = 110
  st.from_right = 10
  st.from_bottom = 12
  st.padded = {l: 1, t: 2, r: 3, b: 4}
  st.padded = {left: 1, top: 2, right: 3, bottom: 4}
  st.center = st.superview.center
  st.center_x = 50
  st.center_y = 60
  st.centered = :horizontal
  st.centered = :vertical
  st.centered = :both

  st.enabled = true
  st.hidden = false
  st.z_position = 66
  st.opaque = false
  st.clips_to_bounds = false
  st.hidden = true
  st.content_mode = UIViewContentModeBottomLeft

  st.background_color = color.red
  # TODO test background_image

  st.scale = 1.5
  st.rotation = 45
  st.tint_color = color.blue
  st.layer.cornerRadius = 5
end

UIControlStyler

Nothing yet

UILabelStyler

def ui_label_kitchen_sink(st)
  st.text = 'rmq is awesome'
  st.font = font.system(12)
  st.color = color.black
  st.text_alignment = :center

  st.resize_to_fit_text
  st.size_to_fit
end

UIButtonStyler

def ui_button_kitchen_sink(st)
  st.text = 'foo'
  st.font = font.system(12)
  st.color = color.red
  st.image_normal = image.resource('logo')
  st.image_highlighted = image.resource('logo')
end

UIImageViewStyler

def u_image_view_kitchen_sink(st)
  st.image = image.resource('logo')
end

UIScrollViewStyler

def ui_scroll_view_kitchen_sink(st)
  st.paging = true
end

UISwitchStyler

def ui_switch_kitchen_sink(st)
  st.on = true
end

There should be a styler for each UIView type. And each one should wrap all common methods and attributes, plus add functionality for common operations. This will come in future versions

Add your own stylers

In the example app, look in /app/stylers, you can just copy that whole folder to start. Then add methods to the appropriate class.

Here is an example of adding a method to all stylers:

module RubyMotionQuery
  module Stylers
    class UIViewStyler

      def border_width=(value)
        @view.layer.borderWidth = value
      end
      def border_width
        @view.layer.borderWidth
      end

    end
  end
end

You can also include all of your custom stylers in one file, which works well if you don't have a lot.

Creating your own views

RMQ calls 3 methods when you create, append, or build a view using rmq. rmq_build is the one you most want to use

def rmq_build
end

def rmq_created
end

def rmq_appended
end

If you append a view like so:

rmq.append(UILabel)

The 3 methods will be called in this order:

rmq_created
rmq_appended
rmq_build

In the following example an instance of YourView is created, :your_style is applied then rmq_build is called on the instance that was just created. In that order.

# Your view
class YourView < UIView
  def rmq_build
    rmq(self).tap do |q|
      q.append(UILabel, :section_title)
      q.append(UIButton, :buy_button).on(:tap) do |sender|
        # do  something
      end
    end
  end
end

# In your controller
rmq.append(YourView, :your_style)

Future features

Current roadmap:

v0.6 new frame system: I’ve already designed this, I just have to implement it and use it in the real world and tweak. This is going to be very cool. It adds to the existing frame system. It doesn’t replace constraints, but rather gives you almost all the features you need without the complexity of constraints.
v0.6.5 templates and stylers all finished
v0.6.7 performance improvements
v0.7 first rmq plugin and any base features needed to support plugins (I don’t think there will be any base features needed)
v0.8 binding system
?
?
v1.0

Random future features that I plan on adding

rmq.push_sub_controller(my_controller) and rmq.pop_sub_controller and rmq.pop_this_controller
add borders to UIView styler: st.borders = {l: {w: 2, color: color.black}, r: {w: 2, color: color.black}}
add templates for: nav controller, tab controller, table controller, collection controller
add from_right, from_bottom, and centered to both st.frame and to move
add binding that combines KVO and events to bind an attribute of one object to the attribute of selected view(s), keeping both in sync, like so: rmq.append(UITextField).bind(@person, attr: :name, to: :text)
rmq.log to wrap nslog to allow you to turn off logging (or does NSLog already have this feature?)
add selectors for UITextField
add string to height utility, given the font and the width
add block to wrap useful for a variety of things, but here is solid example: rmq.append(UIButton).tag(:foo).wrap{|view| view.titleLabel}.tag(:foo_title)
add def rmq_build_with_properties(props = {}). Perhaps remove rmq_created and rmq_appended, not sure if those are useful or not
add easy way to do alerts and actionsheets
add rmq.help with basic help for when you're in repl

Contact

created by Todd Werth (http://toddwerth.com)

with help from the team at InfiniteRed (http://infinitered.com)

License

RMQ is available under the MIT license. See the LICENSE file for more info.

Contributing

Fork it
Create your feature branch (git checkout -b my-new-feature)
Commit your changes (git commit -am 'Add some feature')
Push to the branch (git push origin my-new-feature)
Create new Pull Request