The first problem was brought up by wanting to separate asychronous calls to a different file. How can I reference the other file in my gjs code? The solution ended up being very simple. Just replace the normal gjs yourapp.js with this:
$ GJS_PATH=`pwd` gjs yourapp.js

in terminal in the folder your files are. Then the file can be included simply with:
const SomeClass = imports.myotherfile;

Where SomeClass is the variable that will hold any functions exported by the other file (by having those functions defined into the global namespace there), and myotherfile.js would be the name of the file.

You can see what keys are available through imports by running this JavaScript code through gjs:

for (i in imports) {
  print(i);
}

If you want to distribute your files in different folders the GJS_PATH environment variable must contain the correct path.

As we see, pretty easy but hard to come by amongst all the information of internet. Maybe one more post about it will ease the search for the next person trying to figure this out

Then we get onwards with our asynchronous calls. HTTP get, using async libsoup. Yet again a simple thing but hard to find.

first you need to import Soup to your code:

const Soup = imports.gi.Soup;

then prepare one asynchronous soup session

const _httpSession = new Soup.SessionAsync();
Soup.Session.prototype.add_feature.call(_httpSession, new Soup.ProxyResolverDefault());

then you decide what you want to get and where. Here I’m getting weather information for Helsinki Malmi airport (ICAO: EFHF) using the GeoNames web service:

function getWeather(callback) {
  var request = Soup.Message.new('GET',
   'http://api.geonames.org/weatherIcaoJSON?ICAO=EFHF&username=demo');

Once you’ve prepared a request Soup message, you need to queue it, and provide a callback that will fire once the request has been handled.

It is good manners to handle both successful and failed requests. And when the information is in your hands, it is a good idea to parse it to proper JavaScript data structures:

    _httpSession.queue_message(request, function(_httpSession, message) {
      if (message.status_code !== 200) {
        callback(message.status_code, null);
        return;
      }
      var weatherJSON = request.response_body.data;
      var weather = JSON.parse(weatherJSON);
      callback(null, weather);
}

A successful response looks like this:

{
    "weatherObservation": {
        "clouds": "few clouds",
        "weatherCondition": "light snow",
        "observation": "EFHF 101150Z 14002KT 9999 -SN FEW040 BKN050 BKN070 M05/M06 Q1016",
        "windDirection": 140,
        "ICAO": "EFHF",
        "elevation": 28,
        "countryCode": "FI",
        "lng": 25.05,
        "temperature": "-5",
        "dewPoint": "-6",
        "windSpeed": "02",
        "humidity": 92,
        "stationName": "Helsinki-Malmi",
        "datetime": "2012-01-10 11:50:00",
        "lat": 60.25,
        "hectoPascAltimeter": 1016
    }
}

And then it is just the question of how to use the information.

This post has been updated according to Owen’s suggestions in the comments below.

And here came the extensions, and then the modified versions of existing extensions!

All of a sudden, after an hour of first whining and then hacking, GNOME 3.2 feels like home and I’m actually liking this ease of modifying my desktop to my preferences. This desktop is mine and I could have pink flying ponies in it if I wanted to. Brilliant!

To get all things going you just need a few easy steps.

1. Load and install an extension from https://extensions.gnome.org
2. Fork the extension project that you want to modify from git or wherever
3. Make it your own
4. Save your progress
5. Run $ cp -r file_where_your_extension_is ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/ on terminal
6. Reload your desktop with Alt-F2 and to the prompt r. If Alt-F2 doesn’t launch the prompt, fix it with this.
   
7. After few iterations enjoy your own modifications to your desktop!
   

The looking glass debugger is a useful additional tool that can also be launched from command prompt. So, Alt-F2 yet again and then just type lg.

And there you have your tools to hack your browser-like desktop an inspector and a reloader. Happy hacking, everyone!

On Tuesday I participated in Helsinki’s first JSmeetup. The thing that suprised me a lot was the fact that nearly no one knew of the possibility to write programs for GNOME with JavaScript. I promised to give a small presentation about the subject in February when my cookbook is looking a bit better.  Making all the different possibilities known to developers out there is an important task we have to deal with.

First week on work is finally happening and I’m happy to work with this project. Taking a plunge to GNOME with a wide smile on my face!

I believe that with the help of my mentors Cosimo Cecchi and Johannes Schmid I’ll be able to make a guide that will truly ease the way towards GNOME 3.  And as a bonus I’ll have a chance to get to know a new community and make some new friends.

What works:

• Getting (and following) user’s location
• Calculating the day’s geohash for the location
• Displaying the geohash and user’s location on the map

What is still missing:

• Social features

You can follow the progress on GitHub.

I have to say testing location based games is more fun in the summer time

This will be my first conference ever. I’m not quite sure what to expect.  One thing is sure. There will be a getaway quest for MeeGons using Tablet of Adventure. When or where, i haven’t decided yet, but there will be one, probably targeting beer

And what did I actually do? I coded like a mad person at times, slept much too little, found myself in odd places, took some time off and did nothing related to my project, swam in the sea of despair, learned a lot and had fun.

The application is not in all parts what I planned it to be and in some parts it’s more than I expected. Now the version 1.0 is in extras-testing. It would be nice to hear some testing reports, the bug tracker can be found in GitHub . Hopefully soon enough I’ll have the opportunity to just lay back and watch people going on their adventures. A short introduction to the application can be found in the tab the Tablet of Adventure.

Although the GsoC10 project is finished, the work with the Tablet of Adventure is not. I have couple of ideas of how I could make my software more versatile. And then there will be the versions. First an Ubuntu desktop version, so you can watch where your friends are going. And if I get to an agreement with my University I’ll make my software run on Android too. And so on. This was only the beginning.

artwork by Nina Mutik (nina.mutik (a) gmail.com)

And now some testing. My destination is a nearby beach

The project is nearing it’s end. Social features are forming up, the UI is getting more refined forms and the amount of rows in my code is building up. At this point in my code I’m making things work rather than making the code look good. There is some refactoring ahead.

The program itself has gotten an adventure editor, where you can form your own adventures. Click on the map and a headline and you are on your way. In settings you can change your buttons colour and soon enough you can read comments and see where other participants are.

The next release will probably happen during the weekend. Before that it’s work work work and no play.