Developing a Channel

Short answer, yes :). Just go to the Developer Site, register, and download the necessary stuff to get you started!

C. Shawn Smith

Thanks Shawn

I see "examples" in the zip files, can recommend which examples I should look at/could use to help?

While a large number of churches use the videoplayer example, I would recommend trying to learn how to do the programming yourself and create a channel from scratch in order to create a superior experience for your users. I would also recommend taking a look at the mrsstemplate example as it is superior in many ways to the videoplayer example.

Be sure to read the Artwork Guidelines and Design Guidlines .pdf files, and if you really want to create a nice looking channel, engage the services of a graphic artist. Information on artwork sizes can be found in the Component Reference, and also by searching this forum.

- Joel

Thanks Joel.

I see in the Development Overview a mention of an IDE, is Netbeans for Java the best free one? I already have Notepad ++



Mike

There is an Eclipse plugin, but I use Notepad++. Just a few extra steps for deploying the side channel for every code iteration during development.

I also use notepad++ (on Windows 7)

To side-load my channel I set up a file, deploy.bat, in my top-level channel directory (the directory containing the source directory and manifest file, etc.), containing:

setlocal
if exist deploy.bat (set devdir=".") else (set devdir="..")
7z u -x!deploy.bat -x!dev.zip %devdir%/dev.zip %devdir%/*
curl -s -S -F "archive=@%devdir%/dev.zip" -F "mysubmit=Replace" http://192.168.0.4/plugin_install
pause

To use this, I have 7-Zip installed to compress my channel files into a zip file (dev.zip) and curl installed to copy the zipped file to my Roku (192.168.0.4). You'll also need to ensure your PATH environment variable includes the program directories for 7z and curl (or use the full filenames).

Then in notepad++ I set up a run command:

Plugins>Plugin Manager>Show Plugin Manager>check NppExec>Install
Plugins>NppExec>check Follow $(CURRENT_DIRECTORY)
Run>Run...>deploy.bat>Save...>Name:Deploy; CTRL+D

Now all I have to do to deploy my development channel to my Roku from notepad++ is hit CTRl-D. This will work if I'm editing a file in the top-level channel directory (e.g. the manifest file) or any of the immediately subordinate directories (e.g. something in the source directory).

You can also set up notepad++ to perform syntax highighting of your BrightScript code:

Settings>Style Configurator ..., Language : VB/VBS, add brs as a user ext., then add in any some more user-defined keywords (by selecting Style: WORD): endif void invalid float dynamic.

Awesome. Thanks for that belltown. I'll echo others' praises for your contributions to these forums.

I used to use Notepad++ with the VBScript syntax enabled for BRS files. I've since switched to Eclipse and the Eclipse plugin. Now I'm pretty much married to it for development. It has a deployment wizard that should make it easy for a beginner to sideload channels. I, personally, use a horribly complex makefile, so I can easily reference common files across projects.

awesome to hear belltown. I use windows 7 and am already experienced with notepad ++, and your other suggestions (side-loading, 7-Zip , and curl ) are great to know.

Thanks
Mike

There are also a number of tutorial style aritcles and companion sample applications on the Roku Developer Blog, located at blog.roku.com/developer.