Using SDL12 on Playbook in QNX - How to change directory sdl-control.xml is loaded from?

SDL Development
1

Hi all,
The SDL code + Touch-Control Overlay on the RIM Playbook can be very useful.
I’m trying to build an application that runs under QNX on the Playbook, and uses
DOSbox with SDL12 and TouchControlOverlay. I have DOSbox compiling with the SDL12
and TouchControlOverlay libraries, all built using the Native SDK for QNX (and run
problem-free from WinXP). It’s taken a long slog, but I have everything compiling,
all libraries are found (added as assets using the QNX Momentics SDK ), and I have
successfully created a debug token for the Playbook, and deployed the .bar file
(wirelessly, yet…) of the SDk-built DOSbox app to the PB, which uses SDL12. SO,
here’s the issue: I cannot get any of the SDL-supplied enhancements to work, with
the DOSbox source I’ve pulled together and built from, despite having a valid “sdl-
control.xml” file in the /accounts/1000/shared/misc/dosbox directory on the PB.

Anyone using SDL12 have experience porting to the Playbook QNX Arm7 platform?
THe existing, available DOSbox app from Appworld, successfully processes my
sdl-control.xml file, so I know this works perfectly, and I know that my
DOSbox-0.74.conf file is correct, also, as it is successfully processed by
the existing available DOSbox app. I’ve sent an email to the fellow
who configured and submitted the DOSbox app for the Playbook, but his work was
almost 10 months ago, so he may have moved on to other things.

I suspect the SDL12 features which are not working, are maybe trying to
read the “sdl-control.xml” file from somewhere in the Playbook’s
"sandbox", and there is maybe no .xml file there. (It needs to live in a
shared directory, which everyone has access to…) Is the "sdl-control.xml"
control file part of SDL12, or is this a TouchControlOverlay feature?
Where in the SDL-12 code does it say which directory the "sdl-control.xml"
file is loaded from? I had to implement the changes indicated on GITHUB
by “jnicholl”, explicitly in my source directly using the QNX Momentics SDK,
and was then able to access the DOSbox-0.74.conf. I have a suspicion that
I need to do something similar in able to load the critical "sdl-control.xml"
file. Without this file, my little (old) DOS-based app cannot work, as
I need to use SDL+TouchControlOverlay to paint the arrow-keys, the ALT key,
the ESC key, and also have the mouse work. Everything works perfectly
with the current DOSbox app from AppWorld, so I know with certainty that
my modified sdl-control.xml file is correct.
I need to replicate the DOSbox build for my app, and I have it working, except
for the SDL stuff. Any suggestions or info appreciated. ANd if this
is the wrong place to send this question, my apologies. Thanx.

  • Rus
2

Hi again;
Found my answer…!
On Github, found this closed issue:
https://github.com/blackberry/DosBox/issues/1
in which it was explained. TouchControlOverlay (a neat piece of software
which uses SDL) is the code that processes "sdl-control.xml"
With it, you can place buttons and controls all over a tablet screen
(ie the Playbook),and it works very well, even with old DOS apps.
What I needed to do, was to include the “sdl-control.xml” file into
the “Assets” of the .bar file being creating with the Native SDK.
(You can put all your .PNG files, which describe the push-buttons,
into a shared directory, if you want.) The sdl-control.xml files
gets slotted into the Playbook “sandbox”, and is picked up correcty
when DOSbox starts. And everything looks like its working… :smiley:

  • Rus
3

Great, glad to hear it! :)On Wed, Sep 5, 2012 at 1:53 PM, Rus wrote:

Hi again;
Found my answer…!
On Github, found this closed issue:
https://github.com/blackberry/**DosBox/issues/1https://github.com/blackberry/DosBox/issues/1
in which it was explained. TouchControlOverlay (a neat piece of software
which uses SDL) is the code that processes "sdl-control.xml"
With it, you can place buttons and controls all over a tablet screen
(ie the Playbook),and it works very well, even with old DOS apps.
What I needed to do, was to include the “sdl-control.xml” file into
the “Assets” of the .bar file being creating with the Native SDK.
(You can put all your .PNG files, which describe the push-buttons,
into a shared directory, if you want.) The sdl-control.xml files
gets slotted into the Playbook “sandbox”, and is picked up correcty
when DOSbox starts. And everything looks like its working… :smiley: