Backing up the internet

Eclim is fabulous.

This post is purely to back up some information, because the original site seems to have disappeared. I found it from a Google cache, but that won't last forever. Here it is (apologies for the shoddy formatting):

Besides .vimrc setting, the complete flow to develop Android app using vim + command line is as follows:

1. Start eclim by starting its server first. 
   
   eclimd&
2. Navigate to project folder. (ex. ~/workspace), and start vim. Use :ProjectCreate to create new project
3. Alternatively, navigate to existing project (ex. ~/workspace/your_android_app), use
   
   :ProjectTree <project name>
   
   to open existing one.
   
   But with the above .vimrc, vim/eclim should be able to automatically open the project tree view for you by just entering vim.  There is no need to follow this step, indeed.
4. For editing, :FirstExplorerWindow to the tree view or Ctrl+w Ctrl+w, use :Tlist to open taglist
   
   Open new tab by <Enter> or open split window by <S>, when navigating in the project file tree view. 
5. When :w, eclim will do :Validate for you, pointing out live syntax check and display suggestions like what you’ve got in Eclipse. 
   
   For auto-complete, Ctrl+x Ctrl+u as you’re used to. 
6. To build project,
   
   :Ant
   
   Notes: if there is no build.xml, excute
   
   :!android update project -p .
7. To start an AVD, use 
   
   android list avd
   
   emulator -avd <avd_name>
   
   
8. To upload project to default emulator or device, 
   
   :Ant install
9. To see LogCat debugging log, open another terminal, check available devices by 
   
   adb devices
   
   once you got what devices to look at, 
   
   adb -s <device_name> logcat
10. To turn off eclimd, in vim, type :ShutdownEclim, or in command line, eclim -command shutdown

Fun with vim, fun with alpha, no fun with apks

I've been distracting myself for the last couple of days by installing eclim: it really is pretty amazing. I have yet to use it in anger, but I'm a vim user at heart: the last few months using Eclipse have felt like I was cheating (in a particularly inefficient way: a touchpad is even less efficient than a mouse).

The alpha testing so far has taught me a lot. There was one major bug that I had never seen, and a strongly desired enhancement (that I had planned, but much longer term), both of which are now sorted. It's also given me a good idea of how others will actually use the app: not necessarily the same way that I do.

But the biggest thing it has taught me is that it's not easy enough to install an apk file. When I tried to help my friend install it on her HTC Desire, it took much longer than it should, and we ended up having to install a file manager app from the market. So my next stage will be beta, and it will be on the market: it's so much easier to just send people a url that they can install from.