One more gotcha

As I was writing about UIScrollView and auto layout I remembered another problem that gave me apoplectic fits last night. I had just published OttoJotts Beta 1.1 out onto TestFlightApp.com (one of the greatest resources for developers) and found a small bug. I went in, fixed the issue, recompiled and got a very strange error. I was able to build the application, create the archive (Product | Archive), and distribute it, but when I tried adding it to TestFlightApp it would prevent me saying that a required flag in the Entitlements.plist wasn't set.
This perplexed me because I had just done this not an hour earlier with no problem - why was it now beginning to give me flak? I tried thinking through what had changed - just code, I thought - and what might now be causing the problem. "Fine," I thought. "I'll add the damn flag." But I couldn't. Well, now what?
I thought the problem might have been associated with the different provisioning profiles I had set up, so I decided to clean them out. I went up on to my developer account, removed some old, expired certificates and some newer, active (but unused) certs. Then I went back to Xcode and synched my account. It looked like everything got set up properly, so I went back and tried to compile. Success. Then I tried to archive. Failure. And the failure was weird - it couldn't find a provisioning profile. I had cleaned up several and had specifically built using one profile but it was trying to find another one. What the heck was going on?
I searched the interwebs and came upon something in the Xcode project file. I think it was on stackoverflow.com that I found the solution, but I apparently needed to remove some lines from the project file that were referencing the old profile. I made my changes and tried it again - and everything was happy. Even when I put it up on TestFlightApp it went up seamlessly. Yay. *headdesk*
What's the lesson from this little excursion? Perhaps to be careful about when and where you manage your profiles. Or perhaps it's just to be a little wary of how well Xcode integrates with the developer center. I wish I could say it's a matter of reading the whole error message, but in this particular case it wasn't useful in the slightest. Good luck and happy coding.

Understanding at last?

So, I was looking at the iPhone Developer Center trying to figure out from the tech notes why symbolicatecrash, which I was reading would be working just fine, was not working just fine. What I believe it is now, though, is that my SDK version is 3.1.2 and my iPhone OS version is 3.1.3. *sigh* Just shows to go you that as a developer you should always stay up-to-date on the latest SDKs when they're released. Now I need to see if there's a way for me to download the old 3.1.3 SDK. Why, you ask? Because of the iPhone SDK 3.2.
The new SDK requires Snow Leopard which I haven't installed yet (I just ordered it). In the interim, I'm just kind of shooting in the dark with what's happening. Given what I've been reading, it seems like that's the issue, which would be nice. If so, it would at least mean that I'm not a complete idiot. :) The worst part is that even if I do get it to symbolicate, I need to find out why it's failing.
Overall it's been a pretty frustrating experience, but at least it looks like things are turning around and this does seem like the most likely answer to the problems I've been experiencing. And it's also not been abundantly clear from the blogs I've been reading what this issue is.
So, there we go. At least for now. *sigh*
Update: I found a link to the old 3.1.3 SDK which I'm downloading now while I wait for Snow Leopard to arrive. I'll at least be able to do iPad development once I get Snow Leopard, but it's not been a big item on my to-do list, so I've delayed. Apparently one version too long. Wish me luck!

CodeSigning Hell

The best advice I can give to anyone who wants to develop iPhone applications is: When you get an error, READ THE ENTIRE ERROR MESSAGE VERY CAREFULLY. Here endeth the lesson.

I had decided to update my code signing certificates for the alpha that will be starting in the not-too-distant future. I also wanted to try to get it building for distribution on OS 2.2 devices because one of my testers is on an iPod Touch that costs $10 to upgrade to 3.0. Eventually I will need to move completely to 3.0 to get the in-app purchasing I require, but for now, compatibility is a good thing.

I made some new certs, read the instructions carefully on the Apple Dev Portal and things were going along smoothly. I had a bit of a hitch when I forgot to copy in the distribution and developer certificates to Xcode, but that wasn't too heinous. Then I tried building for 2.2. Error. And something that seemed completely odd. CodeSigning was complaining that I hadn't provided a certificate for 'Distribution' for SDK 'Device - OS 2.2'. Um, sure. Not terribly helpful. Can I build OS 3 builds? Yes - no problem. OS 2.2? No. I checked the build settings - yup, there's my certificate, it's setup for all iPhone Devices... What's your damage, Xcode? Okay, fine. You win. I'll ADD a special exception for OS 2.2. Bzzzt! Still not happy. What the HELL, man? C'mon, give me SOMETHING.

*sigh* After beating my head against it for a while, I went back and looked at the steps. Yes, I did that. And that. And thanks for the warning about making sure I did that - I did. Okay, let's Google it. I have to completely reset my Xcode to make it happy? I'm not sure that's the right answer.

Okay, one last time. Let's close Xcode, reopen, and try building it again. Nope. As expected, the same error. But wait. What does that error really say? Seriously? What configuration am I editing in the properties? DEBUG?!?! And it needs to be DISTRIBUTION?!?!?! *sigh* *facepalm*

So, let's make sure we're editing the configuration for Distribution and attach the certificate for all iPhone devices. Okay, Xcode, let's see if that makes you happy. And it does. And had I bothered to read the error message and double-check to make sure that I was actually editing the correct properties, life would have been better. But, thankfully, now it is.

Here endeth the lesson.

It is done

I am officially now an iPhone developer. I got my activation code about an hour ago, logged in, typed in the sequence carefully, double-checking every letter as I entered them, and took a deep breath before clicking the "Submit" button.
I held my breath for what seemed an eternity.
Welcome to the iPhone Developer Program appeared on my screen. My breath left my body slowly as the euphoria slowly spread throughout me.
It. Is. Done.

Victory is Mine!

Well, almost, but the Stewie quote was too good to pass up. I FINALLY got the approval completed with Apple! I finally gave up and called them. I spoke to a very nice gentleman and we got everything squared away. He did say "I don't know why you haven't been processed", which led me to believe that something got horked after the last phone call from them. But he completed the processing and I got my email from Apple and then I sent them money for my enrollment. I need to wait for it to get processed and have my account updated, but that should happen in 24 hours (so the website claims). My Dev Center now reads "Activation Required" which is a very good thing. Change is good. :)
Samantha is coming along slowly. I've been working a little bit at it over the past few days, but nothing has been completed yet. I've been tweaking some UI elements lately (which is completely pointless at this stage and I need to stop doing it). I'm going to try to spend my time over the next several days getting all of the page flows working correctly. THEN I'll start working on the content. I've added the basis for character data and that's been going well.
Anyway, it's been a banner day. Thankfully this hell has mostly completed and I should be finished with this thing soon.

Time flies...

Wow. Has it really been almost 2 weeks since my last post? I wish I could say that more has happened, but I can't. It's been a rough couple of weeks personally - just lots going on with health issues (Susie sprained her ankle and I got the crud from hell). We had Taekwondo testing (we're all purple belts now - yay!). We had a birthday party and I had to make up work on a Sunday...

Last Saturday (the 18th) I actually took the day off. We had plans to do a lot that day but we got about a foot of snow and decided that we could really use just *one* day to relax and recuperate. I wish it had been more recuperative, but you get what you get.

I've been working on the UI still for Samantha over the past few weeks. It's slowly coming together, but I'm getting bogged down in some details that I didn't want to deal with quite yet. It's been slower than I hoped (or can afford, I fear). I may have to bust a move this weekend or next to get it going. I mean, next week is MAY for goodness sakes. Damn, but time does fly. I still have at LEAST 6 weeks of solid work left before I can call the game a game. I just wish I could devote full-time periods to getting this done. I'm now helping teach some TKD classes (once week and two more times per month), so it's not a huge burden, but it does wear me out mentally and physically. I just need to get some focus on and get this stuff hammered out. The fact that I STILL haven't heard from Apple about the Dev Program is just beginning to piss me off now.

I sent them ANOTHER email tonight asking them what's going with my enrollment. I mean, it's been almost a month since I got a call saying I'd been approved. WTH man? Like I said - it's a VERY good thing that I'm not sitting on a completed app at this point. I've got some small stuff I'm going to test out (just some sample apps and stuff) just to see how the process works, but if I'm not getting my enrollment completed, I can't do any beta stuff, which makes it hard to see how the process works. Grrr. I'm planning on calling on Monday if I don't get anything between now and then. This is starting to go from ridiculous to downright mean-spirited. 

Anyway, I've got an early morning and a late night tomorrow (more TKD), so I'll end it here. Hasta til later.

Tired of Waiting

I finally got tired of waiting and found a way to contact Apple about my enrollment status. They've made some upgrades to the site over the past couple of months and added some things, apparently. :) Anyway, I've sent in a request to find out what's up as it's now been 15 days since I got the phone call about my approval (and almost 4 weeks since my submission). Wow - this is a bit surprising that it's taking this long. I'm guessing that the email I was supposed to receive from Apple got lost in the ether somewhere.

I'm hoping that we can get this sorted out. It's a good thing I didn't try to do this after I had completed the game - I'd be pulling my hair out. :) Since I'm still in development, it's not a HUGE problem, but I do have a lot to learn about submitting through the App Store and getting beta users hooked up.

So, hopefully more news later.

Post-Script

STILL no word on the Developer Program. I got the call almost 2 weeks ago and still no information about next steps. Unfortunately, what I've been unable to find is any way to contact them about my account. You submit a request and then they get back to you when they feel like it. I guess it's a bit like getting a green card - don't ask or you go to the back of the queue. :(
Anyway, perhaps by posting I'll have some kind of answer by tomorrow. :) *fingers crossed*

Trivia Update

It's been a pretty good few days. I've finished the basic game play for trivia. I had previously done some background graphics and those worked beautifully in the game. There are still some things to do:

• Icons for all of the categories (for buttons)
• Question parsing in the application
• Question creation on server
• Database storage for game persistence on iPhone
• More questions than I can even possibly imagine

I have been considering using XML as the format for the questions. I like it for a variety of reasons, but the problem is that its a very verbose format. Data transfer is always a concern with iPhone apps and the smaller the format and the more compression I can do, the less I need to worry about killing someone's phone while they play. I may still use XML as the full format but compress it before I send it.

As for the rest of it, the major part of the work that I need to do is get the server to start serving the pages. I'm going to be getting a basic XML file set up on the website so I can at least see it serve the file and then parse it on the app side. Then I can add a small interface one both sides to compress/decompress the data.

On the dev program front, I still haven't received the email or seen the website update yet. I'm hoping that soon things will be sorted out and updated.

Storm update

This has nothing to do with development, but I went out this morning to get the final storm totals here at the house. In places I've only got about 5" of snow, but on the lawn (which is actually where it counts) it's 11.5". That's good news for my lawn, which has been languishing in the unseasonably warm and dry weather we've been having.
School's closed again today, so I'm working from home. Cathy's also running a fever, so it sort of didn't matter whether school was closed or not. Not sure what's going on with her, as she hasn't really "seemed" sick over the past day, but she definitely ran a fever this morning (101.3).
That's all for now. Still not update on the Apple website about my approval nor any email from them. I'll post when I hear.

Fantastic news!

As I sit at home working on real work (and the occasional OVP work), I received a phone call from England (the +44 country code was a dead giveaway :). Anyway, I thought it might have been our friend Verona Chard (who is amazing), but it was APPLE! They called to confirm that my enrollment in the Developer Program had been verified and that everything was moving forward. They're sending an email with some more information about the program, but I did finally get notice that I'm officially in the program.

Yay. And yay again.

[Updated: 15:29] On the weather front, it's been very reasonable around the house. We've got about 5" of snow here, which is supposedly 9" less than we got at the old house. It's still snowing at a good clip, but the forecast is only calling for another 1-3", which is not all that much. I had been expecting more than a foot and 8" is manageable.

Dev Program Update

So I got home from work this afternoon and had an email in my in box from Apple about the iPhone Developer Program.

In reviewing your enrollment status, we noticed that we are waiting for documentation from you in order to complete the identity verification for your iPhone Developer Program enrollment request. To proceed with your enrollment, fax the requested documentation to blah, blah, blah...
If you have already faxed the requested documentation, please contact us.

Yeah... So I sent them an email saying that I've already sent it to them three times - once last week and twice today (the first fax was at "normal" resolution - 200x100 dpi - so I sent it again at "fine" - 200x200). I just hope they received it, they process it, and we move on it. There are a couple of things I still need to work on for doing beta programs and such, so there are things I can be learning about once it's processed.
So anyway, now I get to wait - some more.

The Waiting Kills You

As I mentioned in a post last Monday, I had finally gotten some kind of feedback from Apple about my application to the iPhone Developer Program. I had a status message of "Company Documents Needed". I sent in the requisite paperwork. And then I waited.
And waited.
And waited.
And the weekend came and went and still I was... waiting.
So this morning, one week after I sent in the documents originally, I decided that maybe the fax got lost or I was too quick to submit them or the fax wasn't legible or something! I decided to re-fax it again today. So now I sit around and
wait.

Quick post

I just checked the Apple iPhone Dev Center and it says that my application is in the following state:
Company documents needed
. Requested documents must be received to proceed with enrollment
I've sent them in (Monday), but I'm guessing that this is the standard message they post until they've actually processed the documents.
Regardless, I think things are still moving forward. Better than the "If you've already applied, we're processing your application" message it used to have. :)

Yay!

There's been a little bit of good news on the Apple Developer Program front. The program is what Apple uses to identify iPhone developers and how those developers distribute applications to testers and customers. It costs a little bit of scratch ($99 for standard developers) to enroll, but it's the price of admission for developing for the iPhone. Yes, the Android is cheaper (i.e., free last I checked), but it still has a while before it catches up with the iPhone in distribution.
Anyway, I signed up originally for iPhone development through my wife's Apple account (since she had an account from when I bought her an iPod a couple of years ago) instead of creating a new one under my email address. It just seemed pointless to create another one. Unfortunately, what happened was that any communications from Apple came to her email. Since she wasn't looking for them as something to keep, they ended up in the digital circular file. :(
That changed, though, when I decided yesterday to just create my own. I submitted for the Apple Developer Program again under my account. Amazingly, today I got a request for some information from Apple about my company. They wanted some kind of documentation stating that Otto Von is a real company. Since it is, that was easy and I faxed back the proof.
It's a small victory, but it's something. I had been concerned that my application had been lost in the shuffle or that Apple was just really 4 weeks behind on approvals. I'm glad that I was mistaken and things were quick to get moving. Again, yay!