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The Journey in Creating a MyAnimeList Client

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Exhausting work, right?
Exhausting work, right?

MyAnimeList clients are at their infancy. Before the API came out, MAL Updater was your only choice and it only worked on Windows. The problem is that not everyone used Windows and used different OSes. MyAnimeList is a staple for most anime viewers and bloggers out there who use it to keep track what they are watching.

If you recall a few months ago, I have complained there was a lack of a MyAnimeList Client for Mac OS X. I haven’t checked hard enough and there was a program called iMAL that allows you to update MAL… The only problem is the program is very unstable and every time I tried to use it, it crashes on me… and I even recompile it and it’s even more unstable. Another alternative is AniChou, which is open sourced. The only problem there is the interface looks like crap (except in Liunx) and it was difficult to install since I have to install additional packages to make it work on Mac OS X. With that, MAL Updater has way too much features, the interface is cluttered and it’s closed sourced, which isn’t good. However, there was light at the end of the tunnel. Unofficial MAL API made this possible since the APIs are alot easier to use than the official API and they are planning to add Manga support right after they made some fixes to some search bugs…

After I complained about not being a really good MyAnimeList client for Mac OS X and discovering a easier API to use, I went to work and created this. I used RealBasic 2009 to create this client and wanted to make as close to a Mac experience as possible without having to learn Objective-C and Cocoa (and I don’t want to spend time trying to fix memory leaks). I was able to at least get the most basic features to work after three days of programming (you can check out some of the early screenshots I made of the program in early development). It took that long since RealBasic was a little different from Visual Basic .net and I haven’t worked on that stuff ever since I switched to a Mac in late 2006. Just within a week, I added status updating with 2.x and you could add new titles to the list, update them or even delete them for the list.

However, by the time I have used melative for my live micro-blogging when I go and watch some episodes of Anime… so guess what, I have decided to add melative support to MAL Client OS X since media is all about experience. MAL lacks the ability to express what you want to say about a episode you are watching. This reduces the need to update both melative and MAL separately, when you can do it the same time. If you have nothing to say when you go update, it will just sync the information you updated on MAL to your melative library.

The reason I didn’t add any additional features like auto-sorting of media files and skinning support since it’s unnecessary. Most people would use AnimeSuki, IRC, or even licensed retail discs anyways, so I don’t see the point of MAL Client OS X do the work since you have it done already. Skinning support is a niche feature, especially on Mac OS X and Linux. Rarely, you will see any skinned programs on those platforms and it’s too Windows-like and make things more complicated. MAL Client OS X is all about simplicity and not all about features. Having a lot of features in the world don’t make your program any better if the implementation sucks and not easy to use. This is the reason I created MAL Lite, a simple, lightweight, minimalist client for Windows and Linux as an alternative. Along with it, I made a GUI for MAL Updater OS X scripts so it will be a lot friendlier and people can scrobble their anime while they are watching it.

There is a reason I used RealBasic over Adobe AIR. For one, RealBasic can make native apps and uses less RAM as a result. Adobe Air, on the other hand is notorious for using a lot of RAM and is not native. Also, I can access the OS features with RealBasic and do a lot more than I could in AIR…

The future… Once manga support gets added, I will start working on adding it to the program. Hopefully, the program will hit the final stages with version 1.0, and by then, RealBasic 2010 will be out with Cocoa support… 

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MAL Client OS X – 0.2 Released

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I have been working on this MAL client for Mac OS X with my free time after college and I was able to add basic update features and also along with it, the ability to add and delete titles from your list. Note that the buttons for some reason disable itself after adding/deleting series… I’m currently looking into that and there will be a fix in a bugfix release.

How does this work?

At this very moment, you need to double click on a title on your list to access the add/delete/update functions. I’m planning to add a feature that you don’t have to load the information without having to do this in 0.3 of MAL Client
Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu - Anime Information
This is what it will look like if the title is on your list.

You will see three new options, Add, Update and Delete. Add function is only available when a title is not on your list. Update and delete features are available when the title is on your list. In addition to that, your status will appear under the Anime information.

If you decide you want to update your status, you can press the Update Information on the toolbar. This will popup
0.2-updatestatus

From there, you can update your status, watched episodes and rating of the title. Press Update and the information will be updated.

If you decide you don’t want a title on your list, you can remove it. Just press the “Remove Series” button and you will see this prompt.
delete
After confirming, it will notify you that the series you decide to remove is removed from your list.

I released this build so people can test and give their feedback on the new features. I know it’s buggy, but I will be ironing out the bugs soon and a bugfix release build will be released hopefully this weekend.

Anyways, Here is the release notes on MAL Client OS X 0.2

Version 0.2

– Added Add/Update/Delete Series function. Now you can update your status using this program
– Login screen dialog now changed to modal, Progress shown while trying to log in
– Search now shows the correct search count
– Rearranged to Anime Information Window

Known Issues

– “Your List” may not refresh with the updated information after adding/updating/removing a series. This is fixed already in the last minute bugfix build. Redownload to get fix.
– Pictures in Anime Information may not load properly
– Performing a Sparkle update under Snow Leopard causes the program to crash (remember not to enable automatic updates and perform them manually.)
– Buttons do not enable after a Add or Remove function have been done. – Fixed in a last-minute bugfix… Redownload to get fix

If you have already download 0.2, please redownload it so you will be able to use Sparkle Updates. Forgot to add the DSA Signature required for Sparkle to update.
Download MAL Client OS X 0.2 (6.17 MB, Universal Binary)

Update: MAL Client OS X is now on Google Code 

MAL Client OS X – First Native Client for MyAnimeList on Mac OS X Released

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Success tastes sweet!
Success tastes sweet!

After I complained about not being a graphical client for MyAnimeList on Mac OS X, I took the time to get my hands dirty and make one myself… Of course my Visual Basic programing skills are a bit rusty for not programing for 3-4 years since I switched to a Mac, but I sorta got the grasp of it.

MAL Client OS X at this state can only load your Anime List, search titles (Anime only since the API does not work with Manga yet.) and lookup information from your list and search results. Having these basic features took nearly 3 days to complete since I need to code the login procedure with the API, obtaining the data from the API and popularize the listboxes for Search and Your List and get the program to read the Anime Information from the XML and obtain the title picture. Since most of the basic features are put in place already, it won’t take me as long to add the updating features (meaning edit a series status or add a new series) and separate “your list” to watching, completed, on hold, dropped, and plan sections instead of having it in one list box.

Remember, MAL Client OS X is open source and licensed under the GNU Public License v3… all you need is the RealBasic IDE, which costs money ($69 Academic Personal Version is the bare minimum to open the project) … but if you have it already, feel free to make improvements. The only problem that there is no SVN at the moment, but that will change later.

If you want to test the first version out, download a copy (Size: 5.9 MB). This will work on Mac OS X 10.3 or higher (I haven’t tested 10.3, but 10.4 or higher to be safe.).

Update: I fixed the search problem when the results don’t clear out after a new search is done. Also, this fix also adds the ability to refresh your list from the menu and the shortcut key, cmd+R. 

Running Visual Novels on a Mac?

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It's so cold!

Got a copy of a visual novel and you got a Mac? The problem with many visual novel or the so called popular Bishoujo/Otome games is that they only work on Windows, so you are mostly out of luck if you want to play games like Kanon, Air, Higurashi, Clannad, Da Capo, etc since they only work on Windows. You aren’t out of luck since there is a way to install them and play on a Mac. The following will be discussed is Crossover Office, VMWare Fusion/Parallels/Virtual PC 7 (for PowerPC users) and Bootcamp.

[Read more…] about Running Visual Novels on a Mac?