Dependencies

It should be as easy to get started with Calatrava as possible. However, there are still a small number of dependencies that need to be installed beforehand.

Note: Currently, Calatrava only supports development on Macs. this will probably always be the case for iOS apps, but there are plans to at least support Linux for Android and Mobile Web. Windows is a little further off. Pull requests welcomed.

1. rvm. Calatrava projects are configured to use rvm by default. You could use Calatrava without it, but you will then need to make sure you have Ruby 1.9.3 installed however you prefer.

2. bundler. Install in either your rvm global gemset, or wherever else makes sense for your setup.

3. Xcode. You'll have to get this from the Mac App Store. Once installed, make sure you download and install the command line tools, and make sure you run xcode-select. Calatrava doesn't actually directly use Xcode except when building iOS apps, so you can use it on a non-Mac as long as you don't run the iOS build targets.

4. Android SDK. I recommend installing using homebrew if you're on a Mac. But however you get hold of it, the android command is expected to be on the path.

5. Node.js. Only used to run tests, not part of any production code. Again, if you're on a Mac I recommend installing using homebrew.

Getting Started

Once you have the dependenices installed, there are just six simple steps to creating and building your first Calatrava cross-platform mobile app.

1. Install the Calatrava gem: gem install calatrava

2. Create your Calatrava project: calatrava create <project-name>

3. cd <project-name>. If you're using rvm you will be prompted to trust a new .rvmrc.

4. bundle install

5. rake bootstrap

6. To build and run the Mobile Web app: rake web:apache:start

   Then browse to http://localhost:8888 in your favourite browser.

7. To build and install the Android app: rake droid:deploy

   You will need to have an Android emulator running, or a device connected.

8. To build and run the iOS app open the Xcode workspace in the ios directory, and then build and run the target named after your project.

Working with Calatrava while it's under Development

1. Clone this repo.

2. cd into the repo.

3. Run bin/calatrava create <project-name> --dev

The --dev switch will create a new project that refers to the calatrava gem as a path on disk. This is much more convenient if you're experimenting with Calatrava, or working on it.