@necrozyablo,

In cSceneGame.lua add this:

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cAssetLoader = require( "cAssetLoader" )
 
    print( "cAssetLoader.DataChunk[1].file = ", cAssetLoader.DataChunk[1].file )
    print( "cAssetLoader.DataChunk[1].ptr = ", cAssetLoader.DataChunk[1].ptr )

This gives you direct access to the "ptr" value which is the display object, or sound object for that data element.

@javier,

Yes, you can use this to preload movieclips too.

I have posted version 1.2 of the module here:

http://www.homebrewsoftware.com/Download/CoronaSDK/HomebrewLoadingBar_v1_2.zip

This version also shows how to actually use the data that gets loaded in your scene and includes examples of using images, sounds, and movieclips.

I also changed the code to set "isVisible" to false for images that are preloaded. When you want to display any of those images just make sure to set "isVisible" to true.

@Fixdit,

Now with SpriteGrabber support:

http://www.homebrewsoftware.com/Download/CoronaSDK/HomebrewLoadingBar_v1_21.zip

I'd still like SpriteGrabber to add an optional directory parameter so we can organize our image files, but at least you now have a version that works with the current version of SpriteGrabber.

Ken

@necrozyablo,

I figured out the issue. Not sure yet how to best resolve it.

Basically, what is happening is that director is removing the logoBackground from the group when you switch to a different scene. Ansca has this to say about that:

Remarks:

When an object is removed, the rendering-related resources of the removed object are deleted immediately. What remains of object is simply a plain Lua table with all non-display object properties (the metatable is set to nil and all properties relating to display object are removed). Thus, if there are still references to object in Lua, they will simply be references to a normal Lua table.

This means that you really cannot use the cAssetLoader for display objects if they are going to be added to a display group.

I have a couple of ideas that may work around this, but generally you wouldn't use the loaded for images, just sounds, sprite sheets and movieclips.

If any of my ideas pan out I will post a new version to deal with that issue.

Otherwise, another "solution" is to use the cAssetLoader with a separate set of data for your scene, if you have a lot of items to load in that scene. To facilitate this I can make the cAssetLoader module take an optional parameter in the LoadInit() call that would be a table of your assets; similar to the one used in cAssetLoader.lua.

One last point. The original purpose of this example was not to create a module to load all of your game assets. It was really intended to show people how to update a loading bar during asset loading; hence the name of the topic.

@Fixdit,

You can still use this module as-is for sound, sprite sheets, SpriteGrabber, and mediaclips.

Until (and IF) I have a work-around for images, you can't use it for them "as-is". A minor rework would let you use it for any asset type, but you'd have to reload images when re-entering a director scene.

Ken

@javier,

You can create your data list any way you want, then use the cAssetLoader to load those assets.

I explicitly set each entry in my DataChunk table, but you could dynamically add those entries and it would still work fine.

@necrozyablo,

I've posted version 1.31 that addresses these issues.

http://www.homebrewsoftware.com/Download/CoronaSDK/HomebrewLoadingBar_v1_31.zip

The problem with the movieclip was that it was loaded with the global assets. There isn't any way to take a global image, or movieclip and use it on a per scene basis because when the scene is exited or destroyed it would remove the image data, so you'd no longer have it available to use again.

It would be very handy if Ansca could add a clone() or duplicate() function for display objects. This would allow the asset loader to return a duplicate image so when that was cleaned up the original data would still be there. Sadly that isn't in the list of features Ansca is working on so I doubt we will have a solution for this anytime soon.

Ken

@javierdamontereyes,

Try this:

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imageTable1 = {}
for i=1,3 do
    imageTable1[i] = string.format( "Images/cube%d.png", i )
end
imageTable2 = {}
for i=1,3 do
    imageTable2[i] = string.format( "Images/box%d.png", i )
end
 
MovieClipData =
{
   imageTable1,
   imageTable2
}

The main different is that there should NOT be a "/" in front of the Image folder.

BTW, there aren't any box images, I just added that to the above sample so you can get a sense of how to do this for multiple movie clips.

@necrozyablo,

I'm not sure I follow you. But if you want to modify director to support that it seems okay. It's beyond the scope of what this sample was for, but since you have the source to director.lua you can modify it anyway you want.