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Need to make very simple iPhone app -> dictionary list search
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macintologist
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Nov 4, 2010, 12:39 AM
 
The organization I work for wants to make a very simple iPhone app for internal uses. It's very simple. It's like a list of contacts, but even simpler.

1) A dictionary database with approx. 200 terms and their accompanying definitions. So I would need a simple database with two fields - a) term b) definition. The database would be hard coded into the app and any updates to the database would be hard coded as well to facilitate easy offline use.

2) The iPhone app would list all the terms at once, much like the iPhone Contacts app. The user could scroll and tap on the term they wanted which would slide over and reveal the definition, again like the Contacts app. A search box at the top would allow the user to begin entering the term they wanted and the list would dynamically shrink to match the letters the user entered. So if the user started typing in "com" the hypothetical words "combine" and "commune" would be the only two remaining listed. Again, the user would tap on the term they wanted and it would slide over and reveal the definition, with a back button to go back.

I have strong HTML and CSS skills. I took an intro java course a year ago in college and I'm learning Google App Engine (python and soon some javascript) in a class right now. I could probably teach myself whatever javascript I needed to learn to do this, right? I don't have any PHP or MySQL experience at all.

Should I try to take some iPhone tutorials and see if I can code this out as a native iPhone app? Or should I make this a web app and wrap it with PhoneGap? Or is this such a simple functionality that there are preexisting code templates already?

Is this something that is attainable for me to do?
     
andi*pandi
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Nov 4, 2010, 09:38 PM
 
Sure! At the very least you could make an HTML prototype. Not sure how the dictionary terms would be stored, if in a database you'd need to learn some PHP/mySQL.

Anybody else have advice who knows more about app dev?
     
ghporter
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Location: San Antonio TX USA
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Nov 5, 2010, 08:15 AM
 
For such a simple search app, the PHP/mySQL needed would be really (really, really) limited-kind of like a first try student project. An HTML prototype is a good idea, because you can test all the logic easily and quickly, and even if the specification sounds really simple, there will be certain to be a few places for logic to trip you up. This also gives you the option to go with "web app wrapped in PhoneGap" as a beta version.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
   
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