Simpler
check out new sample
As Roop mentioned in the intro, I work with him as a developer outreach specialist. When I joined this team a few months ago, I faced a daunting challenge. Not only did I need to learn all I could about the iModel.js ecosystem, but I was also expected to help create sample apps for other newbies.
After I finished off a checklist of recommended learning materials, I dove into building and studying the Simple Viewer App.
What I quickly discovered is that it wasn’t simple enough for me. I made the mistake of mentioning this to my team and before I knew it, my job was to make it simpler.
I decided to strip out everything that wasn’t absolutely necessary to view an iModel. I am calling this new version the Basic Viewport App (although I did consider Simpler Viewer App).
I don’t know about you, but I find it deeply satisfying to eliminate all the clutter that accumulates in my garage — something about clean surfaces. Similarly, I really enjoyed deleting all the source files and functions that were not needed. I also reworked some of the code to make it easier to understand.
Instead of showcasing support for electron, web and mobile, it focuses just on web support. And instead of featuring a viewport, tree, table, property pane, unified selection and logging, it is limited to just the viewport and a few navigation tools.
While it’s still not ‘simple’, it is a whole lot less confusing so I hope it will be easier for other newbies to start with. Are you ready to take a look?
Let’s do it!
Since we have recently consolidated all of our sample apps into a single GitHub repo, you will be pulling the Basic Viewport App along with the other samples. Just navigate to the imodeljs-samples page, click on the green button, and choose Download ZIP. After you extract the files, open a console window and set your current directory to the new folder. Then follow the directions in Development Setup.
If there is any way I can make it even simpler for you, please leave a comment below!
Looking forward, we plan to use this app as the basis for other focused samples. The ultimate goal is to populate an open-source library of useful sample apps so that any developer will be able to submit, study and/or use them in their projects. More details to follow soon.
Happy coding!
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