You can use a template to easily create a simple Cordova
app that is enabled for IBM MobileFirst™ Platform Foundation.
You can use this app as a starting point to build your own.
Before you begin
- You must have Cordova development tools installed. This example
uses the Apache Cordova CLI. If you use other Cordova development
tools, some of your steps will be different. Refer to your Cordova
tool documentation for instructions.
- You must have the IBM MobileFirst Platform
Command Line Interface (CLI) installed.
For more information, see Installing the MobileFirst Platform CLI.
- You must have internet access.
- You must have node.js version 4.0.0 or later installed.
About this task
The template creates a simple mobile app that displays
the text Hello World. To create your Cordova application
with the template, you add the template when you initially create
your Cordova app with your Cordova development tools.
The template
automatically adds the following plug-ins to your app: cordova-plugin-mfp, cordova-plugin-whitelist and cordova-plugin-splashscreen.
The cordova-plugin-mfp plug-in is required for a MobileFirst Cordova
app. Most applications will need the cordova-plugin-whitelist and cordova-plugin-splashscreen plug-ins.
If your app will not need these, you can remove them after the app
is initially created.
The following steps show how to create your
app with the template by using the Apache Cordova CLI:
Procedure
Enter the following command in your command window, where AppName is
the name of the new app: cordova create AppName --template cordova-template-mfp
Results
In the
www directory of your of your app,
(
AppName/www), the
index.html file
contains a simple app that displays
Hello World.
What to do next
Add platforms, additional MobileFirst plug-ins,
and optionally, other plug-ins to your app. For more information,
see Creating a new Cordova app without the MobileFirst template. If your app does
not need the cordova-plugin-whitelist or cordova-plugin-splashscreen plug-ins,
you can remove them.
To further develop your
app with features that depend on the MobileFirst Server,
register your app with the server. For more information, see Registering Cordova applications from the MobileFirst Platform CLI.
Important: (Android
and iOS development only.) If you are developing your app for the
Android or iOS platforms, when you add the platform to your app that
contains the
cordova-plugin-mfp plug-in, an existing
file in your app is replaced by a version of the file that is provided
by MobileFirst Platform Foundation. These files are:
- Android: The file MainActivity.java is replaced.
Your original MainActivity.java file is backed
up and renamed MainActivity.original.
- iOS: File main.m is replaced. Your original main.m file
is backed up and renamed main.m.bak.
If you made any changes to the original versions of these files,
you must merge the changes that you made into the new version of the
file that is provided by
IBM MobileFirst Platform Foundation.