Hi,
Im not a programmer but there is some software I would like to port to Symbian to run on my 9500. Could someone tell me if this is a hard thing to do ? I understand the concepts but as I say Im no programmer.
Thanks
Porting software to symbian
If you're not a programmer, you have to become one to port an app from one operating system/platform to another (you also need to have the application source code to do it; the executables for one device are not enough).
Search http://www.symbian.com/developer and http://forum.nokia.com for various porting guides.
Thanks your reply,
Yes the software I want to port is Linux software and has all the source code available. What Im really wanting to know is is it a big job for a novice to do or could I work it out with a little help.
Thanks
Craig
Since Symbian OS is not = Linux and has some, but not complete support for C/C++ APIs you might find on Linux, the porting effort will vary depending on how the app is written.
If it requires a lot of Linux/UNIX-like system calls, those need to be converted.
If it calls external programs/commands to do things, those need to be converted (rewritten).
If it has hardcoded paths and other such things, those need to be changed.
C++ exception handling needs to be changed (not necessary for Symbian version 9 devices, but the 9500 is based on Symbian OS 7.0s). In other words, the most important thing to learn is Symbian's exception handling (so called, Leaves), and also learning about Symbian data types and Descriptors.
A multithreading app probably behaves best if converted to use Symbian's Active Objects.
Without taking a look at the software it is hard to be more specific, but probably not an easy task for a beginner (but most likely a challenging learning experience, if you decide to try). 😉
As I mentioned, search for the various porting guides/papers.