iOS How much would I expect to pay for a menu template?

Dambuster43 said:

I am on the Central Coast, I create ebooks using Apples iBooks Author.
I have made dozens of book templates...but I am totally unable to understand X Code. How much would I expect to pay for a menu template choose such as The iBA one. .... and code it come as a project I could add ghe templates to to create a series?

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You should explain yourself more thoroughly. I have no idea what "The IBA one" is, or what you mean by a menu template.

Duncan C said:

You should explain yourself more thoroughly. I have no idea what "The IBA one" is, or what you mean by a menu template.

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I believe IBA stands for iBooks Author, but I'm not really certain.

Dambuster43 said:

How much would I expect to pay for a menu template?

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$1 less than any competing offers, all the way down to free, so ask around.

Otherwise, the maximum amount that the salesperson thinks they can empty from your pockets. Really big money if you are a big company used to only writing big contracts with "qualified" vendors.

Dambuster43 said:

Sorry, I assumed the mention iBooks Author and eBooks indicated what I am looking for.

Applications such as Pages, Keynote, Numbers..when open usually offer a template chooser.
iBooks Author also on a cold start up, opens template chooser.

There are free iBooks Author template apps in the app store to check out if any body is interested.

A similar template chooser is what I am looking for being to stupid to master X Code.

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I can't see a template being overly useful in an IDE (read: a program for programming other programs, if you don't know the term IDE.)

Also, I would say describing yourself as "stupid" is the wrong thing to do. Learning to program will take anywhere between a few weeks and a few years depending on how complicated the project you want to make is, but anything that a template could help with is probably simple enough that you could learn in a few weeks.

Dambuster43 said:

...but I am totally unable to understand X Code. How much would I expect to pay for a menu template choose such as The iBA one. .... and code it come as a project I could add ghe templates to to create a series?

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Dambuster43, first I think you should describe to us what it is you're trying to do, in terms of an app, and why you think Xcode will help with it. What is your understanding of Xcode's capabilities? Also, tell us more about your background in programming (if any).

Xcode does come with project templates (which for iOS apps include Master-Detail Application, OpenGL Game, Page-Based Applications, etc.), which start you with a (very) basic framework* for your app to be built upon.

* Not actual device frameworks (such UIKit, MapKit, iAd), but source code and XIBs from which to customize.

Dambuster43 said:

Post No 5 basically explains what i was thinking....
I have no knowledge of writing any code. i assumed ...after checking out YouTube demos... that most if not all apps developers, use X Code.

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Yes, most developers use Xcode.

So you want to add a template chooser function to Apple's iBooks Author program?

iBooks Author is a closed Apple product, and it would be difficult or impossible to extend it. Or are you asking about an alternative iBooks authoring application that also allowed you to start from iBook templates and fill in content?

I know absolutely nothing about iBooks format or iBooks Author. to get a really meaningful answer you will need somebody who has built an iBook manually (not using iBooks Author.) That is going to be rare, since iBooks Author is a full featured commercial application that does all the hard work for you.

If ALL it did was open pre-existing templates and fill them with content in a fixed format, it might be reasonably straightforward, but then where would these templates come from? And how would you create the content that gets merged into the templates?

Duncan C said:

I know absolutely nothing about iBooks format or iBooks Author. to get a really meaningful answer you will need somebody who has built an iBook manually (not using iBooks Author.) That is going to be rare, since iBooks Author is a full featured commercial application that does all the hard work for you.

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The file format isn't a bundle or XML, so I can't make heads or tails of it. It's just a binary file. I don't think it's feasible to make one without a program that was made with creating them in mind.

Dambuster43 said:

I am on the Central Coast, I create ebooks using Apples iBooks Author.
I have made dozens of book templates...but I am totally unable to understand X Code. How much would I expect to pay for a menu template choose such as The iBA one. .... and code it come as a project I could add ghe templates to to create a series?

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Xcode is not the tool you need.

ibook author allows you to modify template and to save the modified template. I think this is what you war to do.

Dambuster43 said:

Post No 5 basically explains what i was thinking....

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I'm still not sure what you're asking. Are you trying to build an app? If so, you will probably want to use Xcode (although there are alternatives). And Xcode comes with a number of project templates. When you "cold start" Xcode you are given the option to "Create a new Xcode project". From there you can choose from a number of project templates. (See the screenshots). Is this what you're wondering about?

dejo said:

I'm still not sure what you're asking. Are you trying to build an app? If so, you will probably want to use Xcode (although there are alternatives). And Xcode comes with a number of project templates. When you "cold start" Xcode you are given the option to "Create a new Xcode project". From there you can choose from a number of project templates. (See the screenshots). Is this what you're wondering about?

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As far as I can tell, the OP is talking about iBook templates, not program templates.

Kind of like word processing or presentation document templates.

Duncan C said:

As far as I can tell, the OP is talking about iBook templates, not program templates.

Kind of like word processing or presentation document templates.

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Then why do they keep mentioning Xcode?

Dambuster43 said:

What thought of was making that template chooser...into which I can input thumbs of the book covers and when clicked...open iBooks Author and the selected template.

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Ah, sounds like you want an OS X app and not an iOS one. You should ask your question in the Mac Programming forum and not this one. You could also request this thread be moved to that forum and the moderation team can take care of that for you.