Tutorials, Guides & Scripts
These are predominantly from the official LiveCode website, but are on a single page for easier browsing.
If you know of a good LiveCode tutorial or guide (from anywhere), let us know and we will add it.
Advertisements
Language Dictionary (API)
Game Making
Mobile Development
Miscellaneous
- LiveCode User Guide
- Programming in LiveCode
- LiveCode Lite: Computer Programming Made Ridiculously Simple
- Extending the LiveCode Message Path
- LiveCode Functions
- Polling the Mouse in MetaCard and LiveCode
- Introduction to LiveCode CGIs - A Tutorial
- 52 LiveCode Tips
- Tactile Media Tutorial and Demo stacks
More Guides
Mobile
- Android Mobile Guide
- iOS Mobile Guide
- Configuring a Mobile Application
- Mobile Deployment Feature
- Mobile General Engine Features
- Mobile Specific Engine Features
Externals
Server
HTML5
Compiling the LiveCode Engine
Official Blog
LiveCode 8 Tips
- How To Add a Web Browser to Your App
- Full Access to the Clipboard
- Write a Widget in 8 Steps
- The Evolution of Dragons
- How to Build Your Terminator Brain
- How to Create a Free iOS Development Provisioning Profile
- How to Create a Great User Experience in Mobile Apps
- How to Deploy Apps to Android Devices
- How to Design an App for Android
- How to Localize LiveCode Apps
- From LiveCode to LiveMorphs
- Racing to a Temporary Fix
- Binary vs Text
- Examining Unicode, Part I – The dissection
- Examining Unicode, Part II – Digesting Text
- Hello World
- Link text rollover effect
- Combining Random Text Strings
- Repeating a text string
- Show or hide a scrollbar automatically
- Limiting the number of characters during data entry
- Shifting Selected Text to the right or left
- Accepting only digit characters during data entry
- Inserting line breaks to hard wrap text
- Inserting some text before each line in a field
- Listing all the unique words in a piece of text
- Reversing text
- Sorting a list
- Truncating text to a specific pixel width
- Text search box
- Translating a color name to an RGB numeric triplet
- Getting the dimensions of a picture file
- Setting an RGB Color Channel of an Object
- Drag drop a background color onto an object
- Scrolling Text Banner
- Editing the Clipboard
- Finding Common Lines in Two Containers
- Finding Uncommon Lines in Two Containers (Copy)
- Placing a check next to a menu item
- Placing a font list into a menu
- Text menu: populating with content
- Text menu: handling choices
- Text menu: updating check marks
- Dynamic card creation navigation menu
- Update a menu with a list of open windows
- Responding to a choice in a Window menu
- Popping up a menu after a delay timer
- Searching for an open window by title
- Speaking an alert message
- Centering a window on the screen
- Check whether the screen resolution is high enough
- Find out the current platform and system version
- Fitting a printout to the page
- Printing all the cards that contain a word
- Printing all the fields on a card
- Check whether a directory is drive or write-protected
- Converting a relative path to an absolute path
- Converting an absolute path to a relative path
- Storing a modification timestamp
- Converting between characters and numerical (ASCII) values
- Listing all the handlers in a script
- Simple Login System
- Retrieve file list from web directory
Miscellaneous
Sample Scripts
Text
Numbers
Graphics and Objects
Menus
User Interface
Printing
Applications
Miscellaneous
General Guides
Getting Started with LiveCode Development
Before you start
Basic Concepts
- Adding Objects to a Stack
- Navigating Around a Stack
- LiveCode Properties
- Scripting a Button
- Communicating with the User
- Working With Text
- Reading and Writing to File
LiveCode Objects
- Using Buttons and Default Buttons
- Using Fields
- Using Radio Buttons
- Using Option Menus
- Text in the Tab Panel
- Using Progress Bars
- Using Images
- Using Players
Building a User Interface
Building a Standalone Application
Your first LiveCode Application
The next step - Creating a 3-5-7 Game
Features, concepts and aspects of LiveCode
Articles
- File and Folders Part 1
- How do I add another card to my stack?
- Screenshot with Effects
- Skinning
- Inks/Windows
- Custom Controls
- Blind Effect
- Unicode
- Objects and Components
- Files and Folders Part 2
- Hangman
- Image Viewer
- Callbacks
- Geometry Manager
- Arrays
- Image Processing
- Controlling iTunes
- Zip Tool
How To - Step-By-Step Guides To Tasks In LiveCode
Creating User Interfaces
- Using Tab Buttons
- How to create a rollover button with icon images?
- How to apply the new graphics effects to an object?
- How to make a stack with a window shape
- How do I Send Messages During A Drag Operation?
- How to show the progress of a download?
- How do I populate a field when an option menu is changed?
- How do I scroll a card that is taller or wider than the window?
- Creating Hypertext Links in Fields?
- How do I use the same controls on multiple cards?
- Pinning Drag-and-drop to the mat: a primer
- Detecting changes in a field?
- How do I use a Progress Bar?
- How to manage and position objects when a stack is resized?
- How do I move between cards in my stack?
- Play Sounds
- How do I display a PDF in LiveCode?
- How do I Create an ANSI Font Menu?
- How to make a simple line graph?
- How to build an interactive plotter with a polygon?
- How To Create a Custom Cursor?
- How do I use Relayering?
- Story Maker
Text
- How Do I Use UTF-8 Text With Fields?
- How do I Display Tab Delimited Text in a Table Field?
- How can I search delimited data for a matching string?
- How do I use Unicode in LiveCode?
- How to count upper and lower case characters?
- Using the flagged property in a field?
- How do I style paragraphs in a field in LiveCode 5.5?
- How do I display a table in a field?
- How do I use hierarchical list support?
Working with files
- How to list the files in a folder?
- How to read in data from an XML file?
- File Input/Output
- How do I import a text file?
- How Do I Process a Binary File?
- How do I rename the headers on a text file?
- How do I export a csv file?
- How do I get the content of a URL on a web server into LiveCode?
- Uploading a file using FTP
The LiveCode Message Path
- How to call a function or command in another object?
- How to send messages to an object using the send command?
Custom Properties
- How do I save custom properties in a standalone application?
- How do I define my own properties for an object?
- Grouping custom properties in a custompropertyset
LiveCode tips
- How to communicate with other applications using sockets?
- Opening a Stack from the Server
- How do I Locate Scripts or Custom Properties in my Project?
- How to relayer grouped controls?
- Setting toolTip and toolTipDelay
- How do I get the path to common folders on my computer?
- How can I get the path to the folder a stack file resides in?
- Message box tips and tricks
- What Are The Alternatives To Using Global Variables?
- How to use date and time in LiveCode?
- How to create simple lists in LiveCode?
- How to create PDFs using LiveCode?
- How do I Create an HTML E-Mail?
- How do I Attach a File to an E-Mail?
- Dropping System Folders on Fields
- How to Quickly Edit a Palette Stack in the IDE?
- Visual Basic-to-LiveCode cheat sheet
- How to create an application that opens when you drag a file onto it?
LiveCode Arrays
- How do I display an array in a table field?
- How do I convert tab delimited data into an array?
- How do I sort an array?
- How do I add keys to or delete keys from an array?
- How do I rename a key in an array?
- How do I store an array in a text file and then retrieve it again?
- How do I Search an Array?
- How do I Display an Array in Human Readable Form?
- How do I Store an Array Variable Inside of Another Array Variable?
Using Behaviors
- How To Assign A Behavior
- How to Override a Behavior
- How To Create Field Placeholder Text Using Behaviors
LiveCode and Databases
- How do I Create and set up a Database?
- Converting a Database Cursor to a Data Grid Array
- Connecting to a MySQL database
- How to connect Database using ODBC?
- How to create and use an SQLite database?
Creating an 8-puzzle game
- How do I Create an 8-Puzzle Game?
- How do I Tell the Computer to Solve the 8-Puzzle Game?
- How do I Tell the Computer to Solve the 8-Puzzle Game Using A*?
Using Graphics
- How do I Create Animated Overlays?
- How do I add Motion to Animated Overlays?
- How to create a scrolling group using the improved graphics architecture?
- Getting SVG path data for SVG Icon extension
Using Images
- How to Create a Thumbnail Image
- Vision: How do I Threshold an Image?
- Vision: How do I Blur an Image?
- Vision: How do I Edge Detect an Image?
- How to proportionally resize an image?
- Vision: How do I Convert a Color Image to Grayscale?
- How do you embed an image in a stack so a path reference is not needed?
- Screenshot with Effects
- How do you display an image by dragging it on to a stack?
LiveCode Plugins and Externals
- How To Install 3rd Party Externals For Use in the IDE and Standalone Builder?
- How To Install a 3rd Party Plugin In the LiveCode IDE?
- How to safely attach an external to your stack?
- Linking an OSX external bundle with a .dylib library?
- How To Install a 3rd Party Plugin In the LiveCode IDE?
Using dialogs
- How do I Create a Color Picker Swatch?
- How can I restrict an answer file dialog to just applications?
- How Can I Pass Data To and Get Data From a Dialog Window?
- How do I Create a Modal Dialog?
- How to control where the answer file/folder dialog starts?
- How do I use the Project Browser?
- How do I create a scalable UI using graphics?
How To - LiveCode Server Tasks
Installing LiveCode Server
- How do I install LiveCode Server?
- How do I install LiveCode Server on OS X with Apache?
- How do I install LiveCode Server on Windows with Apache?
- How do I install LiveCode Server on Linux with Apache?
- How do I install LiveCode Server with Apache via .htaccess?
- How do I choose which LiveCode Server engine to use with On-Rev?
Using LiveCode Server
- How do I add Multiple LiveCode Files in LiveCode Server?
- How do I use stacks with LiveCode Server?
- How to display errors when using LiveCode Server?
- Sending Emails From LiveCode Server Scripts
Interacting with LiveCode Server
- How do I pass information to LiveCode Server scripts?
- How do I handle user input using LiveCode Server?
- How Do I Use AJAX with LiveCode Server?
- How to upload a file with LiveCode Server?
- How do I use Cookies on LiveCode Server?
- Accessing Web Services using LiveCode
LiveCode Server Graphics
How To - LiveCode Mobile Tasks
Getting Started with Android
- How do I Become an Android Developer on a PC?
- How do I Become an Android Developer on a Mac?
- The Basics: How do I Create Hello World on Android?
Getting Started with iOS
LiveCode Mobile Tasks
- How do I Develop Cross-Platform in LiveCode?
- How do I send an email from my mobile device?
- How do I use multi-touch to move more than one object?
- How do I use the Question and Password Dialogues in LiveCode Mobile?
- How do I Capture Images in LiveCode Mobile?
- How do I detect a shaking motion using LiveCode mobile?
- LiveCode Mobile Video How-To's - Shake?
- How do I implement a multi-touch pinch motion?
- LiveCode Mobile Video How-To's - Multi-touch
- How do I play a video in part of the screen in iOS
- Displaying Assets On Differing Screen Resolutions
- How to create and use an SQLite database?
- How do I get an image from my mobile photo library?
- Mobile Orientations
- Using local notifications
- Using custom URL schemes
- Using multi-channel audio on mobile
- How do I get the Location and use the Digital Compass?
- How do I use Ads in LiveCode?
- Creating a native scroller to scroll a field
- How do I use the Browser Control?
- How do I use Native Text Controls on Mobile
- Move a native mobile text input control so it is not covered by keyboard
- How do I use the Date Picker View on mobile?
- How do I make my app scale to fit the screen on all devices?
- How do I support different device screen densities?
iOS Tasks
- How do I build an iPhone application for iOS?
- How do I Configure the Status Bar in iOS?
- How do I make a phone call on the iPhone?
- How do I read/write to files in iOS?
- How do I Send HTML E-Mails with Attachments in iOS?
- Installing custom fonts on iOS
- How do I play sounds on an iOS device?
- How do I use the Picker View on an iPhone?
- How do I Access Maps on iOS?
- Creating a simple stock control application for the iPad
- How do I Create a Distribution Profile for iOS?
- How do I Submit an iOS App to the App Store?
- How do I set up an App for Submission to iTunes Connect?
- How do I use Push Notifications with iOS?
- How do I Develop iOS Code for Standard and Retina Devices?
Android Tasks
- Using the hardware "back" button on Android
- How do I Create an Android App for Distribution?
- How do I Create a Self-Signed Certificate for an Android App?
- How do I use Push Notifications with Android?
In App Purchasing
- How do I implement in-app purchases for Amazon Appstore?
- How do I implement in-app purchases for Apple AppStore?
- How do I implement in-app purchases for Google Play Store?
- How do I implement in-app purchases for Samsung Apps Store?
How to - LiveCode Marketplace Products
ChartMaker
- ChartMaker: Installing the download, and creating your first chart
- ChartMaker: Utility layout options
Data Grid Helper
- How Do I Register My Copy of DGH?
- How Do I Create a Menu Button in a Column?
- How Do I Create a Formatting Pattern for a Column?
- How Do I Format a Number in a Column?
- How Do I Change the Number Format of a Column by Script?
- How Do I Create a Checkbox in a Column?
- How Do I Give Color To a Non Editable Column?
- How Do I Create an iOS Modal Pickwheel in a column?
- How Do I Create an iOS Date Picker in a column?
- How Do I Create a Progress Bar in a Column?
- How Do I Change the Default Header Behavior of a DataGrid?
NativeSoft
- NativeSoft NativeGeometry Tutorial – 1
- NativeSoft NativeGeometry Tutorial - 2 - The API
- My Cross-Platform NativeGeometry Guide
The Scripter's Scrapbook
Zygodact
Creating a Video Library Application
Playing Video in a LiveCode Application
- What You Will Create in This Chapter
- Create the Window Where Your Video WIll be Displayed
- Add the Video Player to the Window
- Organizing Your Video Files
- Add the Video Files Menu
- Populating the Video Files Menu
- The Card Script In Detail
- Loading Video Files When a User Selects a Video From the Menu
- Adding Code to Setup the Application Once it is Launched
- Creating Your Executable Application for Mac and Windows
- Sharing Your Application
Iteration 2: Improving the User Interface
- Add a Background Color
- Add a Logo to the Background
- Add a Background to the Logo
- Disable Window Resizing
LiveCode Data Grid
Introduction
- What is the Data Grid?
- Can You Show Me Some Examples?
- How Do I Create My First Data Grid Table?
- How Do I Create My First Data Grid Form?
- Example: Creating a List of People
Data Grid Fundamentals
- What Is This "Data Grid Templates" Stack That Appeared in My Project?
- What is a Row Template?
- What is a Column Template?
- How Do I Populate a Data Grid With Data?
- How Do I Customize A Form's Row Template?
- How Do I Customize A Table's Columns?
Working With Data Grids (Forms & Tables)
- How Do I Determine The Selected Line?
- How Do I Get Data Associated With a Row or Column?
- How Do I Add A Row Of Data To An Existing Data Grid?
- How Do I Update Data In a Row?
- How Do I Clear Data From a Data Grid?
- How Do I Add a mouseDown Event To The Data Grid Without Breaking It?
- How Can I Store An Option Menu Value When The User Makes a Selection?
- How Do I Refresh a Data Grid After Making Changes to a Template Through Script?
- How Do I Use A Template In Multiple Data Grids?
- How Can I See What The Data Grid's Internal Array Currently Looks Like?
- How Do I Get Aggregate Values for Columns?
- How Do I Determine If the Data Grid Has Focus?
- How Do I Export Data From A Data Grid?
- How Do I Work with Checkboxes in a Data Grid?
Working With Data Grid Tables
- How Do I Change Column Alignment?
- How Do I Sort By A Column?
- How Do I Resize Columns?
- How Do I Override the Default Behavior For Rendering Data to a Cell?
- How Do I Determine If a User Clicks In The Table Header?
- How Do I Display a Contextual Menu When the User Clicks on a Column Header?
- What If I Need to Work With htmlText, rtfText or unicodeText?
- How Do I Display Line Numbers in a Table?
- How Do I Customize Column Sorting?
- How Do I Disable Column Sorting?
- How Do I Perform An Action After the User Sorts a Data Grid?
- How Do I Align Decimals in a Column?
- How Can I Colorize Individual Lines in a Table?
Working With Data Grid Forms
- How Do I Create a Form with Variable Line Heights?
- How Do I Sort Records By A Specific Key's Values?
- How Do I Create Rows That Can Expand/Contract?
- How Can I Speed Up Drawing When "fixed row height" is False?
Using The Built-In Field Editor
- How Do I Open a Table Cell For Editing?
- How Can The User Edit Field Content in a Data Grid Form?
- How Can I Edit The Text as UTF-8, UTF-16 or HTML?
- How Can I Select The Text in the Edit Field When It Opens?
- How Do I Save Changes The User Makes In An Editor Field To An External Data Source?
- How Can I Customize The Field Editor Behavior?
Building Standalones With The Data Grid
Useful Things To Know
Advanced Options
- Displaying Large Amounts of Data
- Creating A Data Grid By Hand
- How do I create a Datagrid dynamically from tab delimited data
API and Properties
Data Grid Tips & Tricks
General
- How Do I Scroll a Row To The Top of the Data Grid Form?
- How Do I Find Out Which Line The Mouse Is Over?
Databases
Tables
Converting the Stock Program
Conversion
- Original UI
- Create the Data Grid Table
- Customize Column Templates
- The End Result
- Using multi-channel audio on mobile
- Move a native mobile text input control so it is not covered by keyboard