Design
The application revolves around two main concepts: browsing links and commenting on them. All the views in the application are based on the LCDUI Form component. This means that all items contained in the views are components that are vertically stacked on top of each other. This also makes all the views scrollable, should the content not fit in the height of the viewport.
Links
The Links view is displayed when the application is started. The title of the view reflects the currently selected category. By default a mash-up of all popular content is shown – this is a special "front page" category without an actual name. Selecting the "Category" option in the middle softkey (or in the Options menu in full touch devices) will open the Category selection view.
The view shows a list of the most popular links (by default 15) in Reddit. A number of details are presented for each link item: a link title, its category, HTTP domain (in case of an external link), and a score generated by the users' votes. Thumbnail images are loaded when available. Tapping on an item will take the user to the Comments view.
If a category other than the front page is selected, the right softkey will go back to the front page. Otherwise it will exit the application.
Comments
The Comments view shows comments that users have written in response to a Link item.
The view contains:
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A Login status item.
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The Login status item shows if the user has logged in or not, and provides quick access to the Login view.
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The Link item from which this view was opened.
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Tapping it will prompt the user to open the link with the device web browser.
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Vote down/vote up buttons.
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When logged in, tapping will directly vote on an item. If not, a notification dialog is shown.
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A metadata item showing the author, creation date, and number of comments.
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A list of comments.
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By default, around 40 comments will be shown in a hierarchical tree-like view. When a comment is selected, the Comment Details view is shown. If there are more comments, the comment tree will include "Load more replies" items. Clicking on these items will fetch more comments and update the comment tree on the fly.
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A top-level comment (reply to the Link itself) can be created by selecting 'Comment' from the middle softkey (or from the Options menu in full touch devices).
Category selection
The Category selection view shows a predefined list of categories ("subreddits"). By selecting an item on the list, the Links view will be shown again with links loaded for the selected category.
Comment details
The Comment Details view is used for voting on an item (Link or Comment) and commenting on it. It shows a summary of the item that the user has previously selected, and the same voting controls as in the Comments view. By selecting Reply on the middle softkey (or Options menu), a full-screen text editor will be shown with the options to Send or Cancel the comment.
Login
The Login view is a simple form with text input fields for Username and Password. The middle softkey (or the button in full touch devices) will Submit the login.
About
The About view shows information about the application.
Implementation
For information about implementing the MIDlet , see section Implementation.