Elements RTL

Elements RTL (also referred to as RTL2) is a new cross-platform base library and abstraction layer that allows you to write code (in any of the four Elements languages) that can easily be shared across all four platforms (.NET, Cocoa, Java/Android, and Island).

Elements RTL provides abstractions for common low-level types such as Strings ad Collections, and tasks such as value conversions, text encoding and mathematical operations. It also includes fully native, cross-platform XML and Json document implementations, HTTP access, and more.

Elements RTL supersedes and replaces Sugar. Applications using Sugar should port over to Elements RTL easily, since many APIs are the same or similar.

Using Elements RTL

A pre-compiled version of Elements RTL is included with Elements, and can be added to your projects via the Add References dialog in Fire or Visual Studio, where the Elements library should show automatically. The New Project dialog in Fire will also give you the option to start new projects based on Elements RTL.

Simply adding the reference and adding the RemObjects.Elements.RTL namespace to your uses/import statements will make the Elements RTL classes available for you. For ease of use, we recommend adding RemObjects.Elements.RTL to the global "Default Uses" Project Setting.

Classes and Types

Currently, the following major types are supported/implemented. Unless otherwise noted, all parts of Elements RTL are available across all platforms, including Island.

Classes

Enums

Exceptions

Attributes

Aliases

Alias Type
ApplicationContext
 Object  .NET, .NET Standard, Cooper, Island-Android, Island-Ubuntu, Island-WebAssembly-wasm32, Island-Windows, Toffee
Object  Island-iOS, Island-iOS Simulator-x86_64, Island-macOS-x86_64, Island-tvOS, Island-tvOS Simulator-x86_64, Island-watchOS, Island-watchOS Simulator
ArgumentException
 System.ArgumentException  .NET, .NET Standard
IllegalArgumentException  Cooper
ArgumentException  Island
ImmutableObjectDictionary
 ImmutableDictionary<String, Object>  .NET, .NET Standard, Cooper, Island
ImmutableDictionary<String, NSObject>  Toffee
ImmutablePlatformBinary
 MemoryStream  .NET, .NET Standard
ByteArrayOutputStream  Cooper
MemoryStream  Island
NSData  Toffee
ImmutableStringDictionary
 ImmutableDictionary<String, String>
ImmutableStringDictionary2
 ImmutableDictionary<String, ImmutableDictionary<String, String>>
ImmutableStringDictionary3
 ImmutableDictionary<String, ImmutableDictionary<String, ImmutableDictionary<String, String>>>
ImmutableStringDictionary4
 ImmutableDictionary<String, ImmutableDictionary<String, ImmutableDictionary<String, ImmutableDictionary<String, String>>>>
NotImplementedException
 System.NotImplementedException  .NET, .NET Standard
NotImplementedException  Island
NotSupportedException
 System.NotSupportedException  .NET, .NET Standard
UnsupportedOperationException  Cooper
NotSupportedException  Island
ObjectDictionary
 Dictionary<String, Object>  .NET, .NET Standard, Cooper, Island
Dictionary<String, NSObject>  Toffee
PlatformBinary
 MemoryStream  .NET, .NET Standard
ByteArrayOutputStream  Cooper
MemoryStream  Island
NSMutableData  Toffee
PlatformDateTime
 DateTime  .NET, .NET Standard
Calendar  Cooper
DateTime  Island
NSDate  Toffee
PlatformDictionary<T,U>
 Dictionary<T, U>  .NET, .NET Standard
HashMap<T, U>  Cooper
Dictionary<T,U>  Island
NSMutableDictionary<T, U>  Toffee
PlatformEncoding
 Encoding  .NET, .NET Standard
Charset  Cooper
Encoding  Island
NSNumber  Toffee
PlatformEvent
 EventWaitHandle  .NET, .NET Standard
ReentrantLock  Cooper
EventWaitHandle  Island-Android, Island-iOS, Island-iOS Simulator-x86_64, Island-macOS-x86_64, Island-tvOS, Island-tvOS Simulator-x86_64, Island-Ubuntu, Island-watchOS, Island-watchOS Simulator, Island-Windows
NSCondition  Toffee
PlatformGuid
 Guid  .NET, .NET Standard
UUID  Cooper
Guid  Island
NSUUID  Toffee
PlatformImmutableDictionary<T,U>
 Dictionary<T, U>  .NET, .NET Standard
HashMap<T, U>  Cooper
Dictionary<T,U>  Island
Foundation.NSDictionary<T, U>  Toffee
PlatformImmutableList<T>
 List<T>  .NET, .NET Standard
ArrayList<T>  Cooper
List<T>  Island
NSArray<T>  Toffee
PlatformImmutableQueue<T>
 Queue<T>  .NET, .NET Standard
LinkedList<T>  Cooper
Queue<T>  Island
NSArray<T>  Toffee
PlatformImmutableStack<T>
 Stack<T>  .NET, .NET Standard, Cooper
Stack<T>  Island
NSArray  Toffee
PlatformInternalFileStream
 FileStream  .NET, .NET Standard
RandomAccessFile  Cooper
FileStream  Island-Android, Island-iOS, Island-iOS Simulator-x86_64, Island-macOS-x86_64, Island-tvOS, Island-tvOS Simulator-x86_64, Island-Ubuntu, Island-watchOS, Island-watchOS Simulator, Island-Windows
NSFileHandle  Toffee
PlatformList<T>
 List<T>  .NET, .NET Standard
ArrayList<T>  Cooper
List<T>  Island
NSMutableArray<T>  Toffee
PlatformMath
 Math  .NET, .NET Standard, Cooper
Math  Island
PlatformMemoryStream
 MemoryStream  .NET, .NET Standard
ByteArrayOutputStream  Cooper
MemoryStream  Island
NSMutableData  Toffee
PlatformMethod
 MethodInfo  .NET, .NET Standard
Method  Cooper
MethodInfo  Island
PlatformMonitor
 ManualResetEvent  .NET, .NET Standard
ReentrantLock  Cooper
Monitor  Island
NSRecursiveLock  Toffee
PlatformParameter
 ParameterInfo  .NET, .NET Standard
ArgumentInfo  Island
PlatformProcess
 Process  .NET, .NET Standard
Process  Island-macOS-x86_64, Island-Windows
NSTask  Toffee-macOS
PlatformProperty
 PropertyInfo  .NET, .NET Standard
PropertyInfo  Island
PlatformQueue<T>
 Queue<T>  .NET, .NET Standard
LinkedList<T>  Cooper
Queue<T>  Island
NSMutableArray<T>  Toffee
PlatformSeekOrigin
 SeekOrigin  .NET, .NET Standard
SeekOrigin  Island
PlatformStack<T>
 Stack<T>  .NET, .NET Standard, Cooper
Stack<T>  Island
NSMutableArray  Toffee
PlatformStream
 Stream  .NET, .NET Standard
Stream  Island
PlatformString
 String  .NET, .NET Standard, Cooper, Island
NSString  Toffee
PlatformStringBuilder
 StringBuilder  .NET, .NET Standard, Cooper
StringBuilder  Island
NSMutableString  Toffee
PlatformThread
 Thread  .NET, .NET Standard, Cooper
Thread  Island-Android, Island-iOS, Island-iOS Simulator-x86_64, Island-macOS-x86_64, Island-tvOS, Island-tvOS Simulator-x86_64, Island-Ubuntu, Island-watchOS, Island-watchOS Simulator, Island-Windows
NSThread  Toffee
PlatformTimer
 Timer  .NET, .NET Standard, Cooper
Timer  Island
NSTimer  Toffee
PlatformTimeZone
 TimeZoneInfo  .NET, .NET Standard
TimeZone  Cooper
TimeZone  Island
NSTimeZone  Toffee
PlatformType
 Type  .NET, .NET Standard
Class  Cooper, Toffee
Type  Island
RegistryHive
 Microsoft.Win32.RegistryHive  .NET
String  Island-Windows
StringDictionary
 Dictionary<String, String>
StringDictionary2
 Dictionary<String, Dictionary<String, String>>
StringDictionary3
 Dictionary<String, Dictionary<String, Dictionary<String, String>>>
StringDictionary4
 Dictionary<String, Dictionary<String, Dictionary<String, Dictionary<String, String>>>>

How Elements RTL Works

A large portion of Elements RTL is implemented using an Elements compiler feature called Mapped Types that allows platform-native classes to be accessed using a different, shared API defined by Elements RTL.

For example, RemObjects.Elements.RTL.Dictionary is the class Elements RTL provides for working with a dictionary of keys and values. The class, and its methods, can be used on .NET, Cocoa, Java and Island in exactly the same way, so code that makes use of a RemObjects.Elements.RTL.Dictionary can be compiled for all platforms. But it is not a "real" class. Instead, it is a mapping to

That means that when your code is using RemObjects.Elements.RTL.Dictionary on, say, Cocoa, the compiler will actually translate it to code that directly works with an NSMutableDictionary. The same code, compiled for Java, will seamlessly use a HashMap.

This has several benefits:

  • Rather than "reinventing the wheel", Elements RTL makes use of existing (and well-tested) classes and APIs provided by the underlying frameworks.
  • Elements RTL never boxes you in; you can always access features of the underlying framework classes, simply by casting (although of course that part of the code then becomes platform dependent).
  • Casting between Elements RTL and framework classes is toll free, so your platform-specific UI code can be written to use the regular framework classes, but can seamlessly pass those into your shared business code, which expects and works with Elements RTL classes.

Contributing

Elements RTL is open source and available on GitHub. It also ships pre-compiled and pre-installed with Elements 9.1 and later. Contributions are welcome.

The bulk part of Elements RTL is written in the Oxygene language, but you can open the Elements RTL projects in Fire and Visual Studio 2017 without requiring an Oxygene license, so even C#, Swift or Iodine developers can contribute. We accept contributions in any of the four Elements languages.

See Also