– DRAFT –
Converting Tools for MiniApp

xfq: I'm the team contact of the MiniApps WG, Fuqiao Xue

xfq: I'll do some basic introduction first, and then hand over the host to Zitao

xfq: please join IRC channel #miniapptools for our speakers' queue

xfq: We will provide automated live captioning in English and simultaneous interpretation between Chinese and English for this meeting

xfq: You can turn on the captioning and interpretation feature in Zoom

xfq: When you speak, please start by indicating what language you will speak

[Debug audio issues]

Qing_An: Brief intro to MiniApps
… introduce existing status to this tool
… Zitao and zhoudan will provide some demo
… @@

Brief intro of MiniApps@W3C

slides

[Qing_An shares his screen]

Qing_An: I'll give a brief overview of MiniApps
… I'm Qing An from Alibaba Group, co-chair of the MiniApp CG
… in the white paper we described what is MiniApp
… MiniApp is a new format of mobile app
… running on top of native app or OS
… leveraging both Web technologies and native capabilities
… there are many MiniApp vendors
… working together in W3C to try to define standard for MiniApps
… for users, developers, and vendors

[Show three use cases: Buy train tickets, rent a bicycle, call a cab]

Qing_An: MiniApps are web-like
… small package
… support streaming
… support native api with permission
… have high-level components

[Slide: launching a MiniApp]

[Show MiniApp specs in development]

Qing_An: lifecycle, manifest, packaging, addressing, and widget in the WG
… UI components and IoT in the CG

Demo

slides

Zitao_Wang: I'm Zitao Wang, co-chairing the MiniApps WG
… after a year of development, the MiniApp standard is still different from the impls
… we decided to make some demo to show how to convert standard MiniApp to vendor-specific implementations

[Zitao introduces HarmonyOS JavaScript Feature Ability (FA)]

Zitao_Wang: HarmonyOS JavaScript Feature Ability can be considered a kind of MiniApp
… relies on HarmonyOS instead of super apps

https://w3c.github.io/miniapp/white-paper/#dfn-super-app

Zitao_Wang: @@
… in HarmonyOS JS FA there's a config file similar to the standardized MiniApp manifest
… similar but different

https://w3c.github.io/miniapp-manifest/

[Slide: gaps and design methods]

[Zitao introduces the difference between the two formats]

[Demo time]

Zitao_Wang: I made some videos

[Debugging demo issues]

Zitao_Wang: unfortunately the demo is not working, we will share the slides and videos of the demos with you after the meeting

zhoudan: Baidu has also implemented a MiniApp converter

[Show Baidu MiniApp IDE]

[Simulator, editor, and debug tool]

[Show Baidu MiniApp project structure]

zhoudan: let's take a look at the Baidu MiniApp app.json
… and the standard manifest.json
… they have some common members

zhoudan: here's a demo of the manifest converter

[Show demo]

zhoudan: using this tool, developers can use the standardized manifest as early as possible

Zitao_Wang: I'll share the slides and videos publicly
… hope we can have a toolchain for converting standard MiniApps to vendor-specific ones

xiaoqian: you mentioned after the breakout session you'll share the video and slides
… do you plan to open-source the tool?

Zitao_Wang: yes
… But time is limited, we haven't made our code public yet. We will promote the open source of the code.

[Zitao shows the demo again]

Zitao_Wang: https://github.com/w3c/miniapp/issues/170
… if you have new ideas, please comment on ^

xfq: We also have working group and community group meetings, as well as joint meetings with other groups during TPAC.