Using the offline application cache

One very useful feature of mobile devices is the ability for the web pages to work offline. For a game like the platformer we created earlier, it means that, once installed, you won't ever need a network connection again to load the game assets.

To enable offline mode, you will need to create a file called a manifest. The manifest is a list of all the files required by the game. They will be stored locally on the device during game installation on the springboard.

The format of this manifest is as follows:

CACHE MANIFEST
 
CACHE:
tilesheet.png
level.json
gameFramework.js
rpg.js
jquery.js

NETWORK:
*

The CACHE section lists all the files to be stored locally. The NETWORK section lists all the external resources that are accessible when the application is online. If you don't want to restrict the network access you may simply write * as in the preceding example.

To link the manifest to your game, you will use the following attribute for your html tag:

<html...