Android Tutorial

Larry Walters OOSE Fall 2011

References
This tutorial is a brief overview of some major conceptsAndroid is much richer and more complex Developers Guide
http://developer.android.com/guide/index.html

API Reference
http://developer.android.com/reference/packages.html

Tools
Phone Eclipse ( http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/ )
Android Plugin (ADT)

Android SDK ( http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html )

Install everything except Additional SDK Platforms, unless you want to

Windows Users: may need to install Motorola Driver directly ( http://www.motorola.com/Support/USEN/Support-Homepage/Software_and_Drivers/USB-and-PCCharging-Drivers )

Android SDK
Once installed open the SDK Manager Install the desired packages Create an Android Virtual Device (AVD)

SDK Manager

AVD

ADT Plugin (1)

In Eclipse, go to Help -> Install New Software Click Add in top right Enter:
Name: ADT Plugin Location: https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/

Click OK, then select Developer Tools, click Next Click Next and then Finish Afterwards, restart Eclipse Specify SDK location (next 3 slides)
Must do this every time start a new project in a new location (at least in Windows)

ADT Plugin (2)

ADT Plugin (3)

ADT Plugin (4)

Creating a Project (1)

Creating a Project (2)

Need the items circled Then click Finish

Project Components
src your source code gen auto-generated code (usually just R.java) Included libraries Resources
Drawables (like .png images) Layouts Values (like strings)

Manifest file

XML
Used to define some of the resources
Layouts (UI) Strings

Manifest file Shouldnt usually have to edit it directly, Eclipse can do that for you Preferred way of creating UIs
Separates the description of the layout from any actual code that controls it Can easily take a UI from one platform to another

R Class
Auto-generated: you shouldnt edit it Contains IDs of the project resources Enforces good software engineering Use findViewById and Resources object to get access to the resources
Ex. Button b = (Button)findViewById(R.id.button1) Ex. getResources().getString(R.string.hello));

Layouts (1)
Eclipse has a great UI creator
Generates the XML for you

Composed of View objects Can be specified for portrait and landscape mode
Use same file name, so can make completely different UIs for the orientations without modifying any code

Layouts (2)

Layouts (3)
Click Create to make layout modifications When in portrait mode can select Portrait to make a res sub folder for portrait layouts
Likewise for Landscape layouts while in landscape mode Will create folders titled layout-port and layout-land

Note: these port and land folders are examples of alternate layouts, see here for more info
http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/resources/providing-resources.html

Avoid errors by making sure components have the same id in both orientations, and that youve tested each orientation thoroughly

Layouts (4)

Strings
In res/values
strings.xml

Application wide available strings Promotes good software engineering UI components made in the UI editor should have text defined in strings.xml Strings are just one kind of Value there are many others

Manifest File (1)

Contains characteristics about your application When have more than one Activity in app, NEED to specify it in manifest file
Go to graphical view of the manifest file Add an Activity in the bottom right Browse for the name of the activity

Need to specify Services and other components too Also important to define permissions and external libraries, like Google Maps API

Manifest File (2) Adding an Activity

Android Programming Components

Activity
http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/fundamentals/activities.html

Service
http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/fundamentals/services.html

Content Providers Broadcast Receivers Android in a nutshell:

http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/fundamentals.html

Activities (1)
The basis of android applications A single Activity defines a single viewable screen
the actions, not the layout

Can have multiple per application Each is a separate entity They have a structured life cycle
Different events in their life happen either via the user touching buttons or programmatically

Activities (2)

Services (1)
Run in the background Can continue even if Activity that started it dies Should be used if something needs to be done while the user is not interacting with application
Otherwise, a thread is probably more applicable

Should create a new thread in the service to do work in, since the service runs in the main thread

Can be bound to an application In which case will terminate when all applications bound to it unbind Allows multiple applications to communicate with it via a common interface Needs to be declared in manifest file Like Activities, has a structured life cycle

Services (2)

Running in Eclipse (1)

Similar to launching a regular Java app, use the launch configurations Specify an Android Application and create a new one Specify activity to be run Can select a manual option, so each time program is run, you are asked whether you want to use the actual phone or the emulator
Otherwise, it should be smart and use whichever one is available

Running in Eclipse (2)

Running in Eclipse (3)

Running in Eclipse (4)

USB Debugging
Should be enabled on phone to use developer features In the main apps screen select Settings -> Applications -> Development -> USB debugging (it needs to be checked)

Android Debug Bridge

Used for a wide variety of developer tasks
Read from the log file Show what android devices are available Install android applications (.apk files)

In the platform-tools directory of the main android sdk directory

Recommend putting this directory and the tools directory on the system path

adb.exe

Debugging
Instead of using traditional System.out.println, use the Log class Imported with android.util.Log Multiple types of output (debug, warning, error, ) Log.d(<tag>,<string>) Can be read using logcat. Print out the whole log, which auto-updates
adb logcat

Erase log
adb logcat c

Filter output via tags

adb logcat <tag>:<msg type> *:S can have multiple <tag>:<msg type> filters <msg type> corresponds to debug, warning, error, etc. If use Log.d(), then <msg type> = D

Reference
http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/debugging/debugging-log.html

Screen Shots
Some say you need to root the phone that is not true One option: Android Screen Capture
http://www.mightypocket.com/2010/08/androidscreenshots-screen-capture-screen-cast/ Its slow, but fine for screenshots of applications whose screens arent changing fast Read their installation help, following the extra steps if need be (I had to copy adb.exe and some dll files, as they explain)

Maps Example (1)

Using Google Maps in your app Setup project to use Google API version Edit Manifest file To indicate the app will use maps and the internet Get a maps API key Note: Google Maps API can display a map and draw overlays, but is not the full Google Maps experience you enjoy on the web For example, there does not seem to be inherent support for drawing routes between points (if you find it let me know)however, you can draw lines between points and almost any type of overlay, but thats different than street routes The directions API is a web service, which is different, among several other Google web services Read the Google API terms of use

Maps Example (2)

Maps Example (3) Manifest (1)

Open Manifest file Add map library tag
Add the Uses Library com.google.android.maps

Indicate the app will access the internet

Add the Permission android.permission.lNTERNET

End goal is to add the following two lines to XML file, under the <manifest> and <application tags>, respectively
Under the <manifest> tag
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET"></uses-permission>

Under the <application> tag

<uses-library android:name="com.google.android.maps"></uses-library>

Following is GUI way to add them

Maps Example (4) Manifest (2)

Maps Example (5) Manifest (3)

Select Add under Uses Library (last slide) Then select Uses Library at this prompt Set name as: com.google.android.maps (next slide) and save

Maps Example (6) Manifest (4)

Maps Example (7) Manifest (5)

Maps Example (8) Manifest (6)

Select Permissions and then Add (last slide) Select Uses Permissions at this prompt Set name to: android.permission.INTERNET and save (next slide)

Maps Example (9) Manifest (7)

Maps Example (10) Maps API Key (1)

All Android applications need to be signed
The debug mode signs for you with special debug certificate

All MapView elements in map applications need to have an API key associated with them
That key must be registered with the certificate used to sign the app

When releasing app, need to sign with a release certificate and get a new API Key

Maps Example (11) Maps API Key (2)

For debug mode, get the MD5 fingerprint of the debug certificate Locate the keystore
Windows Vista: C:\Users\<user>\.android\debug.keystore
Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\.android\debug.keystore

OS X and Linux: ~/.android/debug.keystore

Use Keytool (comes with Java, in the bin directory with the other Java tools, should put that dir on system PATH) to get fingerprint
keytool -list v -alias androiddebugkey -keystore <path_to_debug_keystore> -storepass android -keypass android
If dont include v option, then will probably get only 1 fingerprint, and if its not MD5, then need v (Java 7 needs v)

Extract the MD5 fingerprint, SHA will not work unfortunately

Go to https://code.google. com/android/maps-api-signup.html , agree to terms and paste MD5 fingerprint, you will then be given an API Key

Maps Example (12)

Need to put MapView tag in XML
com.google.android.maps.MapView MapView is the basic view that represents a Google Map display Must include API Key in XML, inside a layout
<com.google.android.maps.MapView android:id="@+id/mapview" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="fill_parent" android:clickable="true" android:apiKey=<api key>/>

Maps API Reference

http://code.google.com/android/add-ons/google-apis/reference/index.html

Acknowledgements
Android Developers Website Activity and Service life-cycle flow charts Tons of other Android info Google Maps API external library
http://code.google.com/android/add-ons/google-apis/maps-overview.html

MightyPocket
http://www.mightypocket.com/2010/08/android-screenshots-screen-capture-screen-cast/

Numerous Forums & other developer sites, including:

http://www.javacodegeeks.com/2011/02/android-google-maps-tutorial.html http://efreedom.com/Question/1-6070968/Google-Maps-Api-Directions http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg28487.html http://android.bigresource.com/ threads http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers threads Many http://stackoverflow.com threads

http://www.anddev.org/google_driving_directions_-_mapview_overlayed-t826.html

Zainan Victor Zhou for advice and his own tutorial