Android Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach

952 Pages·2012·9.042 MB·English

by  Dave Smith, Jeff Friesen (auth.)

Android Recipes
A Problem-Solution Approach

(cid:132) (cid:132) (cid:132)
Dave Smith
Jeff Friesen
Apress

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Android Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach
Copyright © 2012 by Dave Smith and Jeff Friesen
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Contents at a Glance
(cid:132) Foreword...................................................................................................xviii
(cid:132) About the Authors........................................................................................xix
(cid:132) About the Technical Reviewer......................................................................xx
(cid:132) Acknowledgments.......................................................................................xxi
(cid:132) Preface.......................................................................................................xxii
(cid:132) Chapter 1: Getting Started with Android............................................... 1
(cid:132) Chapter 2: User Interface Recipes....................................................... 99
(cid:132) Chapter 3: Communications and Networking................................... 323
(cid:132) Chapter 4: Interacting with Device Hardware and Media................. 421
(cid:132) Chapter 5: Persisting Data................................................................ 501
(cid:132) Chapter 6: Interacting with the System............................................ 581
(cid:132) Chapter 7: Working with Libraries.................................................... 689
(cid:132) Chapter 8: Working with Android NDK and Renderscript................. 743
(cid:132) Appendix A: Scripting Layer for Android........................................... 805
(cid:132) Appendix B: Android Tools Overview................................................ 821
(cid:132) Appendix C: App Design Guidelines .................................................. 855
(cid:132) Appendix D: Univerter Architecture.................................................. 867
(cid:132) Index.................................................................................................. 911
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Contents
(cid:132) Foreword...................................................................................................xviii
(cid:132) About the Authors........................................................................................xix
(cid:132) About the Technical Reviewer......................................................................xx
(cid:132) Acknowledgments.......................................................................................xxi
(cid:132) Preface.......................................................................................................xxii
(cid:132) Chapter 1: Getting Started with Android............................................... 1
What Is Android?............................................................................................................1
History of Android..........................................................................................................2
Android Architecture......................................................................................................4
App Architecture............................................................................................................9
Components............................................................................................................................................................9
Resources.............................................................................................................................................................34
Manifest................................................................................................................................................................46
App Package.........................................................................................................................................................50
Installing the Android SDK....................................................................................................................................51
Installing an Android Platform..............................................................................................................................55
Creating an Android Virtual Device.......................................................................................................................60
Starting the AVD...................................................................................................................................................64
Introducing Univerter............................................................................................................................................71
Creating Univerter.................................................................................................................................................73
Installing and Running Univerter..........................................................................................................................76
Preparing Univerter for Publication on Google Play..............................................................................................81
Migrating to Eclipse..............................................................................................................................................88
Creating and Running Univerter with Eclipse.......................................................................................................92
Summary......................................................................................................................97
(cid:132) Chapter 2: User Interface Recipes....................................................... 99
2-1. Customizing the Window......................................................................................99
Problem................................................................................................................................................................99
Solution................................................................................................................................................................99
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................100
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CONTENTS
2-2. Creating and Displaying Views...........................................................................112
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................112
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................112
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................113
2-3. Monitoring Click Actions.....................................................................................115
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................115
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................115
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................115
2-4. Resolution-Independent Assets..........................................................................117
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................117
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................117
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................118
2-5. Locking Activity Orientation................................................................................119
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................119
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................119
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................120
2-6. Dynamic Orientation Locking..............................................................................120
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................120
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................121
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................121
2-7. Manually Handling Rotation................................................................................123
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................123
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................123
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................124
2-8. Creating Pop-Up Menu Actions...........................................................................126
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................126
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................126
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................126
2-9. Displaying A User Dialog.....................................................................................132
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................132
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................133
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................133
2-10. Customizing Options Menu...............................................................................138
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................138
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................138
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................139
2-11. Customizing Back Behavior..............................................................................143
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................143
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................143
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................143
2-12. Emulating the HOME Button.............................................................................147
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CONTENTS
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................147
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................147
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................147
2-13. Monitoring TextView Changes..........................................................................148
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................148
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................148
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................148
2-14. Scrolling TextView Ticker.................................................................................151
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................151
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................151
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................152
2-15. Animating a View..............................................................................................153
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................153
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................153
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................153
2-16. Animating Layout Changes...............................................................................166
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................166
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................166
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................166
2-17. Creating Drawables as Backgrounds...............................................................170
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................170
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................170
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................171
2-18. Creating Custom State Drawables....................................................................178
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................178
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................179
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................179
2-19. Applying Masks to Images................................................................................181
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................181
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................181
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................182
2-20. Creating Dialogs That Persist...........................................................................186
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................186
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................187
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................187
2-21. Implementing Situation-Specific Layouts.........................................................189
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................189
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................189
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................189
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CONTENTS
2-22. Customizing Keyboard Actions.........................................................................199
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................199
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................199
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................199
2-23. Dismissing Soft Keyboard.................................................................................202
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................202
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................203
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................203
2-24. Customizing AdapterView Empty Views...........................................................203
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................203
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................203
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................204
2-25. Customizing ListView Rows..............................................................................205
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................205
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................206
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................206
2-26. Making ListView Section Headers....................................................................210
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................210
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................210
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................211
2-27. Creating Compound Controls............................................................................214
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................214
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................214
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................214
2–28. Handling Complex Touch Events......................................................................218
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................218
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................218
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................220
2-29. Forwarding Touch Events.................................................................................238
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................238
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................238
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................238
2-30. Making Drag-and-Drop Views..........................................................................243
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................243
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................243
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................245
2-31. Customizing Transition Animations..................................................................252
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................252
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................252
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................252
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CONTENTS
2-32. Creating View Transformations........................................................................263
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................263
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................263
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................263
2-33. Swiping Between Views...................................................................................270
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................270
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................270
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................270
2-34. Creating Modular Interfaces.............................................................................281
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................281
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................281
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................282
2-35. High-Performance Drawing..............................................................................293
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................293
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................293
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................294
Useful Tools to Know: Hierarchy Viewer and Lint......................................................305
Hierarchy Viewer........................................................................................................305
Running Hierarchy Viewer..................................................................................................................................306
Exploring the View Hierarchy Window.......................................................................308
Working with an Individual View in Tree View...........................................................311
Debugging with View Hierarchy.................................................................................312
Optimizing with View Hierarchy.........................................................................................................................313
Exploring the Pixel Perfect Window...........................................................................313
Working with Pixel Perfect Overlays..........................................................................315
Lint.............................................................................................................................316
Running Lint...............................................................................................................318
Summary....................................................................................................................321
(cid:132) Chapter 3: Communications and Networking................................... 323
3–1. Displaying Web Information...............................................................................323
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................323
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................323
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................324
3–2. Intercepting WebView Events............................................................................328
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................328
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................329
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................329
3–3. Accessing WebView with JavaScript.................................................................331
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................331
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CONTENTS
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................331
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................331
3–4. Downloading an Image File................................................................................334
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................334
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................334
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................334
3–5. Downloading Completely in the Background.....................................................337
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................337
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................337
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................338
3–6. Accessing a REST API........................................................................................341
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................341
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................342
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................343
3–7. Parsing JSON.....................................................................................................368
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................368
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................368
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................368
3–8. Parsing XML.......................................................................................................372
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................372
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................372
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................372
3–9. Receiving SMS...................................................................................................383
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................383
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................383
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................383
3–10. Sending an SMS Message...............................................................................385
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................385
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................385
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................385
3–11. Communicating over Bluetooth........................................................................387
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................387
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................388
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................388
3–12. Querying Network Reachability........................................................................398
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................398
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................398
How It Works......................................................................................................................................................399
3-13. Transferring Data with NFC..............................................................................400
Problem..............................................................................................................................................................400
Solution..............................................................................................................................................................401
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