The Android Developer's Collection

212 Pages·2011·41.03 MB·English

The Android
Developer’s
Collection
Upper Saddle River, NJ • Boston • Indianapolis • San Francisco
New York • Toronto • Montreal • London • Munich • Paris • Madrid
Cape Town • Sydney • Tokyo • Singapore • Mexico City
Note from the Publisher
The Android Developer’s Collection includes two highly successful Android application
development eBooks:
• The Android Developer’s Cookbook: Building Applications with the Android SDK
• Android Wireless Application Development, Second Edition
The Android Developer’s Cookbook contains many invaluable “recipes” that working devel-
opers will want to use in their production-level code. Android Wireless Application
Development is an excellent way for experienced developers to come up-to-speed quickly
on the ins and outs of Android application development.
To simplify access, we’ve appended “A” to pages of The Android Developer’s Cookbook and
“B” to pages of Android Wireless Application Development.This enabled us to produce a sin-
gle, comprehensive table of contents and dedicated indexes so that you can easily link to
the topics you want.We hope you find this collection useful!
—The editorial and production teams at Addison-Wesley Professional
Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products
are claimed as trademarks.Where those designations appear in this book, and the pub-
lisher was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed with initial
capital letters or in all capitals.
The authors and publisher have taken care in the preparation of this book, but make no
expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assume no responsibility for errors or
omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection
with or arising out of the use of the information or programs contained herein.
The publisher offers excellent discounts on this book when ordered in quantity for bulk
purchases or special sales, which may include electronic versions and/or custom covers
and content particular to your business, training goals, marketing focus, and branding
interests. For more information, please contact:
U.S. Corporate and Government Sales
[phone]
Table of Contents
THE ANDROID DEVELOPER’S COOKBOOK
1 Overview of Android . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1A
The Evolution of Android . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1A
The Dichotomy of Android . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2A
Devices Running Android . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2A
HTC Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6A
Motorola Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6A
Samsung Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6A
Tablets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7A
Other Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7A
Hardware Differences on Android Devices . . . . . . . .8A
Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8A
User Input Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9A
Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9A
Features of Android . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10A
Multiprocess and App Widgets . . . . . . . . . . . . .11A
Touch, Gestures, and Multitouch . . . . . . . . . . . .11A
Hard and Soft Keyboards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11A
Android Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11A
How to Use the Recipes in This Book . . . . . . . .12A
Designing Applications Well . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12A
Maintaining Forward Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . .13A
Robustness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13A
Software Development Kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14A
Installing and Upgrading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14A
Software Features and API Level . . . . . . . . . . . .15A
Emulator and Android Device Debug . . . . . . . . .16A
Using the Android Debug Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . .18A
Signing and Publishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18A
Android Market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19A
End-User License Agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19A
Improving App Visibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19A
Differentiating an App . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20A
Charging for an App . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20A
Managing Reviews and Updates . . . . . . . . . . . .21A
Alternatives to the Android Market . . . . . . . . . .22A
2 Application Basics: Activities and Intents . . . .23A
Android Application Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23A
Recipe: Creating a Project and an Activity . . . . .24A
Directory Structure of Project and
Autogenerated Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26A
Android Package and Manifest File . . . . . . . . . .28A
Renaming Parts of an Application . . . . . . . . . . .30A
Activity Lifecycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30A
Recipe: Utilizing Other Lifecycle Functions . . . . .31A
Recipe: Forcing Single Task Mode . . . . . . . . . . .33A
Recipe: Forcing Screen Orientation . . . . . . . . . .34A
Recipe: Saving and Restoring Activity
Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34A
Multiple Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35A
Recipe: Using Buttons and TextView . . . . . . . . .36A
Recipe: Launching Another Activity from an
Event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37A
Recipe: Launching an Activity for a Result
Using Speech to Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41A
Recipe: Implementing a List of Choices . . . . . . .43A
Recipe: Using Implicit Intents for Creating an
Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44A
Recipe: Passing Primitive Data Types
Between Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46A
3 Threads, Services, Receivers, and Alerts . . . . .51A
Threads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51A
Recipe: Launching a Secondary Thread . . . . . . .51A
Recipe: Creating a Runnable Activity . . . . . . . . .55A
Recipe: Setting a Thread’s Priority . . . . . . . . . . .57A
Recipe: Canceling a Thread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57A
Recipe: Sharing a Thread Between Two
Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58A
Messages Between Threads: Handlers . . . . . . . . .58A
Recipe: Scheduling a Runnable Task from the
Main Thread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59A
vi Contents
Recipe: Using a Countdown Timer . . . . . . . . . . .61A
Recipe: Handling a Time-Consuming
Initialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62A
Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64A
Recipe: Creating a Self-Contained Service . . . . .65A
Adding a Broadcast Receiver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69A
Recipe: Starting a Service When the Camera
Button Is Pressed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70A
App Widgets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72A
Recipe: Creating an App Widget . . . . . . . . . . . .72A
Alerts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74A
Recipe: Using Toast to Show a Brief Message
on the Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74A
Recipe: Using an Alert Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . .75A
Recipe: Showing Notification in Status Bar . . . .76A
4 User Interface Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79A
Resource Directories and General Attributes . . . . .79A
Recipe: Specifying Alternate Resources . . . . . . .81A
Views and ViewGroups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82A
Recipe: Building Layouts in the Eclipse Editor . .83A
Recipe: Controlling the Width and Height of
UI Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86A
Recipe: Setting Relative Layout and Layout ID . .89A
Recipe: Declaring a Layout Programmatically . . .90A
Recipe: Updating a Layout from a Separate
Thread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92A
Text Manipulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94A
Recipe: Setting and Changing Text Attributes . . .95A
Recipe: Providing Text Entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98A
Recipe: Creating a Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100A
Other Widgets: From Buttons to Seek Bars . . . . .101A
Recipe: Using Image Buttons in a
Table Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102A
Recipe: Using Check Boxes and
Toggle Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105A
Recipe: Using Radio Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108A
Recipe: Creating a Drop-Down Menu . . . . . . . .110A
Recipe: Using a Progress Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . .112A
Recipe: Using a SeekBar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114A
Contents vii
5 User Interface Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117A
Event Handlers and Event Listeners . . . . . . . . . . .117A
Recipe: Intercepting a Physical Key Press . . . .117A
Recipe: Building Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121A
Recipe: Defining Menus in XML . . . . . . . . . . . .126A
Recipe: Utilizing the SEARCH Key . . . . . . . . . .127A
Recipe: Reacting to Touch Events . . . . . . . . . .128A
Recipe: Listening for Fling Gestures . . . . . . . .130A
Recipe: Using Multitouch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133A
Advanced User Interface Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . .136A
Recipe: Using Gestures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136A
Recipe: Drawing 3D Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . .140A
6 Multimedia Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147A
Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .148A
Recipe: Loading an Image for Manipulation . . .148A
Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .154A
Recipe: Choosing and Playing Back
Audio Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .154A
Recipe: Recording Audio Files . . . . . . . . . . . . .157A
Recipe: Manipulating Raw Audio . . . . . . . . . . .158A
Recipe: Using Sound Resources Efficiently . . .163A
Recipe: Adding Media and Updating Paths . . . .165A
Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165A
7 Hardware Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169A
Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169A
Recipe: Customizing the Camera . . . . . . . . . . .170A
Other Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175A
Recipe: Getting a Device’s Rotational Attitude .176A
Recipe: Using the Temperature and Light
Sensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .179A
Telephony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .180A
Recipe: Utilizing the Telephony Manager . . . . .181A
Recipe: Listening for Phone States . . . . . . . . .183A
Recipe: Dialing a Phone Number . . . . . . . . . . .185A
Bluetooth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .185A
Recipe: Turning on Bluetooth . . . . . . . . . . . . .186A
viii Contents
Recipe: Discovering Bluetooth Devices . . . . . .187A
Recipe: Pairing with Bonded Bluetooth
Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .188A
Recipe: Opening a Bluetooth Socket . . . . . . . .188A
Recipe: Using Device Vibration . . . . . . . . . . . .191A
Recipe: Accessing the Wireless Network . . . . .191A
8 Networking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .195A
Using SMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .195A
Recipe: Autosend an SMS Based on a
Received SMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .197A
Using Web Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .204A
Recipe: Customizing a Web Browser . . . . . . . .204A
Recipe: Using an HTTP GET . . . . . . . . . . . . . .204A
Recipe: Using HTTP POST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .209A
Social Networking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .210A
Recipe: Integrating with Twitter . . . . . . . . . . . .210A
9 Data Storage Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .221A
Shared Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .221A
Recipe: Creating and Retrieving Shared
Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .222A
Recipe: Using the Preferences Framework . . . .222A
Recipe: Changing the UI Based on
Stored Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .225A
Recipe: Adding a EULA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .228A
SQLite Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .232A
Recipe: Creating a Separate Database
Package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .232A
Recipe: Using a Separate Database
Package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .236A
Recipe: Creating a Personal Diary . . . . . . . . . .239A
Content Provider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .243A
Recipe: Creating a Custom Content Provider . .244A
File Saving and Loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .249A
10 Location-Based Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .251A
Location Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .251A
Recipe: Retrieving Last Location . . . . . . . . . . .253A
Contents ix
Recipe: Updating Location Upon Change . . . . .254A
Recipe: Listing All Enabled Providers . . . . . . . .256A
Recipe: Translating a Location to Address
(Reverse Geocoding) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .258A
Recipe: Translating an Address to Location
(Geocoding) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .261A
Using Google Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .263A
Recipe: Adding Google Maps to an
Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .265A
Recipe: Adding Markers on a Map . . . . . . . . . .267A
Recipe: Adding Views to a Map . . . . . . . . . . . .271A
Recipe: Marking the Device’s Current
Location on a Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .274A
Recipe: Setting up a Proximity Alert . . . . . . . . .274A
11 Advanced Android Development . . . . . . . . . . .277A
Android Custom View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .277A
Recipe: Customizing a Button . . . . . . . . . . . . .277A
Android Native Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .283A
Recipe: Developing a Native Component . . . . .284A
Android Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .287A
Recipe: Declaring and Enforcing Permissions . .288A
Android Inter-Process Communication . . . . . . . . .288A
Recipe: Implementing a Remote
Procedure Call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .289A
Android Backup Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .294A
Recipe: Creating a Backup of Runtime Data . . .294A
Recipe: Backing Up Files to the Cloud . . . . . . .296A
Recipe: Triggering Backup and Restore . . . . . .296A
Android Animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .298A
Recipe: Creating an Animation . . . . . . . . . . . .299A
12 Debugging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .303A
Eclipse Built-in Debug Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .303A
Recipe: Specifying a Run Configuration . . . . . .303A
Recipe: Using the DDMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .304A
Recipe: Debugging Through Breakpoints . . . . .306A
Android SDK Debug Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .307A
Recipe: Using the Android Debug Bridge . . . . .307A