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Android 4: A Second Project
Kirk Scott
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Outline
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This unit will be divided into these sections:
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Views, layouts, and resources
4.3 The activity_main.xml file
4.4 The strings.xml file
4.5 The R.java class
4.6 The MainActivity.java file
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4.1 Introduction
• The overall plan of all of the sets of overheads
is to gradually grow some examples which
illustrate how to do things
• It is not practical to cover each relevant topic
in depth before applying it
• There are too many topics and they are too
extensive
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• Eventually, after covering enough examples, it
will become possible to delve into individual
topics in some depth
• Examples and background information are
interspersed throughout the sets of overheads
• The background may help give context to
previous examples and may provide a starting
point for understanding future examples
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• On the following overhead a screenshot is
given of the example that will be pursued in
this unit
• The goal is to develop an app that allows the
user to enter text into a field and press a
button to have the text echoed on the screen
• In other words, the goal is move one step
beyond Hello World to a rock bottom simple
echoing program
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• These are some of the topics that will be covered
in this unit in brief:
• Views in apps (the term View has a specific
meaning in Android)
• XML and app layout
• Graphical components of apps
• The relationship between apps and resources
• The specification of id’s for various components
in apps
• Adding functionality to apps
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4.2 Views, Layouts, and Resources
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Views and Layouts
• The logic of Android app layout has some
similarities with the way layouts are
accomplished in Java swing
• You may be reminded of how components are
added to panels, for example, or how focus
belongs to focus traversal groups
• However, there are major differences in the
way things are accomplished in practice
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• The layout of an Android app can be
conceptualized as view groups and views
• View groups are overall containers for views or
other view groups
• The term view refers to specific, individual
graphical components like buttons, text fields,
etc.
• Some of these individual items are known
generically as widgets in Android
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• In concrete terms, one of the most basic
differences between Java applications and
Android apps is that the layout of an app is
stored in a separate .xml file
• To a certain extent, this is inconvenient,
because as a developer you have to get used
to having various things in different places and
keeping track of their relationships
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• In the long run, it is actually a very useful and
practical way of managing the code for apps
• It’s sort of like taking the MVC pattern to the
extreme
• The view is maintained completely separately
from the model
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• There are various advantages to this
• For example, there are many different kinds of
mobile devices, with screens of different sizes
and resolutions
• Defining layouts separately helps make it
possible to support the same app in many
different environments
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Resources
• The same kind of logic applies to managing
various resources, including things as simple
as the strings that an app displays
• It may seem clumsy at first to have strings
declared in a strings.xml file
• But separating strings from the logic of the
code also has advantages
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• For example, not only do apps run on different
devices, they may also be internationalized
• Keeping strings separate from program logic
makes it reasonably easy to substitute strings
in one language for strings in another, or make
other substitutions as necessary
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• The purpose of this section was to give some
vocabulary—views and layouts
• It was also to give a brief preview of the
concrete example that will be pursued—
MyEchoApp
• The organization and presentation of the
following sections directly depends on the
idea that various parts of an Android app are
stored in different files
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• The overall goal of the following sections is to
trace through the contents of MyEchoApp
• This is done by examining the contents of the
files related to the app one after the other in
the order listed on the following overhead
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• activity_main.xml (layout)
• strings.xml (string resources)
• R.java (the resources automatically generated
when the Java code is built)
• MainActivity.java (the application source
code)
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4.3 The activity_main.xml File
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• The activity_main.xml file contains the formatting
for an app
• Information concerning this file will be presented
in this way:
• A. A review of what the file contained for
MyFirstApp
• B. A presentation of the complete file for
MyEchoApp
• C. A line-by-line discussion of the contents of the
file for MyEchoApp
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Layout for MyFirstApp
• The screenshot on the following overhead
shows the Graphical Layout view of the
activity_main.xml file for MyFirstApp
• This just serves as a reminder of what you saw
in a previous unit
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• The layout of MyFirstApp was based on what
is known as RelativeLayout
• What the layout contained was known as a
TextView
• These terms show up when you start looking
at the XML for the layout
• The screenshot on the following overhead
shows the editor view of the
activity_main.xml file for MyFirstApp
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• The complete activity_main.xml code for
MyFirstApp is shown on the following
overhead
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<RelativeLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/androi
d"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
tools:context=".MainActivity" >
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
android:layout_centerVertical="true"
android:text="@string/hello_world" />
</RelativeLayout>
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• Most of the details of importance will be
discussed when going through the
activity_main.xml file for MyEchoApp
• That will be done immediately after this
summary review of the layout for MyFirstApp
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• As noted above, MyFirstApp uses a
RelativeLayout
• The RelativeLayout is a so-called root view
• It contains a TextView
• The TextView is a so-called child view
• The idea is straightforward
• The layout root organizes the child views that
it contains
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• The TextView contains this:
• android:text="@string/hello_world"
• This is a reference to the resource defined in
strings.xml
• This is the actual text that’s displayed in the
TextView
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Layout for MyEchoApp
• The layout of MyEchoApp is based on the
same organizing principles as MyFirstApp, but
the layout is different and it contains more
views
• The screenshot on the following overhead
shows the Graphical Layout view of the
activity_main.xml file for MyEchoApp
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• The screenshot on the following overhead
shows the editor view of the
activity_main.xml file for MyEchoApp
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• The complete activity_main.xml code for
MyEchoApp is shown on the following
overhead
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- This is the activity_main.xml file for My Echo App. -->
<LinearLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<EditText
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:hint="@string/text_message"
android:id="@+id/edit_message" />
<Button
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:text="@string/button_echo"
android:onClick="sendMessage" />
<TextView
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:text="@string/echo_placeholder"
android:id="@+id/echo_message" />
</LinearLayout>
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The activity_main.xml Code for
MyEchoApp Line-by-Line
• The following overheads will go through the XML
code for MyEchoApp line-by-line
• The goal is not to cover XML in detail
• The goal is to get an initial idea of the connection
between the XML and the appearance of the
application
• The goal is also to get an idea of how the
connection is made between the XML
components and what will be the functionality of
the application
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• It is worth noting again that the Graphical Layout
view has a palette you can use to drag and drop
components into a layout
• The first items in the palette are Form Widgets,
Text Fields, Layouts
• You could create a layout by dragging and
dropping
• You were invited to try this at the end of the last
set of overheads
• It will come up again in the future
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• The point now is to look at the XML
• It’s helpful to have some familiarity with the XML
that is generated in order to later become an
intelligent user of the tools in the palette
• Generating the graphical components is pretty
mechanical
• The important part will be the connection
between them and the functionality of the
application
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Line-By-Line Starts Now
• The first line of activity_main.xml gives the
version
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
• The second line illustrates the form of a
comment in XML
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<!-- This is the activity_main.xml file for My Echo App. -->
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• The third line declares the kind of layout that
is being created for the app
• The LinearLayout is sort of like the FlowLayout
in swing
• Another parameter will be given lower down
which clarifies how LinearLayout works
• <LinearLayout
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• For the time being we can just copy and carry
the following lines without needing to know
the details
• It is worth noting that in these lines, xmlns
stands for XML name space
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xmlns:android=http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
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• The LinearLayout is in effect a child of the
device it’s running on
• The following two lines specify that the
LinearLayout should take up the full space of
the display of its parent
• android:layout_width="match_parent"
• android:layout_height="match_parent"
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• The next line sets a parameter relevant to how
the LinearLayout is displayed
• LinearLayout presents views (components) in
order as they’re added
• The orientation of the added items can be
horizontal or vertical
• android:orientation=“vertical">
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• Following the declarations related to the
overall layout come the three child views that
it contains
• They are:
• EditText—this will allow data input
• Button—this will have an action
• TextView—this will show the output
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The EditText View
• This is the complete code for EditText, the first
child view in the LinearLayout of the app:
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<EditText
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:hint="@string/text_message"
android:id="@+id/edit_message" />
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EditText Line-by-Line
• This line introduces the first
child/view/graphical component that belongs
to the LinearLayout, the editable text field
• <EditText
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• These lines state that the size of the text field
will be defined by the height and width of the
string that it contains
• android:layout_height="wrap_content"
• android:layout_width="wrap_content"
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• This next line specifies a string resource
associated with the text field
• android:hint="@string/text_message" />
• android:hint tells you the role that this string will
play in the app
• The hint is the thing that is displayed in the text
field by default
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• android:hint="@string/text_message" />
• Quotation marks and @string are the syntax for
designating a string resource
• text_message is the symbolic name of the string
• The actual definition of the string is done in the
strings.xml file, here: /res/values/strings.xml
• Referring back to the app screenshot, you can see
that the value of this string is “Enter a string”
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• The activity_main.xml file won’t compile
successfully until text_message has been
included in the strings.xml file
• After a successful compilation of the code
with the string declaration shown above a line
like this one will appear in R.java
• public static final int text_message=0x7f040001;
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• The next line is the most significant of the lines of
code in EditText
• android:id="@+id/edit_message"
• This line of code assigns an id to the EditText view
that is being created
• The view can be referred to by this id in the Java
code for the app
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• This is the syntax of the line:
• It is defining an android id
• The use of @ in general indicates a reference to a
resource
• The + is the syntax that makes it possible to
assign an id to something at the same time it is
initially being declared and defined
• In the previous line, + wasn’t necessary because
we were referring to a string that had already
been defined and given a name in strings.xml
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• The point is this:
• You are creating a handle which can be used
later on in MainActivity.java code to refer to
this view, the EditText element of the layout
• Layouts contain views and can refer to strings
by id
• Code can refer to views by id
• Using references, code ultimately displays
layouts containing strings
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• After successful compilation of a project
containing this line:
• android:id="@+id/edit_message"
• A line like this one will appear in R.java
• public static final int
edit_message=0x7f070000;
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• At a system level, an id is a unique integer
identifier (like a hashcode) for a resource
• The id’s, as they appear in R, are the handles for
resources which can be referred to in
ActivityMain.java, the Java source file for the app
• When using this handle, the edit_message
identifier for the EditText view will be referred to
in this way:
• R.id.edit_message
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• In summary, this is what we just looked at, lineby-line
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<EditText
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:hint="@string/text_message"
android:id="@+id/edit_message" />
• The EditText component’s display characteristics
are defined, its string is defined, and its id is
defined
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The Button View
• This is the complete code for Button, the
second child view in the LinearLayout of the
app:
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<Button
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:text="@string/button_echo"
android:onClick="sendMessage" />
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Line-by-Line
• This line introduces the second
child/view/graphical component that belongs
to the LinearLayout, the button
• <Button
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• The button will contain a label
• These lines state that the size of the button
will be defined by the height and width of that
label
• android:layout_height="wrap_content"
• android:layout_width="wrap_content"
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• This line specifies a string resource associated with the
button
• android:text="@string/button_echo" />
• @string is the way of designating this
• button_echo is the symbolic name of the string
• The actual definition of the string is done in the strings.xml
file, here: /res/values/strings.xml
• The activity_main.xml file won’t compile successfully until
button_echo has been included in the strings.xml file
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• This line is the most significant of the lines of
code in Button
• android:onClick="sendMessage" />
• This line of code gives the name of the method,
sendMessage(), that will be called when the app
is running and the button is clicked
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• The sendMessage() method is java code which
will be implemented in the MainActivity.java
file
• The name and purpose (event handling) of the
method are predetermined
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• In summary, this is what we just looked at
line-by-line
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<Button
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:text="@string/button_echo"
android:onClick="sendMessage" />
• The component’s display characteristics are
defined, its string is defined, and it is
associated with an action
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The TextView
• This is the complete code for TextView, the
third child view in the LinearLayout of the app:
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<TextView
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:text="@string/echo_placeholder"
android:id="@+id/echo_message" />
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Line-by-Line
• This line introduces the third
child/view/graphical component that belongs
to the LinearLayout, the text view
• A TextView simply displays a string
• <TextView
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• These lines state that the size of the text view
will be defined by the height and width of the
string that it contains
• android:layout_height="wrap_content"
• android:layout_width="wrap_content"
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• This line specifies a string resource associated with the
text field
• android:text="@string/echo_placeholde
r"
• The resource, named echo_placeholder, would have to
be defined in strings.xml
• Looking at the screenshot of the app, you see that this
string is defined to have this value: “Your input will be
echoed here.”
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• This line defines another id of this text view
• android:id="@+id/echo_message" />
• This works the same way as explained for the
edit text component
• It will result in this id appearing in R:
• R.id.echo_message
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• The edit text and text view components are
the input and output parts of the echoing
• The sendMessage() method is the
functionality
• In the code for sendMessage() the id’s of the
input and output components will be referred
to in order to make the app work
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• In summary, this is what we just looked at line-byline
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<TextView
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:text="@string/echo_placeholder"
android:id="@+id/echo_message" />
• The component’s display characteristics are
defined, its string is defined, and its id is defined
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Ending the Layout
• This line ends the definition of the
LinearLayout
• </LinearLayout>
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A Side Note on Names of Resources
and Scope
• XML code similar to the code we just looked at
is given on the following overhead
• Note that the id at the top and the string at
the bottom have the same name
• You may run across example code written by
other programmers with this characteristic
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<EditText
android:id="@+id/edit_message"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:hint="@string/edit_message" />
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• It is possible for two things to have the same
name because id’s and strings are two distinct
kinds of things
• In the R.java (resource) file, the reference
identifiers for id’s and strings are in different
sets of braces, so they can be distinguished
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• Even though it’s possible to have different
things with the same name, I think it’s a bad
idea that will lead to confusion
• I will give everything different names even if
they are of different types
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4.4 The strings.xml File
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• The screenshot on the following overhead
shows the editor view of the strings.xml file
for MyEchoApp
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Here is the XML Code:
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
<string name="app_name">My Echo App</string>
<string name="menu_settings">Settings</string>
<string name="title_activity_main">MainActivity</string>
<string name="text_message">Enter a string</string>
<string name="button_echo">Echo</string>
<string name="echo_placeholder">Your input will be echoed
here.</string>
</resources>
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• It is not necessary to examine strings.xml line
by line on separate overheads
• It is apparent that the first 3 lines in the file
consist of overall app related strings which are
supplied by the system
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• The last 3 lines in strings.xml are the strings
associated with the views in the app
• The XML syntax for naming the string and
giving it a value is apparent
• As noted earlier, you won’t get a clean
compilation unless the strings mentioned in
activity_main.xml are defined in this way in
strings.xml
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4.5 The R.java Class
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• The screenshot on the following overhead
shows the editor view of the R.java file for
MyEchoApp
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• The code from the top of the R.java file is
given on the following overheads
• All resources have automatically generated
identifiers in R.java as a result of successful
compilation
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• These resources can be strings from
strings.xml, id’s from activity_main.xml, or
other resources
• The app’s Java code refers to its resources
through the R.java file
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Here is the Code for R.java
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/* AUTO-GENERATED FILE. DO NOT MODIFY.
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* This class was automatically generated by the
* aapt tool from the resource data it found. It
* should not be modified by hand.
*/
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package com.example.myechoapp;
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public final class R {
public static final class attr {
}
public static final class drawable {
public static final int ic_launcher=0x7f020000;
}
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public static
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public
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final class id {
static final int echo_message=0x7f070001;
static final int edit_message=0x7f070000;
static final int menu_settings=0x7f070002;
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public static final class layout {
public static final int activity_main=0x7f030000;
}
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public static final class menu {
public static final int activity_main=0x7f060000;
}
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public static
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public
public
public
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final class string {
static final int app_name=0x7f040000;
static final int button_echo=0x7f040002;
static final int echo_placeholder=0x7f040005;
static final int menu_settings=0x7f040003;
static final int text_message=0x7f040001;
static final int title_activity_main=0x7f040004;
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4.6 The MainActivity.java File
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• The screenshot on the following overhead
shows the editor view of the MainActivity.java
file for MyEchoApp
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Here is the Java Code:
• The complete code for MainActivity.java is
considered section-by-section beginning on
the following overhead
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Package and Imports
• If you use the development environment it
will automatically put your app into a package
• package com.example.myechoapp;
• Here are the general imports for the app
• import android.os.Bundle;
• import android.app.Activity;
• import android.view.Menu;
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• You need to import the view classes in order
to work with them in your code
• These are the Android classes that correspond
to the views in the layout in activity_main.xml
• import android.view.View;
• import android.widget.EditText;
• import android.widget.TextView;
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The App Class
• This is the class of the app as
provided by the system
• public class MainActivity extends Activity
{
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The Standard Provided Methods
• The onCreate() method is the moral
equivalent of a main() method
• It’s provided by the system if you use the
development environment
• @Override
• protected void onCreate(Bundle
savedInstanceState) {
• super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
• setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
• }
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• The onCreateOptionsMenu() method is also system
provided
• Until we develop an app with a menu, we don’t
have to worry about it
• @Override
• public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
• // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action
bar if it is present.
• getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.activity_main,
menu);
• return true;
• }
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The sendMessage() Method
• The sendMessage() method is needed in the
Java code for the app
• This method is specified in activity_main.xml
as the method to be called when the button in
the layout which belongs to the app is clicked
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• If it’s specified in the layout but not
implemented in ActivityMain.java, you won’t
get a clean compile
• In other words, you don’t inherit this from
Activity
• Not all apps have buttons, so not all apps have
a sendMessage() method
• You have to supply one if your app does have
a button
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The Signature and Explicit Parameter
of the sendMessage() Method
• Here is the signature of the method:
• public void sendMessage(View view) {
• Remember that in layout terms, the button is a view
• The view that comes in as a parameter to the method
when the button is clicked is a reference to the button
• In the code for the method you don’t have to acquire a
reference to the button separately
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A Preliminary Description of the Body and the
Implicit Parameter of the sendMessage()
Method
• The body of the sendMessage() method will
come next
• Obviously it’s important because this is where
the echoing logic of the app is implemented
• It’s also important because in this code you
see how you can acquire references to the
views in the layout belonging to the app
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• The reference to the button comes in as the
explicit parameter
• You have to call methods in order to access
the input, EditText, and output, TextView,
views
• You will see that the method calls are floating
in space
• These calls to acquire references to the views
are made on the implicit parameter
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• Speaking concisely, the implicit parameter is
the MainActivity that is currently being
executed
• This is an important topic
• In the example in the next set of overheads, it
will be necessary to pass the MainActivity
around as an explicit parameter so that calls
such as these can be made on it elsewhere
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• Activities will be explained in greater detail in
a future set of overheads
• In the current example we can simply accept
that calls can be made on activities in order to
acquire references to the views that belong to
them
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The Body of the sendMessage()
Method
• The process of echoing in the app consists of 4
steps:
• 1. Acquire a reference to the input, EditText, view
• 2. Acquire the string from the input view
• 3. Acquire a reference to the output, TextView,
view
• 4. Put the string into that view
• The complete code is shown on the following
overhead
• After that, the code is examined line-by-line
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• EditText editText = (EditText)
findViewById(R.id.edit_message);
• String message =
editText.getText().toString();
• TextView echoText = (TextView)
findViewById(R.id.echo_message);
• echoText.setText(message);
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}
• }
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• The calls to get and set the text string are
straightforward
• The calls to acquire the references have two
critical elements:
• 1. You specify the view you want a handle on
by sending its R.java id as a parameter.
• 2. You have to cast the return value to the
specific kind of view you were expecting back
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• Looking back at the contents of R and the way the
code works here, you can kind of gather what’s
going on:
• When you cast, it’s more or less like recovering a
subclass reference from a superclass reference
• The superclass would literally be View, but in R,
there is a separate id concept—where the id’s are
hex values—hashcodes for actual objects of a
given class(?)
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• In any case, in practice this is how you get a
handle on the input, EditText, view
• EditText editText = (EditText)
findViewById(R.id.edit_message);
• Remember, edit_message originated in
layout.xml
• It exists in R.java as a result of compilation
• It belongs to the app because these files are all
parts of the same project
111
• This is how you acquire the text from the field
• String message =
editText.getText().toString();
• In some contexts, a getText() method might
return a String, but here we have to cast
112
• We don’t know the type being returned here,
but looking at the way things are structured,
we can again speculate
• Maybe getText() returns the R id of the
reference to the string in strings.xml…
• And for that kind of id, toString() has been
implemented to return the string value…
113
• This is how you get a handle on the output
text view
• TextView echoText = (TextView)
findViewById(R.id.echo_message);
• This is analogous to acquiring the handle for
the input view
114
• This is how you assign a string to the output text view
•
•
• }
echoText.setText(message);
}
• It’s a little odd that getText() from an EditText view
apparently doesn’t return a String, but setText() on a
TextView expects a String, but so be it
115
Summary and Mission
• After 100+ overheads, your head can spin a
little
• What was this all about?
• In summary, it covered everything you needed
to know, every aspect of any file that you as a
programmer need to touch, in order to create
an echoing application.
116
• From a Java programmer’s point of view, the
sendMessage() method is where the real work
happens
• However, it doesn’t really take that much work
there at all
• This is the result of offloading layout,
resources, etc. to other locations
117
• The challenge is keeping track of all of the
different files in the project, what has to go
into them, and their relationships to each
other
• As seen, the final thing you have to be aware
of in the code for MainActivity.java is how to
get a handle on the views that belong to the
app
118
• What is your mission?
• There is no separate mission for this set of
overheads
• The next set of overheads expands on the
topics introduced here and ends with the first
assignment that you will need to do and turn
in
119
The End
120
• The following slides contain the complete
MainActivity.java code done with the
explanations as comments rather than as
PowerPoint bullets
• It gives the same information in a more
compact form
• The descriptions are less complete, but you
can essentially take everything in at once in a
few short glances
121
Package and Imports
•
•
/* If you use the development environment it will
* automatically put your app into a package. */
•
package com.example.myechoapp;
•
/*
•
•
•
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.view.Menu;
Here are the general imports for the app.
*/
122
•
•
•
•
•
/* You need to import the view classes in order to work with
* them in your code. These are the Android classes that
* correspond to the views in the layout in
* activity_main.xml.
*/
•
•
•
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.EditText;
import android.widget.TextView;
123
The App Class and the Standard
Provided Methods
•
•
/* This is the class of the app as provided by
* system. */
•
public class MainActivity extends Activity {
•
•
•
•
/* This method is the moral equivalent
* of a main() method. It’s provided
* by the system if you use the development
* environment. */
•
•
•
•
•
@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
}
124
• /* This method is also system
• * provided. Until we develop an app
• * with a menu, we don’t have to worry
• * about it. */
• @Override
• public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu)
{
• // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the
action bar if it is present.
• getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.activity_mai
n, menu);
• return true;
• }
125
• /* The sendMessage() method is called when the
•
* button in the layout which belongs to the app
•
* is clicked */
• /* This is very important: Remember that in
•
* layout terms, the button is a view.
•
* The view that comes in as a parameter to
•
* the method when the button is clicked
•
* is a reference to the button. */
• public void sendMessage(View view) {
126
•
/*
*/
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
/*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
•
•
•
•
•
•
The body of the sendMessage() method will come next.
This is very important: In order to get handles
on the other views in the layout of the app so that
you can work with them in the app code, you have to
call methods to acquire them. You will see that the
calls are floating in space—they’re on the implicit
parameter. At this point we don’t really know what
the implicit parameter is. More explanations will
come later. For the time being, accept that the
calls can be made.
Notice these two critical elements of the calls:
* 1. You specify the view you want a handle on by
* sending its R.java id as a parameter.
* 2. You have to cast the return value to the specific
* kind of view you were expecting back.
*/
127
•
•
/* The following code accomplishes echoing by taking
* in input and transferring it to output.
•
/*
*/
•
EditText editText = (EditText)
findViewById(R.id.edit_message);
•
•
/*
This is how you acquire the text from the field.
String message = editText.getText().toString();
•
/*
This is how you get a handle on the output text view.
•
TextView echoText = (TextView)
findViewById(R.id.echo_message);
•
/*
*/
•
•
•
This is how you get a handle on the input edit text view.
*/
*/
This is how you assign a string to the output text view.
echoText.setText(message);
}
}
128