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android

Created Sun 1/5/2011

How-To for creating a "HelloWorld" sample app for Android using command line tools (rather than the eclipse ide). See the android developer site the hello-world tutorial

1. Install required tools

Install the android sdk (and add /usr/local/android-sdk-linux_x86/tools and /usr/local/android-sdk-linux_x86/platform-tools to the path). Also be sure to install ant and JDK 1.6+

1.B. Download android src

Install git and the android "repo" tool (works on top of git). This information is adapted from http://source.android.com/source/downloading.html. To install repo, use curl:

bash $ curl http://android.git.kernel.org/repo > ~/bin/repo
bash $ chmod 755 ~/bin/repo

Initialize the android repo. The following will init at the froyo branch:

bash $ mkdir ~/Android_WorkingCopy
bash $ cd ~/Android_WorkingCopy
bash $ repo init -u git://android.git.kernel.org/platform/manifest.git -b froyo

Sync the repo:

bash $ repo sync

Import gpg keys (see link above), but essentially "gpg --import somefoo.android.key"

2. Create an AVD

Note 1: Be sure to create an scdard which is at least 9MB at the same time as creating the AVD - do not add one after the AVD is created)

For example, to create a simple android virtual device (AVD) for Android 1.5, execute: 

bash $ android create avd --target 1 --sdcard 16M  --name android_1.5_avd

The --sdcard 16M option creats a 16M scdard for use with the AVD (see note 1, above). The option '--target 1' tells android to create an AVD with API Level 3 (which is 1.5). To list the SDK-dependent targets, issue:

bash $ android list targets
id: 1 or "android-3"
     Name: Android 1.5
     Type: Platform
     API level: 3
     Revision: 4
     Skins: HVGA-L, HVGA (default), HVGA-P, QVGA-P, QVGA-L
id: 2 or "Google Inc.:Google APIs:3"
     Name: Google APIs
     Type: Add-On
     Vendor: Google Inc.
     Revision: 3
     Description: Android + Google APIs
     Based on Android 1.5 (API level 3)
     Libraries:
      * com.google.android.maps (maps.jar)
          API for Google Maps
     Skins: QVGA-P, HVGA (default), HVGA-L, QVGA-L, HVGA-P
id: 3 or "android-4"
[snip]
...

3. Create an android project

Create an android project with:

bash $ android create project \
	--package au.com.foonix.HelloAndroid \
	--activity HelloAndroid --target 1 \
	--path /home/foo/Android/HelloAndroid

Then edit and compile using ant. E.g., to build a package with debug enabled:

bash $ cd /home/foo/Android/HelloAndroid
bash $ ant debug

4. Install the applicaton to the device

Make sure the AVD created in step 3 is known to android:

bash $ android list avd
Available Android Virtual Devices:
    Name: android_1.5_avd
    Path: /home/foo/.android/avd/android_1.5_avd.avd
  Target: Android 1.5 (API level 3)
    Skin: HVGA
  Sdcard: 16M

Next, start the android device emulator with the name of the avd as identified in #3 or in previous step. The device will take some time to boot up (perhaps a minute or two).

bash $ emulator @android_1.5_avd

Then list the devices attached to the adb and note down the emulator identifier and make sure the emulated device is active:

bash $ adb devices
List of devices attached 
emulator-5554	device

Then upload the android package (.apk). E.g.,

bash $ cd /home/foo/Android/HelloAndroid
bash $ adb -s emulator-5554 install bin/HelloAndroid-debug-unaligned.apk

The installed package can be executed with by navigating to the android applications menu and double-clicking the HelloAndroid application

5. Uninstall/Reinstall

An application that exists on a device must be uninstalled first before the same application can be installed again.

For 2.x targets, use the android debug bridge uninstall command, providing the package name as the argument. E.g., to uninstall a package called au.com.foonix.HelloAndroid, issue the command:

bash $ adb -s emulator-5554 uninstall au.com.foonix.HelloAndroid

For older 1.x targets, uninstallation can be done using the adb shell and the rm command:

bash $ adb -s emulator-5554 shell rm data/app/au.com.foonix.HelloAndroid.apk

6. DDMS

The Dalvik Debug Monitor Service (DDMS) is a debugging tool for the dalvik jvm used in Android. DDMS is delivered with the Android SDK in .../tools/ddms.

Fedora x86_64 will not be able to start the ddms (out of the box) because it utilises eclipse swt and the sdk is 32bit (as it's name "android-sdk-linux_x86" suggests). The Android SDK R10 packages both the 32bit and 64bit versions of the swt.jar - so the resolution is simple:

bash $ cd /usr/local/android-sdk-linux_x86/tools/lib/x86
bash $ mv swt.jar swt_x86.jar
bash $ cp ../x86_64/swt.jar .

7. Spoof data

There are a number of ways to spoof data such as geo location or telephony data. One way is to use ddms and either manually enter location data by lat/long or provide a gpx file. Another option for geo location spoofing is to use the geo command (via telnet to the emulator). In the following example, a lat/long coordinate is provided to the emulator running on port 5554 via the geo command:

bash $ echo 'geo fix -121.45356 46.51119 4392te^M^]quit^M' | telnet localhost 5554

Note: ^M is ctrl+M and ^] is ctrl+]

See section on "Providing Mock Location Data" in http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/location/obtaining-user-location.html

8. SDK

9. See Also

Stuart Mooroot © 1 May 2011 foo@bund.com.au

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