MOBILE

TECHNOLOGY
ANDROID APPS
DEVELOPMENT
#2
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Objectives
 In this chapter, you learn to:
 Develop a user interface using the TextView,
ImageView, and Button controls
 Create an Android project that includes a
Button event
 Select a Linear of Relative layout for the user
interface
 Create multiple Android Activities
 Add activities to the Android Manifest file
 Add a Java class file
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Objectives
 Write code using the onCreate method
 Display content using the setContentView
command
 Open a second screen using a Button event
handler
 Use an OnClickListener to detect user interaction
 Launch a second screen using a startActivity
method
 Correct errors in Java code
 Run the completed app in the emulator
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Designing an Android App

 Designing apps is like constructing a building

 The Big Picture

 Follow these steps:
 Create the user interface for every screen
 Create an Activity for every screen
 Update the Android Manifest file
 Code each Java class with objects and actions
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Using the Android User

Interface
 The interface is a window on the screen of any
mobile device
 The layout is designed with XML code
 Special
Android-formatted XML code is extremely
compact
 Linear Layouts and Relative Layouts
 A Linear Layout organizes layout components in a
vertical column or horizontal row
 Objects are placed directly below each other
 Can be switched from vertical to horizontal
orientation
 Linear layout is the default layout
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Using the Android User Interface

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Using the Android User

Interface
 A Relative Layout organizes layout components in
relation to each other
 Provides more flexibility in positioning than Linear
layouts
 Must be changed from the linear default
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Using the Android User Interface

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Using the Android User Interface

 Android Text Properties
 Text Property – changes the text written in
the control
 Text Size Property- can be adjusted in
inches, millimeters, pixels, density-
independent pixels, and scaled-
independent pixels
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Using the Android User Interface

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Using the Android User Interface

 Adding a File to the Resources Folder
 Before you can use images, they must be placed in
the resources folder
 Res folder contains three subfolders
 All folder names begin with drawable
 hdpi (resources for high-density screens)
 mdpi (resources for medium-density screens)
 ldpi (resources for low-density screens)
 Android supports three graphic formats
 .png (preferred), .jpg (acceptable), .gif(discouraged)
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Using the Android User Interface

 Adding an ImageView Control
 An ImageView control displays icons or graphics
on the Android screen
 Adding a Button Control
 There are three types of Buttons
 Button (buttons that perform a function)
 ToggleButton (buttons that can be on or off)
 ImageButton (buttons that have a picture on them)
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Using the Android User Interface

 Planning a Program
 Gather and analyze program requirements
 Design the user interface
 Design the program processing objects
 Code the program
 Test the program
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Creating Activities
 Each screen is considered an activity
 Constructed using XML layout files and a Java class
 Creating an XML Layout file
 All layout files are placed in the res/layout directory
 Adding a Class File
A class describes a group of objects and serves as a
blueprint, or template, for creating those objects
 An object is a specific, concrete instance of a class
 When you create an object, you instantiate it;
meaning you define one particular variation of the
object
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Creating
Activities
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The Android Manifest File

 The Android Manifest file contains:
 the name of the Java application
 a listing of each activity
 permissions needed to access other Android
functions (like accessing the Internet)
 the minimum level of the Android APL

 Addingan Activity to the Android

Manifest
 When applications have more than one
activity, the Manifest must have an intent to
navigate among multiple activities
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The Android Manifest File

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Coding the Java Activity

– A method is a set of Java statements that can be
included inside a Java class
– Methods perform specific tasks

• Coding an onCreate Method

public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {

super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
}

– Note the use of Curly braces { that begin and end

the method code and the use of the semi-colon ;
– SetContentView(R.layout.main); is added to
display the screen
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Coding the Java Activity

 Displaying the User Interface
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Coding the Java Activity

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Coding the Java Activity

 Creating a Button Event Handler
 An event handler is part of a program coded to
respond to a specific event
 Tapping the button is called a click event
 Java code must contain the following sections
 Class property to hold a reference to the Button
object
 onClickListener() method to await the button click
action
 onClick() method to respond to the click event

 Code Syntax:
 Button b=(Button)findViewById(R.id.btnRecipe);
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Coding the Java Activity

 When you import the Button type as an Android
widget, the button package becomes available
throughout the app
 An import statement makes more Java functions
available to your app
 A stub is a code placeholder module
b.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
public void onClick(View v) {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
}
});
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Coding the Java Activity

 Coding a Button Event Handler

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Coding the Java Activity

 Correcting Errors in Code
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Coding the Java Activity

 Saving and Running the Application
 Testing the App automatically saves it
 The Save All button will save the project
 Select Android Application from the dialog
window the first time an app runs
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Summary
 Linear layouts arrange screen components in a
vertical column or horizontal row
 Relative layouts arrange components freely on
the screen
 Text Property and TextSize property are used
when creating text
 To display graphics (pictures and icons), use the
ImageView control
 An Activity is when the app makes contact with
the user and is a core component of the app
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Summary
 Each screen in your app is an Activity
 Every app has an Android Manifest file
containing the name of the app and a list of
each activity
 When an app has more than one activity, it
must have an intent so the app can navigate
among multiple activities
 A method is a set of Java statements included
in a Java class
 The onCreate method initializes an Activity
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Summary
 The setContentView command displays the
content on the screen
 Tapping or clicking a button invokes the event
listener and runs the code in that button
 Use the startActivity() method to start an
Activity in an app that has multiple Activities
 The intent contains a context - initiating Activity
class is making the request - and the name of
the Activity
 Red error icons and red curly lines indicate
errors