Understanding WordPress for Android – Part 3

I managed to squeeze in time for another blog post about the app. So here it is.

As I mentioned in my previous blogpost (http://anirudhspider.wordpress.com/2011/06/08/understanding-wordpress-for-android-part-2/), I will be explaining the code for the app’s splash screen here.

What is a Splash screen?

Quoting Wikipedia, “A splash screen is an image that appears while a game or program is loading. It may also be used to describe an introduction page on a website.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splash_screen)

The existing app has a really cool splash screen which I do not wish to lay my hands upon and spoil.

splashScreen.java

Let’s start with splashScreen.java. If you have downloaded the source code, you’ll find it in your src/org/wordpress/android/folder, or under src->org.wordpress.android in your Eclipse Package Explorer (left pane, by default). If you haven’t downloaded the source code, you can view it here: http://android.trac.wordpress.org/browser/trunk/src/org/wordpress/android/splashScreen.java

I have also posted it below for your convenience.

package org.wordpress.android;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.content.pm.PackageInfo;
import android.content.pm.PackageManager;
import android.content.pm.PackageManager.NameNotFoundException;
import android.graphics.PixelFormat;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.os.Handler;
import android.view.WindowManager;
import android.widget.TextView;

public class splashScreen extends Activity {
    /** Called when the activity is first created. */

    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle icicle) {
        super.onCreate(icicle);
        getWindow().setFormat(PixelFormat.RGBA_8888);
        getWindow().addFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_DITHER);

        setContentView(R.layout.splashscreen);

        //Display the current version number
        PackageManager pm = getPackageManager();
        try {
			PackageInfo pi = pm.getPackageInfo("org.wordpress.android", 0);
			TextView versionNumber = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.versionNumber);
            versionNumber.setText("Version " + pi.versionName);
		} catch (NameNotFoundException e) {
			// TODO Auto-generated catch block
			e.printStackTrace();
		}

        new Handler().postDelayed(new Runnable(){
            public void run() {
                 /* Create an Intent that will start the Main WordPress Activity. */
                 Intent mainIntent = new Intent(splashScreen.this,wpAndroid.class);
                 splashScreen.this.startActivity(mainIntent);
                 splashScreen.this.finish();
            }
       }, 2900); //2900 for release

}
}

Note that the line numbers refer to the above source code.
Lines 3-12: They are the necessary import statements. In case you miss any import statements and Eclipse shows an error, press Ctrl+Shift+O (in Linux and Windows). Eclipse will automatically find and add the necessary import statements.

Line 14: public class splashScreen extends Activity {
This is where the code actually starts. splashScreen being an Activity obviously extends the Activity class. (In case you do not know what an Activity is, an Activity is what the user is actually able to view. For more details: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Activity.html )

Lines 17-19: 
public void onCreate(Bundle icicle) {
super.onCreate(icicle);

The onCreate function is an integral part of the Activity life cycle and as the name implies, it is called once the Activity is created. We are overriding the onCreate method. Whenever the onCreate method is overridden, we must call super.onCreate() to save the state of the previous activity. ‘icicle’ is the name of the Bundle objects that are passed to the onCreate method. This is the default name provided in the earlier versions of the SDK. The new SDK defaults the name to ‘savedInstanceState’.

Lines 20&21:
getWindow().setFormat(PixelFormat.RGBA_8888);
getWindow().addFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_DITHER);

Line 20 sets the format. Can you see that the background gradient is uniform and non-patchy? It is because of the FLAG_DITHER flag.

Line 23: setContentView(R.layout.splashscreen);
Sets the xml layout provided in splashscreen.xml. Lets have a quick look at it.

splashscreen.xml

If you have downloaded: found at res/layout/splashscreen.xml
If you haven’t: http://android.trac.wordpress.org/browser/trunk/res/layout/splashscreen.xml

Code:

<LinearLayout android:id="@+id/LinearLayout01"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:gravity="center|center"
android:background="@drawable/home_gradient"
android:orientation="vertical">
<ImageView android:layout_marginTop="-60dip" android:paddingLeft="20dip" android:paddingRight="20dip" android:scaleType="centerInside" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:id="@+id/wordpress_logo" android:src="@drawable/wordpress_home"></ImageView>
<TextView android:text="@+id/TextView01"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_marginTop="20dip"
android:typeface="serif"
android:shadowDx="0"
android:shadowDy="2"
android:shadowRadius="1"
android:shadowColor="#FFFFFF"
android:textColor="#444444"
android:textSize="20dip"
android:id="@+id/versionNumber" android:gravity="bottom">
</TextView>
</LinearLayout>

As you can see, it contains a vertical LinearLayout with 2 elements: an ImageView and a TextView. The ImageView renders the logo while the TextView provides the version number of the app.

Back to splashscreen.java

Lines 25-34:

//Display the current version number
PackageManager pm = getPackageManager();
try {
PackageInfo pi = pm.getPackageInfo("org.wordpress.android", 0);
TextView versionNumber = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.versionNumber);
versionNumber.setText("Version " + pi.versionName);
} catch (NameNotFoundException e) {
// TODO Auto-generated catch block
e.printStackTrace();
}

Obtain the version number from the package (from the manifest xml?) and sets it to the TextView.

Lines 36-42:

new Handler().postDelayed(new Runnable(){
public void run() {
/* Create an Intent that will start the Main WordPress Activity. */
Intent mainIntent = new Intent(splashScreen.this,wpAndroid.class);
splashScreen.this.startActivity(mainIntent);
splashScreen.this.finish();
}

An Intent is an abstract description used to jump from one Activity to another. The Intent mainIntent is used to transfer control from the current splashScreen.java file to wpAndroid.java. (The number 2900 in Line 43 is the number of milliseconds for which the splash screen is to be displayed.)

What does that mean? Yeah, you got that right. Coming up next, wpAndroid.java!

Understanding WordPress for Android – Part 2

You have set up the development environment, downloaded the source code and created a new project. Now, we can start going through the source code. I hope you are familiar with developing Android Apps. If not, it is ok. You can refer to http://developer.android.com/ in case you are not able to understand something that has been explained here. I will also be providing links to the official documentation wherever necessary.

AndroidManifest.xml

As with every application, the WordPress app has an AndroidManifest.xml file. It is the first piece of information that describes the different activities, services, broadcast receivers, content providers, user permissions and all other important details. (To know more, have a look at http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/manifest-intro.html )

To view the manifest file, open it in Eclipse. If you don’t want to develop but just want to view it, you can view it here: http://android.trac.wordpress.org/browser/trunk/AndroidManifest.xml

Line 2. The attributes of the <manifest> tag specify the version name, package details, etc.

Line 3. As you can see in the <uses-sdk> tag, you can develop this app for devices that run on Android, right from Cupcake (android:minSdkVersion="3") and is also best viewed in a device running Froyo (android:targetSdkVersion="8").

Line 4 and 5: They describe the details of how the app looks before it is launched, in your android device. It specifies the logo image, label and the style. You can find the logo in your project at res/drawable/app_icon.png and the theme it uses from Line 61 of res/values/styles.xml (http://android.trac.wordpress.org/browser/trunk/res/values/styles.xml)

I will be discussing each Activity and its corresponding xml later. (Same with the service and receiver tags)

It is obvious what the remaining xml code describes. Understanding what the <supports-screens>,<uses-permission> and <uses-feature> tags describe, shouldn’t be a problem.

Before moving on, we need to find out which activity is called first. If you have a quick look at http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/intents/intents-filters.html#ccases, the activity with the android.intent.action.MAIN action and the android.intent.category.LAUNCHER is started at first. A quick scan through the AndroidManifest.xml file reveals that the activity with the android:name="splashScreen" is the one that is launched, when the application starts.

So, next stop: splashScreen.java !!

Still don’t believe me?

If blogging from inside the app like how I am doing right now, doesn’t make you believe how great this is, then u must try writing one on your own.

Although this is an open source project run by the community, I believe that most of the work so far, has been done by Dan Roundhill, who is the mentor for my GSoC project as well. http://danroundhill.com

I can also add media from inside the app, like this photo of my laptop.

This took me about 5 minutes to blog about. Its that easy!

Understanding WordPress for Android – Part 1

The app itself

The latest release is version 1.4.1 and it was released on April 18 2011. It is available for free in the market. I own a Samsung Galaxy Ace running Froyo and it works flawlessly on my mobile. You can use the app to maintain multiple blogs including both, self-hosted blogs and those hosted at WordPress.com.

The Description of the app in the marketplace reads thus:

“Write new posts, edit content, and manage comments on your WordPress blog.

WordPress for Android is an Open Source app that empowers you to write new posts, edit content, view stats, and manage comments with built-in notifications.

WordPress for Android supports both WordPress.com and self-hosted WordPress (2.9.2 or higher) blogs.”

Get the app from the market

There is nothing more important than having a first-hand experience of any product that you are working on. So, download the app directly through your mobile’s Android market or from https://market.android.com/details?id=org.wordpress.android and install it in your Android mobile.

Run it and check whether it works fine in your mobile. Browse through the app. It shouldn’t take you more than half an hour to figure out all features in that app.

Get the source code from the dev site

If you want to start developing, get your Eclipse IDE set up for Android app development. If it is your first time, refer to http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html to setup your development environment. Hope you have installed subversion and know how to use it too. If you don’t, you can read up on this: http://svnbook.red-bean.com/

Head towards http://android.trac.wordpress.org/. You will find that their source is located at http://android.svn.wordpress.org/. <strong>Note.</strong>Do not use the svn site for browsing the source code. It is not created with that purpose in mind. If you want to browse the source code, you can do so at http://android.trac.wordpress.org/browser.

The trunk folder provides the latest build and you can work on it. To get the code into your system, do this from your terminal:

svn checkout http://android.svn.wordpress.org/trunk/

Rename the folder to the project name of your choice. Now open Eclipse. Press Ctrl+N and create a New Android Project. In the next step, select the option “Create project from existing source:” and point it to the location where you have checked out your wordpress android app code. Provide necessary details such as Project name, Build Target, Application name, Package Name and other details. You are ready to develop on the Android app of WordPress now.

Understanding WordPress for Android – Part 0

One of the apps which I never expected to see in the Android marketplace was the WordPress app.

https://market.android.com/details?id=org.wordpress.android

Seriously, was it possible to bring in the power of blogging into one’s Android mobile? Microblogging was easy. There are thousands of Twitter apps for Android to do that. But how could a mobile be sufficient to blog on WordPress??

Trust me, it is really an awesome app!

It was the time when organizations where applying for Google Summer of Code. Within a few weeks, I got to know that the Android app had been selected as a project as well! I was so eager to work on it to realize it’s full potential myself. I also wanted to work on a GSoC project. I applied and worked hard to get it, and finally I did.

You can find more details about the app here: http://android.wordpress.org/

If you also wanna be a developer, this is the place to be: irc://freenode/wordpress-mobile

I have been working on changing the UI of the app for a few weeks now. I just realized that the best way to progress quickly would be to be blog about this blogging app. So here I am.

I will be initially giving a brief introduction to the app and then moving on to the explain the code later.