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What is Android SDK?
Everyone wants to program on Android; unfortunately, not everyone knows quite how to get started with their development environment. Google has put out both the Android SDK and the Android ADT in order to help developers integrate Android into their dev environment as well as facilitate more Android development. In this guide, we’ll take a look at how to set up a development environment for Android so you can start creating projects. Android SDK and Android ADT are essentials that you will need to include in your Android Developer Toolbox for use with many things, and can be a very powerful set of components from the simple, to the complicated. When it comes to Android modding, most novice users are confused or left wondering by reference over reference to a certain “adb”. This is specially true when you are looking up something on modding your device, or root it in particular. ADB is the wonder toy of Android and everyone seems to love it, so lets have a look at understanding what it is and why you need it, and how you can get it.
What is ADT?
ADT (Android Developer Tools) is a plugin for Eclipse that provides a suite of tools that are integrated with the Eclipse IDE. It offers you access to many features that help you develop Android applications quickly. ADT provides GUI access to many of the command line SDK tools as well as a UI design tool for rapid prototyping, designing, and building of your application's user interface. Because ADT is a plugin for Eclipse, you get the functionality of a well-established IDE, along with Android-specific features that are bundled with ADT. The following describes important features of Eclipse and ADT:
Integrated Android project creation, building, packaging, installation, and debugging
ADT integrates many development workflow tasks into Eclipse, making it easy for you to rapidly develop and test your Android applications.
SDK Tools integration
Many of the SDK tools are integrated into Eclipse's menus, perspectives, or as a part of background processes ran by ADT.
Java programming language and XML editors
The Java programming language editor contains common IDE features such as compile time syntax checking, auto-completion, and integrated documentation for the Android framework APIs. ADT also provides custom XML editors that let you edit Android-specific XML files in a form-based UI. A graphical layout editor lets you design user interfaces with a drag and drop interface.
Integrated documentation for Android framework APIs
You can access documentation by hovering over classes, methods, or variables.
What is ADB?
ADB stands for Android Debug Bridge. It comes as a part of the standard Android SDK, which you can grab here in this guide. Basically, it provides a terminal-based interface for interacting with your phone’s file system. Since Android platform is based on Linux, command-line is sometimes the only way to obtain and manipulate root access often required to perform certain advanced operations on your device using root access. While these things can be done directly on the device itself using some terminal emulator, it will be rather difficult to execute complex commands on such a small screen. ADB provides the bridge between your machine and your computer.
Preface: Dev Environment Notes:
Just a general rule to reduce headaches, if you're serious about Android development, your development machine should primarily be a development machine, as installation of other various programs may clutter it up and produce unexpected errors or other bizarre happenings. While this is rare, it’s not uncommon, and an exclusive development machine is recommended. If an extra machine is not available, a virtual machine used as a development machine works very well also. If this isn't an option either, you can always install Ubuntu 12.04 on your Windows PC and select whichever operating system you'd like at boot/reboot. The latter is my setup, since I run Windows 7 primarily, and Ubuntu for selected other functions -namely Android SDK. It's all your preference here, but keep in mind that if you start getting too deep in the rabbit hole with your Android development, you may want to consider a dedicated dev machine, or re-partition your Ubuntu setup to allow for more capabilities within it.
Step 1: Install the JDK
Most of you probably have the Java JRE installed, but Android requires the JDK “Java Development Kit” to compile Java programs. The JDK is available on Oracle’s Java webpage. Install the version of the JDK appropriate for your OS; the Java EE 6 bundle is recommended, but you can install any bundle you like so long as it contains the JDK.
(Getting started on Ubuntu, see THIS PAGE)
Getting started on Windows:
Your download package is an executable file that starts an installer. The installer checks your machine for required tools, such as the proper Java SE Development Kit (JDK) and installs it if necessary. The installer then saves the Android SDK Tools into a default location (or you can specify the location). Make a note of the name and location of the SDK directory on your system—you will need to refer to the SDK directory later, when setting up the ADT plugin and when using the SDK tools from the command line. Once the tools are installed, the installer offers to start the Android SDK Manager. Start it and continue with the installation guide by clicking the Next link on the right. The Android SDK requires JDK version 5 or version 6. If you already have one of those installed, skip to the next step. In particular, Mac OS X comes with the JDK version 5 already installed, and many Linux distributions include a JDK. If the JDK is not installed, go to http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads and you'll see a list of Java products to download.
Linux users: Many Linux distributions come with an open source variant of the JDK, like OpenJDK or IcedTea. While you may be tempted to use these in support of open-source or for whatever reason, for maximum compatibility install the official Oracle JDK. You may choose to ignore this warning, but you may end up encountering obscure, strange errors because of it; if you do, most likely it’s some minor difference in the two JDKs.
Step 2: Install Your IDE of Choice
You can by all means code straight up in Emacs or Vi; if you prefer doing that, this guide is not for you. For the rest of us, install a Java IDE; Eclipse is recommended as it is the IDE that the Android developers use and the IDE with official plugin support from Google. The rest of this guide will assume Eclipse is the IDE you’re using, but NetBeans has Android plugin support for it as well. When you download Eclipse, make sure to download Eclipse Classic or Eclipse for Java EE developers; there are quite a few flavors of Eclipse for download on their page, and you don’t want to end up with the C++ or PHP versions of Eclipse.
Obtain Eclipse
These alternatives may be available to obtain a copy of Eclipse for installation:
Download a current stable build of Eclipse from the Eclipse Web Site; note that the installation file is large (over 120 MB)
For the recommended package to download and install, click the link Eclipse IDE for Java EE Developers on the Eclipse Packages page. For the reason why this is the recommendation, see the following bullets:
There are a number of downloadable packages available, each a different "flavor" of Eclipse, which can be compared and contrasted from the Compared Eclipse Packages page. The recommended Eclipse package is the Eclipse IDE for Java EE Developers. This recommendation is made for those who develop in other languages / on other platforms as well, for the following reasons:
The "slimmer" Eclipse IDE for Java Developers lacks data tools, testing support, and parts of the Web Standard Tookit useful to all Java web application developers
The Eclipse Classic seems like it ought to be "slimmer" but in fact it is a larger download than the JEE package. Downloading and installing this package, then picking and choosing among additional packages described on the Eclipse Classic page is a viable alternative, but requires each developer to spend time researching the contents and utility of the multiple options.
Install Eclipse
There is no installer (executable program) used to install Eclipse. The process described below involves un-archiving (unzipping) a directory tree of files and placing it in an appropriate location on your hard disk. It is very strongly recommended that you locate the eclipse\ directory at the root of your computer's hard drive; or, minimally, on a directory path with no spaces in its name (e.g., C:\mystuff\eclipse\. It is worth noting that Eclipse does not write entries to the Windows registry; therefore, you can simply delete (or move) the installed files, shortcuts, and/or the workspace: there is no executable uninstaller either.
Unzip (or copy/unjar/check-out) the software into an appropriate location on your hard disk (e.g., C:\eclipse).
These instructions are written assuming that you are running eclipse from C:\eclipse; if you are using a different path, adjust accordingly.
Once the unzipped (copied/unjarred/checked-out) files are located on your filesystem, get started using Eclipse:
Run Eclipse by running C:\eclipse\eclipse.exe
The first time you run Eclipse, you will be prompted to identify a location for your Eclipse workspace. This is where local copies of your projects (files you check in and/or out of code repositories) will live on your file system. Do not create the workspace in a directory path that has spaces in it - i.e., not in the default C:\Documents and Settings\... directory presented by default on the first startup of Eclipse. Instead, it is recommended that your workspace be located at the root of your machine's hard disk, e.g., C:\workspace.
It is advisable to pass JVM arguments to Eclipse at startup to reserve a larger memory space for the IDE than the default. To, specify recommended JVM arguments, create a shortcut (probably on your desktop) with the following target (modified if you're using different directories):
Code:
C:\eclipse\eclipse.exe -jvmargs -Xms128m -Xmx512m -XX:MaxPermSize=128m
Step 3: Install the Android SDK
Now it’s time to install the Android SDK. You can grab it from the Android Developer website at:
http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
Download the installer for your particular operating system, and open it up when you’re done:
Android SDK Manager
The Android SDK Manager is modular, meaning that you download the initial package and then download separate packages within the framework in order to provide more functionality. This lets the SDK be more flexible, as you don’t need to keep downloading entire packages every time a new version comes out; you can simply download the latest module and pop it into the SDK. You can pick and choose which modules to install, but if you’ve got the hard drive space I recommend installing all of the different flavors of Android; it will help later when debugging apps, especially on older Android OSes.
Step 4: Install the Android ADT for Eclipse
NOTE: if you’re using NetBeans, you want the nbandroid plugin, found here:
http://kenai.com/projects/nbandroid/pages/install
Now that the SDK is installed, you should install the Android ADT plugin. It’s not strictly necessary to do so, but the ADT offers powerful integration with many of the Android tools, including the SDK Manager, the AVD Manager, and DDMS, or dynamic debugging. All of these are extremely useful to have when creating an Android application, and if you want to skip them you should do so at your own peril!
Eclipse ADT Plugin
To install the ADT, you’re going to have to add a custom software package to Eclipse. To do so, head over to the “Help” button on Eclipse’s menu and click the “Install New Software” button. Click “Available Software”, click “Add Remote Site”, and pop in this URL:
https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/
Eclipse ADT Install
Occasionally, for whatever reason, some people have trouble downloading the ADT from that secure site. If you’re having issues downloading the ADT, simply remove the “s” off the end of the “https”, and the download should work as intended. Once that’s done, head back over to the Available Software tab and check the boxes for Developer Tools, Android DDMS, and Android Development Tools; again, none of these are mandatory, but they’re all going to be very useful later on. The packages will take a bit to download; once they’re done, restart Eclipse!
Step 5: Create an Android Virtual Device (or AVD)
Like the previous step, this step isn’t entirely necessary; you could do all your debugging and development work on an actual Android handset. Creating AVDs is a great way to see how your application might work across different operating systems and handset types, as AVDs can mimic not only different Android OSes but also different hardware; you can change such settings as heap size, display type, and maximum memory, making it useful to try and figure out where bugs are happening when you don’t own a multitude of different handsets to test on! To create an AVD, you can open the Android AVD manager from Eclipse from the “Window” button on the top bar, and go to “Virtual Devices”. From there, you can add, configure and delete them:
Android Virtual Device (AVD) Manager
NOTE: This isn’t IDE specific. For those of you running a different IDE, the AVD Manager can be accessed in the same manner as the Android SDK is accessed outside of Eclipse; this is just a very easy shortcut for those with the Android ADT installed. Need More Help? Try this 30-minute video put together by Guy Cole, that walks you through the complete step-by-step setup.
So, You've Installed Android SDK, Now What?
The Android platform provides support for both speech recognition and speech synthesis. In this tutorial, we will create a simple Android app which allows the user to speak, attempts to recognize what they say, and then repeats what was recognized back to them using the Text To Speech engine.
Step 1: Start an Android Project
Create a new Android project in Eclipse. Alternatively, if you want to implement the speech recognition functionality in an existing app, open it instead. For this tutorial we have a minimum SDK version of 8, and you do not need to make any particular additions to your Manifest file, the default contents should suffice.
Step 2: Define the User Interface
Let’s start by defining the user interface. When the app launches, the user will be presented with a button. On pressing the button, the app will prompt them to speak, listening for their voice input. When the speech recognition utility processes the speech input, the app will present a list of suggested words to the user. As you’ll know if you’ve tried speech recognition as a user, the recognizer is not always accurate, so this list is essential. When the user selects an item from the list, the app will speak it back to them using the TTS engine. The TTS part of the application is optional, so you can omit it if you prefer.
The app is going to use a few text Strings as part of the interface, so define them by opening the “res/values/strings.xml” file and entering the following content:
Code:
<resources>
<string name="intro">Press the button to speak!</string>
<string name="app_name">SpeechRepeat</string>
<string name="speech">Speak now!</string>
<string name="word_intro">Suggested words…</string>
</resources>
Of course, you can alter the String content in any way you like.
Open your “res/layout/main.xml” file to create the main app layout. Switch to the XML editor if the graphical editor is displayed by default. Enter a Linear Layout as the main layout for the app’s launch Activity:
Code:
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
androidrientation="vertical"
android:background="#ff330066"
androidaddingBottom="5dp" >
</LinearLayout>
The Linear Layout contains various style declarations including a background color. Inside the Linear Layout, first enter an informative Text View:
Code:
<TextView android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="@string/intro"
androidadding="5dp"
android:textStyle="bold"
android:textSize="16dp"
android:gravity="center"
android:textColor="#ffffff33" />
Notice that the Text View refers to one of the Strings we defined. It also sets various display properties which you can alter if you wish. After the Text View, add a button:
Code:
<Button android:id="@+id/speech_btn"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="@string/speech" />
The user will press this button in order to speak. We give the button an ID so that we can identify it in the Java code and display one of the Strings we defined on it. After the button, add another informative Text View, which will precede the list of suggested words:
Code:
<TextView android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
androidadding="5dp"
android:text="@string/word_intro"
android:textStyle="italic" />
Again, this Text View uses a String resource and contains style properties. The last item in our main.xml Linear Layout is the list of suggested words:
Code:
<ListView android:id="@+id/word_list"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="0dip"
android:layout_weight="1"
androidaddingLeft="10dp"
androidaddingTop="3dp"
androidaddingRight="10dp"
androidaddingBottom="3dp"
android:layout_marginLeft="20dp"
android:layout_marginRight="20dp"
android:layout_marginTop="5dp"
android:layout_marginBottom="5dp"
android:background="@drawable/words_bg" />
The List View will be populated with data when the app runs, so we give it an ID for identification in Java. The element also refers to a drawable resource, which you should add to each of the drawables folders in your app’s “res” directory, saving it as “words_bg.xml” and entering the following content:
Code:
<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:dither="true">
<gradient
android:startColor="#ff000000"
android:endColor="#ff000000"
android:centerColor="#00000000"
android:angle="180" />
<corners android:radius="10dp" />
<stroke
android:width="2dp"
android:color="#66ffffff" />
</shape>
This is a simple shape drawable to display behind the List View. You can of course alter this and the List View style properties if you wish. The only remaining user interface item we need to define now is the layout for a single item within the list, each of which will display a word suggestion. Create a new file in “res/layout” named “word.xml”and then enter the following code:
Code:
<TextView xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:gravity="center"
androidadding="5dp"
android:textColor="#ffffffff"
android:textSize="16dp" >
</TextView>
Each item in the list will be a simple Text View. That’s our interface design complete. This is how the app appears on initial launch:
Step 3: Setup Speech Recognition
Now we can implement our Java code. Open your app’s main Activity and add the following import statements at the top:
Code:
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Locale;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.content.pm.PackageManager;
import android.content.pm.ResolveInfo;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.speech.RecognizerIntent;
import android.speech.tts.TextToSpeech.OnInitListener;
import android.speech.tts.TextToSpeech;
import android.util.Log;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.View.OnClickListener;
import android.widget.AdapterView;
import android.widget.AdapterView.OnItemClickListener;
import android.widget.ArrayAdapter;
import android.widget.Button;
import android.widget.ListView;
import android.widget.Toast;
import android.widget.TextView;
You may not need all of these if you do not implement the TTS functionality – Eclipse should highlight imports you have not used so check them when you finish coding. Extend your opening class declaration line as follows, altering the Activity name to suit your own:
Code:
public class SpeechRepeatActivity extends Activity implements OnClickListener, OnInitListener {
The “OnInitListener” is only required for the TTS function. Add the following instance variables inside your class declaration, before the “onCreate” method:
Code:
//voice recognition and general variables
//variable for checking Voice Recognition support on user device
private static final int VR_REQUEST = 999;
//ListView for displaying suggested words
private ListView wordList;
//Log tag for output information
private final String LOG_TAG = "SpeechRepeatActivity";//***enter your own tag here***
//TTS variables
//variable for checking TTS engine data on user device
private int MY_DATA_CHECK_CODE = 0;
//Text To Speech instance
private TextToSpeech repeatTTS;
Inside your “onCreate” method, your class should already be calling the superclass method and setting your main layout. If not, it should begin like this:
Code:
//call superclass
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
//set content view
setContentView(R.layout.main);
Next, still inside your “onCreate” method, retrieve a reference to the speech button and list we created, using their ID values:
Code:
//gain reference to speak button
Button speechBtn = (Button) findViewById(R.id.speech_btn);
//gain reference to word list
wordList = (ListView) findViewById(R.id.word_list);
The List View is an instance variable, accessible throughout the class. Now we need to find out whether the user device has speech recognition support:
Code:
//find out whether speech recognition is supported
PackageManager packManager = getPackageManager();
List<ResolveInfo> intActivities = packManager.queryIntentActivities(new Intent(RecognizerIntent.ACTION_RECOGNIZE_SPEECH), 0);
if (intActivities.size() != 0) {
//speech recognition is supported - detect user button clicks
speechBtn.setOnClickListener(this);
}
else
{
//speech recognition not supported, disable button and output message
speechBtn.setEnabled(false);
Toast.makeText(this, "Oops - Speech recognition not supported!", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
}
We query the environment to see if the Recognizer Intent is present. If it is, we instruct the app to listen for the user pressing the speech button. If speech recognition is not supported, we simply disable the button and output an informative message to the user.
Step 4: Listen for Speech Input
Let’s setup the click listener for the speech button we’ve instructed the app to detect clicks for. Outside the “onCreate” method, but inside your Activity class declaration, add an “onClick” method as follows:
Code:
/**
* Called when the user presses the speak button
*/
public void onClick(View v) {
if (v.getId() == R.id.speech_btn) {
//listen for results
listenToSpeech();
}
}
Now implement the method we’ve called here after the “onClick” method:
Code:
/**
* Instruct the app to listen for user speech input
*/
private void listenToSpeech() {
//start the speech recognition intent passing required data
Intent listenIntent = new Intent(RecognizerIntent.ACTION_RECOGNIZE_SPEECH);
//indicate package
listenIntent.putExtra(RecognizerIntent.EXTRA_CALLI NG_PACKAGE, getClass().getPackage().getName());
//message to display while listening
listenIntent.putExtra(RecognizerIntent.EXTRA_PROMP T, "Say a word!");
//set speech model
listenIntent.putExtra(RecognizerIntent.EXTRA_LANGU AGE_MODEL, RecognizerIntent.LANGUAGE_MODEL_FREE_FORM);
//specify number of results to retrieve
listenIntent.putExtra(RecognizerIntent.EXTRA_MAX_R ESULTS, 10);
//start listening
startActivityForResult(listenIntent, VR_REQUEST);
}
Some of this code is standard for setting up the speech recognition listening functionality. Areas to pay particular attention to include the line in which we specify the “EXTRA_PROMPT” – you can alter this to include text you want to appear for prompting the user to speak. Also notice the “EXTRA_MAX_RESULTS” line, in which we specify how many suggestions we want the recognizer to return when the user speaks. Since we are calling the “startActivityForResult” method, we will handle the recognizer results in the “onActivityResult” method.
When the app is listening for user speech, it will appear as follows:
Step 5: Present Word Suggestions
Implement the “onActivityResult” method inside your class declaration as follows:
Code:
/**
* onActivityResults handles:
* - retrieving results of speech recognition listening
* - retrieving result of TTS data check
*/
@Override
protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
//check speech recognition result
if (requestCode == VR_REQUEST && resultCode == RESULT_OK)
{
//store the returned word list as an ArrayList
ArrayList<String> suggestedWords = data.getStringArrayListExtra(RecognizerIntent.EXTR A_RESULTS);
//set the retrieved list to display in the ListView using an ArrayAdapter
wordList.setAdapter(new ArrayAdapter<String> (this, R.layout.word, suggestedWords));
}
//tss code here
//call superclass method
super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);
}
Here we retrieve the result of the speech recognition process. Notice that the “if” statement checks to see if the request code is the variable we passed when calling “startActivityForResult”, in which case we know this method is being called as a result of the listening Intent. The recognizer returns the list of 10 suggested words, which we store as an Array List. We then populate the List View with these words, by setting an Array Adapter object as Adapter for the View. Now each of the items in the List View will display one of the suggested words.
If the app successfully recognizes the user input speech and returns the list of words, it will appear as follows:
Alternatively, if the app does not recognize the user speech input, the following screen will appear:
Step 6: Detect User Word Choices
We want to detect the user selecting words from the list, so let’s implement a click listener for the list items. Back in your “onCreate” method, after the existing code, set the listener for each item in the list as follows:
Code:
//detect user clicks of suggested words
wordList.setOnItemClickListener(new OnItemClickListener() {
//click listener for items within list
public void onItemClick(AdapterView<?> parent, View view, int position, long id)
{
//cast the view
TextView wordView = (TextView)view;
//retrieve the chosen word
String wordChosen = (String) wordView.getText();
//output for debugging
Log.v(LOG_TAG, "chosen: "+wordChosen);
//output Toast message
Toast.makeText(SpeechRepeatActivity.this, "You said: "+wordChosen, Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();//**alter for your Activity name***
}
});
We use the “setOnItemClickListener” method to assign a listener to each item in the list. Inside the new “OnItemClickListener”, we implement the “onItemClick” method to respond to these clicks – this method will fire when the user selects a suggested word from the list. First, we cast the View that has been clicked to a Text View, then we retrieve the text from it. This text is the word the user has selected. We write the chosen word out to the Log for testing and output it back to the user as a Toast message. Depending on the needs of your own application, you may wish to carry out further processing on the chosen word – this code is purely for demonstration.
The user can press the touchscreen or use a trackball to select words in the list.
When the user selects a word, the Toast message appears confirming it.
Step 7: Setup TTS Functionality
If you do not want to implement the Text To Speech functionality, you can stop now and test your app. We only require a little more processing to make our app repeat the user’s chosen word. First, to set up the TTS engine, add the following code to the section in your “onCreate” method where you queried the system for speech recognition support. Inside the “if” statement, after “speechBtn.setOnClickListener(this);”:
Code:
//prepare the TTS to repeat chosen words
Intent checkTTSIntent = new Intent();
//check TTS data
checkTTSIntent.setAction(TextToSpeech.Engine.ACTIO N_CHECK_TTS_DATA);
//start the checking Intent - will retrieve result in onActivityResult
startActivityForResult(checkTTSIntent, MY_DATA_CHECK_CODE);
Like the speech listening process, we will receive the result of this code checking for TTS data in the “onActivityResult” method. In that method, before the line in which we call the superclass “onActivityResult” method, add the following:
Code:
//returned from TTS data check
if (requestCode == MY_DATA_CHECK_CODE)
{
//we have the data - create a TTS instance
if (resultCode == TextToSpeech.Engine.CHECK_VOICE_DATA_PASS)
repeatTTS = new TextToSpeech(this, this);
//data not installed, prompt the user to install it
else
{
//intent will take user to TTS download page in Google Play
Intent installTTSIntent = new Intent();
installTTSIntent.setAction(TextToSpeech.Engine.ACT ION_INSTALL_TTS_DATA);
startActivity(installTTSIntent);
}
}
Here we initialize the TTS if the data is already installed, otherwise we prompt the user to install it. For additional guidance on using the TTS engine, see the Android SDK: Using the Text to Speech Engine tutorial.
To complete TTS setup, add the “onInit” method to your class declaration, handling initialization of the TTS as follows:
Code:
/**
* onInit fires when TTS initializes
*/
public void onInit(int initStatus) {
//if successful, set locale
if (initStatus == TextToSpeech.SUCCESS)
repeatTTS.setLanguage(Locale.UK);//***choose your own locale here***
}
Here we simply set the Locale for the TTS, but you can carry out other setup tasks if you like.
Step 8: Repeat the User Choice
Finally, we can repeat the user’s chosen word. Back in your “onCreate” method, inside the “OnItemClickListener” “onItemClick” method, after the line in which we output a Toast message, add the following:
Code:
//speak the word using the TTS
repeatTTS.speak("You said: "+wordChosen, TextToSpeech.QUEUE_FLUSH, null);
This will cause the app to repeat the user’s chosen word as part of a simple phrase. This will occur at the same time the Toast message appears.
Conclusion
That’s our complete Speak and Repeat app. Test it on an Android device with speech recognition and TTS support – the emulator does not support speech recognition so you need to test this functionality on an actual device. The source code is attached, so you can check if you have everything in the right place. Of course, your own apps may implement speech recognition as part of other processing, but this tutorial should have equipped you with the essentials of supporting speech input.
Android SDK Commands & Explanations
Adb has many built in commands. Some are interactive (meaning they keep running until you stop them) and some just perform a simple task. Below is a list of the commands in the 1.0 SDK version of adb.
Android Debug Bridge version 1.0.20
Code:
-d - directs command to the only connected USB device
returns an error if more than one USB device is present.
-e - directs command to the only running emulator.
returns an error if more than one emulator is running.
-s <serial number> - directs command to the USB device or emulator with
the given serial number
-p <product name or path> - simple product name like 'sooner', or
a relative/absolute path to a product
out directory like 'out/target/product/sooner'.
If -p is not specified, the ANDROID_PRODUCT_OUT
environment variable is used, which must
be an absolute path.
devices - list all connected devices
device commands:
adb push <local> <remote> - copy file/dir to device
adb pull <remote> <local> - copy file/dir from device
adb sync [ <directory> ] - copy host->device only if changed
(see 'adb help all')
adb shell - run remote shell interactively
adb shell <command> - run remote shell command
adb emu <command> - run emulator console command
adb logcat [ <filter-spec> ] - View device log
adb forward <local> <remote> - forward socket connections
forward specs are one of:
tcp:<port>
localabstract:<unix domain socket name>
localreserved:<unix domain socket name>
localfilesystem:<unix domain socket name>
dev:<character device name>
jdwp:<process pid> (remote only)
adb jdwp - list PIDs of processes hosting a JDWP transport
adb install [-l] [-r] <file> - push this package file to the device and install it
('-l' means forward-lock the app)
('-r' means reinstall the app, keeping its data)
adb uninstall [-k] <package> - remove this app package from the device
('-k' means keep the data and cache directories)
adb bugreport - return all information from the device
that should be included in a bug report.
adb help - show this help message
adb version - show version num
DATAOPTS:
(no option) - don't touch the data partition
-w - wipe the data partition
-d - flash the data partition
scripting:
adb wait-for-device - block until device is online
adb start-server - ensure that there is a server running
adb kill-server - kill the server if it is running
adb get-state - prints: offline | bootloader | device
adb get-product - prints: <product-id>
adb get-serialno - prints: <serial-number>
adb status-window - continuously print device status for a specified device
adb remount - remounts the /system partition on the device read-write
networking:
adb ppp <tty> [parameters] - Run PPP over USB.
Note: you should not automatically start a PDP connection.
<tty> refers to the tty for PPP stream. Eg. dev:/dev/omap_csmi_tty1
[parameters] - Eg. defaultroute debug dump local notty usepeerdns
adb sync notes: adb sync [ <directory> ]
<localdir> can be interpreted in several ways:
- If <directory> is not specified, both /system and /data partitions will be updated.
- If it is "system" or "data", only the corresponding partition
is updated.
Common Use:
Some of the more common commands in adb are push, pull, shell, install, remount, and logcat.
Push sends a file from your desktop computer to your Android device:
Code:
adb push test.txt /sdcard/test.txt
Pull pulls a file from your Android device to your desktop computer:
Code:
adb pull /sdcard/test.txt test.txt
Shell lets you run an interactive shell (command prompt) on the Android device:
Code:
adb shell
Install lets you install an android APK file to your Android device:
Code:
adb install myapp.apk
Remount remounts the /system partition as writable (or readonly if it is already writeable):
Code:
adb remount
Logcat lets you view the devices debug logs in real time (must press control+c to exit):
Code:
adb logcat
Further Notes On This Subject
It's great to see guides like these. I think every device forum should have these stickied in their general section. We all have/had to start somewhere. Having nice guides with accurate up-to-date information is only going to benefit everyone, and makes learning and understanding much easier. Fact is, we're all here for the same reason, to capitalize on the potential our devices have, and enjoy them. So, thanks for putting this together. It might seem trivial to a lot of the more experienced people, but those who aren't will definitely appreciate it.
Thanks. This is helpful.
Sent from my MB865
Hey Apex great job on the guide
I just wish this was here the first time I installed the the android sdk
I'm sure it will be useful to alot of members
41rw4lk said:
I think every device forum should have these stickied in their general section.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Sticky?
Speak only when it improves on your silence.
Sorry for OT, this is not for Atrix 2 but I have question :
I want to extract included kernel in CM9 Rom, it is inside boot.img file. I've used Android Kitchen for extracting, it's ok now. I had zImage file.
So now how can I build flash-able zip file for CWM ? Tried UpdateZipCreator program but it showed error (7) when flashing.
I just wanna test many difference kernels and then come back to original but no flashable CM9 kernel here on xda.
vinamilk said:
Sorry for OT, this is not for Atrix 2 but I have question :
I want to extract included kernel in CM9 Rom, it is inside boot.img file. I've used Android Kitchen for extracting, it's ok now. I had zImage file.
So now how can I build flash-able zip file for CWM ? Tried UpdateZipCreator program but it showed error (7) when flashing.
I just wanna test many difference kernels and then come back to original but no flashable CM9 kernel here on xda.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, Jim will probably be the one to ask on this. I don't recall which device you have currently (viewing from my phone) but he's the one who wrote the kernel for CM9 on the SGS3. I'm assuming you want to run the CM9 rom with 'experimental' kernels, so I'd PM him and ask (Sorry Jim, lol) but I'm not the expert on kernels or Android Kitchen, least not as knowledgeable as I should be to give a suitable answer...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium
oh! thanks a lot! I am very happy to find this!
long long ago! I start to find this resourse :cyclops:
EXCELLENT! I don't know i didn't see this before. Maybe because i didn't have this phone in August i think.
But great, tomorrow i will see if i can combine one of my designs with this, and try to make an alpha app.
Good guide
Hit thnx for every help
I just wanted to obtain logcat but where to type adb logcat...I get this in sdk
luvk1412 said:
I just wanted to obtain logcat but where to type adb logcat...I get this in sdk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With the sdk.. go to android-sdk/tools/ folder and double-click monitor.bat - easiest/nicest way to watch the logs..
To set up adb to be used from the command prompt or terminal, make sure you set your environment variables (or your .bashrc in Linux) to the path of adb in the sdk (it's in platform-tools)..
For Windows (Win7 example): Go to Start> right-click Computer>Properties>Advanced System Settings>Environment Variables...
Look under System Variables to see if you somehow have the path to C:\android-sdk\platform-tools in there already (or your specific location - just don't use spaces in the folder names in your path). If not, click on PATH under System Variables and Edit it..
Add your path to adb.exe (C:\android-sdk\platform-tools, for exapmle) to the end of the string of paths there. You can also add the path to \android-sdk\tools for good measure..
Click OK.. "Revenge of the Fern" - inside joke...
For Linux (Ubuntu 12.04, for example): Go to your home folder, hit Ctrl+H, open the .bashrc, and add this (or your specific path) to the bottom:
Code:
# Android tools
export PATH=${PATH}:~/android-sdk/tools
export PATH=${PATH}:~/android-sdk/platform-tools
Then you should be able to open the command prompt or terminal and type: adb devices - and hopefully get your device id..
Then: adb logcat - for logcat (or just use the monitor.bat as mentioned above, it has a much nicer interface)
See my "Guide" on getting started in the Themes&Apps section for more adb stuff too..
Other alternatives for logcat directly on your phone are through Terminal Emulator (type su.. then logcat), or apps available on the Play Store (aLogcat, for example).
Hey I am just getting started with android dev. Have done just a few tutorials from the developers.android.com, so basically a noob at this. But I saw that Google recently launched the android studio for app developement. I was just getting started with eclipse, but the android studio looks more intuitive because of its better GUI. I'm bad at xml editing too So I think the interface of Android Studio would suit better. Is there anyone here who has tried both and knows the cons of abandoning eclipse IDE and going for Android Studio?
help
Hay friend i have downloaded Java JDK 6.0.45 & 6.0.07 & Java JRE 6,7 to But when i open eclips it shows me this error can you help me to get it solve
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2276871
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2227376&page=14
Do you know what path i use to upack the adt bundle i have unpacked it in almost every location on my computer and still nothing eclipes wont work nothing works plz let me know if you can help i really dont want to smash my new laptop that will be no2 in amonth if i do plz help
The project is abandoned.
As I no longer own a Windows RT device and I'm not willing to use Windows RT anymore, unless Microsoft would make it more open (at least to run your own desktop apps) - I've decided to stop working on this project.
As usual I'm publishing complete sources of this tool. Feel free to use them in your own projects or to continue developing this one - only leave my copyrights somewhere.
Don't ask me how to build the sources or to explain anything in them. Figure that out yourself.
The project is abandoned. Sorry.
I'm presenting a tool that allows running a set of x86 Windows applications on Windows RT (ARM) tablets. Its goal is to support all apps except for those that:
- require much CPU power,
- use complex features that were cut out from WinRT like D3D9 extensions or OpenGL,
- require drivers or specific services,
- make heavy use of COM interfaces,
- use undocumented windows internals,
- apps that use .NET framework,
- x86 Metro apps,
- 16 or 64 bit Windows programs,
- buggy apps that require special workarounds.
The tool is currently on a beta stage, so don't expect much from it. It is far from being complete, but at least it runs something.
Current version: 0.061
Just a minor update. The project is not dead, I just had no time to continue the development.
Attached the fixed ntdll.nt.dll that works under Windows RT 8.1 (Microsoft removed some NTDLL exports, so I had to add more stubs). This fix is not needed on RT 8.0.
To install it: extract the attached 0.061-ntdll.nt.dll.zip to c:\x86node\windows\SystemNT\ overwriting the existing file.
Autostarting x86 programs does not work on RT 8.1 ("can't install CreateProcessInternal hook"). I'll look on this later.
Don't ask on jailbreaking the 8.1 beta in this thread - there is a good progress on it, more info would be on release (in october or when WZOR would leak the RTM).
Current version: 0.06
Seems that archive is too big to be attached, so I've uploaded it to google drive and here
Installation: extract the archive on your unlocked Windows RT device, run the MSI file and follow the instructions.
Note: Uninstall the previous version before installing a new one.
List of compatible apps is in this post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=40924456
Trademarks
Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. ReactOS is a registered trademark or a trademark of ReactOS Foundation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Disclaimer
This software is provided "as is". Use it on your own risk. I make no warranties as to performance, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or any other warranties whether expressed or implied. No oral or electronic communication with me shall create a warranty of any kind. Under no circumstances should I be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages resulting from the use, misuse, or inability to use this software, even if I has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
I'm trying my best to make the software working, but I can't guarantee that it is free from defects.
All beta versions of this tool would be freeware. You may freely use it for your own, embed it into your tool, but you can't use it commercially without my confirmation. You can disassemble, analyze or modify this tool for yourself - later I'll provide SDK and document its internals. The only thing that is prohibited is changing embedded copyright notices. I reserve the right of making the project commercial, but this does not mean that this would ever happen.
This software contains unmodified binaries from the ReactOS project: a registry editor, cmd.exe, ole32.dll to name the few. Those binaries are left unmodified and are covered by LGPL license. Future versions may contain redistributable binaries provided by Microsoft and/or other companies.
Some more information may be found in my blog. If you want to support development - use the link or press the button on the left side of the post.
Changes:
15 may 2013: DInput and DInput8 changes for Fallout2 keyboard compatibility.
12 may 2013: A minor update. Fallout 2 now works, tested on Russian version from 1C.
01 may 2013: Added the ability to automatically launch x86 applications. Added the shell32 interfaces - so that installers now work (at least NSIS and InstallShield installers are known to be working).
05 apr 2013: Fixed a few bugs.
04 apr 2013: Uploaded a new build after a long delay. Now emulator supports 256-color modes. But due to a limitation on an updated Nvidia driver - 640x480 and 800x600 display modes are no longer supported on Windows RT. You'll see the black lines to the right and bottom of the screen if the program tries to set such mode.
25 feb 2013: The tool now outputs its version to log. Now one x86 program may launch another - so some of the installers and, for example, 7Z GUI frontend can now run under emulation. Added ~80 DLLs. Some of them are stubs (like D3D9.DLL), others are mostly untested. I have not done all that I've planned for this build, publishing it just as an update to show that the work is going on. Do not expect it to run much more than the previous build.
13 feb 2013: more informative errors from launcher. Emulator now supports program paths with spaces. EXE files with relocations are now processed correctly. Some bugfixes in kernel32 and advapi32.
11 feb 2013: fixed a typo in winmm.dll emulation, now pinball has sound. Also updated the launcher.
10 feb 2013: now the program reached the beta stage.
Known problems
No D3D and most of COM interfaces. Lots of programs would crash, don't run or have different issues.
Notes:
The program keeps its settings in the HKCU\Software\x86node\Settings registry key. Supported REG_SZ (string) values are:
DosboxCore: "dynamic", "simple" or "normal". Dynamic is the default as it is the fastest, but the most buggy core.
LogFile: path to the log file. If not present - log file is %temp%\win86emu.log
Supported REG_DWORD values:
LogLevel: 0=no log (default), 4=max logging
added 13 feb 2013: now default log level is 2: warnings+errors, so you don't need to edit registry
There are several compatibility hacks that may be useful. Compatibility settings are stored in HKCU\Software\x86node\Compatibility\[filename.exe] key. "filename.exe" - a name of the emulated EXE file without path. All values are DWORD:
SetProcessAffinityMask = bitmask. Specify which CPUs to use for running a program, read SetProcessAffinityMask description in MSDN. 0 or unset == run on all cores.
NoRaiseException = 1. RaiseException would just return. Now exceptions are emulated correctly, so this hack is no longer needed.
UseDirectRegistry = 1. Do not redirect emulated registry keys to HKCU\Software\x86node. Be careful when using it.
MaxProcessorFeaturePresent = max processor feature number that is "supported". See the IsProcessorFeaturePresent function in MSDN. All requests for the value above specified would return 0. Default: 0 (IsProcessorFeaturePresent always returns 0).
SimulateAdminRights = 1. Lie to installers that call OpenSCManager function to determine that it is running as administrator, allowing these programs to run without elevation. Redirect the "common start menu" and similar folders to the per-user folders.
You can fake the OS version to a running program. Default XP SP3:
OSVersionLo=dword:00000001
OSVersionHi=dword:00000005
OSVersionBuild=dword:00000a28
OSServicepackLo=dword:00000000
OSServicepackHi=dword:00000003
Some information on the project internals may appear in my blog: http://mamaich-eng.blogspot.ru, but this thread on XDA would be the main discussion place.
I may be missing something...but this won't run for me. The exe just tells me it can't be run like normal exe does. I am jailbroken and can run arm compiled exe.
That is very impressive, mamaich.
lucas.scott said:
I may be missing something...but this won't run for me. The exe just tells me it can't be run like normal exe does. I am jailbroken and can run arm compiled exe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reread the directions ?
I don't have an ARM tablet to test this on, but this type of development is what will get me onto an ARM tablet for the next go-round. I love my S7S, but I really hated paying the price.
dan-htc-touch said:
Reread the directions ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ugh...embarassed.
Great work mamaich. Thank you!
Notepad from Windows 95 seems to run too.
wow,this is an awesome project!
Amazing! Thank you!!!!!!!
Would you mind giving a technical explanation?
mamaich said:
I'm presenting a prototype of a tool that allows running Windows programs compiled for a desktop PC (x86) on an unlocked Windows RT (arm) tablet. The tool emulates x86 instructions and passes Windows API calls to WinRT kernel with necessary modifications.
This build is an early alpha version. It can run only very simple apps that use rather small subset of Win32 API that I've already implemented. Archive contains clock.exe from NT4 distribution as an example of such app. As I'll continue work on the project - the list of supported applications would grow up.
This tool would support only 32-bit windows native applications. It would not allow running drivers or .NET apps that were written for old .NET versions nor Win16 or DOS apps. And current version supports emulation only of EXE files that contain relocations section (this would be fixed later).
Instructions:
1. Unlock your device with this tool: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2092158
2. Unzip the archive to any directory
3. Run _start_clock.cmd
This would execute the clock.exe from NT4 in the emulation mode.
This post would be updated as I'll make more progress.
Note: This is an early alpha version, and do not expect that it would run anything except the provided file. Do not ask me what programs would be supported and when the next builds would appear - I don't know, as I work on this project only on spare time. I would not publish the complete sources of the tool, but it would be extensible by users, and some plugins (at least bochs/dosbox emulation engines and some of the API wrappers) would be opensource.
"Yact" in the file names stands for "yet another code translator", it was the original name of the project.
Edited 13.01.2012:
- added a few ARM WinAPI workarounds, added calc.exe as a second example (run _start_calc.cmd).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
heh, is this a port of the app you showed off back in the CE days? -awesome getting that ported over
This is great, really opens up a lot more things and means that we don't need to recompile everything either.
heh, is this a port of the app you showed off back in the CE days? -awesome getting that ported over
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not exactly a port, it is a clean remake based on the old ideas.
clrokr said:
Would you mind giving a technical explanation?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The idea is very simple:
- a PE file loader (load files, process relocs, run TLS callbacks in an emulation mode). Support import loops (DLL A imports B while B imports A), ordinals, etc.
- a set of wrapper x86 DLLs (kernel32_stub.dll and so on) that "look like" the corresponding Win API functions for an emulated program:
Code:
#define DEFINE_FUNC1(name) \
static const ModuleDef str_##name={DLL_NAME,#name}; \
EXTERN_C DW STUB_EXPORT stub_##name(DW p1) \
{ \
DW *p=&p1; \
__asm { mov eax,p } \
__asm { jmp f1 } \
__asm { mov eax,offset str_##name } \
f1: __asm { in eax,0xe5 } \
__asm { mov p,eax } \
return (DW)p; \
}
.....
#define DEFINE_FUNC3(name) \
static const ModuleDef str_##name={DLL_NAME,#name}; \
EXTERN_C DW STUB_EXPORT stub_##name(DW p1,DW p2,DW p3) \
{ \
DW *p=&p1; \
__asm { mov eax,p } \
__asm { jmp f1 } \
__asm { mov eax,offset str_##name } \
f1: __asm { in eax,0xe5 } \
__asm { mov p,eax } \
return (DW)p; \
}
....
DEFINE_FUNC1(AddAtomA)
DEFINE_FUNC1(AddAtomW)
DEFINE_FUNC7(CreateFileA) -- number in macro == number of parameters to a __stdcall WinAPI function.
Compiler automatically generates "ret N*4" at the end of such function.
I've decided to use such c+asm approach instead of making a tiny assebler stub,
as I can easily implement some of such functions in C directly in a stub DLL plus it
simplifies debugging. And the functions have a usual C prologue/epilogue, so that
the emulated program may even patch them in runtime, for example for hooks.
...
- a 32-bit x86 emulation engine (currently 2 engines: from bochs and from dosbox, planning on adding my own) that intercepts the command "in eax,0xe5", determines which API is needed by a program and passes it to a handler.
- native (arm) API handler DLLs (kernel32_yact.dll and so on). They are mostly autogenerated too:
Code:
#define DEFINE_FUNC1(name) \
EXTERN_C DW STUB_IMPORT name(DW); \ -- this behaves like a function prototype to compiler
EXTERN_C DW STUB_EXPORT yact_##name(DW *R) \ -- R - pointer to the x86 stack
{ \
DW r=name(p1); \ // call the func passing it paramers from the emulated stack, p1==R[0], p2==R[1] and so on
LEAVE(1); \ // empty macro, as the stack is unwinded in x86 stub DLL now
return r; \
}
...
#define DEFINE_FUNC3(name) \
EXTERN_C DW STUB_IMPORT name(DW,DW,DW); \
EXTERN_C DW STUB_EXPORT yact_##name(DW *R) \
{ \
DW r=name(p1,p2,p3); \
LEAVE(3); \
return r; \
}
...
DEFINE_FUNC1(AddAtomA)
DEFINE_FUNC1(AddAtomW)
DEFINE_FUNC7(CreateFileA) // as you see - implementation part is identical to an x86 stub, so I can use the same stub-generator tool
Some of the functions require complex emulation due to their absence in ARM or due to the callbacks to x86 code:
Code:
static DWORD WINAPI ThreadProc(
LPVOID lpParameter // [0] == orig func, [1] == orig param
)
{
__EXCEPTION_REGISTRATION_RECORD R;
DWORD *Parm=(DWORD*)lpParameter;
DWORD *TEB=(DWORD*)PeLdrGetCurrentTeb();
R.Next=(__EXCEPTION_REGISTRATION_RECORD*)-1;
R.Handler=(void*)CbReturnToHost();
TEB[0]=(DWORD)&R; // in case of unhandled exception - just return
PeLdrNotifyNewThread(NULL,DLL_THREAD_ATTACH);
DWORD Ret=EmuExecute(Parm[0],1,Parm[1]); // 1 == number of parameters to the emulated function
delete Parm;
return Ret;
}
EXTERN_C DW STUB_EXPORT yact_CreateThread(DW *R)
{
DWORD* Parm=new DWORD[2];
Parm[0]=p3; // TODO: no out-of-memory checking for now
Parm[1]=p4;
DWORD StackSize=p2;
if(StackSize)
StackSize+=1024*1024; // I reserve some space for my own needs (debugging)
else
StackSize=2*1024*1024; // TODO: I don't support autogrow stacks, so reserve 2 Mb
DWORD t=(DWORD)CreateThread((LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES)p1,StackSize,ThreadProc,Parm,p5,(LPDWORD)p6);
LEAVE(6);
return t;
}
Some of the COM interfaces are already implemented, for example DirectDraw and DirectSound, though not heavily debugged. On a desktop emulator build I can already run "Heroes of might and magic 3" and old WinRAR, but there are several RT-specific OS limitations I need to bypass before making them run on ARM. Current work in progress is: overcoming the RT limitations, manually implementing the API functions that callback to a program code (like CreateThread, RegisterClassA and so on), adding stubs for other system DLLs/COM objects.
Manually thrown SEH exceptions are fully supported, but access violation, int3 and similar OS-generated exceptions would cause program to crash. Some of the TEB fields (TLS and the fields required by the Borland compilers) are implemented too.
I don't make pointer translation in an emulated code nor make parameter checks passed to API. As a side-effect - the emulated program may trash the emulator in memory, but this greatly increases speed.
Most of the x86 EXE files don't contain relocations section and need to be loaded on the specific addresses (typically 0x400000). This is not a problem on a desktop, as I can rebase my emulator's EXE to any address I need, and free the corresponding RAM addrs for emulated program, but on ARM - this is a main problem. So currently only EXEs with relocs are supported for emulation, but there are ways to overcome this problem. And some EXEs produced by old Borland compilers contain "broken" relocs, this is a small problem too.
HI mamaich, sorry for disturbing you, may i know how do you compile visual studio project for arm ?, i already change windowsarmdesktop to true. But i can't find arm options in build settings. Any suggestion ?
rheza02 said:
HI mamaich, sorry for disturbing you, may i know how do you compile visual studio project for arm ?, i already change windowsarmdesktop to true. But i can't find arm options in build settings. Any suggestion ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is completely unrelated to the topic and has been covered in at least 3 threads, multiple times in each, in the past couple days. Use the search function.
netham45 said:
This is completely unrelated to the topic and has been covered in at least 3 threads, multiple times in each, in the past couple days. Use the search function.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, and I've answered it here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=36644799&postcount=131
Wow, this is awesome work! While recompiling (for native speed, lower memory footprint, launch time, lower battery usage, script transparency, etc.) is still obviously preferred, this finally offers a way to run closed-source or otherwise un-recompilable legacy apps. Well done; I'll be watching this closely.
A thought for making it easier to run the apps (including the aforementioned script transparency): Windows (at least on x86 and x64, and I'm pretty sure on ARM too) supports specifying executable names that, when they would be executed, are instead passed as a parameter to another executable. This is usually used for testing or debugging purposes (for example, always load a given app under a debugger or have Application Verifier hook into it at launch) but it can be used for other purposes too. One, which would be fantastic here, is to always run a program through a compatibility layer... I've never before seen it used for a full instruction set translation compatibility layer, but why not?
Create the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\<IMAGE FILE NAME>
i.e. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\starcraft.exe
Then create a REG_SZ (String) value under that key called "Debugger" and set the value to the full path of the program you want to host the executable.
i.e. C:\Program Files\x86_peldr\peldr.exe
Source: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/824344
I can't promise that this will work for executable images that wouldn't be loadable normally, but it's probably worth a shot. Another, slightly less seamless option: change the extension of the executables (for example, starcraft.ex86) and register your app as the handler for that file type.
GoodDayToDie said:
Wow, this is awesome work! While recompiling (for native speed, lower memory footprint, launch time, lower battery usage, script transparency, etc.) is still obviously preferred, this finally offers a way to run closed-source or otherwise un-recompilable legacy apps. Well done; I'll be watching this closely.
A thought for making it easier to run the apps (including the aforementioned script transparency): Windows (at least on x86 and x64, and I'm pretty sure on ARM too) supports specifying executable names that, when they would be executed, are instead passed as a parameter to another executable. This is usually used for testing or debugging purposes (for example, always load a given app under a debugger or have Application Verifier hook into it at launch) but it can be used for other purposes too. One, which would be fantastic here, is to always run a program through a compatibility layer... I've never before seen it used for a full instruction set translation compatibility layer, but why not?
Create the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\<IMAGE FILE NAME>
i.e. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\starcraft.exe
Then create a REG_SZ (String) value under that key called "Debugger" and set the value to the full path of the program you want to host the executable.
i.e. C:\Program Files\x86_peldr\peldr.exe
Source: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/824344
I can't promise that this will work for executable images that wouldn't be loadable normally, but it's probably worth a shot. Another, slightly less seamless option: change the extension of the executables (for example, starcraft.ex86) and register your app as the handler for that file type.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I was thinking of for doing that was hooking the 'This doesn't run on this PC' error that explorer gives and making it call this instead of the error.
Nice... but that doesn't cover things like launching a program from the command line (script or manually), or one program launching another, or launching Windows services (although I'm not sure you'd want to emulate those anyhow... the battery hit would suck), or so on. Still an interesting goal.
One other thought for the "it'd-be-awesome" list (not even really a wish-list): support doing this for DLLs loaded into other processes (i.e. somehow get between LoadLibrary and the x86 binary, and interpose your translator). Why, you ask? Plugins. Browser plugins, media codecs (which are DLLs, whatever their extension), Control Panel files, COM objects in general, etc.
1. run envsetup.sh
[email protected]:~/Android$ . ./build/envsetup.sh
after this, there would be some extra commands available:
- croot: Changes directory to the top of the tree.
- m: Makes from the top of the tree.
- mm: Builds all of the modules in the current directory.
- mmm: Builds all of the modules in the supplied directories.
- cgrep: Greps on all local C/C++ files.
- jgrep: Greps on all local Java files.
- resgrep: Greps on all local res/*.xml files.
- godir: Go to the directory containing a file.
2. use mmm to build the module, such as Email app:
[email protected]:~/Android$ mmm packages/apps/Email/
After building, there would be one Email.apk in out/target/product/generic/system/app, where all app files are located here. Also, out/target/product/generic/system/bin for exexcutable, out/target/product/generic/system/lib for library, and out/target/product/generic/system/lib/hw for HAL interface files.
3. repack system.img
[email protected]:~/Android$ make snod
4. run emulator
[email protected]:~/Android$ emulator
about "inside android"
Hi, all.
As experienced android developers or just beginners, sometimes you might have questions about what's going on inside android. Such as how activity starts, how service starts, etc. If we look into the code, we might have the answer, but it takes time and much effort. In fact, there's millions of lines of source code in android. Fortunately, Shengyang Luo wrote a book in chinese to clarify all these questions, with all the related knowledge he got in these years as an experienced engineer of linux/android. Now, he and I decide this book belongs to the android family, so to make more people get benefit from it, we will rewrite it in English.
Also, we want this book to be more adapted to your need, we might share the outline and part of the content of the book here, so that we all can discuss it while rewriting it. We might change the book according to your advice. For example, there might be more details for the parts you are most interested. To do this, we will have pilot PPTs and passages soon. The pilot topics would be as below:
Android design philosophy--everything is component
Initializing a Build/developing/debugging Environment for Android
Android architecture
Hardware Abstraction Layer(HAL)
drivers specific to android
process management
messaging handling
input handling
UI architecture
resource management framework
Dalvik virtual machine
Which is most interested to you? Please share with us, and we will make it available ASAP.
We haven't talked with any press for publishing yet. So if any press is interested in publishing this book, please contact me. As you all know, writing is a tough job, especially when the book is regarding such a complicated android os system, so cheers, encouragement and funding are welcomed badly. Funding would help us not worry about making a living and dedicate to the writing or even hire some people to accelerate the progress. For funding, please visit indiegogo.com and search "inside android".
The book would have 3 parts: say hello to android, drivers specific to android and understanding android in scenes. The first 2 parts are foundation knowledge for the third part, which is the major part of the book.
Part I say hello to android includes 3 chapters, and introduces how to download the source code, build it, run it, smart pointer and Hardware Abstraction Layer(HAL). Since smart pointer is widely used in the native code of application framework, it would be very helpful if we get to know it before we dive into the scenes. Knowing HAL would help us understand the architecture of android, and then make the third part easier to learn.
Part II drivers specific to android also includes 3 chapters, introducing 3 drivers specific to android: Logger Driver, Binder IPC Driver and Ashmem Shared Memory Driver. No doubt, these 3 drivers, especially the Binder IPC Driver, are the foundation of android. knowing about them would definitely help understand android.
Part III understanding android in scenes includes more than 10 chapters, and introduces android in different scenes, such as the start of something(activity, service, zygote, service manager, etc.), process management, messaging handling etc.
The book is based on android 2.3. If needed, we can rewrite it on newer version.
Below is the outline of the book:
Part I: say hello to android
chapter 1 prerequisite
1.1 reference books on Linux kernel
1.2 reference books on Android application developing
1.3 download, build and run Android source code
1.3.1 download Android source code
1.3.2 build Android source code
1.3.3 run Android emulator
1.4 download, build and run Android kernel source code
1.4.1 download Android kernel source code
1.4.2 build Android kernel source code
1.4.3 run Android emulator
1.5 develop one Android application(example)
1.6 build and pack Android module independently
1.6.1 mmm: Builds all of the modules in the supplied directories
1.6.2 build one Android module independently
1.6.3 repack Android images
chapter 2 Hardware Abstraction Layer(HAL)
2.1 develop Android hardware driver
2.1.1 implementation of one kernel driver
2.1.2 modify Kconfig of the kernel
2.1.3 modify Makefile of the kernel
2.1.4 build the driver
2.1.5 test the driver
2.2 test the driver with C executable
2.3 develop HAL module
2.3.1 specification for HAL module
2.3.2 interface for HAL module
2.3.3 load the HAL module
2.3.4 access permission for the hardware
2.4 develop service to the Android hardware
2.4.1 defite the service interface to hardware
2.4.2 implementation of the service
2.4.3 JNI interface for the service
2.4.4 start of the service
2.5 Android application on the service to hardware
chapter 3 smart pointer
3.1 light weight pointer
3.1.1 implementation
3.1.2 example
3.2 strong pointer and weak pointer
3.2.1 strong pointer
3.2.2 weak pointer
3.2.3 example
Part II: drivers specific to android
chapter 4 Logger driver
4.1 Logger format
4.2 Logger driver
4.2.1 data structure
4.2.2 initialization
4.2.3 open the Logger driver
4.2.4 read the log
4.2.5 write the log
4.3 runtime library for the Logger driver
4.4 log interface for C/C++
4.5 log interface for Java
4.6 Logcat tool
4.6.1 data structure
4.6.2 initialization
4.6.3 read the log
4.6.4 output the log
chapter 5 Binder IPC Driver
5.1 Binder driver
5.1.1 data structure
5.1.2 initialization
5.1.3 open
5.1.4 mapping to the memory
5.1.5 kernel cache management
5.2 runtime library for Binder IPC Driver
5.3 example for Binder IPC Driver application
5.4 counting for Binder object reference
5.4.1 lifecycle of Binder local object
5.4.2 lifecycle of Binder instance
5.4.3 lifecycle of Binder reference
5.4.4 lifecycle of Binder proxy
5.5 Binder object death notification
5.5.1 register death notification
5.5.2 send death notification
5.5.3 unregister death notification
5.6 start of Service Manager
5.6.1 open and mapping on Binder
5.6.2 register as Binder context manager
5.6.3 wait for the Client request in loop
5.7 getting the Service Manager proxy
5.8 start of Service
5.8.1 register Service
5.8.2 start of Binder thread pool
5.9 how to get Service proxy
5.10 Java interface for Binder IPC Driver
5.10.1 getting the Java proxy of Service Manager
5.10.2 define the Java service
5.10.3 start of Java service
5.10.4 getting Java service proxy
5.10.5 calling Java service
chapter 6 Ashmem Shared Memory Driver
6.1 Ashmem driver
6.1.1 data structure
6.1.2 initialization
6.1.3 open
6.1.4 mapping to the memory
6.1.5 lock and unlock
6.1.6 recycle
6.2 Ashmem interface in runtime library cutils
6.3 C++ interface for Ashmem
6.3.1 MemoryHeapBase
6.3.2 MemoryBase
6.3.3 example
6.4 Java interface for Ashmem
6.4.1 MemoryFile
6.4.2 example
6.5 how Ashmem shares memory
Part III: understanding android in scenes
chapter 7 start of Activity
7.1 Activity example
7.2 start of root Activity
7.3 start of child Activity in the same process
7.4 start of child Activity in the new process
chapter 8 start of Service
8.1 Service example
8.2 start of Service in the same process
8.3 start of Service in the new process
chapter 9 Broadcast
9.1 example
9.2 register
9.3 send
chapter 10 Content Provider
10.1 Content Provider example
10.1.1 ArticlesProvider
10.1.2 Article
10.2 start of Content Provider
10.3 data sharing of Content Provider
10.3.1 data sharing model
10.3.2 data transmission
10.4 Content Provider's notification for data Change
10.4.1 register ContentObserver
10.4.2 send notification for data Change
chapter 11 start of Zygote and System process
11.1 start script of Zygote process
11.2 start of Zygote
11.3 start of System
chapter 12 start of Android application
12.1 creation of application process
12.2 start of Binder thread pool
12.3 creation of message loop
chapter 13 message handling
13.1 creation of message queue
13.2 message cycle
13.3 message sending
13.4 message handling
chapter 14 keyboard message handling
14.1 keyboard message handling model
14.2 start of InputManager
14.2.1 creation of InputManager
14.2.2 start of InputManager
14.2.3 start of InputDispatcher
14.2.4 start of InputReader
14.3 register InputChannel
14.3.1 creation of InputChannel
14.3.2 register InputChannel of server side
14.3.3 register the window of currently activated application
14.3.4 register InputChannel of client side
14.4 Dispatch of the keyboard message
14.4.1 InputReader gets keyboard event
14.4.2 InputDispatcher dispatch keyboard event
14.4.3 the window of currently activated application gets keyboard message
14.4.4 InputDispatcher gets notification when the keyboard event handling is done
14.5 unregister InputChannel
14.5.1 destroy application window
14.5.2 unregister InputChannel of client side
14.5.3 unregister InputChannel of server side
chapter 15 message loop model of Android application thread
15.1 message loop model of application main thread
15.2 message loop model of nongraphic application child thread
15.3 message loop model of graphic application child thread
chapter 16 installation and showup of Android application
16.1 installation of application
16.2 showup of application
chapter 17 UI system
17.1 UI architecture
17.2 application UI framework
17.3 WindowManagerService
17.4 SurfaceFlinger
17.5 Multiple Display support
chapter 18 resource management framework
18.1 resource management framework
18.2 compilation of resource
18.3 search for resource
chapter 19 Dalvik virtual machine(DVM)
19.1 introduction
19.2 start of DVM
19.3 execution of DVM
19.4 register JNI methods
19.5 DVM process
19.6 DVM thread