Pro Android Scripting with SL4A: Writing Android Native Apps Using Python, Lua, and Beanshell

309 Pages·2011·7.41 MB·English

by  Paul Ferrill

Pro Android Python with SL4A Copyright © 2011 by Paul Ferrill
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ISBN-13 (pbk): 978-1-43023569-9
ISBN-13 (electronic): 978-1-4302-3570-5
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President and Publisher: Paul Manning Lead Editor: Tom Welsh
Technical Reviewer: Justin Grammens Editorial Board: Steve Anglin, Mark
Beckner, Ewan Buckingham, Gary Cornell, Jonathan Gennick,
Jonathan Hassell, Michelle Lowman, James Markham, Matthew Moodie,
Jeff Olson, Jeffrey
Pepper, Frank Pohlmann, Douglas Pundick, Ben Renow-Clarke, Dominic
Shakeshaft, Matt
Wade, Tom Welsh Coordinating Editors: Mary Tobin, Corbin Collins
Copy Editor: Nancy Sixsmith
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To my wife, Sandy, for your tireless support of me and our family. I could not
have done this without you.
And to my wonderful children who put up with a preoccupied daddy for way too
long.
—Paul Ferrill
Contents at a Glance
About the Author
About the Technical Reviewer
Acknowledgments
Preface
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Getting Started
Chapter 3: Navigating the Android SDK
Chapter 4: Developing with Eclipse
Chapter 5: Exploring the Android API
Chapter 6: Background Scripting with Python
Chapter 7: Python Scripting Utilities
Chapter 8: Python Dialog Box–based GUIs
Chapter 9: Python GUIs with HTML
Chapter 10: Packaging and Distributing
Index
Contents
About the Author
About the Technical Reviewer
Acknowledgments
Preface
Chapter 1: Introduction
Why SL4A?
The World of Android
Android Application Anatomy
Activities
Intents
SL4A History
SL4A Architecture
SL4A Concepts
JavaScript Object Notation (JSON)
Events
Languages
Beanshell 2.0b4
Lua 5.1.4
Perl 5.10.1
PHP 5.3.3
Rhino 1.7R2
JRuby 1.4
Shell
Python
Summary
Chapter 2: Getting Started
Installing SL4A on the Device
Installing the Android SDK
Linux
Mac OS X
Windows
Installing Python
Remotely Connecting to the Device
Device Settings
Executing Simple Programs
Summary
Chapter 3: Navigating the Android SDK
Wading Through the SDK Documentation
Examining the Different SDK Components
Testing With the Android Emulator
Android Debug Bridge
Dalvik Debug Monitor Service (DDMS)
Summary
Chapter 4: Developing with Eclipse
Installing Eclipse on a Development Machine
Eclipse Basics
Perspectives
Projects
Android Development Toolkit
Using Pydev
Using Multiple File Types in Eclipse
Summary
Chapter 5: Exploring the Android API
Exploring the Android APIs
Android Facades
ActivityResultFacade
AndroidFacade
ApplicationManagerFacade
BatteryManagerFacade
BluetoothFacade
CameraFacade
CommonIntentsFacade
ContactsFacade
EventFacade
EyesFreeFacade
LocationFacade
MediaPlayerFacade
MediaRecorderFacade
PhoneFacade
PreferencesFacade
SensorManagerFacade
SettingsFacade
SignalStrengthFacade
SmsFacade
SpeechRecognitionFacade
TextToSpeechFacade
ToneGeneratorFacade
UiFacade
WakeLockFacade
WebCamFacade
WifiFacade
Summary
Chapter 6: Background Scripting with Python
Background Tasks
Triggers
Orientation-based Actions
Location-based Actions
Time-based Actions
Elapsed Time-based Triggers
FTP File Sync Tool
Syncing Photos with Flickr
Syncing with Google Docs
A Startup Launcher
Summary
Chapter 7: Python Scripting Utilities
Python Libraries
E-mail–Based Applications
Location-Aware Applications
Tweet My Location
Killing a Running App
URL File Retriever
Python FTP Server
Summary
Chapter 8: Python Dialog Box–based GUIs
UI Basics
Book Title Search
Convenience Dialog Boxes
Progress Dialog Boxes
Modal versus Non–Modal Dialog Boxes
Options Menu
File Listing with dialogCreateAlert
Dialog Boxes as Python Objects
Podplayer App
Building the mysettings App
Summary
Chapter 9: Python GUIs with HTML
HTML and Basic Information Display
HTML and JavaScript
HTML GUI Form Basics
Simple HTML Forms
Cascading Style Sheets
SMS Merger
Summary
Chapter 10: Packaging and Distributing
QR Codes
Application Packages
Packaging Your Own Application
Building with Ant
Compiling SL4A
Finishing Touches
Winding Down
Summary
Index