Develop Reference

Connect Android App to Github API

I've been checking around for some time, but still can't find information on this how exactly to connect my android app to the Github API. I had it registered, had a token as well, read about the endpoints and everything, but cannot understand where the token to be used. May somebody give me a hint?

I've used below code to connect to GitHub Search Repo API in my android app.
//Method 1: To Authorize API access for all HTTP call
//Uncomment this part of code and input your username and password
// Authenticator.setDefault(new Authenticator() {
// #Override
// protected PasswordAuthentication getPasswordAuthentication() {
// return new PasswordAuthentication("username", "password".toCharArray());
// }
// });
HttpURLConnection urlConnection;
URL url;
InputStream inputStream;
try{
url = new URL("https://api.github.com/search/repositories?q="+"searchText");
urlConnection = (HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();
//Method 2: To Authorize API access while making HTTP request
//Uncomment this part of code and input your username and password
// String basicAuth = "Basic "+Base64.encodeToString("username:password".getBytes(), Base64.NO_WRAP);
// urlConnection.setRequestProperty ("Authorization", basicAuth);
//set request type
urlConnection.setRequestMethod("GET");
//if you uncomment the following line GitHub API will not respond
// urlConnection.setDoOutput(true);
urlConnection.setDoInput(true);
urlConnection.connect();
//check for HTTP response
int httpStatus = urlConnection.getResponseCode();
//if HTTP response is 200 i.e. HTTP_OK read inputstream else read errorstream
if (httpStatus != HttpURLConnection.HTTP_OK) {
inputStream = urlConnection.getErrorStream();
//print GitHub api hearder data
Map<String, List<String>> map = urlConnection.getHeaderFields();
System.out.println("Printing Response Header...\n");
for (Map.Entry<String, List<String>> entry : map.entrySet()) {
System.out.println(entry.getKey()
+ " : " + entry.getValue());
}
}
else {
inputStream = urlConnection.getInputStream();
}
//read inputstream
BufferedReader bufferedReader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(inputStream));
String temp,response="";
while((temp = bufferedReader.readLine())!=null){
response+=temp;
}
//GitHub api has limit to access over http.
//Api rate limit is 10req/min for unauthenticated user and 30req/min is for authenticated user
boolean apiLimitExceeded = "false";
if(response.contains("API rate limit exceeded")){
apiLimitExceeded =true;
}else {
//convert data string into JSONObject
JSONObject obj = (JSONObject) new JSONTokener(response).nextValue();
JSONArray items = obj.getJSONArray("items");
//total result count and result status
total_count = obj.getString("total_count");
incomplete_results = obj.getString("incomplete_results");
}
urlConnection.disconnect();
} catch (MalformedURLException | ProtocolException | JSONException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
Check out my GitHub project to get a complete idea on how to use GitHub search repo API in Android App.
Link: https://github.com/kvipul/Search-GitHub-Repo
There are many filters that GitHub API provides. Check out the Documentation of GitHub search API for more details -https://developer.github.com/v3/search/

Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) with local device groups on Android gives HTTP Error code 401

I am trying to get Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) to work on Android with local device groups as described on https://developers.google.com/cloud-messaging/android/client-device-group .
I have enabled the following services in the web console ( https://console.developers.google.com ):
Google Cloud Messaging for Android
Google Cloud Pub/Sub
Google+ API
I have also created the following credentials:
API key (with specified package name and SHA-1 certificate keyprint)
OAuth 2.0 client IDs (Web application)
My Android code looks as follows (error handling etc. has been stripped):
String account = ACCOUNT_NAME; // E.g. "johndoe#google.com"
String scope = "audience:server:client_id:" + WEB_APPLICATION_CLIENT_ID;
String token = GoogleAuthUtil.getToken(context, account, scope);
// Token is successfully found here :-)
URL url = new URL("https://android.googleapis.com/gcm/notification");
HttpURLConnection connection = (HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();
connection.setRequestMethod("POST");
connection.setDoOutput(true);
connection.setDoInput(true);
connection.setRequestProperty("project_id", NUMERICAL_PROJECT_ID);
connection.setRequestProperty("Content-Type", "application/json");
connection.setRequestProperty("Accept", "application/json");
connection.connect();
JSONObject requestBody = new JSONObject();
requestBody.put("operation", "add");
requestBody.put("notification_key_name", "foobar");
requestBody.put("registration_ids",
new JSONArray(Arrays.asList(new String[]{"42", "44"})));
requestBody.put("id_token", token);
OutputStream os = connection.getOutputStream();
os.write(requestBody.toString().getBytes("UTF-8"));
os.close();
// connection.getResponseCode() is now 401
The submitted JSON to https://android.googleapis.com/gcm/notification looks something like this:
{
"operation": "add",
"notification_key_name": "foobar",
"registration_ids": ["42","44"],
"id_token": "[veeeeeery long string]"
}
The response contents is:
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Unauthorized</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000">
<H1>Unauthorized</H1>
<H2>Error 401</H2>
</BODY>
</HTML>
What am I doing wrong?

Found the trick: you are using a google account to take the id_token, you need to use EXACTLY the email as notification_key_name. So if you are using foo#gmail.com, you need to use this address as notification_key_name.

Here's the recap, based on the correct answer by greywolf82. The correct code should follow these principles (error handling etc. has been stripped):
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Working example on how to create a locally (client-side) managed //
// device group for Google Cloud Messaging. //
// //
// Thanks to greywolf82 for adding the final piece. //
// Please vote on his answer. Thank you! //
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Get token:
String account = ACCOUNT_NAME; // E.g. "johndoe#gmail.com"
String scope = "audience:server:client_id:" + WEB_APPLICATION_CLIENT_ID;
String idToken = GoogleAuthUtil.getToken(context, account, scope);
// Get registration id:
InstanceID instanceID = InstanceID.getInstance(this);
String registration_id = instanceID.getToken(
getString(R.string.gcm_defaultSenderId),
GoogleCloudMessaging.INSTANCE_ID_SCOPE, null);
// Set up HTTP connection:
URL url = new URL("https://android.googleapis.com/gcm/googlenotification");
HttpURLConnection connection = (HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();
connection.setRequestMethod("POST");
connection.setDoOutput(true);
connection.setDoInput(true);
connection.setRequestProperty("project_id", NUMERICAL_PROJECT_ID);
connection.setRequestProperty("Content-Type", "application/json");
connection.setRequestProperty("Accept", "application/json");
connection.connect();
JSONObject requestBody = new JSONObject();
requestBody.put("operation", "add");
requestBody.put("notification_key_name", ACCOUNT_NAME); // You *must* use the email!
requestBody.put("registration_ids",
new JSONArray(Arrays.asList(new String[]{registration_id})));
requestBody.put("id_token", idToken);
// Submit request body
OutputStream os = connection.getOutputStream();
os.write(requestBody.toString().getBytes("UTF-8"));
os.close();
// connection.getResponseCode() is now 200 :-)
// Now read the server response contents from connection.getInputStream()
The submitted JSON to https://android.googleapis.com/gcm/notification looks something like this:
{
"operation": "add",
"notification_key_name": "johndoe#gmail.com",
"registration_ids": ["very long string here"],
"id_token": "another very long string"
}
The response contents is:
{
"notification_key": "your notification key is here --- voilá!"
}

This is how it is done using the SERVER_API_KEY (not best practice, but the best I have arrived at yet):
First, get an application instance id:
InstanceID instanceID = InstanceID.getInstance(this);
String token = instanceID.getToken(getString(R.string.gcm_defaultSenderId),
GoogleCloudMessaging.INSTANCE_ID_SCOPE, null);
// Variable "token" now has the instance id. :-)
Next, get the messaging id token:
String account = ACCOUNT_NAME; // E.g. "johndoe#google.com"
String scope = "audience:server:client_id:" + WEB_APPLICATION_CLIENT_ID;
String idToken = GoogleAuthUtil.getToken(context, account, scope);
// Variable "idToken" now hods the messaging id token. :-)
Now to the magic part. Create a new device group with the instance Id as a member:
URL url = new URL("https://gcm-http.googleapis.com/gcm/notification"); // <-- Use this URL!
HttpURLConnection connection = (HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();
connection.setRequestMethod("POST");
connection.setDoOutput(true);
connection.setDoInput(true);
connection.setRequestProperty("Authorization", "key=" + SERVER_API_KEY); // <--- Auth!
connection.setRequestProperty("project_id", NUMERICAL_PROJECT_ID);
connection.setRequestProperty("Content-Type", "application/json");
connection.setRequestProperty("Accept", "application/json");
connection.connect();
JSONObject requestBody = new JSONObject();
requestBody.put("operation", "create"); // <--- Not "add"
requestBody.put("notification_key_name", "foobar");
requestBody.put("registration_ids",
new JSONArray(Arrays.asList(new String[]{token}))); // <--- Instance Id token here!
requestBody.put("id_token", idToken);
OutputStream os = connection.getOutputStream();
os.write(requestBody.toString().getBytes("UTF-8"));
os.close();
InputStream is = connection.getInputStream();
String responseString = new Scanner(is, "UTF-8").useDelimiter("\\A").next();
is.close();
JSONObject response = new JSONObject(responseString);
Log.d(TAG, "Server response:\n" + response.toString(4));
String notificationKey = response.getString("notification_key");
At this point, the variable "notificationKey" holds the notification key which is the recipient that must be used when sending messages to this device group.
Send a message like this (use the "notificationKey" value as parameter as receipient from above):
private void sendMessage(String recipient) throws IOException, JSONException {
Log.i(TAG, "Sending message to: " + recipient);
URL url = new URL("https://gcm-http.googleapis.com/gcm/send");
HttpURLConnection connection = (HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();
connection.setRequestMethod("POST");
connection.setDoOutput(true);
connection.setDoInput(true);
Log.d(TAG, "Opening connection to " + url.toString());
connection.setRequestProperty("Authorization", "key=" + SERVER_API_KEY);
connection.setRequestProperty("Content-Type", "application/json");
connection.setRequestProperty("Accept", "application/json");
connection.connect();
JSONObject requestBody = new JSONObject();
requestBody.put("to", recipient);
JSONObject requestData = new JSONObject();
requestData.put("hello", "Hello World!");
requestData.put("hellodata", "42");
requestBody.put("data", requestData);
Log.d(TAG, "Request body:\n" + requestBody.toString(4));
OutputStream os = connection.getOutputStream();
os.write(requestBody.toString().getBytes("UTF-8"));
os.close();
Log.d(TAG, "Response code: " + connection.getResponseCode());
InputStream is = connection.getInputStream();
String responseString = new Scanner(is, "UTF-8").useDelimiter("\\A").next();
is.close();
}
I have not succeeded in doing this without using the server API key. It might be worthwhile to investigate with different Authorization header values on the https://http.googleapis.com/gcm/googlenotification endpoint.
Hopefully this makes sense. Have fun. :-)

Not able to POST to REST API

Today I'm making my first attempt of sending a POST request with a JSON to save some data, and I'm not being able to do so.
My app works by signing in, and then save, modify and delete data. It's already done in iOS, but since I'm new to Android, I'm not sure how to do it.
Here's my POST function:
public String POST(String targetURL, String urlParameters, String user, String pwd) {
URL url;
String u = targetURL;
HttpURLConnection connection = null;
try {
// Create connection
// u=URLEncoder.encode(u, "UTF-8");
url = new URL(u);
connection = (HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();
// cambiarlo luego al usuario q esta logeado
String login = user + ":" + pwd;
String encoding = new String(org.apache.commons.codec.binary.Base64.encodeBase64(org.apache.commons.codec.binary.StringUtils.getBytesUtf8(login)));
connection.setRequestMethod("POST");
connection.setRequestProperty("Authorization", "Basic " + encoding);
connection.setRequestProperty("Content-Type", "plain/text");// hace q sirva con el string de json
connection.setRequestProperty("Content-Length", "" + Integer.toString(urlParameters.getBytes().length));
connection.setRequestProperty("Content-Language", "en-US");
connection.setUseCaches(false);
connection.setDoInput(true);
connection.setDoOutput(true);
connection.setReadTimeout(120000);
// Send request
DataOutputStream wr = new DataOutputStream(connection.getOutputStream());
wr.writeBytes(urlParameters);
wr.flush();
wr.close();
// Get Response
InputStream is = connection.getInputStream();
BufferedReader rd = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(is));
String line;
StringBuffer response = new StringBuffer();
this.setResponseCode(connection.getResponseCode());
while ((line = rd.readLine()) != null) {
response.append(line);
response.append('\r');
}
rd.close();
return response.toString();
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
return null;
} finally {
if (connection != null) {
connection.disconnect();
}
}
}
The method above is executed with Asynctask, and even if I use it to Login using Spring security, it works, and even I can save for internal usage the username, password, and secret token.
I dunno if I need to put the token in a header or something, because I already did that, with no positive results.
I'm supposing that the only permission I need to execute this is the internet one, so in my manifest file I specified that permission.
I'm going crazy with this issue, please help!
Thanks in advance.
EDIT:
Sorry guys, I'm kinda new to this way of asking, and also, not an English native speaker :P
The output I receive after sending the request, is the HTML of the page that handles logging in into the web app... I need like a json response or something like that to make sure the request was saved correctly

Try handling your cookies
CookieManager cookieManager = new CookieManager();
CookieHandler.setDefault(cookieManager);
This should be a singleton.

HttpURLConnection Empty response Android and Python Flask

First post so forgive me if I forgot some rules :P
I'm developing an android app that requires basic to and fro data transfer to an app on google app engine. That app is written in python and I'm using the flask framework to communicate with the app (through http request, insecure and everything else I know but I just want a proof of concept more than anything else at the moment).
My problem is that when the python app is deployed on gae and I send a request from the android app on a physical device, I get no response, yet if I put the necessary URL in the browser, I get a response no problem.
Anyway the java function code:
private boolean doLogin(String username, String passwd){
boolean loggedIn = false;
try {
StrictMode.ThreadPolicy policy = new StrictMode.ThreadPolicy.Builder().permitAll().build();
StrictMode.setThreadPolicy(policy);
URL url = new URL("http://appname.appspot.com/login/admin/admin");// + username + "/" + passwd+"/");
HttpURLConnection con = (HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();
//con.setRequestMethod("POST");
InputStream in = new BufferedInputStream(con.getInputStream());
if (readStream(in) == true){
loggedIn = true;
}
//con.disconnect();
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
return loggedIn;
}
And the python function:
#webapp.route('/login/<username>/<passwd>', methods=["GET", "POST"])
def dologin(username, passwd):
def validusertype(u2check, p2check):
if db.GqlQuery("SELECT * FROM UserAccount WHERE username = :u2check AND password = :passwd", u2check = u2check, passwd=p2check).count() > 0:
qry = db.GqlQuery("SELECT * FROM UserAccount WHERE username = :u2check", u2check = u2check)
for r in qry.fetch(limit=None):
return r.usertype
return None
if request.method == "GET":
_type = validusertype(username, passwd)
if _type:
return "True"
# elif request.method == "POST":
# Fall though - if nothing above takes, we end up here.
return "False"
Any help at all would be greatly appreciated! Also the python code works, Copy/paste operation kinda screwed it up a bit.
Update
I figured out what was wrong. I was missing a few essential pieces to the puzzle but thanks to #hgoebl for pointing out my errors (ie the whole function, ow my ego). So here's the replacement code for anyone that may need it.
try {
URL url = new URL("http://app.appspot.com/login/admin/admin");
HttpURLConnection conn = (HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();
conn.setReadTimeout(10000 /* milliseconds */);
conn.setConnectTimeout(15000 /* milliseconds */);
conn.setRequestMethod("GET");
conn.setDoInput(true);
// Starts the query
conn.connect();
is = conn.getInputStream();
// Convert the InputStream into a string
String contentAsString = readStream(is);
return contentAsString;
// Makes sure that the InputStream is closed after the app is
// finished using it.
} finally {
if (is != null) {
is.close();
}
}
Also to put these few lines in onCreate():
StrictMode.ThreadPolicy policy = new StrictMode.
ThreadPolicy.Builder().permitAll().build();
StrictMode.setThreadPolicy(policy);

POST with Basic Auth fails on Android but works in C#

I have an app I am developing that requires me to post data to a 3rd party API. I have been struggling with authentication since the beginning and kept putting off further and further, and now I'm stuck.
I have tried using an Authenticator, but have read all about how there appears to be a bug in certain Android versions: Authentication Example
I have tried several different options, including the Apache Commons HTTP Library with no success. After all of this, I decided to make sure that the API wasn't the pain point. So I wrote a quick WinForms program to test the API, which worked perfectly on the first try. So, the idea that I'm working from and the API I working with both seem fine, but I am in desperate need of some guidance as to why the Java code isn't working.
Examples follow:
C# Code that works everytime:
System.Net.ServicePointManager.Expect100Continue = false;
// Create a request using a URL that can receive a post.
WebRequest request = WebRequest.Create(addWorkoutUrl);
// Set the Method property of the request to POST.
request.Method = "POST";
// Create POST data and convert it to a byte array.
string postData = "distance=4000&hours=0&minutes=20&seconds=0&tenths=0&month=08&day=01&year=2011&typeOfWorkout=standard&weightClass=H&age=28";
byte[] byteArray = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(postData);
// Set the ContentType property of the WebRequest.
request.Headers["X-API-KEY"] = apiKey;
request.Headers["Authorization"] = "Basic " + Convert.ToBase64String(Encoding.Default.GetBytes("username:password"));
request.ContentType = "application/x-www-form-urlencoded";
// Set the ContentLength property of the WebRequest.
request.ContentLength = byteArray.Length;
// Get the request stream.
Stream dataStream = request.GetRequestStream();
// Write the data to the request stream.
dataStream.Write(byteArray, 0, byteArray.Length);
// Close the Stream object.
dataStream.Close();
// Get the response.
WebResponse response = request.GetResponse();
// Display the status.
MessageBox.Show(((HttpWebResponse)response).StatusDescription);
// Get the stream containing content returned by the server.
dataStream = response.GetResponseStream();
// Open the stream using a StreamReader for easy access.
StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(dataStream);
// Read the content.
string responseFromServer = reader.ReadToEnd();
// Display the content.
MessageBox.Show(responseFromServer);
// Clean up the streams.
reader.Close();
dataStream.Close();
response.Close();
Java code for Android that currently returns a 500:Internal Server Error, though I believe this is my fault.
URL url;
String data = "distance=4000&hours=0&minutes=20&seconds=0&tenths=0&month=08&day=01&year=2011&typeOfWorkout=standard&weightClass=H&age=28";
HttpURLConnection connection = null;
//Create connection
url = new URL(urlBasePath);
connection = (HttpURLConnection)url.openConnection();
connection.setConnectTimeout(10000);
connection.setUseCaches(false);
connection.setRequestProperty("User-Agent","Mozilla/5.0 ( compatible ) ");
connection.setRequestProperty("Accept","*/*");
connection.setRequestProperty("X-API-KEY", apiKey);
connection.setRequestProperty("Authorization", "Basic " +
Base64.encode((username + ":" + password).getBytes("UTF-8"), Base64.DEFAULT));
connection.setRequestProperty("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded");
connection.setRequestProperty("Content-Length", "" + Integer.toString(data.getBytes("UTF-8").length));
DataOutputStream wr = new DataOutputStream(connection.getOutputStream());
wr.write(data.getBytes("UTF-8"));
wr.flush();
wr.close();
statusCode = connection.getResponseCode();
statusReason = connection.getResponseMessage();
//At this point, I have the 500 error...

I figured out the problem, and the solution finally after stumbling across the root cause as mentioned in the comment above.
I was using Base64.encode() in my example, but I needed to be using Base64.encodeToString().
The difference being that encode() returns a byte[] and encodeToString() returns the string I was expecting.
Hopefully this will help somebody else who is caught by this.

Here's a nicer method to do to the POST.
install-package HttpClient
Then:
public void DoPost()
{
var httpClient = new HttpClient();
var creds = string.Format("{0}:{1}", _username, _password);
var basicAuth = string.Format("Basic {0}", Convert.ToBase64String(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(creds)));
httpClient.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("Authorization", basicAuth);
var post = httpClient.PostAsync(_url,
new FormUrlEncodedContent(new Dictionary<string, string>
{
{ "name", "Henrik" },
{ "age", "99" }
}));
post.Wait();
}

I have tried this in java
import java.io.*;
import java.net.*;
class download{
public static void main(String args[]){
try{
String details = "API-Key=e6d871be90a689&orderInfo={\"booking\":{\"restaurantinfo\":{\"id\":\"5722\"},\"referrer\":{\"id\": \"9448476530\" }, \"bookingdetails\":{\"instructions\":\"Make the stuff spicy\",\"bookingtime\": \"2011-11-09 12:12 pm\", \"num_guests\": \"5\"}, \"customerinfo\":{\"name\":\"Ramjee Ganti\", \"mobile\":\"9345245530\", \"email\": \"sajid#pappilon.in\", \"landline\":{ \"number\":\"0908998393\",\"ext\":\"456\"}}}}";
Authenticator.setDefault(new Authenticator() {
protected PasswordAuthentication getPasswordAuthentication() {
return new PasswordAuthentication("admin", "1234".toCharArray());
}
});
HttpURLConnection conn = null;
//URL url = new URL("http://api-justeat.in/ma/orders/index");
URL url = new URL("http://api.geanly.in/ma/order_ma/index");
conn = (HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();
conn.setDoOutput(true);
conn.setDoInput (true);
conn.setRequestMethod("POST");
//conn.setRequestMethod(HttpConnection.POST);
DataOutputStream outStream = new DataOutputStream(conn.getOutputStream());
outStream.writeBytes(details);
outStream.flush();
outStream.close();
//Get Response
InputStream is = conn.getInputStream();
BufferedReader rd = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(is));
String line;
StringBuffer response = new StringBuffer();
while((line = rd.readLine()) != null) {
System.out.println(line);
}
rd.close();
System.out.println(conn.getResponseCode() + "\n\n");
}catch(Exception e){
System.out.println(e);
}
}
}
this could help.