Develop Reference

Implement receiver status(read or typing) in messaging app using smack - Android

I am creating an instant messaging app in android using smack library and openfire as a server but i cannot implement the feature of the person with whom the current user is talking to. i.e. like when user read the message or when he starts typing.
Is there any way of achieving this using smack or other ?

For knowing which user is current you must implement your own in your logic. You must use Roster (contact list in xmpp servers) to get contacts of current user and save them in database or somewhere. Then create an activity to show contacts in a list. Each contact has a unique jid that can be distinguished from others with it. So with click on each contact, send it's object(include jid) to chat-activity. In chat-activity you must get previous messages from database or MAM(archived messages in server) and you can send a message to current contact(set contact jid as To).
To achieving delivery of message you must use this link. you can set request of it with this code:
Message message = … //make your stanza
DeliveryReceiptRequest.addTo(message); //add delivery request to message
connection.sendStanza(message); //send message
then you can be notified of delivery with this code:
private void setDelRecListener() {
DeliveryReceiptManager d = DeliveryReceiptManager.getInstanceFor(connection);
d.addReceiptReceivedListener(new ReceiptReceivedListener() {
#Override
public void onReceiptReceived(Jid fromJid, Jid toJid, String receiptId, Stanza receipt) {
Msg msg = F.getMsgBySid(receiptId);
if (msg == null)
return;
Boolean isUpdated = F.setMsgDelivered(msg);
Log.i("m/serv/UpdateDelivery", "for: " + receiptId + (isUpdated ? " Founded&Updated" : " NotFounded"));
if (isUpdated) {
BCTool.notifyPMDelivered(msg.id, msg.conv.frnd.getBareJid());
}
}
});
}
Keep in mind that every stanza has a sid(stanza id) and you must save each corresponding sid to message model in database when send is successful. This way you can detect which message delivery you got.
- For sending chat states like composing you can use this method:
public void sendChatState(String _jid, ChatState chatState) {
try {
Message msg = new Message();
msg.addExtension(new ChatStateExtension(chatState));
msg.setTo(JidCreate.bareFrom(_jid));
msg.setType(Message.Type.chat);
connection.sendStanza(msg);
Log.e("m/service", "ChatStateSent");
} catch (SmackException.NotConnectedException | InterruptedException | XmppStringprepException e) {
Log.e("m/service", "ChatState Not Sent: " + e.getMessage());
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
You must set a timer to prevent send composing in next 5Sec and reset timer when a character typed.
Consider reading this: ChatStateNotifications

Identifying Sender of Upstream GCM Message

I am using Google Cloud Messaging with XMPP in order to have both downstream and upstream messages.
Only client side I get a token by doing this on a worker thread:
InstanceID instanceID = InstanceID.getInstance(this);
try {
String token = instanceID.getToken(getString(R.string.gcm_senderID), GoogleCloudMessaging.INSTANCE_ID_SCOPE, null);
send_token(token, getString(R.string.gcm_senderID));
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
I then send this token over to the server where it is received. I am able to send messages to the client with this token.
Then I can send an upstream message on the client side with this:
new AsyncTask<Void, Void, String>() {
#Override
protected String doInBackground(Void... params) {
String msg;
Bundle data = new Bundle();
data.putString("message", message);
try {
messenger.send(getString(R.string.gcm_senderID) + "#gcm.googleapis.com", messageId.addAndGet(1) + "", data);
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
msg = "Sent message";
return msg;
}
}.execute(null, null, null);
In the upstream message sent from the client, there is a from field, that seems to be a token as well. If I send a message to this from the server side, my phone receives it as well.
What confuses me is that the token in the from field is not equal to the one generated by the InstanceID service.
The first 18 characters or so are equal, but after that they are very different. As such, is there a good way to identify what device sent what message?
I could store the token generated by the Instance ID each time in the Bundle, but I was wondering if there might be any way to make the from field of the upstream message be consistent with the generated ID.
Edit: Using the deprecated register function, I was able to get a consistent registration ID.
String token = GoogleCloudMessaging.getInstance().register(getString(R.string.gcm_senderID));
But is there a way to do this with InstanceID?

Calling GoogleCloudMessaging.getInstance(context).register(senderId) instead of getToken(senderId, "GCM") seems to resolve the issue, the XMPP server will then receive the correct token, every time, in the "from" property of the upstream message.
My device is running CyanogenMod, so the Google Play services app doesn't update automatically. Since the old register() work, this issue is likely caused by a bug in the google-play-services_lib when talking to an older version of the GMS app.
I've answered instead of comment with the vain hopes of an Google dev seeing this.

Android Parse.com push notification not sent

Background
I have an Android app with a working receiver that can receive the push notification sent from iOS device and Parse website.
However, the following cases are not working:
send push notifications from Android to Android
send push notifications from Android to iOS
Since the Android app can receive push notifications without any problems, I guess there must be something with my logic/code of sending the push notifications
Problem Description
When sending push notifications using parsePush.sendInBackground(SendCallback) method, it returns no ParseExceptions. So it means no error.
But the Parse Dashboard does not show this push notifications and the target destination (either iOS or Android device in this case) does not get anything.
In the normal case, when a push notification is sent via Parse, it will show up as a push history in the Dashboard (the working case does that), but when I tried to send pushes from Android device, it just not show anything in the Dashboard and the pushes are never get delivered.
Code
The problematic Android code:
public void onShouldSendPushData(MessageClient messageClient, Message message, List<PushPair> pushPairs) {
//TODO setup offline push notification
Log.d(TAG, "Recipient not online. Should notify recipient using push");
if (pushPairs.size() > 0 && !chatRecipient.isEmpty()) {
PushPair pp = pushPairs.get(0);
String pushPayload = pp.getPushPayload();
ParsePush parsePush = new ParsePush();
ParseQuery query = ParseInstallation.getQuery();
ParseQuery userQuery = ParseUser.getQuery();
userQuery.whereEqualTo("username", chatRecipient);
query.whereMatchesQuery("user", userQuery);
parsePush.setQuery(query);
// JSON object for android push
String alertString = getResources().getString(R.string.push_notification_msg);
try {
JSONObject data = new JSONObject();
data.put("alert", String.format(alertString, chatRecipient));
data.put("badge", "Increment");
data.put("sound", "default");
// pass the sender name as "title"
data.put("title", ParseUser.getCurrentUser().getUsername());
data.put("uri", "");
data.put("SIN", pushPayload);
parsePush.setData(data);
parsePush.sendInBackground(new SendCallback() {
#Override
public void done(ParseException e) {
if (e == null) {
Log.i(TAG, String.format("Push notification to %s sent successfully", chatRecipient));
} else {
Log.e(TAG, String.format("Private chat push notification sending error: %s", e.getMessage()));
}
}
});
} catch (JSONException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
The working iOS code:
- (void)message:(id<SINMessage>)message shouldSendPushNotifications:(NSArray *)pushPairs {
// use parse to send notifications
// send notifications
NSLog(#"Recipient not online. Should notify recipient using push");
if (pushPairs.count > 0 && userSelected != nil) {
pushData = [[pushPairs objectAtIndex:0] pushData];
pushPayload = [[pushPairs objectAtIndex:0] pushPayload];
PFPush *push = [[PFPush alloc] init];
PFQuery *query = [PFInstallation query];
PFQuery *userQuery = [PFUser query];
[userQuery whereKey:#"username" equalTo:userSelected];
[query whereKey:#"user" matchesQuery:userQuery];
[push setQuery:query];
NSDictionary *data = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:
[NSString stringWithFormat:#"You have a new Message from %#", [PFUser currentUser].username], #"alert",
#"Increment", #"badge",
#"default", #"sound",
pushPayload, #"SIN",
nil];
[push setData:data];
[push sendPushInBackgroundWithBlock:^(BOOL succeeded, NSError *error) {
if (succeeded) {
NSLog(#"Push notification to %# sent successfully.", userSelected);
} else {
NSLog(#"push notifications sending error: %#", error);
}
}];
} else {
NSLog(#"Error: No push pairs.");
}
Note
I can confirm that the code above is getting called each time I want to send push notifications, and no exceptions are returned. I can also confirm that the data packaged inside the push is not null.
I'm not posting the receiver's code as that part of code is working and should do nothing with this issue.
The iOS code and Android code basically are the same, why the sending pushes function in Android not working?
UPDATE
I upgraded Parse SDK to 1.8.2, with its Logging options set to VERBOSE and still can't find any clue why the Push notifications are not sent.
I even made a simple project out of the Parse example project with only Login and send message functions and its sending message function is still not working. So frustrating.

I have found the reason.
It is the "uri" field inside JSON.
As long as this field is included (with or without the content), notifications seemed being ignored by Parse, although you'll get a non-error callback.
If you remove "uri" field inside your JSON, notifications will become normal.
I've reported this bug to Parse and they've started to solve it.
Update
According to the reply from Parse.com, this is an intended feature, so the notifications with "uri" field will be discarded on the server side, thus it will not be sent.
related link:
https://developers.facebook.com/bugs/338005256408244

Upstream messaging in Android

I am doing work on GCM (Google Cloud Messaging) in Android. I am looking for the upstream message using GCM.
Code send the GCM messages to cloud here
try {
Bundle data = new Bundle();
// the account is used for keeping
// track of user notifications
data.putString("account", account);
// the action is used to distinguish
// different message types on the server
data.putString("action", Constants.ACTION_REGISTER);
String msgId = Integer.toString(getNextMsgId());
gcm.send(projectId + "#gcm.googleapis.com", msgId,
Constants.GCM_DEFAULT_TTL, data);
} catch (IOException e) {
Log.e("grokkingandroid",
"IOException while sending registration id", e);
}
Now question is that what cloud would do for that upstream message, Where it can be useful in Android and How ??

When you send an upstream message from your app, the GCM Cloud Connection Server (CCS) transfers that message to your server. In order for that to work, you must implement a server that supports XMPP protocol and establishes a TLS connection with GCM Cloud Connection Server. You also need your API project to be white-listed for using this feature. You can read more about it here.
As for usefulness, it allows you to send messages to your app via the GCM connection instead of via your own connection between your app and your server. That's more battery efficient.

#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
Log.d(TAG, "FCM Token creation logic");
// Get variables reference
deviceText = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.deviceText);
editTextEcho = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.editTextEcho);
buttonUpstreamEcho = (Button) findViewById(R.id.buttonUpstreamEcho);
//Get token from Firebase
FirebaseMessaging.getInstance().subscribeToTopic("test");
final String token = FirebaseInstanceId.getInstance().getToken();
Log.d(TAG, "Token: " + token);
deviceText.setText(token);
//Call the token service to save the token in the database
tokenService = new TokenService(this, this);
tokenService.registerTokenInDB(token);
buttonUpstreamEcho.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
#Override
public void onClick(View v) {
Log.d(TAG, "Echo Upstream message logic");
String message = editTextEcho.getText().toString();
Log.d(TAG, "Message: " + message + ", recipient: " + token);
FirebaseMessaging.getInstance().send(new RemoteMessage.Builder(FCM_PROJECT_SENDER_ID + FCM_SERVER_CONNECTION)
.setMessageId(Integer.toString(RANDOM.nextInt()))
.addData("message", message)
.addData("action", BACKEND_ACTION_ECHO)
.build());
// To send a message to other device through the XMPP Server, you should add the
// receiverId and change the action name to BACKEND_ACTION_MESSAGE in the data
}
});
}
This is a sample Android project to showcase the Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) to manage upstream and downstream messages.
https://github.com/carlosCharz/FCMTest
This is the video in youtube that explains what it does.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEzOKSoAMG0
Hope you find it useful.

Android GCM: .register function need a server?

I'm trying to implement google's GCM on my android application and I came across a question about the .register() function.
private void registerInBackground() {
new AsyncTask<Void, Void, String>() {
#Override
protected String doInBackground(Void... params) {
String msg = "";
try {
if (gcm == null) {
gcm = GoogleCloudMessaging.getInstance(context);
}
regid = gcm.register(SENDER_ID);
Log.d(TAG, "registered gcm");
msg = "Device registered, registration ID=" + regid;
Log.d(TAG, "Current Device's Registration ID is: "+msg);
// You should send the registration ID to your server over HTTP, so it
// can use GCM/HTTP or CCS to send messages to your app.
// sendRegistrationIdToBackend();
// For this demo: we don't need to send it because the device will send
// upstream messages to a server that echo back the message using the
// 'from' address in the message.
// Persist the regID - no need to register again.
storeRegistrationId(context, regid);
} catch (IOException ex) {
msg = "Error :" + ex.getMessage();
// If there is an error, don't just keep trying to register.
// Require the user to click a button again, or perform
// exponential back-off.
}
return msg;
}
For regid = gcm.register(SENDER_ID);, what type of connection would the application use to send over to GCM in order to register the SENDER_ID? Does it only do it via wi-fi or do I need to establish a server in order to register with the GCM. My main question is, how does the client app register with GCM to obtain that registration ID?

AFAIR, no it does not need a custom server from your side to receive the Registration ID. Google servers sends that to the user device. You( your custom server) will need this ID later for requesting Google to send Push Notification to the user device. The user device will be identified using this particular registration ID. So your server needs to store that. You can have some sort of mapping of registration ID to some friendly name on your server side.
In short, you need a custom server to which you will send the registration id from the user device when it receives from Google. But, you don't need it for (.register) function.