Develop Reference

How to show all intent-filter of a component in android programmatically?

As the title says, I want to know all intent-filter(s) and actions inside it of a component like activity, receiver or service.
For example in AM.xml:
<receiver android:name="com.samsung.longuni.receivers.WakeServiceUpReceiver" >
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.BOOT_COMPLETED" />
</intent-filter>
</receiver>
Is there any way that in my application I can list up all actions in a intent-filter of a component of a certain application.

How can I update a widget on receiving a broadcast?

I'm working on a widget that displays information from a completely separate app. The separate app sends a broadcast when its data is changed, and I want to refresh/update my widget upon receiving this broadcast.
I can't seem to work out how to update a widget from within a BroadcastReceiver however. Is there a way to do this? Or another method to get the same result?

If the separate app has special action for its broadcast, you can add the intent filter to the manifest of your widget. Something like this:
<receiver android:name="ExampleAppWidgetProvider" >
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.appwidget.action.APPWIDGET_UPDATE" />
<action android:name="SEPARATE_APP_ACTION" />
</intent-filter>
<meta-data android:name="android.appwidget.provider"
android:resource="#xml/example_appwidget_info" />
</receiver>
And just process it in onRecive method of you AppWidgetProvider.
HTH.

What is the purpose of a receiver for APPWIDGET_UPDATE

I'm working on an Android app written by someone no longer with the company, and not understanding what the purpose is of creating a receiver for AppWidget updates. The manifest has the main activity which runs when the app is launched. As far as I can tell, the appwidget is never used and its code is separate from the rest of the app. I can't tell if this is a left-over and can be removed or if it is still in use. All of the tutorials and examples I find explain how to implement this, but not really why one would, especially in this case.
Code from the manifest file:
<application
android:debuggable="true"
android:icon="#drawable/icon"
android:label="#string/app_name"
android:theme="#style/ConnectTheme" >
<activity
android:name="com.globalcrossing.connect.ConferenceListView"
android:label="#string/listTitle" >
<intent-filter android:label="#string/app_name" >
<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
</intent-filter>
</activity>
<activity
android:name="com.globalcrossing.connect.Preferences"
android:label="#string/set_preferences" >
</activity>
<!-- Broadcast Receiver that will process AppWidget updates -->
<receiver
android:name="com.globalcrossing.connect.ConferenceWidget"
android:label="#string/app_name" >
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.appwidget.action.APPWIDGET_UPDATE" />
</intent-filter>
<meta-data
android:name="android.appwidget.provider"
android:resource="#xml/widget_provider" />
</receiver>
... more activities I understand, deleted for brevity
</application>

as in Doc:
ACTION_APPWIDGET_UPDATE :
Sent when it is time to update your AppWidget.
means ACTION_APPWIDGET_UPDATE Action faire when:
1. an new instance of Your AppWidget added to Home Screen from AppWidget Chooser( from AppWidget provider),
2. when requested update interval having lapsed which you have provided in AppWidget meta-data file using android:updatePeriodMillis attribute , and
3. when device reboot

If the application has a corresponding home screen widget, which can be found under the widgets section in the all programs list, then you will need APPWIDGET_UPDATE. Otherwise it will be unnecessary noise to your application with no purpose.

How to declare a receiver for a widget to handle your own broadcast along with system broadcast

Suppose I want to define a receiver for my own widget and I want it to handle my own broadcast org.test.mywidget.MY_ACTION along with the APPWIDGET_xxx system broadcasts, what is the correct way to define it, if I want it to handle my own broadcast only if it is sent from the same app package? I tried the following XML code but in this way the APPWIDGET_DELETE action was no more delivered to the widget provider:
<receiver
android:name="MyWidgetProvider">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.appwidget.action.APPWIDGET_UPDATE" />
</intent-filter>
<meta-data
android:name="android.appwidget.provider"
android:resource="#xml/my_widget_info" />
</receiver>
<receiver
android:name="MyWidgetProvider"
android:exported="false">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="org.test.mywidget.FORCE_SMALL_WIDGET_UPDATE" />
</intent-filter>
</receiver>
The XML above has the problem I've mentioned (no DELETED events delivered) and it also does not seem good to me, since the receiver is redefined.. So I compacted everything as follows:
<receiver
android:name="MyWidgetProvider">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.appwidget.action.APPWIDGET_UPDATE" />
<action android:name="org.test.mywidget.FORCE_SMALL_WIDGET_UPDATE" />
</intent-filter>
<meta-data
android:name="android.appwidget.provider"
android:resource="#xml/my_widget_info" />
</receiver>
This works, APPWIDGET_UPDATE, APPWIDGET_DELETE and my own broadcast are all delivered but now I have a question: are now other apps able to deliver a broadcast intent with the action org.test.mywidget.FORCE_SMALL_WIDGET_UPDATE to my widget, since the android:exported value is set to true by default? Maybe I'm missing some basic concept related to this exported value, so I would be glad if some of you can make me understand everything better :)

if I want it to handle my own broadcast only if it is sent from the same app package?
You do not need, or even want, an action string if it is all going to be within your own package. Just use the Intent constructor that takes a Java class object as the second parameter, and use that for sending broadcasts to be picked up by the receiver.
I tried the following XML code but in this way the APPWIDGET_DELETE action was no more delivered to the widget provider
That is because there is no <intent-filter> referencing that action string in your code.
are now other apps able to deliver a broadcast intent with the action org.test.mywidget.FORCE_SMALL_WIDGET_UPDATE to my widget, since the android:exported value is set to true by default?
Yes. Of course, third party apps can send APPWIDGET_UPDATE broadcasts, or even hack an Intent that identifies your component directly, and you will receive those as well.
I suspect that the right answer, in your case, is to simply implement a second BroadcastReceiver, one with no <intent-filter>, that handles operations that you solely want to be within your package. Or, if you do not need to use a PendingIntent for this BroadcastReceiver, consider LocalBroadcastManager from the Android Support package.

About API Demo Remote Service example in android

I am studying RemoteService example in Android's APISample. In the
manifest file, it declares the service like this:
My question is how can I specify the service to be 'auto-start', i.e.
it gets start whenever the phone start?
<service android:name=".app.RemoteService" android:process=":remote" >
<intent-filter>
<!-- These are the interfaces supported by the service, which
you can bind to. -->
<action
android:name="com.example.android.apis.app.IRemoteService" />
<action
android:name="com.example.android.apis.app.ISecondary" />
<!-- This is an action code you can use to select the service
without explicitly supplying the implementation class. -->
<action android:name="com.example.android.apis.app.REMOTE_SERVICE" />
</intent-filter>
</service>

First, you do not want to do that.
Second, you cannot do that directly. You will need to set up a BroadcastReceiver to watch for the BOOT_COMPLETED broadcast Intent, and have that receiver start the service.