Develop Reference

BeanShell Android Issue. Unable to start activity remotely

Good day. The main amazing thing about the BeanShell is the idea that i can control what i want to be done dynamically from the server and i thought it would be amazing.
Although i never succeded in achieving that and seems no one else tried to start activity from the beanshell either.
Here how it goes. I simply want to pass the code from the server side to the Android,Android is going to evaluate that code within interpreter and run that.
The issue is that i am getting the exception from BeanShell no matter what i try.
The code from server side is the next.
$response['method'] = "import my.some.name.*;"
. "startActivity(new Intent(this,MyProfile.class))";
The code for Android is the next.
try {
String responseBody = response.body().string();
JSONObject jsonObject = new JSONObject(responseBody);
String method = jsonObject.optString("method");
Interpreter interpreter = new Interpreter();
try {
Object res = interpreter.eval(method);
} catch (EvalError evalError) {
evalError.printStackTrace();
}
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} catch (JSONException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
But i am getting the next exception from the BeanShell
Sourced file: inline evaluation of: ``import my.some.name.*;startActivity(new Intent(this,MyProfile.class));'' : Class: MyProfile not found in namespace : at Line: 1 : in file: inline evaluation of: ``import my.some.name.*;startActivity(new Intent(this,MyProfile.class));'' : MyProfile
Any ideas what is going on?

Just in case if anyone needs the same solution i am posting for everyone to know.
Here how it goes.
Firstly you need to know that whatever you are trying to do on the server side remember that the BeanShell actually does not know anything about the String code you are passing itself,as it is going to interpret it just like a code out of box so with the help of CommonWare hint about full name path i managed to get it working.
So first step to do is to initialize the Interpreter.
Basic initialization goes like this :
String responseBody = response.body().string();
JSONObject jsonObject = new JSONObject(responseBody);
String method = jsonObject.optString("method");
Interpreter interpreter = new Interpreter();
try {
interpreter.set("context",getApplicationContext());
Object res = interpreter.eval(method);
} catch (EvalError evalError) {
evalError.printStackTrace();
}
Take a very attentive notice about the context as it was my main issue going back and forth as at the moment when i succeded to actually force BeanShell recognize my classes,the BeanShell started to throw Method not found exception about the startActivity() so by thinking logically we can assume that we would set the context as activity as the parent one for our remote methods and start evaluating everything from the context. So here how the remote code is looking.
$response['method'] = "import ink.va.activities;"
. "import android.content.Intent;"
. "import android.content.*;"
. "context.startActivity(new android.content.Intent(context, my.package.name.MyProfile.class));";
The most important things to notice here.
• We are importing everything possible for BeanSherll to recognize our classes,even if they are Android-Build,no matter,still we need to import them.
• If you are going to use any class,then as CommonWare noticed out,you MUST specify the full path to that Class E.G my.package.name.MyProfile.class.
• As i was getting Command Not Found i started to think about the context.startActivity() as i have defined the context beforehand in BeanShell as my parent from which i am going to use methods and Woala,everything worked like a charm!

Possible Problems
I don't know a lot about BeanShell, but there's a couple of issues here
You can import a class (in a compiled language) at runtime
You're trying to do the equivalent of Reflection (but aren't doing any)
Security. No user would consent to you having control to open a screen on their app remotely
Presumably BeanShell is supposed to do the reflection under the covers, but in an case you won't be able to do the import.
Possible solutions
The class/activity using the library should import everything (I'm not sure if a compiler will even retain this)
You can use reflection directly, with things like "method from name". The downside is it's very limited what code you can send from the server unless you handle a myriad of cases.
You could only send names/commands; to specific endpoints in your java app (this is what I recommend) and plan the actions you want ahead of time
$response['method'] = "my.some.name.MyProfile";
JSONObject jsonObject = new JSONObject(response.body().string());
String nameParam = jsonObject.optString("method");
Class<? extends Activity> clazz = Class.forName(nameParam); //wrap with try
startActivity( new Intent(this, clazz) )

Google Drive Rest API on Android

I'm developing an app for a company and I need to integrate it with Google Drive. I can't use the native API because the company has files not created by the application that needs to be handled, I need the full drive scope, so the REST API is what I must use.
Here's the problem, the tutorials are not basic enough for me to get started since I only have a very basic understanding of JSON and REST.
The tutorial: https://developers.google.com/drive/web/integrate-create
As I understand it I need to create JSON in my Java code and then pass that through the example code?
JSON
{
"action":"create",
"folderId":"0ADK06pfg",
"userId":"103354693083460731603"
}
JAVA
public class State {
/**
* Action intended by the state.
*/
public String action;
/**
* IDs of files on which to take action.
*/
public Collection<String> ids;
/**
* Parent ID related to the given action.
*/
public String parentId;
/**
* Empty constructor required by Gson.
*/
public State() {}
/**
* Create a new State given its JSON representation.
*
* #param json Serialized representation of a State.
*/
public State(String json) {
GsonBuilder builder = new GsonBuilder();
Gson gson = builder.create();
State other = gson.fromJson(json, State.class);
this.action = other.action;
this.ids = other.ids;
this.parentId = other.parentId;
}
}
The problem is that I have no idea how to create JSON nor do I quite understand how to use the JSON when created to do things like create files and query for files.
If someone can get me as far as creating an empty file in a users root folder then I can probably take it from there, but I could really use a nudge in the right direction!

Assuming, that you're talking about an Android app, there is no need to create JSON. The Java REST Api is quite easy to use on Android. If the official docs and the examples do not suffice, you may look at this demo. It is a bit more complex that needs to be (in order to maintain compatibility with the GDAA version), but with a few simple steps, you may simplify it.
I certainly can't copy all the code here, but you can just snatch the REST class, supply a GooDrive account to setSelectedAccountName() (or omit the method and let the service handle it) and simplify the connect() / disconnect() methods. The connect() method (for compatibility with GDAA) should be) replaced by a try/catch construct like this:
com.google.api.services.drive.Drive mGOOSvc;
...
try {
mGOOSvc...execute();
} catch (UserRecoverableAuthIOException uraIOEx) {
// standard authorization failure - user fixable
} catch (GoogleAuthIOException gaIOEx) {
// usually PackageName / SHA1 mismatch in DevConsole
} catch (IOException e) {
// '404 not found' in FILE scope, still, consider connected
if (e instanceof GoogleJsonResponseException) {
if (404 == ((GoogleJsonResponseException) e).getStatusCode())
mConnected = true;
}
} catch (Exception e) {
// "the name must not be empty" indicates
// UNREGISTERED / EMPTY account in 'setSelectedAccountName()' ???
}
anywhere you find the '...execute()' method in the REST class in order to catch sudden loss of authorization, etc... (can happen anytime). Otherwise, I've been running this CRUD implementation for some time and never experienced problems.
One general note about the REST Api. Since it is 'network state dependent', I would recommend to disconnect it completely from your app's UI and run it in some type of sync service invoked when there is an active network (WIFI, cellular) traffic. See the network related episodes here.
Good Luck

AS3 - Loading Image Coordinates from URL

I am developing an Android App in Air for Android using Flash Pro CC & I am tired of pushing updates all the time to change a spawn location for an image that needs to move every few days to a specific location. I won't know the location until just minutes before the update needs to be pushed & it would be much faster to simply have the app load the spawn coordinates for the image upon launch from my website in a .txt file. I would need something where I just type the X and Y coordinates in a file & then the information is loaded and AS3 spawns the image at those coordinates. If no coordinates are available in the text file (as 5 days of the week there won't be), I need a different image to be displayed wherever I place it. I will probably just have a separate frame for that though.
Any help is greatly appreciated & I'd prefer it if the image can be used in a motion tween but if not then I will work something out.
NOTE: I am new to AS3 coding but I have Flash itself figured out for animating with the timeline.

Have a look at URLRequest and URLLoader for retrieving the data. For spawning the image at a specific location, consider just moving it instead; Any object on stage is a DisplayObject, and DisplayObjects have properties x and y. For swapping out the images, look at DisplayObjectContainer, specifically the functions DisplayObjectContainer.addChild(child:DisplayObject) and DisplayObjectContainer.removeChild(child:DisplayObject). I have provided links to the documentation for each of the relevant functions.
If the update is on a daily basis, have a look at the Date class too - that will allow you to find out what date it is and whether you need to make an url request to load the textfile to display the image.
If you have any specific questions regarding the use of these classes, I think it's best if you make a new question with a link back to this one for context. You're good with English, not so good with AS3 (as you say), so I could explain the relevant bits where needed, but it would be a long and complex story if I were to explain this entire functionality in one go. ... I think you'll find that these class names will make googling easier too.
I expect that you'll have to use an URLLoader with an URLRequest to load the textfile, then depending on the results, display the image by adding it to stage via addChild if it's not there yet, and then setting its x and y values. You'll have to use the Date class to check whether you need to make a new request every time the user starts the application or does some specific action.

I have the finished code here. loadURL is the Document Class loaded by Flash. Everything works great!
package {
// IMPORTS EVENTS USED
import flash.display.MovieClip;
import flash.net.URLRequest;
import flash.net.URLLoader;
import flash.events.UncaughtErrorEvent;
import flash.events.ErrorEvent;
import flash.events.Event;
// DECLARES VARIABLES
public class loadURL extends MovieClip {
public var Xurl:String = "URL GOES HERE";
public var Yurl:String = "URL GOES HERE";
public var URLloaderX:URLLoader = new URLLoader();
public var URLloaderY:URLLoader = new URLLoader();
public var marker:Marker = new Marker();
public var gone:Gone = new Gone();
public var connectionerr:ConnectionErr = new ConnectionErr();
// CODE EXECUTED UPON LAUNCH
public function loadURL() {
// constructor code
trace("Loaded");
URLloaderX.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, completeHandlerX);
URLloaderX.load(new URLRequest(Xurl));
URLloaderY.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, completeHandlerY);
URLloaderY.load(new URLRequest(Yurl));
loaderInfo.uncaughtErrorEvents.addEventListener(UncaughtErrorEvent.UNCAUGHT_ERROR, onUncaughtError);
}
function completeHandlerX(event:Event):void
{
if(URLloaderX.data == null||URLloaderX.data==(""))
{addChild(gone)}
else{addChild(marker);marker.x = (URLloaderX.data)}
}
function completeHandlerY(event:Event):void
{
if(URLloaderY.data == null||URLloaderY.data==("")){}
marker.y = (URLloaderY.data)
}
private function onUncaughtError(e:UncaughtErrorEvent):void //Checks for no internet connection
{
e.preventDefault(); //leave this
// RESULT OF NO INTERNET HERE
addChild(connectionerr);
}
}
}

How to prevent name caching and detect bluetooth name changes on discovery

I'm writing an Android app which receives information from a Bluetooth device. Our client has suggested that the Bluetooth device (which they produce) will change its name depending on certain conditions - for the simplest example its name will sometimes be "xxx-ON" and sometimes "xxx-OFF". My app is just supposed to seek this BT transmitter (I use BluetoothAdapter.startDiscovery() ) and do different things depending on the name it finds. I am NOT pairing with the Bluetooth device (though I suppose it might be possible, the app is supposed to eventually work with multiple Android devices and multiple BT transmitters so I'm not sure it would be a good idea).
My code works fine to detect BT devices and find their names. Also, if the device goes off, I can detect the next time I seek, that it is not there. But it seems that if it is there and it changes name, I pick up the old name - presumably it is cached somewhere. Even if the bluetooth device goes off, and we notice that, the next time I detect it, I still see the old name.
I found this issue in Google Code: here but it was unclear to me even how to use the workaround given ("try to connect"). Has anyone done this and had any luck? Can you share code?
Is there a simple way to just delete the cached names and search again so I always find the newest names? Even a non-simple way would be good (I am writing for a rooted device).
Thanks

I would suggest 'fetchUuidsWithSdp()'. It's significance is that, unlike the similar getUuids() method, fetchUuidsWithSdp causes the device to update cached information about the remote device. And I believe this includes the remote name as well as the SPD.
Note that both the methods I mentioned are hidden prior to 4.0.3, so your code would look l ike this:
public static void startServiceDiscovery( BluetoothDevice device ) {
// Need to use reflection prior to API 15
Class cl = null;
try {
cl = Class.forName("android.bluetooth.BluetoothDevice");
} catch( ClassNotFoundException exc ) {
Log.e(CTAG, "android.bluetooth.BluetoothDevice not found." );
}
if (null != cl) {
Class[] param = {};
Method method = null;
try {
method = cl.getMethod("fetchUuidsWithSdp", param);
} catch( NoSuchMethodException exc ) {
Log.e(CTAG, "fetchUuidsWithSdp not found." );
}
if (null != method) {
Object[] args = {};
try {
method.invoke(device, args);
} catch (Exception exc) {
Log.e(CTAG, "Failed to invoke fetchUuidsWithSdp method." );
}
}
}
}
You'll then need to listen for the BluetoothDevice.ACTION_NAME_CHANGED intent, and extract BluetoothDevice.EXTRA_NAME from it.
Let me know if that helps.

Android sending lots of SMS messages

I have a app, which sends a lot of SMS messages to a central server. Each user will probably send ~300 txts/day. SMS messages are being used as a networking layer, because SMS is almost everywhere and mobile internet is not. The app is intended for use in a lot of 3rd world countries where mobile internet is not ubiquitous.
When I hit a limit of 100 messages, I get a prompt for each message sent. The prompt says "A large number of SMS messages are being sent". This is not ok for the user to get prompted each time to ask if the app can send a text message. The user doesn't want to get 30 consecutive prompts.
I found this android source file with google. It could be out of date, I can't tell. It looks like there is a limit of 100 sms messages every 3600000ms(1 day) for each application.
http://www.netmite.com/android/mydroid/frameworks/base/telephony/java/com/android/internal/telephony/gsm/SMSDispatcher.java
/** Default checking period for SMS sent without uesr permit */
private static final int DEFAULT_SMS_CHECK_PERIOD = 3600000;
/** Default number of SMS sent in checking period without uesr permit */
private static final int DEFAULT_SMS_MAX_ALLOWED = 100;
and
/**
* Implement the per-application based SMS control, which only allows
* a limit on the number of SMS/MMS messages an app can send in checking
* period.
*/
private class SmsCounter {
private int mCheckPeriod;
private int mMaxAllowed;
private HashMap<String, ArrayList<Long>> mSmsStamp;
/**
* Create SmsCounter
* #param mMax is the number of SMS allowed without user permit
* #param mPeriod is the checking period
*/
SmsCounter(int mMax, int mPeriod) {
mMaxAllowed = mMax;
mCheckPeriod = mPeriod;
mSmsStamp = new HashMap<String, ArrayList<Long>> ();
}
boolean check(String appName) {
if (!mSmsStamp.containsKey(appName)) {
mSmsStamp.put(appName, new ArrayList<Long>());
}
return isUnderLimit(mSmsStamp.get(appName));
}
private boolean isUnderLimit(ArrayList<Long> sent) {
Long ct = System.currentTimeMillis();
Log.d(TAG, "SMS send size=" + sent.size() + "time=" + ct);
while (sent.size() > 0 && (ct - sent.get(0)) > mCheckPeriod ) {
sent.remove(0);
}
if (sent.size() < mMaxAllowed) {
sent.add(ct);
return true;
}
return false;
}
}
Is this even the real android code? It looks like it is in the package "com.android.internal.telephony.gsm", I can't find this package on the android website.
How can I disable/modify this limit? I've been googling for solutions, but I haven't found anything.
So I was looking at the link that commonsware.com posted, and I found that the source had actually changed. And so I might still have a shot.
int check_period = Settings.Gservices.getInt(mResolver,
Settings.Gservices.SMS_OUTGOING_CEHCK_INTERVAL_MS,
DEFAULT_SMS_CHECK_PERIOD);
int max_count = Settings.Gservices.getInt(mResolver,
Settings.Gservices.SMS_OUTGOING_CEHCK_MAX_COUNT,
DEFAULT_SMS_MAX_COUNT);
mCounter = new SmsCounter(max_count, check_period);
This is getting checkPeriod and maxCount from a settings table. But I don't seem to have access to the same table. That source should be Android 1.1, which is the same I'm using. When I try to import android.provider.Settings.Gservices, I get an error saying that the import can't be resolved.
What is going on?

Did you try using "import android.provider.Settings;" instead of "import android.provider.Settings.GServices"? (see line 36 of SMSDispatcher.java)
Also, not sure how much difference it makes, but 3600000 ms is one hour not one day.

Unfortunately I think you only have a few options
1) Get root access and alter the settings table directly by doing:
sqlite3 /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/settings.db
sqlite> INSERT INTO gservices (name, value) VALUES
('sms_outgoing_check_interval_ms', 0);
2) Use multiple apps since it's a per app limit
3) Perhaps take out the battery after you reach the limit? It looks like the limit is stored in memory. I haven't tried this yet though.

This appears to be built into the Android source tree, so the only way to push this change down to the users would be the build your own ROM and have them install it.
As for ideas on getting around it, why not check for network connectivity first rather than just assuming it doesn't exist. Even if it is not present on a significant majority of devices today, that certainly won't always be the case. Let SMS be the fall back mechanism. If it is the fall back mechanism, you can then prompt the user letting them know that they will be prompted to confirm the level of SMS activity every 100 messages or so. Who knows, they may roam into a Wifi hotspot and have connectivity part of the day too.
Otherwise, you will get into a game of installing a bunch of other Activities+Intents that can act as silent SMS proxies to get around the limit. Of course, this has its own certain set of undesirable qualities as well and I can hardly believe I just typed/suggested something that evil.