Getting Started

Okkay, it wasnt easy to get eh first helloworld app running on the  simulator.

Android sdk Installation
Step 1
I the Tools you launch the android app, which launches the installation manager. In the  you should have the installed application of Android SDK and Google Api

Step 2
Eclipse Installation_ Galileo or Ganymede
In Software Updates - Get the Android link  setup to downloaded from Site or download then ADT from Site and install as Archive.

Step 3
Create Android Virtual Device - AVD
you can do it from the installation manager of the android tool.

All set to go then
New File- Project -Android Project->Details  (Package name - Min Sdk etc)
Create a hello world application. Layout is similar to IB in Iphone to create  layout in a faster way.
moslty XML tweeking
Simulator takes a while to launch - but executing the app is fast.

Example of  a  layout Element in the main.xml would be
    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/label"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="Type here:"/>
    <EditText
        android:id="@+id/entry"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:background="@android:drawable/editbox_background"
        android:layout_below="@id/label"/>
    <Button
        android:id="@+id/ok"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_below="@id/entry"
        android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
        android:layout_marginLeft="10dip"
        android:text="OK" />
    <Button
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_toLeftOf="@id/ok"
        android:layout_alignTop="@id/ok"
        android:text="Cancel" />

Example of Relative Layout 1
        android:layout_below="@id/entry"
        android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
Example 2
       android:layout_toLeftOf="@id/ok"
       android:layout_alignTop="@id/ok"

Example 3 - Adding a ImageView with Background Image by drag drop  in the Layout - Add the image in the background parameter of the imageview
    <ImageView android:id="@+id/ImageView01"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:background="@drawable/icon">
    </ImageView>


Changes to the Code
Say adding a TextView to the code
Tip: An easy way to add import packages to your project is to press Ctrl-Shift-O

Example 4 - Time and Date Display
Time Display-- TextView - Declaration in onCreatebundle
 mTimeDisplay = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.timeDisplay);
mPickTime = (Button) findViewById(R.id.pickTime);/// Time Picker

/// set Up a listener for the button
        // add a click listener to the button
        mPickTime.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            public void onClick(View v) {
                showDialog(TIME_DIALOG_ID);
            }
        });

Which In turn Launches the 
TimePickerDialog Dialog

Toast Message
A toast is a view containing a quick little message for the user.
Compare this to UIAlertView in Iphone
Toast.makeText(HelloFormStuff.this, rb.getText(), Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();

Comparisons of the elements used in Android and  Iphone
ImageButton - > UIButton
EditText    - > UiTextField
CheckBox  - >
RadioButton - >
ToggleButton - >
UIAlertVew  -> UiAlertView
ListView - > UiTableView

All the above examples extends Activity Class



For List View - Extend the ListActivityView
Instead of using the R.layout.main for setting the content view. We would populate the table
view with ArrayAdapter
  setListAdapter(newArrayAdapter<String>(this,
          android.R.layout.simple_list_item_1, COUNTRIES));
  getListView().setTextFilterEnabled(true);

And the array.
static final String[] COUNTRIES = new String[] { "ListValue 1"};


ADDING MENU- which pops up on pressing the menu button on the phone
Import the following packages :
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.MenuItem;

To add menu item all we need  is to  override  2 functions 
    @Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
       return super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu);
    }

  /// Function 2 to receive the menu button clicks.   
    @Override
    public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
        switch(item.getItemId()) {
            case MENU_ADD:
               Toast.makeText(HelloFormStuff.this, rb.getText(), Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();    
               break;
            case MENU_QUIT:
                Toast.makeText(HelloFormStuff.this, rb.getText(), Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                this.finish();
        }  
        return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
    }
  /// Adding the menu items to the menu in onCreateOptionsMenu() Function
    menu.add(0, MENU_ADD, 0, "Add").setIcon(android.R.drawable.ic_menu_add);
    menu.add(0, MENU_QUIT, 0, "Quit").setIcon(android.R.drawable.ic_menu_close_clear_cancel);
       
Getting the connectivity with SQL Database
We  need to obtain here a list to display the elements
/// Creating a  list
        this.list = new ListView(this);
        this.registerForContextMenu(this.list);

       /// 2 lines of Database connection       
        this.db = this.openOrCreateDatabase("dic_tut5", MODE_PRIVATE, null);
        this.db.execSQL("CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS table_of_dics(value REAL)");
        this.update_list();
       
        setContentView(this.list);

Using ArrayList
        ArrayList<String> db_results = new ArrayList<String>();
        Cursor cursor = db.rawQuery("SELECT value FROM table_of_dics ORDER BY value", null);
       
        while(cursor.moveToNext()) {
            db_results.add(String.valueOf(cursor.getDouble(cursor.getColumnIndex("value"))));
        }
        cursor.close();
           
        this.list.setAdapter(new ArrayAdapter<String>(
            this,
              android.R.layout.simple_list_item_single_choice,
              db_results
        ));
/// Insert into the database
db.execSQL("INSERT INTO table_of_dics(value) VALUES(" + String.valueOf(Math.random()) + ")");