1Rpage.title=Notepad Exercise 2 2parent.title=Notepad Tutorial 3parent.link=index.html 4@jd:body 5 6 7<p><em>In this exercise, you will add a second Activity to your notepad application, to let the user 8create and edit notes. You will also allow the user to delete existing notes through a context menu. 9The new Activity assumes responsibility for creating new notes by 10collecting user input and packing it into a return Bundle provided by the intent. This exercise 11demonstrates:</em></p> 12<ul> 13<li><em>Constructing a new Activity and adding it to the Android manifest</em></li> 14<li><em>Invoking another Activity asynchronously using <code>startActivityForResult()</code></em></li> 15<li><em>Passing data between Activity in Bundle objects</em></li> 16<li><em>How to use a more advanced screen layout</em></li> 17<li><em>How to create a context menu</em></li> 18</ul> 19 20<div style="float:right;white-space:nowrap"> 21 [<a href="notepad-ex1.html">Exercise 1</a>] 22 <span style="color:#BBB;"> 23 [<a href="notepad-ex2.html" style="color:#DDD;">Exercise 2</a>] 24 </span> 25 [<a href="notepad-ex3.html">Exercise 3</a>] 26 [<a href="notepad-extra-credit.html">Extra Credit</a>] 27</div> 28 29<h2>Step 1</h2> 30 31<p>Create a new Android project using the sources from <code>Notepadv2</code> under the 32<code>NotepadCodeLab</code> folder, just like you did for the first exercise. If you see an error about 33<code>AndroidManifest.xml</code>, or some problems related to an 34<code>android.zip</code> file, right click on the project and select <strong>Android 35Tools</strong> > <strong>Fix Project Properties</strong>.</p> 36 37<p>Open the <code>Notepadv2</code> project and take a look around:</p> 38<ul> 39 <li> 40 Open and look at the <code>strings.xml</code> file under 41 <code>res/values</code> — there are several new strings which we will use 42 for our new functionality 43 </li> 44 <li> 45 Also, open and take a look at the top of the <code>Notepadv2</code> class, 46 you will notice several new constants have been defined along with a new <code>mNotesCursor</code> 47 field used to hold the cursor we are using. 48 </li> 49 <li> 50 Note also that the <code>fillData()</code> method has a few more comments and now uses 51 the new field to store the notes Cursor. The <code>onCreate()</code> method is 52 unchanged from the first exercise. Also notice that the member field used to store the 53 notes Cursor is now called <code>mNotesCursor</code>. The <code>m</code> denotes a member 54 field and is part of the Android coding style standards. 55 </li> 56 <li> 57 There are also a couple of new overridden methods 58 (<code>onCreateContextMenu()</code>, <code>onContextItemSelected()</code>, 59 <code>onListItemClick()</code> and <code>onActivityResult()</code>) 60 which we will be filling in below. 61 </li> 62</ul> 63 64 65<h2>Step 2</h2> 66<div class="sidebox-wrapper"> 67<div class="sidebox"> 68<p>Context menus should always be used when performing actions upon specific elements in the UI. 69When you register a View to a context menu, the context menu is revealed by performing a "long-click" 70on the UI component (press and hold the touchscreen or highlight and hold down the selection key for about two seconds).</p> 71</div> 72</div> 73 74<p>First, let's create the context menu that will allow users to delete individual notes. 75Open the Notepadv2 class.</p> 76 77<ol> 78 <li>In order for each list item in the ListView to register for the context menu, we call 79 <code>registerForContextMenu()</code> and pass it our ListView. So, at the very end of 80 the <code>onCreate()</code> method add this line: 81 <pre>registerForContextMenu(getListView());</pre> 82 <p>Because our Activity extends the ListActivity class, <code>getListView()</code> will return us 83 the local ListView object for the Activity. Now, each list item in this ListView will activate the 84 context menu. 85 <li> 86 Now fill in the <code>onCreateContextMenu()</code> method. This callback is similar to the other 87 menu callback used for the options menu. Here, we add just one line, which will add a menu item 88 to delete a note. Call <code>menu.add()</code> like so: 89 <pre> 90public boolean onCreateContextMenu(Menu menu, View v 91 ContextMenuInfo menuInfo) { 92 super.onCreateContextMenu(menu, v, menuInfo); 93 menu.add(0, DELETE_ID, 0, R.string.menu_delete); 94}</pre> 95 <p>The <code>onCreateContextMenu()</code> callback passes some other information in addition to the Menu object, 96 such as the View that has been triggered for the menu and 97 an extra object that may contain additional information about the object selected. However, we don't care about 98 these here, because we only have one kind of object in the Activity that uses context menus. In the next 99 step, we'll handle the menu item selection.</p> 100 </li> 101</ol> 102 103<h2>Step 3</h2> 104 <p>Now that the we've registered our ListView for a context menu and defined our context menu item, we need 105 to handle the callback when it is selected. For this, we need to identify the list ID of the 106 selected item, then delete it. So fill in the 107 <code>onContextItemSelected()</code> method like this:</p> 108<pre> 109public boolean onContextItemSelected(MenuItem item) { 110 switch(item.getItemId()) { 111 case DELETE_ID: 112 AdapterContextMenuInfo info = (AdapterContextMenuInfo) item.getMenuInfo(); 113 mDbHelper.deleteNote(info.id); 114 fillData(); 115 return true; 116 } 117 return super.onContextItemSelected(item); 118}</pre> 119<p>Here, we retrieve the {@link android.widget.AdapterView.AdapterContextMenuInfo AdapterContextMenuInfo} 120with {@link android.view.MenuItem#getMenuInfo()}. The <var>id</var> field of this object tells us 121the position of the item in the ListView. We then pass this to the <code>deleteNote()</code> 122method of our NotesDbAdapter and the note is deleted. That's it for the context menu — notes 123can now be deleted.</p> 124 125<h2 style="clear:right;">Step 4</h2> 126 <div class="sidebox-wrapper"> 127 <div class="sidebox"> 128 <h2>Starting Other Activities</h2> 129 <p>In this example our Intent uses a class name specifically. 130 As well as 131 <a href="{@docRoot}resources/faq/commontasks.html#intentexamples">starting intents</a> in 132 classes we already know about, be they in our own application or another 133 application, we can also create Intents without knowing exactly which 134 application will handle it.</p> 135 <p>For example, we might want to open a page in a 136 browser, and for this we still use 137 an Intent. But instead of specifying a class to handle it, we use 138 a predefined Intent constant, and a content URI that describes what we 139 want to do. See {@link android.content.Intent 140 android.content.Intent} for more information.</p> 141 </div> 142 </div> 143 144 <p>Fill in the body of the <code>createNote()</code> method: 145 <p>Create a new <code>Intent</code> to create a note 146 (<code>ACTIVITY_CREATE</code>) using the <code>NoteEdit</code> class. 147 Then fire the Intent using the <code>startActivityForResult()</code> method 148 call:</p> 149 <pre style="overflow:auto"> 150Intent i = new Intent(this, NoteEdit.class); 151startActivityForResult(i, ACTIVITY_CREATE);</pre> 152 <p>This form of the Intent call targets a specific class in our Activity, in this case 153 <code>NoteEdit</code>. Since the Intent class will need to communicate with the Android 154 operating system to route requests, we also have to provide a Context (<code>this</code>).</p> 155 <p>The <code>startActivityForResult()</code> method fires the Intent in a way that causes a method 156 in our Activity to be called when the new Activity is completed. The method in our Activity 157 that receives the callback is called 158 <code>onActivityResult()</code> and we will implement it in a later step. The other way 159 to call an Activity is using <code>startActivity()</code> but this is a "fire-and-forget" way 160 of calling it — in this manner, our Activity is not informed when the Activity is completed, and there is 161 no way to return result information from the called Activity with <code>startActivity()</code>. 162 <p>Don't worry about the fact that <code>NoteEdit</code> doesn't exist yet, 163 we will fix that soon. </p> 164 </li> 165 166 167<h2>Step 5</h2> 168 169 <p>Fill in the body of the <code>onListItemClick()</code> override.</p> 170 <p><code>onListItemClick()</code> is a callback method that we'll override. It is called when 171 the user selects an item from the list. It is passed four parameters: the 172 <code>ListView</code> object it was invoked from, the <code>View</code> 173 inside the <code>ListView</code> that was clicked on, the 174 <code>position</code> in the list that was clicked, and the 175 <code>mRowId</code> of the item that was clicked. In this instance we can 176 ignore the first two parameters (we only have one <code>ListView</code> it 177 could be), and we ignore the <code>mRowId</code> as well. All we are 178 interested in is the <code>position</code> that the user selected. We use 179 this to get the data from the correct row, and bundle it up to send to 180 the <code>NoteEdit</code> Activity.</p> 181 <p>In our implementation of the callback, the method creates an 182 <code>Intent</code> to edit the note using 183 the <code>NoteEdit</code> class. It then adds data into the extras Bundle of 184 the Intent, which will be passed to the called Activity. We use it 185 to pass in the title and body text, and the <code>mRowId</code> for the note we are 186 editing. Finally, it will fire the Intent using the 187 <code>startActivityForResult()</code> method call. Here's the code that 188 belongs in <code>onListItemClick()</code>:</p> 189 <pre> 190super.onListItemClick(l, v, position, id); 191Cursor c = mNotesCursor; 192c.moveToPosition(position); 193Intent i = new Intent(this, NoteEdit.class); 194i.putExtra(NotesDbAdapter.KEY_ROWID, id); 195i.putExtra(NotesDbAdapter.KEY_TITLE, c.getString( 196 c.getColumnIndexOrThrow(NotesDbAdapter.KEY_TITLE))); 197i.putExtra(NotesDbAdapter.KEY_BODY, c.getString( 198 c.getColumnIndexOrThrow(NotesDbAdapter.KEY_BODY))); 199startActivityForResult(i, ACTIVITY_EDIT);</pre> 200 <ul> 201 <li> 202 <code>putExtra()</code> is the method to add items into the extras Bundle 203 to pass in to intent invocations. Here, we are 204 using the Bundle to pass in the title, body and mRowId of the note we want to edit. 205 </li> 206 <li> 207 The details of the note are pulled out from our query Cursor, which we move to the 208 proper position for the element that was selected in the list, with 209 the <code>moveToPosition()</code> method.</li> 210 <li>With the extras added to the Intent, we invoke the Intent on the 211 <code>NoteEdit</code> class by passing <code>startActivityForResult()</code> 212 the Intent and the request code. (The request code will be 213 returned to <code>onActivityResult</code> as the <code>requestCode</code> parameter.)</li> 214 </ul> 215 <p class="note"><b>Note:</b> We assign the mNotesCursor field to a local variable at the 216 start of the method. This is done as an optimization of the Android code. Accessing a local 217 variable is much more efficient than accessing a field in the Dalvik VM, so by doing this 218 we make only one access to the field, and five accesses to the local variable, making the 219 routine much more efficient. It is recommended that you use this optimization when possible.</p> 220 221 222<h2>Step 6</h2> 223 224<p>The above <code>createNote()</code> and <code>onListItemClick()</code> 225 methods use an asynchronous Intent invocation. We need a handler for the callback, so here we fill 226 in the body of the <code>onActivityResult()</code>. </p> 227<p><code>onActivityResult()</code> is the overridden method 228 which will be called when an Activity returns with a result. (Remember, an Activity 229 will only return a result if launched with <code>startActivityForResult</code>.) The parameters provided 230 to the callback are: </p> 231 <ul> 232 <li><code>requestCode</code> — the original request code 233 specified in the Intent invocation (either <code>ACTIVITY_CREATE</code> or 234 <code>ACTIVITY_EDIT</code> for us). 235 </li> 236 <li><code>resultCode</code> — the result (or error code) of the call, this 237 should be zero if everything was OK, but may have a non-zero code indicating 238 that something failed. There are standard result codes available, and you 239 can also create your own constants to indicate specific problems. 240 </li> 241 <li><code>intent</code> — this is an Intent created by the Activity returning 242 results. It can be used to return data in the Intent "extras." 243 </li> 244 </ul> 245 <p>The combination of <code>startActivityForResult()</code> and 246 <code>onActivityResult()</code> can be thought of as an asynchronous RPC 247 (remote procedure call) and forms the recommended way for an Activity to invoke 248 another and share services.</p> 249 <p>Here's the code that belongs in your <code>onActivityResult()</code>:</p> 250 <pre> 251super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, intent); 252Bundle extras = intent.getExtras(); 253 254switch(requestCode) { 255case ACTIVITY_CREATE: 256 String title = extras.getString(NotesDbAdapter.KEY_TITLE); 257 String body = extras.getString(NotesDbAdapter.KEY_BODY); 258 mDbHelper.createNote(title, body); 259 fillData(); 260 break; 261case ACTIVITY_EDIT: 262 Long mRowId = extras.getLong(NotesDbAdapter.KEY_ROWID); 263 if (mRowId != null) { 264 String editTitle = extras.getString(NotesDbAdapter.KEY_TITLE); 265 String editBody = extras.getString(NotesDbAdapter.KEY_BODY); 266 mDbHelper.updateNote(mRowId, editTitle, editBody); 267 } 268 fillData(); 269 break; 270}</pre> 271 272 <ul> 273 <li> 274 We are handling both the <code>ACTIVITY_CREATE</code> and 275 <code>ACTIVITY_EDIT</code> activity results in this method. 276 </li> 277 <li> 278 In the case of a create, we pull the title and body from the extras (retrieved from the 279 returned Intent) and use them to create a new note. 280 </li> 281 <li> 282 In the case of an edit, we pull the mRowId as well, and use that to update 283 the note in the database. 284 </li> 285 <li> 286 <code>fillData()</code> at the end ensures everything is up to date . 287 </li> 288 </ul> 289 290 291<h2>Step 7</h2> 292 293 <div class="sidebox-wrapper"> 294 <div class="sidebox"> 295 <h2>The Art of Layout</h2> 296 <p>The provided 297 note_edit.xml layout file is the most sophisticated one in the application we will be building, 298 but that doesn't mean it is even close to the kind of sophistication you will be likely to want 299 in real Android applications.</p> 300 <p>Creating a 301 good UI is part art and part science, and the rest is work. Mastery of <a 302 href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/ui/declaring-layout.html">Declaring Layout</a> is an essential part of creating 303 a good looking Android application.</p> 304 <p>Take a look at the 305 <a href="{@docRoot}resources/tutorials/views/index.html">Hello Views</a> 306 for some example layouts and how to use them. The ApiDemos sample project is also a 307 great resource from which to learn how to create different layouts.</p> 308 </div> 309 </div> 310 311<p>Open the file <code>note_edit.xml</code> that has been provided and take a 312 look at it. This is the UI code for the Note Editor.</p> 313 <p>This is the most 314 sophisticated UI we have dealt with yet. The file is given to you to avoid 315 problems that may sneak in when typing the code. (The XML is very strict 316 about case sensitivity and structure, mistakes in these are the usual cause 317 of problems with layout.)</p> 318 <p>There is a new parameter used 319 here that we haven't seen before: <code>android:layout_weight</code> (in 320 this case set to use the value 1 in each case).</p> 321 <p><code>layout_weight</code> is used in LinearLayouts 322 to assign "importance" to Views within the layout. All Views have a default 323 <code>layout_weight</code> of zero, meaning they take up only as much room 324 on the screen as they need to be displayed. Assigning a value higher than 325 zero will split up the rest of the available space in the parent View, according 326 to the value of each View's <code>layout_weight</code> and its ratio to the 327 overall <code>layout_weight</code> specified in the current layout for this 328 and other View elements.</p> 329 <p>To give an example: let's say we have a text label 330 and two text edit elements in a horizontal row. The label has no 331 <code>layout_weight</code> specified, so it takes up the minimum space 332 required to render. If the <code>layout_weight</code> of each of the two 333 text edit elements is set to 1, the remaining width in the parent layout will 334 be split equally between them (because we claim they are equally important). 335 If the first one has a <code>layout_weight</code> of 1 336 and the second has a <code>layout_weight</code> of 2, then one third of the 337 remaining space will be given to the first, and two thirds to the 338 second (because we claim the second one is more important).</p> 339 <p>This layout also demonstrates how to nest multiple layouts 340 inside each other to achieve a more complex and pleasant layout. In this 341 example, a horizontal linear layout is nested inside the vertical one to 342 allow the title label and text field to be alongside each other, 343 horizontally.</p> 344 345 346<h2 style="clear:right;">Step 8</h2> 347 348 <p>Create a <code>NoteEdit</code> class that extends 349 <code>android.app.Activity</code>.</p> 350 <p>This is the first time we will have 351 created an Activity without the Android Eclipse plugin doing it for us. When 352 you do so, the <code>onCreate()</code> method is not automatically 353 overridden for you. It is hard to imagine an Activity that doesn't override 354 the <code>onCreate()</code> method, so this should be the first thing you do.</p> 355 <ol> 356 <li>Right click on the <code>com.android.demo.notepad2</code> package 357 in the Package Explorer, and select <strong>New</strong> > <strong>Class</strong> from the popup 358 menu.</li> 359 <li>Fill in <code>NoteEdit</code> for the <code>Name:</code> field in the 360 dialog.</li> 361 <li>In the <code>Superclass:</code> field, enter 362 <code>android.app.Activity</code> (you can also just type Activity and hit 363 Ctrl-Space on Windows and Linux or Cmd-Space on the Mac, to invoke code 364 assist and find the right package and class).</li> 365 <li>Click <strong>Finish</strong>.</li> 366 <li>In the resulting <code>NoteEdit</code> class, right click in the editor 367 window and select <strong>Source</strong> > <strong>Override/Implement Methods...</strong></li> 368 <li>Scroll down through the checklist in the dialog until you see 369 <code>onCreate(Bundle)</code> — and check the box next to it.</li> 370 <li>Click <strong>OK</strong>.<p>The method should now appear in your class.</p></li> 371 </ol> 372 373<h2>Step 9</h2> 374 375<p>Fill in the body of the <code>onCreate()</code> method for <code>NoteEdit</code>.</p> 376 377<p>This will set the title of our new Activity to say "Edit Note" (one 378 of the strings defined in <code>strings.xml</code>). It will also set the 379 content view to use our <code>note_edit.xml</code> layout file. We can then 380 grab handles to the title and body text edit views, and the confirm button, 381 so that our class can use them to set and get the note title and body, 382 and attach an event to the confirm button for when it is pressed by the 383 user.</p> 384 <p>We can then unbundle the values that were passed in to the Activity 385 with the extras Bundle attached to the calling Intent. We'll use them to pre-populate 386 the title and body text edit views so that the user can edit them. 387 Then we will grab and store the <code>mRowId</code> so we can keep 388 track of what note the user is editing.</p> 389 390 <ol> 391 <li> 392 Inside <code>onCreate()</code>, set up the layout:<br> 393 <pre>setContentView(R.layout.note_edit);</pre> 394 </li> 395 <li> 396 Find the edit and button components we need: 397 <p>These are found by the 398 IDs associated to them in the R class, and need to be cast to the right 399 type of <code>View</code> (<code>EditText</code> for the two text views, 400 and <code>Button</code> for the confirm button):</p> 401 <pre> 402mTitleText = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.title); 403mBodyText = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.body); 404Button confirmButton = (Button) findViewById(R.id.confirm);</pre> 405 <p>Note that <code>mTitleText</code> and <code>mBodyText</code> are member 406 fields (you need to declare them at the top of the class definition).</p> 407 </li> 408 <li>At the top of the class, declare a <code>Long mRowId</code> private field to store 409 the current <code>mRowId</code> being edited (if any). 410 </li> 411 <li>Continuing inside <code>onCreate()</code>, 412 add code to initialize the <code>title</code>, <code>body</code> and 413 <code>mRowId</code> from the extras Bundle in 414 the Intent (if it is present):<br> 415 <pre> 416mRowId = null; 417Bundle extras = getIntent().getExtras(); 418if (extras != null) { 419 String title = extras.getString(NotesDbAdapter.KEY_TITLE); 420 String body = extras.getString(NotesDbAdapter.KEY_BODY); 421 mRowId = extras.getLong(NotesDbAdapter.KEY_ROWID); 422 423 if (title != null) { 424 mTitleText.setText(title); 425 } 426 if (body != null) { 427 mBodyText.setText(body); 428 } 429}</pre> 430 <ul> 431 <li> 432 We are pulling the <code>title</code> and 433 <code>body</code> out of the 434 <code>extras</code> Bundle that was set from the 435 Intent invocation. 436 </li><li> 437 We also null-protect the text field setting (i.e., we don't want to set 438 the text fields to null accidentally).</li> 439 </ul> 440 </li> 441 <li> 442 Create an <code>onClickListener()</code> for the button: 443 <p>Listeners can be one of the more confusing aspects of UI 444 implementation, but 445 what we are trying to achieve in this case is simple. We want an 446 <code>onClick()</code> method to be called when the user presses the 447 confirm button, and use that to do some work and return the values 448 of the edited note to the Intent caller. We do this using something called 449 an anonymous inner class. This is a bit confusing to look at unless you 450 have seen them before, but all you really need to take away from this is 451 that you can refer to this code in the future to see how to create a 452 listener and attach it to a button. (Listeners are a common idiom 453 in Java development, particularly for user interfaces.) Here's the empty listener:<br> 454 <pre> 455confirmButton.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() { 456 457 public void onClick(View view) { 458 459 } 460 461});</pre> 462 </li> 463 </ol> 464<h2>Step 10</h2> 465 466<p>Fill in the body of the <code>onClick()</code> method of the <code>OnClickListener</code> created in the last step.</p> 467 468 <p>This is the code that will be run when the user clicks on the 469 confirm button. We want this to grab the title and body text from the edit 470 text fields, and put them into the return Bundle so that they can be passed 471 back to the Activity that invoked this <code>NoteEdit</code> Activity. If the 472 operation is an edit rather than a create, we also want to put the 473 <code>mRowId</code> into the Bundle so that the 474 <code>Notepadv2</code> class can save the changes back to the correct 475 note.</p> 476 <ol> 477 <li> 478 Create a <code>Bundle</code> and put the title and body text into it using the 479 constants defined in Notepadv2 as keys:<br> 480 <pre> 481Bundle bundle = new Bundle(); 482 483bundle.putString(NotesDbAdapter.KEY_TITLE, mTitleText.getText().toString()); 484bundle.putString(NotesDbAdapter.KEY_BODY, mBodyText.getText().toString()); 485if (mRowId != null) { 486 bundle.putLong(NotesDbAdapter.KEY_ROWID, mRowId); 487}</pre> 488 </li> 489 <li> 490 Set the result information (the Bundle) in a new Intent and finish the Activity: 491 <pre> 492Intent mIntent = new Intent(); 493mIntent.putExtras(bundle); 494setResult(RESULT_OK, mIntent); 495finish();</pre> 496 <ul> 497 <li>The Intent is simply our data carrier that carries our Bundle 498 (with the title, body and mRowId).</li> 499 <li>The <code>setResult()</code> method is used to set the result 500 code and return Intent to be passed back to the 501 Intent caller. In this case everything worked, so we return RESULT_OK for the 502 result code.</li> 503 <li>The <code>finish()</code> call is used to signal that the Activity 504 is done (like a return call). Anything set in the Result will then be 505 returned to the caller, along with execution control.</li> 506 </ul> 507 </li> 508 </ol> 509 <p>The full <code>onCreate()</code> method (plus supporting class fields) should 510 now look like this:</p> 511 <pre> 512private EditText mTitleText; 513private EditText mBodyText; 514private Long mRowId; 515 516@Override 517protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) { 518 super.onCreate(savedInstanceState); 519 setContentView(R.layout.note_edit); 520 521 mTitleText = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.title); 522 mBodyText = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.body); 523 524 Button confirmButton = (Button) findViewById(R.id.confirm); 525 526 mRowId = null; 527 Bundle extras = getIntent().getExtras(); 528 if (extras != null) { 529 String title = extras.getString(NotesDbAdapter.KEY_TITLE); 530 String body = extras.getString(NotesDbAdapter.KEY_BODY); 531 mRowId = extras.getLong(NotesDbAdapter.KEY_ROWID); 532 533 if (title != null) { 534 mTitleText.setText(title); 535 } 536 if (body != null) { 537 mBodyText.setText(body); 538 } 539 } 540 541 confirmButton.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() { 542 543 public void onClick(View view) { 544 Bundle bundle = new Bundle(); 545 546 bundle.putString(NotesDbAdapter.KEY_TITLE, mTitleText.getText().toString()); 547 bundle.putString(NotesDbAdapter.KEY_BODY, mBodyText.getText().toString()); 548 if (mRowId != null) { 549 bundle.putLong(NotesDbAdapter.KEY_ROWID, mRowId); 550 } 551 552 Intent mIntent = new Intent(); 553 mIntent.putExtras(bundle); 554 setResult(RESULT_OK, mIntent); 555 finish(); 556 } 557 }); 558}</pre> 559 </li> 560 </ol> 561 562<h2>Step 11</h2> 563 564 <div class="sidebox-wrapper"> 565 <div class="sidebox"> 566 <h2>The All-Important Android Manifest File</h2> 567 <p>The AndroidManifest.xml file is the way in which Android sees your 568 application. This file defines the category of the application, where 569 it shows up (or even if it shows up) in the launcher or settings, what 570 activities, services, and content providers it defines, what intents it can 571 receive, and more. </p> 572 <p>For more information, see the reference document 573 <a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/manifest-intro.html">The AndroidManifest.xml 574File</a></p> 575 </div> 576 </div> 577 578<p>Finally, the new Activity has to be defined in the manifest file:</p> 579 <p>Before the new Activity can be seen by Android, it needs its own 580 Activity entry in the <code>AndroidManifest.xml</code> file. This is to let 581 the system know that it is there and can be called. We could also specify 582 which IntentFilters the activity implements here, but we are going to skip 583 this for now and just let Android know that the Activity is 584 defined.</p> 585 <p>There is a Manifest editor included in the Eclipse plugin that makes it much easier 586 to edit the AndroidManifest file, and we will use this. If you prefer to edit the file directly 587 or are not using the Eclipse plugin, see the box at the end for information on how to do this 588 without using the new Manifest editor.<p> 589 <ol> 590 <li>Double click on the <code>AndroidManifest.xml</code> file in the package explorer to open it. 591 </li> 592 <li>Click the <strong>Application</strong> tab at the bottom of the Manifest editor.</li> 593 <li>Click <strong>Add...</strong> in the Application Nodes section. 594 <p>If you see a dialog with radiobuttons at the top, select the top radio button: 595 "Create a new element at the top level, in Application".</p></li> 596 <li>Make sure "(A) Activity" is selected in the selection pane of the dialog, and click <strong>OK</strong>.</li> 597 <li>Click on the new "Activity" node, in the Application Nodes section, then 598 type <code>.NoteEdit</code> into the <em>Name*</em> 599 field to the right. Press Return/Enter.</li> 600 </ol> 601 <p>The Android Manifest editor helps you add more complex entries into the AndroidManifest.xml 602 file, have a look around at some of the other options available (but be careful not to select 603 them otherwise they will be added to your Manifest). This editor should help you understand 604 and alter the AndroidManifest.xml file as you move on to more advanced Android applications.</p> 605 606 <p class="note">If you prefer to edit this file directly, simply open the 607 <code>AndroidManifest.xml</code> file and look at the source (use the 608 <code>AndroidManifest.xml</code> tab in the eclipse editor to see the source code directly). 609 Then edit the file as follows:<br> 610 <code><activity android:name=".NoteEdit" /></code><br><br> 611 This should be placed just below the line that reads:<br> 612 <code></activity></code> for the <code>.Notepadv2</code> activity.</p> 613 614<h2 style="clear:right;">Step 12</h2> 615 616<p>Now Run it!</p> 617<p>You should now be able to add real notes from 618the menu, as well as delete an existing one. Notice that in order to delete, you must 619first use the directional controls on the device to highlight the note. 620Furthermore, selecting a note title from the list should bring up the note 621editor to let you edit it. Press confirm when finished to save the changes 622back to the database. 623 624<h2>Solution and Next Steps</h2> 625 626<p>You can see the solution to this exercise in <code>Notepadv2Solution</code> 627from the zip file to compare with your own.</p> 628<p>Now try editing a note, and then hitting the back button on the emulator 629instead of the confirm button (the back button is below the menu button). You 630will see an error come up. Clearly our application still has some problems. 631Worse still, if you did make some changes and hit the back button, when you go 632back into the notepad to look at the note you changed, you will find that all 633your changes have been lost. In the next exercise we will fix these 634problems.</p> 635 636<p> 637Once you are ready, move on to <a href="notepad-ex3.html">Tutorial 638Exercise 3</a> where you will fix the problems with the back button and lost 639edits by introducing a proper life cycle into the NoteEdit Activity.</p> 640 641 642