Android hellobluemix application for Bluemix Mobile Services

This hellobluemix sample contains an Android project that you can use to learn more about Bluemix Mobile Services.

Use the following steps to configure the hellobluemix sample for Android:

Download the hellobluemix sample
Configure the mobile backend for your hellobluemix application
Configure the front end in the hellobluemix sample
Run the Android app

Before you begin

Before you start, make sure you have the following:

A Bluemix account.

Download the hellobluemix sample

Clone the sample from IBM DevOps Services with the following command:

git clone https://github.com/ibm-bluemix-mobile-services/bms-samples-android-hellobluemix

If you have not done so already, at this time please acquire and install Android Studio.

Configure the mobile backend for your hellobluemix application

Before you can run the hellobluemix application, you must set up an app on Bluemix. The following procedure shows you how to create a MobileFirst Services Starter application. A Node.js runtime environment is created so that you can provide server-side functions, such as resource URIs and static files. The Cloudant®NoSQL DB, IBM Push Notifications, and Mobile Client Access services are then added to the app.

Create a mobile backend in the Bluemix dashboard:

In the Boilerplates section of the Bluemix catalog, click MobileFirst Services Starter.
Enter a name and host for your mobile backend and click Create.
Click Finish.

Configure the front end in the hellobluemix sample

Using Android Studio, open the bms-samples-android-hellobluemix directory where the project was cloned.
Run a Gradle sync (usually starts automatically) to import the required core SDK. You can view the build.gradle file in the following directory:

app\build.gradle
Once that is complete, open MainActivity.java and locate the try block within the onCreate() function.
In the BMSClient.getInstance().initialize() function replace <APPLICATION_ROUTE> below with the application route you were given when creating your application on Bluemix. Update the region parameter if not using REGION_US_SOUTH (REGION_UK or REGION_SYDNEY).

		// Initialize SDK with IBM Bluemix application route
		// You can find your backendRoute in the Mobile Options section on top of your Bluemix MCA dashboard
		// TODO: Please replace <APPLICATION_ROUTE> with a valid ApplicationRoute and change region appropriately
		BMSClient.getInstance().initialize(this, BMSClient.REGION_US_SOUTH);
		appRoute = "<APPLICATION_ROUTE>";

Note: If your Bluemix app is not hosted in US_SOUTH, be sure to update the region parameter appropriately: BMSClient.REGION_SYDNEY or BMSClient.REGION_UK.

Run the Android App

Now you can run your Android Application in your mobile emulator or on your device.

You will see a single view application with a "PING BLUEMIX" button. When you click this button the application will test the connection from the client to the backend Bluemix application. The application uses the ApplicationRoute specified in onCreate() in order to test the connection. The application will then display if the connection was successful or unsuccessful. In the unsuccessful state an error will be displayed in the log as well as in the application.

Note: Inside the Main Activity a Get request is made to the Node.js runtime on Bluemix. This code has been provided in the MobileFirst Services Starter boilerplate. If the backend application was not created using the MobileFirst Services Starter boilerplate the application will not be able to connect successfully.

###Supported Levels The sample is supported on Android API level 15 and up.

License

This package contains sample code provided in source code form. The samples are licensed under the under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"). You may obtain a copy of the License at http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 and may also view the license in the license.txt file within this package. Also see the notices.txt file within this package for additional notices.