Exploring Halifax Attractions using the Esri Runtime SDK for Android
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This document summarizes the steps taken to create an Android app for exploring attractions in Halifax using the Esri Runtime SDK. It describes setting up the development environment, adding maps and basemaps, accessing feature layer data from the cloud, and adding geocoding capabilities. It also details how various layers for trails, breweries, parks, shopping centers and hospitals were created and symbolized for use in the app. The document outlines how each of these layers can be queried, turned on/off, and highlighted through buttons in the Android app interface. It notes some problems encountered like Android Studio updates and projects not syncing correctly from GitHub.
Exploring Halifax Attractions using the Esri Runtime SDK for Android
- 1. Exploring Halifax Attractions using the Runtime SDK for Android Lindsay LeFresne and Sarah Micheau
- 2. Create an app of the Halifax region using an Esri basemap Use feature layers to display data which can be turned on/off Ability to query data Find optimal routing between locations Initial Project Plan Image from: https://weather.gc.ca/forecast/canada/index_e.html?id=NS
- 3. Software 2.1 Online & Desktop 10.3 Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
- 4. Getting Started Choose an Android Version and API level Create an emulator Basics of Android Studio Esri tutorials from ArcGIS for Developers
- 5. Android Platform Versions Platform versions are a trade off between the percentage of users’ the app aims to target and available features.
- 6. Creating an Emulator Option to connect an Android device or use a virtual emulator We created several emulators in Android Studio which are shown in the image below
- 7. Basics of Android Studio Build Automation Gradle has the ability to access other host repositories including Maven Android studio is the only IDE that supports the Gradle build system
- 8. Tutorial 1: Add a map to your app Completed the ‘Add a map to your app’ tutorial on the Esri developers website Defined MapView Problems:
- 9. Tutorial 2: Use ArcGIS basemaps (1/2) In the onCreate method, the mapView was retrieved from the XML where we defined it earlier onPause and onResume methods were added In menu_main.xml 4 different basemaps were defined as a menu item
- 10. Several basemap variables were defined In the onCreateOptionsMenu method, menu.getItem was used to retrieve the basemap menu items onOptionsItemSelected uses the menu item ID to determine the action to be taken from the switch statement Tutorial 2: Use ArcGIS basemaps (2/2)
- 11. Tutorial 3: Access feature data in the cloud A Feature layer URL was added to the string.xml, this accesses the layer from the cloud Layer variables were defined in main code Code was added to the onCreate method to create the feature layer graphic upon start up
- 12. Tutorial 4: Add geocoding to your app Geocoding variables were added New graphics layer was added in the onCreate method Code was added to set a listener to ensure that the map view was initialized and ready to use upon app startup. The next step was to allow user to enter an address this was done by adding a search button to the top bar in the app. LocatorAsyncTask method added to execute the geocoding and zoom to the specified location.
- 13. Creating the Layers Used Trails Provided by Halifax Open Data (http://www.halifax.ca/opendata/) and imported into ArcGIS Online Breweries Geocoded using ArcGIS Online Shopping Centres Main large shopping centres were chosen Geocoded using ArcGIS Online Parks Provincial parks within Halifax County were located from http://parks.novascotia.ca/ Geocoded using ArcGIS Online Hospitals Geocoded using ArcGIS Online All layers were symbolized within ArcGIS Online, and made available to the public
- 14. Geocoding in ArcGIS Online CSV files were created using Addresses of the locations used. They were then imported into ArcGIS Online which automatically geocoded the locations.
- 15. Trails Layer Layer was downloaded from Halifax Open Data website (http://www.halifax.ca/opendata/) as a shapefile and imported into ArcGIS for Desktop. Problem: Projection Web Mercator The layer is then shared as a feature service and brought into ArcGIS Online. All feature layers were added in the string.xml file using the feature service URL’s
- 16. Creating Image Buttons Image Buttons were created to allow user to query or select feature layers Five image buttons were used: App Info, Brewery, Biking (Trails), Parks and Shopping Centres. A drawable xml was created for each button that defined the shape and color of the button. The ImageButtons were created under the layout folder with the drawable and mipmap photos assigned as part of their attributes The onClick attribute was used to link the button to a method within the code that defined the button’s action.
- 17. Using the App Info Button When information button is clicked the method appInfo is called that displays a pop up window explaining the app to the user.
- 18. Using the Brewery Button When the brewery button is clicked the onBreweryClick method is called This method uses a boolean to track whether the layer is turned on or off. For example if the layer is turned on, pressing the button will turn the layer off and vice versa. Brewery layer was added as a feature layer using the feature layer URL
- 19. Using the Trail (Biking) Button The trail layer is defined in the onCreate method and is displayed upon start up. When the user clicks on the biking button it calls the showPopup method. When the user makes their selection it calls the onMenuItemClick method. Resulting trails are highlighted in blue using a SimpeLineSymbol
- 20. Using the Park button The park layer is defined in the onCreate method and is displayed upon start up This button works similarly to the biking button, where it queries the layers attributes allowing the user to select parks where there is swimming permitted. The button calls the showPopupPark method to inflate the park menu Parks are identified by an overlaying SimpleMarkerSymbol
- 21. Using the Shopping Button When the shopping button is clicked the onShoppingClick method is called. The button calls the showPopupPark method to inflate the park menu Similar to the brewery button, this method uses a Boolean to track whether the layer is turned on or off For example is the layer is turned on, presses the button will turn the layer off and vice versa Shopping Centre's are shown with blue shopping bag symbols
- 22. Using the Hospital Menu When the hospital button is clicked on the top tool bar the hospital menu is inflated using the showPopupHospital method. When a hospital is chosen from the menu, the onMenuItemClick method is called which queries the chosen hospital based on it’s attributes. This results in a red cross graphic overlaying the hospital the user selected
- 23. Other Problems Android Studio frequent updates Downloaded projects from GitHub would not sync (Routing) Creating multiple menus Main activity is doing too much work
- 24. QUESTIONS? Team work makes the dream work!
Editor's Notes
- #2: iNTRO
- #3: 2
- #4: 3
- #6: 5
- #7: 6
- #8: 7
- #9: 8
- #10: 9
- #11: 10
- #12: 11
- #14: 13
- #15: 14
- #18: We created an AlertDialog builder. This allows the user to close the popup window when they wish. The other option was to use the toast option. But a specific amount of time coujld not be chosen (only short and long), and we did not know the speed of the reader
- #19: Problem: initial problem was that the when the layer was turned on, the button disappeared
- #20: 19
- #21: 20
- #25: 24