Introduction to Developing Android Apps With the Salesforce Mobile SDK

Introduction to Developing Android™
Apps
Using the Salesforce Mobile SDK
Ryan Upton, Salesforce.com, Mobile Evangelist
@ryanjupton

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Complexity
We know how to make consumer mobile apps.
But how do we deal with new complexities of enterprise mobile
apps?
▪ Authentication & authorization.
▪ Ubiquitous data access.
▪ Data protection.
▪ Governance.

???

The Force.com Platform
Infrastructure Application
Services
Services

Operations
Services

Platform
Services

Touch
Services

Social
Services

Network

Security/Sharing

Authentication

Globalization

Native iOS SDK

Feeds

Storage

Integration

Availability

APIs

Native Android SDK

Profiles

Operating System

Customization

Monitoring

Security

HTML5

Status updates

Database

Web Services

Patch Management

Analytics

Xcode wizards

Groups

App Server

Multi-Language

Upgrades

Search

PIN code support

File sharing

Web Server

Workflow

Backup

Identity

Custom APEX REST

Approvals

Data Center

NOC

Geo-location Mobile

Messenger

Disaster Recovery

Troubleshooting

APIs

Presence

Your
Innovative
App

Salesforce.com Mobile SDK for Android
The Salesforce.com Mobile SDK for Android gives developers the
power to create sophisticated mobile apps that leverage the power
of the Force.com platform.
OAuth2
Secure authentication and refresh token
management

API Wrappers
Interact with Salesforce REST APIs with
popular mobile platform languages

App Container
Embed HTML5 apps inside a container to
access powerful native device functionality

Secure Offline Storage
Store business data on a device with enterpriseclass encryption

Push Notifications
Dispatch real-time alerts directly to mobile
devices

Getting the SDK
There are two ways to get the Salesforce Mobile SDK for
Android.
▪ Download the SDK
• git clone https://github.com/forcedotcom/SalesforceMobileSDK-Android.git

▪ Forcedroid
• Install Node.js and NPM.
• Use the forcedroid package to install SDK globally or locally.

Forcedroid
Forcedroid provides the quickest, easiest route to Android
development.
▪ Simple command line lets you quickly create template apps for
• Native applications.
• Hybrid applications (local and remote).
• Including additional libraries.

Building Native Apps
After running forcedroid to create a native application you will
have a template for modifying your app.
This template links in classes and configures services for
managing
▪ OAuth login flow.
▪ REST API wrappers and REST client management.
▪ Handling logout and OAuth credential management.

OAuth
An open protocol to allow secure authorization in a simple
and standard method from web, mobile and desktop
applications.
▪ Oauth simplifies working with protected data.
Sends App Credentials

▪ Prevents password
anti-pattern.
▪ Think valet key.

Tokens sent to callback

Remote
Application

API call with access token
Data

Maintain session with
refresh token

User
logs in

Salesforce
Platform

Force.com REST API
The Force.com REST API lets you integrate with Force.com
applications using simple HTTP methods, in either XML or
JSON formats, making this an ideal API for developing mobile
applications or external clients.
1. Authenticate
login.salesforce.com

Mobile
Application

2. Access API
/services/data/query?
SELECT ID FROM ACCOUNT

3. Get JSON or XML
{“sObject”: “Account”,
“id” : “oax02fdr756aFdad”}

Salesforce
Platform

Native Classes
▪ SalesforceSDKManager
▪ RestClient
▪ ClientManager
▪ LoginActivity
▪ SalesforceActivity
▪ PasswordManager
▪ AccountWatcher

Demo

▪ Create an app
▪ Configure Connected App settings
▪ Review template code

Data Access
It’s important to understand the structure, format and size of
data prior to running REST queries.
▪ You will need to know the JSON structure, content and amount of data
before building queries.
▪ Workbench is an excellent tool for testing SOQL queries and analyzing
data.

Introduction to Developing Android Apps With the Salesforce Mobile SDK

Read data
private void sendRequest() throws UnsupportedEncodingException {
String SOQL = “SELECT NAME FROM CONTACT”;
RestRequest restRequest = RestRequest.getRequestForQuery(getString(R.string.api_version), soql);
client.sendAsync(restRequest, new AsyncRequestCallback() {
@Override
public void onSuccess(RestRequest request, RestResponse result) {
try {
JSONArray records = result.asJSONObject().getJSONArray("records");
for (int i = 0; i < records.length(); i++) {
listAdapter.add(records.getJSONObject(i).getString("Name"));
}
} catch (Exception e) {
onError(e);
}
}

Delete data
@Override
try {
}
onError(e);
}
}

Create data
@Override
try {
}
onError(e);
}
}

Update data
public void onUpdateClick(View v) {
Map<String, Object> fields = new HashMap<String, Object>();
fields.put("Name", nameField.getText().toString());
fields.put(”Email", emailField.getText().toString());
fields.put(”Phone", phoneField.getText().toString());
RestRequest restRequest;
restRequest = RestRequest.getRequestForUpdate(getString(R.string.api_version),
fields);
@Override
try {
DetailActivity.this.finish();

”Contact", id,

What about Apex REST?
public void onRestQuery(View v) {
String url = “/services/apexrest/myRESTservice”;
restRequest = new RestRequest(RestMethod.GET, url, null);
@Override
try {
JSONArray records = result.asJSONArray();
listAdapter.add(records.getString(i));
}
onError(e);
}
}

What about meta data?
public void onGetMetadataClick(View v) {
String objectType = ((EditText) findViewById(R.id.metadata_object_type_text)).getText().toString();
restRequest = RestRequest.getRequestForMetaData(getString(R.string.api_version), objectType);
@Override
try {
}
onError(e);
}
}

Demo

▪

Modify template app
▪ Use REST API to query records
▪ Use REST API to update record
▪ Use REST API to call Apex REST

Recap
We’ve covered a number of things in this session.
Specifically we’ve learned:
▪ The benefits of the Force.com platform and
▪ Salesforce.com Mobile SDK for Android.
▪ How to create an Android application.
▪ How to create a connected application.
▪ Using the REST API to CRUD our data.
▪ Using the REST API to call Apex REST.

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Introduction to Developing Android Apps With the Salesforce Mobile SDK

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Introduction to Developing Android Apps With the Salesforce Mobile SDK