I already found out that there is no way to bundle files in an .apk and have them on /sdcard, the best option so far being to download the large files upon first run. I came accross a tutorial saying how to bundle an sqlite db with the apk and then copy it so that it can be accessed with SQLiteDatabase (thus doubling the space needed, and not using /sdcard at all).
http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/data/data-storage.html#db says all databases MUST be in /data/data/package_name/databases.
Is that really so? Is there a way to trick the framework into opening a database that is placed on the /sdcard partition? Is there a way to use another SQLite java wrapper/framework to access such databases?
If the answer to the above is 'No', what other options do I have? My data is very well represented in a relational model, but is just too big, plus, I want to be able to update it without the need to reinstall/upgrade the entire app.
Sure you can. The docs are a little conflicting about this as they also say that no limitations are imposed. I think they should say that relative paths are to the above location and dbs there ARE private. Here is the code you want:
File dbfile = new File("/sdcard/mydb.sqlite" );
SQLiteDatabase db = SQLiteDatabase.openOrCreateDatabase(dbfile, null);
System.out.println("Its open? " + db.isOpen());
Try this:
String dir = Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory().getPath()
File dbfile = new File(dir+"/mydb.sqlite");
SQLiteDatabase db = SQLiteDatabase.openOrCreateDatabase(dbfile, null);
System.out.println("Its open? " + db.isOpen());
Just an idea:
you can put your database.db into the assets folder.
if your database.db file is larger than 2Mb the system is unable to compress it, so you need other one options
you can rename your database.db for example database.jit or database.mp3 - which are not compressed, than at the first run you can rename it to database.db
check this out ...
storing android application data on SD Card
I share next code. Declare opcionesMenu Vector<String>
Vector < String > opcionesMenu = new Vector< String >();
// the database is SDCard. I saw the code to Blackberry (net.rim)
String rutaDB = "/storage/extSdCard/Android/databases/Offshore.db";
SQLiteDatabase db = SQLiteDatabase.openOrCreateDatabase(rutaDB, null);
Cursor cursor = db.rawQuery("SELECT Codigo, Nombre FROM Ruta ORDER BY Codigo, Nombre", null);
if (cursor.moveToFirst())
{
do
{
opcionesMenu.add(cursor.getString(0) + " - " + cursor.getString(1));
} while(cursor.moveToNext());
}
db.close();
Related
I have started using the Xamarin plugin for Visual Studio to create an Android app.
I have a local SQL database, and I want to call it to display data. I don't see how I can do this. Is it possible?
After thinking this was a trivial thing to do, I was proven wrong when I tried setup a quick test project. This post will contain a full tutorial on setting up a DB for an Android App in Xamarin that will come in handy as a reference for future Xamarin users.
At a glance:
Add Sqlite.cs to your project.
Add your database file as an Asset.
Set your database file to build as an AndroidAsset.
Manually copy the database file out of your apk to another directory.
Open a database connetion using Sqlite.SqliteConnection.
Operate on the database using Sqlite.
Setting up a local database for a Xamarin Android project
1. Add Sqlite.cs to your project.
Start by going to this repository and downloading Sqlite.cs; this provides the Sqlite API that you can use to run queries against your db. Add the file to your project as a source file.
2. Add DB as asset.
Next, get your DB and copy it into the Assets directory of your Android project and then import it into your project so that it appears beneath the Assets folder within your solution:
I'm using the Chinook_Sqlite.sqlite database sample renamed to db.sqlite from this site throughout this example.
3. Set DB to build as AndroidAsset.
Right click on the DB file and set it to build action AndroidAsset. This will ensure that it is included into the assets directory of the APK.
4. Manually copy DB out of your APK.
As the DB is included as an Asset (packaged within the APK) you will need to extract it out.
You can do this with the following code:
string dbName = "db.sqlite";
string dbPath = Path.Combine (Android.OS.Environment.ExternalStorageDirectory.ToString (), dbName);
// Check if your DB has already been extracted.
if (!File.Exists(dbPath))
{
using (BinaryReader br = new BinaryReader(Android.App.Application.Context.Assets.Open(dbName)))
{
using (BinaryWriter bw = new BinaryWriter(new FileStream(dbPath, FileMode.Create)))
{
byte[] buffer = new byte[2048];
int len = 0;
while ((len = br.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length)) > 0)
{
bw.Write (buffer, 0, len);
}
}
}
}
This extracts the DB as a binary file from the APK and places it into the system external storage path. Realistically the DB can go wherever you want, I've just chosen to stick it here.
I also read that Android has a databases folder that will store databases directly; I couldn't get it to work so I've just ran with this method of using an existing DB.
5. Open DB Connection.
Now open a connection to the DB through the Sqlite.SqliteConnection class:
using (var conn = new SQLite.SQLiteConnection(dbPath))
{
// Do stuff here...
}
6. Operate on DB.
Lastly, as Sqlite.net is an ORM, you can operate on the database using your own data types:
public class Album
{
[PrimaryKey, AutoIncrement]
public int AlbumId { get; set; }
public string Title { get; set; }
public int ArtistId { get; set; }
}
// Other code...
using (var conn = new SQLite.SQLiteConnection(dbPath))
{
var cmd = new SQLite.SQLiteCommand (conn);
cmd.CommandText = "select * from Album";
var r = cmd.ExecuteQuery<Album> ();
Console.Write (r);
}
Summary
And that's how to add an existing Sqlite database to your Xamarin solution for Android! For more information check out the examples included with the Sqlite.net library, its unit tests and the examples in the Xamarin documentation.
Here is the one that I'm using and it's working
install the Sqlite plugin
create interface to access different platforms services
create a model for the table
implement the interface that you created earlier on all of the
platform you want to use
use the plugin to create, get, insert, etc on your table
for more detailed information check this
I want to know whether a particular database file exists in my codenameone app.
Here's the code I have:
if (CN.existsInFileSystem(Display.getInstance()
.getDatabasePath("my.db")))
overwriteDb = false;
It seems that the getDatabasePath method will create the database if it doesn't already exist, at least on the windows/eclipse simulator. (I haven't tried on any devices).
The javadocs say that getDatabasePath will return null when the database doesn't exist, however it returns the path of the newly created db file.
Is there a way to get the path without actually creating a zero byte file?
No it doesn't create the database, I just verified it in the code. The JavaDoc is incorrect and I fixed it for the next update. The code you have should work just fine.
This is the Android implementation of the method:
public String getDatabasePath(String databaseName) {
if (databaseName.startsWith("file://")) {
return databaseName;
}
File db = new File(getContext().getApplicationInfo().dataDir + "/databases/" + databaseName);
return db.getAbsolutePath();
}
You will notice null is never returned and nothing is created. The fixed docs look like this:
Returns the file path of the Database if support for database exists on the platform.
#param databaseName the name of the database with out / or path elements e.g. mydatabase.db
#return the file path of the database or null if database isn't supported
I want to write entries to a log file stored in Azure file storage. I currently have this:
var log = "My log entry";
var client = _storageAccount.CreateCloudFileClient();
var share = client.GetShareReference(Config.LogShare);
share.CreateIfNotExists();
var root = share.GetRootDirectoryReference();
var logfile = root.GetFileReference("log.txt");
if (!logfile.Exists()) logfile.Create(0);
// What goes here to append to the file...?
I can see plenty of examples of how to do this with Blobs, or how to upload an entire file, but how do I just append to an existing file?
I have tried this:
var buffer = Encoding.GetEncoding("UTF-8").GetBytes(log.ToCharArray());
using (var fileStream = logfile.OpenWrite(0)) {
fileStream.Write(buffer, (int)logfile.Properties.Length, buffer.Length);
}
But then I get this error:
The remote server returned an error: (416) The range specified is invalid for the current size of the resource..
I managed to work this out myself. You just need to increase the size of the file by the number of new bytes you want to write to it, and then write the new data to that new empty space at the end of the file, like this:
var client = _storageAccount.CreateCloudFileClient();
var share = client.GetShareReference(Config.LogShare);
share.CreateIfNotExists();
var root = share.GetRootDirectoryReference();
var logfile = root.GetFileReference("log.txt");
if (!logfile.Exists()) logfile.Create(0);
var buffer = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes($"{log}\r\n");
logfile.Resize(logfile.Properties.Length + buffer.Length);
using (var fileStream = logfile.OpenWrite(null)) {
fileStream.Seek(buffer.Length * -1, SeekOrigin.End);
fileStream.Write(buffer, 0, buffer.Length);
}
You can do this with blobs https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/windowsazurestorage/2015/04/13/introducing-azure-storage-append-blob/
Shame it doesn't work with files too
Azure file storage REST API doesn't support appending to an existing file. To achieve this, please mount the file share to your machine as a drive, and append to the file just like simple local files.
Actually, I don't think you really need appending functionality per your code above. You can specify the file size in CloudFile.OpenWrite() / CloudFile.Create(), or try CloudFile.UploadFromStream() instead of CloudFile.OpenWrite().
This error could also be due to multi-threaded access.
I bet if you tried to lock the file before you access it, you will not face this problem.
There are many ways to update the file.
Since you already managed to get the share, the root, the folder and the file.. Here is a portion of my code that worked for me.
if (!fileLock.IsWriteLockHeld) fileLock.EnterWriteLock();
try
{
using (var stream = new MemoryStream(content, false))
{
file.UploadFromStream(stream, null, options);
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
File.AppendAllText(FileName, ex.ToString());
}
finally
{
if (fileLock.IsWriteLockHeld)
fileLock.ExitWriteLock();
}
Where fileLock is declared as:
protected ReaderWriterLockSlim fileLock = new ReaderWriterLockSlim();
Having said that, I am not saying that this is the best way ever to do it.
The two things I would like you to keep in mind :
1-Lock the resource that is likely to be accessed by more than one thread (That is so common in AZURE)
2- Get familiar with asynchronous methods that Azure provides.. use them when they suit well.
Coming back to your original problem about appending to the existing file..
All the methods of the CloudFile will overwrite the existing file. Cloud Files are not for frequent writing, and they indeed impact performance if you keep writing on them frequently, add the lock impact on performance, they will be horrible.
Cloud files are meant to store big bulk of data once and for all, if you want to add another bulk you have the choice of creating another file.
Have all your data with the client till they reach some size and create an algorith to select the file name and upload them all at once.
Im programming in Titanium for Android.
I have 6 sqlite databases and i don't want to store them on the device internal memory because DB amount size is too large.
So, how can i move the sqlite files to SD card programmatically? Or how to install Dbs directly on the SD card when users installs my App from PlayStore?
PD: I try adding "PreferExternal" but this didn't fix my problem.
<manifest android:installLocation="preferExternal</manifest>
thanks in advance!
From Titanium docs of Ti.Database.open.
Open a Database on External Storage (Android)
A database, with a filename of mydb2Installed and located at the absolute path provided, is opened.
if (Ti.Platform.name === 'android' && Ti.Filesystem.isExternalStoragePresent()) {
var db2 = Ti.Database.open(Ti.Filesystem.externalStorageDirectory + 'path' + Ti.Filesystem.separator + 'to' + Ti.Filesystem.separator + 'mydb2Installed');
}
Hopefully this will do the trick.
I have no idea about titanium. But in android you can move DB by below logic:
copy your Database.db file in your projects assets folder.
In manifest file define permission shown below:
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
now using code copy database file from /asset to device's external storage
For copy file use below code,
try {
// Open your local db as the input stream
InputStream myInput = myContext.getAssets().open("your database file name");
// Path to the just created empty db
String outFileName = "path of external storage/<database_file_name>";
OutputStream myOutput = new FileOutputStream(outFileName);
// transfer bytes from the inputfile to the outputfile
byte[] buffer = new byte[1024];
int length;
while ((length = myInput.read(buffer)) > 0)
{
myOutput.write(buffer, 0, length);
}
// Close the streams
myOutput.flush();
myOutput.close();
myInput.close();
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Log.e("error", e.toString());
}
According to this question : Android: use SQLite database on SD Card (not using internal Android Data Store at all)
You can use :
SQLiteDatabase.openOrCreateDatabase(String, SQLiteDatabase.CursorFactory)
Put your path as the first parameter and null as the second.
To get the path of your sdcard do :
Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory();
But note that everyone with a physical access to the device can access to the database file...
Here is some background about my app:
I am developing an Android app that will display a random quote or verse to the user. For this I am using an SQLite database. The size of the DB would be approximately 5K to 10K records, possibly increasing to upto 1M in later versions as new quotes and verses are added. Thus the user would need to update the DB as and when newer versions are of the app or DB are released.
After reading through some forums online, there seem to be two feasible ways I could provide the DB:
1. Bundle it along with the .APK file of the app, or
2. Upload it to my app's website from where users will have to download it
I want to know which method would be better (if there is yet another approach other than these, please do let me know).
After pondering this problem for some time, I have these thoughts regarding the above approaches:
Approach 1:
Users will obtain the DB along with the app, and won't have to download it separately. Installation would thereby be easier. But, users will have to reinstall the app every time there is a new version of the DB. Also, if the DB is large, it will make the installable too cumbersome.
Approach 2:
Users will have to download the full DB from the website (although I can provide a small, sample version of the DB via Approach 1). But, the installer will be simpler and smaller in size. Also, I would be able to provide future versions of the DB easily for those who might not want newer versions of the app.
Could you please tell me from a technical and an administrative standpoint which approach would be the better one and why?
If there is a third or fourth approach better than either of these, please let me know.
Thank you!
Andruid
I built a similar app for Android which gets periodic updates with data from a government agency. It's fairly easy to build an Android compatible db off the device using perl or similar and download it to the phone from a website; and this works rather well, plus the user gets current data whenever they download the app. It's also supposed to be possible to throw the data onto the sdcard if you want to avoid using primary data storage space, which is a bigger concern for my app which has a ~6Mb database.
In order to make Android happy with the DB, I believe you have to do the following (I build my DB using perl).
$st = $db->prepare( "CREATE TABLE \"android_metadata\" (\"locale\" TEXT DEFAULT 'en_US')");
$st->execute();
$st = $db->prepare( "INSERT INTO \"android_metadata\" VALUES ('en_US')");
$st->execute();
I have an update activity which checks weather updates are available and if so presents an "update now" screen. The download process looks like this and lives in a DatabaseHelperClass.
public void downloadUpdate(final Handler handler, final UpdateActivity updateActivity) {
URL url;
try {
close();
File f = new File(getDatabasePath());
if (f.exists()) {
f.delete();
}
getReadableDatabase();
close();
url = new URL("http://yourserver.com/" + currentDbVersion + ".sqlite");
URLConnection urlconn = url.openConnection();
final int contentLength = urlconn.getContentLength();
Log.i(TAG, String.format("Download size %d", contentLength));
handler.post(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
updateActivity.setProgressMax(contentLength);
}
});
InputStream is = urlconn.getInputStream();
// Open the empty db as the output stream
OutputStream os = new FileOutputStream(f);
// transfer bytes from the inputfile to the outputfile
byte[] buffer = new byte[1024 * 1000];
int written = 0;
int length = 0;
while (written < contentLength) {
length = is.read(buffer);
os.write(buffer, 0, length);
written += length;
final int currentprogress = written;
handler.post(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
Log.i(TAG, String.format("progress %d", currentprogress));
updateActivity.setCurrentProgress(currentprogress);
}
});
}
// Close the streams
os.flush();
os.close();
is.close();
Log.i(TAG, "Download complete");
openDatabase();
} catch (Exception e) {
Log.e(TAG, "bad things", e);
}
handler.post(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
updateActivity.refreshState(true);
}
});
}
Also note that I keep a version number in the filename of the db files, and a pointer to the current one in a text file on the server.
It sounds like your app and your db are tightly bound -- that is, the db is useless without the database and the database is useless without the app, so I'd say go ahead and put them both in the same .apk.
That being said, if you expect the db to change very slowly over time, but the app to change quicker, and you don't want your users to have to download the db with each new app revision, then you might want to unbundle them. To make this work, you can do one of two things:
Install them as separate applications, but make sure they share the same userID using the sharedUserId tag in the AndroidManifest.xml file.
Install them as separate applications, and create a ContentProvider for the database. This way other apps could make use of your database as well (if that is useful).
If you are going to store the db on your website then I would recommend that you just make rpc calls to your webserver and get data that way, so the device will never have to deal with a local database. Using a cache manager to avoid multiple lookups will help as well so pages will not have to lookup data each time a page reloads. Also if you need to update the data you do not have to send out a new app every time. Using HttpClient is pretty straight forward, if you need any examples please let me know