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BlackBerry Java Application Development

Chapter 1. Introducing BlackBerry Application Development

The BlackBerry family of devices has long been the undisputed king of e-mail for business professionals. In recent years, the company that makes BlackBerry handhelds, Research In Motion (RIM), has been making devices targeted more towards consumers with devices such as the Storm and Pearl. Because of this shift the demand for quality applications has exploded in recent years. The creation of the BlackBerry App World has only fueled this growth and the size of the opportunity. According to recent statistics, the BlackBerry App World has the fewest number of titles and the highest average cost, all of which means there is a big opportunity here!
Now, with more than 28 million subscribers and 60 million devices manufactured, it is hard to go anywhere and not see someone using a BlackBerry. Maybe you see these numbers as a fertile market for your application, or maybe your company has long ago standardized on BlackBerry handhelds and you want to leverage that existing investment. Either way, you will learn how to tap into that potential and create custom applications for BlackBerry handhelds by using the object-oriented development experience you already have.

In this chapter, we shall:

Learn about the two approaches to application development
Learn generally what features can be used by an application
Understand how the SDK version relates to target devices
Learn about the BlackBerry Developer Zone

So let's get on with it...

General device capabilities

BlackBerry handhelds, like many smartphones today, are very powerful in spite of their small size. The processing power and capabilities of these handhelds could accurately be described as smaller versions of our desktops or laptops. They have many strong capabilities yet have a small size that makes them convenient to carry around. This combination makes smartphones in general, and BlackBerry handhelds in particular, well suited for on-the-go applications.

But just what can they do? There are so many possibilities! Let's take a look at the general capabilities of BlackBerry handhelds.

Every handheld has a keyboard designed for typing on it. BlackBerry handhelds have always been specifically designed to send and receive e-mail, and as a result, the keyboards are well-suited for entering free-form data. The BlackBerry SDK offers no less than ten different kinds of text fields that can be used in nearly any kind of application. Plus, if you need something special, you can always create your own!
Another area that BlackBerry handhelds excel at is network connectivity. Again, this is by design in order to provide excellent e-mail service. This connectivity includes fully encrypted TCP/IP communication, and the ability to receive as well as send raw data. Whether it be HTTP or UDP, the BlackBerry SDK supports all of the major networking protocols and can handle receiving as well as sending data. Furthermore, you can leverage the same secure protocols that are used to deliver e-mail.
Most applications will need to store data on the local device. Applications can, of course, store data on the device in their own private stores, but they can also access and interface with other applications on the handheld. These include the pre-installed applications such as messages, address book, and calendar that come with the handheld.
Cameras are nearly ubiquitous on smartphones and can be accessed by an application as well.
Many newer devices include removable memory card slots for storage of large media files. Applications can access this storage as well to give applications with large storage needs the room to work.
Another feature that is extremely common on handhelds is a GPS receiver that enables location-based service (LBS). This is one area that many in the smartphone industry will say holds the most promise for the future.

Choosing an SDK version

Before we dive into developing an application we must choose the SDK version to work with. In most environments, this choice is very simple—just choose the most recent version and use that one. Unfortunately, things are not as simple for BlackBerry handhelds. In fact, it's the opposite.

There is a correlation between the handheld Operating System (OS) version and the SDK version. Each time a new version of the device OS is released, a new version of the SDK is released to go along with it. As new devices are released and more capabilities are added to them, the OS must grow to take advantage of the new capabilities. Similarly, the SDK must also grow. It makes sense that SDK version 4.2 won't be able to utilize features added in OS version 4.5. The downside to this is that applications written using version 4.5 of the SDK won't run on handhelds with a version 4.2 OS, but the opposite is true. Applications written using 4.2 will run just fine on a handheld running version 4.5 of the OS.

Therefore, choosing the SDK version to work with becomes a matter of choosing the lowest common OS version for the devices you want to support or, more commonly, the features that they support.

While it is possible for a handheld to upgrade the OS from one version to the other it is rarely done and should never be assumed. Also, unfortunately, this can mean multiple code bases if you wish to support each device in a way that is specific to that device. It all depends on the application you want to write.

For the majority of the applications that we will make we will be using SDK version 4.5 simply because this is the version that comes bundled with Eclipse.

The following table lists devices, the OS version they were released with, and what important features are new to that version:

Device released	SDK version	Features supported
BlackBerry 5810 BlackBerry 5820	3.3	Initial release MIDP 1.0 CLDC 1.0
BlackBerry 6200 series BlackBerry 6500 series BlackBerry 6700 series	3.6	PIM API Mail API
BlackBerry 7200 series BlackBerry 7700 series	3.7	Color support
BlackBerry 7100 BlackBerry 7290	4.0	MIDP 2.0 CLDC 1.1 Invoke
BlackBerry 7510 BlackBerry 7520	4.0.2	JSR-179 (Location-based services)
BlackBerry 8700 BlackBerry 7130 BlackBerry 7100i	4.1	Smart Card APIs
BlackBerry Pearl	4.2	Multimedia Focus JSR-75 (File APIs)
BlackBerry 8800 series	4.2.1	JSR-82 (Bluetooth)
BlackBerry Pearl 8110 BlackBerry Pearl 8120 BlackBerry Pearl 8130	4.3	JSR-172 (Web services) JSR-205 (Multimedia SMS) JSR-211 (Content Handler API) JSR-238 (Internationalization)
	4.5	Map Field Spellcheck HTML e-mail
BlackBerry Curve 8900 BlackBerry Bold	4.6	JSR-226 (SVG Support)
	4.6.1	Accessibility API
BlackBerry Storm	4.7	Touch Screen Accelerometer
BlackBerry Storm 2 BlackBerry Bold 9700	5.0	Widgets API MIDP 2.1

What you can expect

This book is structured to take you from beginning to end in terms of application development and touch on all the most important topics along the way. You will learn about each aspect of application development from the very basics of simply installing the tools that you will need to the last steps of submitting your application to BlackBerry App World.

We do assume that you are familiar with an object-oriented programming language already. Syntactically and conceptually, Java is very similar to C# and even C++, so someone experienced in either of these languages should be able to make the transition to Java quickly.

This book starts at the very beginning with downloading and installing the tools necessary to start creating an application. This isn't quite as simple as performing a single install, but it's not too complex either.

In the next few chapters, we'll dive right in by loading and compiling one of the demo applications that comes with the tools. This gives you an opportunity to get more familiar with the development environment and by examining the typical "Hello World!" application in detail.

Then we start from scratch with a brand new empty project and create an application. This simple application is both very functional and very polished, which demonstrates how you can create applications quickly by leveraging the framework provided in the SDK.

We will look at this framework in detail by thoroughly examining all of the screen components available to you and by covering when each screen element is best employed. Many of these screen elements are common among all development languages and platforms, but many have behavior that is unique to BlackBerry and warrant the extra attention.

Once we have the screen elements well understood, it's time to branch out into other areas of the system and data storage is one of the most important areas to understand. One of the chapters focuses exclusively on data storage using each of the methods that are available for storing data on a handheld.

One thing that really makes developing for BlackBerry exciting is the ability to integrate with and leverage the existing applications that are present on every BlackBerry handheld. We will look at how to do this more closely, but this is an area so large that one chapter just isn't enough to do it justice. You will be well on your way by the end of it though!

Probably the most complicated and difficult area of the BlackBerry SDK is networking. We will tackle this topic head-on, giving both practical advice and examples for how to create networked applications.

We will also focus on a couple of areas that are interesting, but which aren't as applicable to some applications. The GPS receiver that is included in many new models of BlackBerry devices is one such area. Although both neat and powerful, not all applications can utilize this feature. The other area covered is truly an advanced topic called alternate entry point applications. These have many powerful uses though, one of which is demonstrated for a trivial but common effect that makes your application feel polished and professional.

Our next focus will be on getting your application ready for deployment by covering a number of topics such as localizing and code signing your application. As a final word, we look at what is needed to submit your application to the BlackBerry App World so that it can easily be used by the millions of BlackBerry users world-wide!

Key benefits

Develop professional, rich, and smart Java applications using BlackBerry SDK

Discover the powerful components provided by the SDK to build a powerful user interface with a common look and feel

Explore the complex, but important, topic of network communications

Integrate with the standard applications on all BlackBerry Smartphone to make your application even more useful

Packed with hands-on examples and clear explanations for better understanding

Description

BlackBerry Smartphone was once the domain of jet-setting business users with power suits. Now you can hardly go anywhere without seeing someone using a BlackBerry to check their messages or make a call. It's this kind of explosive growth that makes the BlackBerry ecosystem a great place to develop and market applications through the BlackBerry App World store—this book shows you how to do just that! This step-by-step guide gives you a hands-on experience of developing innovative Java applications for your BlackBerry. With the help of this book, you will learn to build your own applications to illustrate the platform, and the various capabilities that developers can use in their programs. It explores the powers of Blackberry and helps you develop professional and impressive Java applications. The book teaches how to write rich, interactive, and smart BlackBerry applications in Java. It expects the readers to know Java but not Java Mobile or the BlackBerry APIs. We will learn to build rich, interactive, and smart Java applications for the BlackBerry. The book will cover UI programming, data storage, programming network, and internet API apps. As we move on, we will learn more about the BlackBerry's device features, such as messaging, GPS, multimedia, contacts and calendar, and so on.This book also helps you build your own applications to illustrate the platform, and the various capabilities that developers can use in their programs.

What you will learn

Learn about the two approaches to develop BlackBerry applications

Understand how the SDK version relates to target devices and learn about the BlackBerry Developer Zone

Install the Java SDK, which is the foundation using the development environment

Install Eclipse with the BlackBerry Component Package and configure it with other Component Package versions

Import the existing HelloWorldDemo supplied with the software and compile and debug the application

Study PIM, create new PIM Items, and assign values to their fields

Set up a Screen with fields and create and use menus

Learn the usage of the Field styles and classes to the fullest

Study about a Layout Manager and create custom Dialogs on the fly to collect discrete pieces of information

Get to know the pros and cons for each record-based approach and pick the one that best meets your needs

Create new Personal Information Management (PIM) items and assign values to their fields