Re: [android-beginners] Re: Modifying date and time pickers
On Sun, May 30, 2010 at 3:42 PM, Brian Victor homeusen...@brianhv.orgwrote: I don't have a project yet. I want to replace the global controls so that (e.g.) the built-in calendar program becomes usable. Right now it takes so long to set up an event that I don't even bother. I see you point about the controls' usability. I think if you want to modify this on the global level - for yourself you'll have to build your own firmware and put it on your device. I don't know what this involves as I've not done it myself, but you could probably get better info on the Android Porting group. If you want to contribute these changes to the official build, check the Android source project page (http://source.android.com/source/index.html) and start reading up on how to do so. It you want to ask the user to choose a contact, you use an intent, right? Not sure - contacts are delivered by content providers, which may or may not require an intent - a cursory glance at the docs indicates that you don't - but I haven't really done much with them, so I can't really say. If you want to ask the user to take a photo, you use an intent. Yes, to launch the camera app that will take a picture, AFAIK. I'm not sure why choosing dates or times are so much different. Well, there is no date and time content provider, so you couldn't query for this like you would for contacts. And there's date and time selection activity, so you couldn't start one up to allow the user to pick a date and time. In general, an intent is used to pass data along to some other system (activity, service, whatever) have it receive it, do something with it, and possible send something back. In this case, there wouldn't be anything (by default) to receive a generic date and time picker intent. - TreKing - Chicago transit tracking app for Android-powered devices http://sites.google.com/site/rezmobileapps/treking -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Android Beginners group. NEW! Try asking and tagging your question on Stack Overflow at http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/android To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-beginners+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-beginners?hl=en
[android-beginners] Re: Modifying date and time pickers
TreKing wrote: --001485f9217eb9364e0487d557cc Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 On Sat, May 29, 2010 at 8:41 PM, Brian Victor homeusen...@brianhv.orgwrote: I'd like to get started with Android development by scratching my biggest itch: the date and time pickers. What's wrong with them? Let's start with the time picker, which is the most suboptimal from my point of view. A basic, uncreative time picker should require a maximum of 6 taps, being generous, to enter a time of 12:30: clear; 1; 2; 3; 0; Done The current time picker has two entry methods. First, you can repeatedly tap or tap and hold the + and - buttons, which is tolerable for hours but laborious for minutes. Second, you can tap on the text entry field, which pops up a keyboard in alphabetical mode and does not clear the existing text. Using this method requires the following taps: tap on hours field; del; ?123; 1; 2; tap on minutes field; del; del; ?123; 3; 0; The date picker is less irritating, but I'd really like it to display a calendar as most date pickers do. * If I change those controls, will I be able to get the result onto my Droid without rooting it or waiting for a patch to be accepted upstream and pushed to my phone by my carrier? You have the entire source for Android - take the part you want (the pickers) and throw them in your own project. I don't have a project yet. I want to replace the global controls so that (e.g.) the built-in calendar program becomes usable. Right now it takes so long to set up an event that I don't even bother. * Why are those controls implemented as dialog boxes rather than intents? Because they're controls ... that users have to interact with ... how would you do that with intents? It you want to ask the user to choose a contact, you use an intent, right? If you want to ask the user to take a photo, you use an intent. I'm not sure why choosing dates or times are so much different. But then, this is why this is on beginners; I have only a high level understanding of the architecture and could be missing something obvious. -- Brian -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Android Beginners group. NEW! Try asking and tagging your question on Stack Overflow at http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/android To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-beginners+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-beginners?hl=en
