(Affiliated to Saurashtra University & Gujarat Technological University)
UNIT – 4
JSON AND XML PARSING
JSON stands for JavaScript Object Notation. It is an independent data exchange
format and is the best alternative for XML. JSON stands for JavaScript Object
Notation. It is an independent data exchange format and is the best alternative for
XML.
Android provides four different classes to manipulate JSON data. These classes are
JSONArray,JSONObject,JSONStringer and JSONTokenizer.
The first step is to identify the fields in the JSON data in which you are interested in.
JSON - Elements
An JSON file consist of many components. Here is the table defining the components
of an JSON file and their description −
[Link] Component & description
Array([)
1
In a JSON file , square bracket ([) represents a JSON array
Objects({)
2
In a JSON file, curly bracket ({) represents a JSON object
Key
3
A JSON object contains a key that is just a string. Pairs of key/value make up a
JSON object
Value
4
Each key has a value that could be string , integer or double e.t.c
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For example. In the JSON given below we interested in getting temperature only.
{
"sys":
{
"country":"GB",
"sunrise":1381107633,
"sunset":1381149604
},
"weather":[
{
"id":711,
"main":"Smoke",
"description":"smoke",
"icon":"50n"
}
],
"main":
{
"temp":304.15,
"pressure":1009,
}
}
JSON - Parsing
For parsing a JSON object, we will create an object of class JSONObject and specify a
string containing JSON data to it. Its syntax is −
String in;
JSONObject reader = new JSONObject(in);
The last step is to parse the JSON. A JSON file consist of different object with
different key/value pair e.t.c. So JSONObject has a separate function for parsing each
of the component of JSON file. Its syntax is given below −
JSONObject sys = [Link]("sys");
country = [Link]("country");
JSONObject main = [Link]("main");
temperature = [Link]("temp");
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The method getJSONObject returns the JSON object. The method getString returns
the string value of the specified key.
[Link] Method & description
get(String name)
1
This method just Returns the value but in the form of Object type
getBoolean(String name)
2
This method returns the boolean value specified by the key
getDouble(String name)
3
This method returns the double value specified by the key
getInt(String name)
4
This method returns the integer value specified by the key
getLong(String name)
5
This method returns the long value specified by the key
length()
6
This method returns the number of name/value mappings in this object..
names()
7
This method returns an array containing the string names in this object.
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services
Services in Android is a component that runs in the background without any user
interaction or interface. Unlike Activities services does not have any graphical
interface. Services run invisibly performing long running tasks - doing Internet look
ups, playing music, triggering notifications etc.,
Services run with a higher priority than inactive or invisible activities and
therefore it is less likely that the Android system terminates them for resource
management. The only reason Android will stop a Service prematurely is to provide
additional resources for a foreground component usually an Activity. When this
happens, your Service can be configured to restart automatically.
Creating a Service
Create a new class that extends Service. Below is the code snippet.
import [Link];
import [Link];
import [Link];
public class MyService extends Service {
public void onCreate() {
[Link]();
// This method is invoked when the service is called.
}
public IBinder onBind() {
[Link]();
// A client or activity is binded to service
}
}
Services takes Two Forms
Started
A Service is started when a application component such as an activity invokes it
by calling startService(). Once started, a service can run in the background
indefinitely, even if the component that started it is destroyed
Bound
A service is "bound" when an application component binds to it by calling
bindService(). A bound service offers a client-server interface that allows
components to interact with the service, send requests, get results, and even do so
across processes with inter-process communication.
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[Link]
<service
android:name=".MyService"
android:enabled="true" />
A service is a component that runs in the background to perform long-running
operations without needing to interact with the user. For example, a service might
play music in the background while the user is in a different application, or it might
fetch data over the network without blocking user interaction with an activity. A
service can essentially take two states:
State Description
A service is started when an application component, such as an
activity, starts it by calling startService(). Once started, a service can
Started
run in the background indefinitely, even if the component that
started it is destroyed.
A service is bound when an application component binds to it by
calling bindService(). A bound service offers a client-server
Bound interface that allows components to interact with the service, send
requests, get results, and even do so across processes with
interprocess communication (IPC).
A service has lifecycle callback methods that you can implement to monitor changes
in the service's state and you can perform work at the appropriate stage. The
following diagram on the left shows the lifecycle when the service is created with
startService() and the diagram on the right shows the lifecycle when the service is
created with bindService(): (image courtesy : [Link] )
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To create an service, you create a Java class that extends the Service base class or
one of its existing subclasses. The Service base class defines various callback
methods and the most important are given below. You don't need to implement all
the callbacks methods. However, it's important that you understand each one and
implement those that ensure your app behaves the way users expect.
Callback Description
The system calls this method when another component, such as
an activity, requests that the service be started, by calling
onStartCommand() startService(). If you implement this method, it is your
responsibility to stop the service when its work is done, by
calling stopSelf() or stopService() methods.
The system calls this method when another component wants to
bind with the service by calling bindService(). If you implement
this method, you must provide an interface that clients use to
onBind()
communicate with the service, by returning an IBinder object.
You must always implement this method, but if you don't want
to allow binding, then you should return null.
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The system calls this method when all clients have disconnected
onUnbind()
from a particular interface published by the service.
The system calls this method when new clients have connected
onRebind() to the service, after it had previously been notified that all had
disconnected in its onUnbind(Intent).
The system calls this method when the service is first created
onCreate() using onStartCommand() or onBind(). This call is required to
perform one-time setup.
The system calls this method when the service is no longer used
and is being destroyed. Your service should implement this to
onDestroy()
clean up any resources such as threads, registered listeners,
receivers, etc.
=============================================================
Service Overview
We already know that Android Activity can be started, stopped, destroyed if the
system resources become too low and maybe can be recreated, a Service are
designed to have a longer life. A Service in Android can be started from an Activity,
from a Broadcast receiver and other services too.
We have to notice that using Service we don’t create automatically new threads, so
if we implement a simple logic inside our Service, that doesn’t require long time
processing we don’t need to run it a separate thread, but if we have to implement
complex logic, with long time processing, we have to take care of creating a new
thread, otherwise the service runs on the main thread and it could cause ANR
problem.
In Android a Service is used for two main reason:
Implement multi-task
Enable Inter-Process-Communication (IPC)
A typical example of the first case is an app that required to download data from a
remote server, in this case we can have Activity that interacts with a user and starts
a service that accomplishes the work in background while the user can use the app
and maybe when the service finishes sends a message to the user.
In the second case, we want to “share” some common functions so that different
app can re-use them. For example, we can suppose we have a service that sends an
email and we want to share this service among several apps so that we don’t have to
rewrite the same code. In this case we can use IPC so that the service exposes a
“remote” interface that can be called by other app.
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JSON
JSON stands for JavaScript Object [Link] is an independent data exchange
format and is the best alternative for XML. This chapter explains how to parse the
JSON file and extract necessary information from it.
Android provides four differnet classes to manipulate JSON data. These classes are
JSONArray,JSONObject,JSONStringer and JSONTokenizer.
In the JSON given below we interested in getting temperature only.
“sys":
{
"country":"GB",
"sunrise":1381107633,
"sunset":1381149604
},
"weather":[
{
"id":711,
"main":"Smoke",
"description":"smoke",
"icon":"50n"
}
],
"main":
{
"temp":304.15,
"pressure":1009,
}
}
JSON - Elements
An JSON file consist of many components. Here is the table defining the compoents
of an JSON file and their description:
[Link] Component & description
Array([)
1
In a JSON file , square bracket ([) represents a JSON array
2 Objects({)
132
(Affiliated to Saurashtra University & Gujarat Technological University)
In a JSON file, curly bracket ({) represents a JSON object
Key
3 A JSON object contains a key that is just a string. Pairs of key/value make up a
JSON object
Value
4
Each key has a value that could be string , integer or double e.t.c
JSON - Parsing
For parsing a JSON object, we will create an object of class JSONObject and specify a
string containing JSON data to it. Its syntax is:
String in;
JSONObject reader = new JSONObject(in);
The last step is to parse the JSON. An JSON file consist of different object with
different key/value pair e.t.c. So JSONObject has a seperate function for parsing each
of the component of JSON file. Its syntax is given below:
JSONObject sys = [Link]("sys");
country = [Link]("country");
JSONObject main = [Link]("main");
temperature = [Link]("temp");
The method getJSONObject returns the JSON object. The method getString returns
the string value of the specified key.
The difference between [ and { - (Square brackets and Curly brackets)
In general all the JSON nodes will start with a square bracket or with a curly bracket.
The difference between [ and { is, the square bracket ([) represents starting of an
JSONArray node whereas curly bracket ({) represents JSONObject. So while
accessing these nodes we need to call appropriate method to access the data.
If your JSON node starts with [, then we should use getJSONArray() method. Same as
if the node starts with {, then we should use getJSONObject() method.
133
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<uses-permission
android:name="[Link]" />
JSON (Javascript Object Notation) is a programming language . It is minimal, textual,
and a subset of JavaScript. It is an alternative to XML.
Android provides support to parse the JSON object and array.
Advantage of JSON over XML
1) JSON is faster and easier than xml for AJAX applications.
2) Unlike XML, it is shorter and quicker to read and write.
3) It uses array.
json object
A JSON object contains key/value pairs like map. The keys are strings and the values
are the JSON types. Keys and values are separated by comma. The { (curly brace)
represents the json object.
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{
"employee": {
"name": "sachin",
"salary": 56000,
"married": true
}
}
json array
The [ (square bracket) represents the json array.
["Sunday", "Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday", "Saturday"]
{ "Employee" :
[
{"id":"101","name":"Sonoo Jaiswal","salary":"50000"},
{"id":"102","name":"Vimal Jaiswal","salary":"60000"}
]
}
activity_main.xml
<RelativeLayout xmlns:androclass="[Link]
xmlns:tools="[Link]
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
tools:context=".MainActivity" >
<TextView
android:id="@+id/textView1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
android:layout_marginLeft="75dp"
android:layout_marginTop="46dp"
android:text="TextView" />
</RelativeLayout>
[Link]
package [Link];
import [Link];
import [Link];
import [Link];
import [Link];
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import [Link];
public class MainActivity extends Activity {
public static final String JSON_STRING="{\"employee\":{\"name\":\"Sachin\",\"salar
y\":56000}}";
@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
[Link](savedInstanceState);
setContentView([Link].activity_main);
TextView textView1=(TextView)findViewById([Link].textView1);
try{
JSONObject emp=(new JSONObject(JSON_STRING)).getJSONObject("employee");
String empname=[Link]("name");
int empsalary=[Link]("salary");
String str="Employee Name:"+empname+"\n"+"Employee Salary:"+empsalary;
[Link](str);
}catch (Exception e) {[Link]();}
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Android XML Parsing using SAX Parser
Android provides the facility to parse the xml file using SAX, DOM etc. parsers.
The SAX parser cannot be used to create the XML file, It can be used to parse the
xml file only.
Advantage of SAX Parser over DOM
It consumes less memory than DOM.
__________________________________________________________
Android XML Parsing using DOM Parser
We can parse the xml document by dom parser also. It can be used to
create and parse the xml file.
Advantage of DOM Parser over SAX
It can be used to create and parse the xml file both but SAX parser can
only be used to parse the xml file.
Disadvantage of DOM Parser over SAX
It consumes more memory than SAX.
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