Mobile App/Cordova Development Notes

This page contains notes regarding the development of the Open Food Facts mobile apps.

Source code

The current Open Food Facts apps for iOS, Android and Windows Phone use Apache Cordova (previously known as Phonegap).

Installing Cordova on your machine

Cordova: http://cordova.apache.org/
Installing Cordova 3.6 : http://cordova.apache.org/docs/en/3.6.0/guide_overview_index.md.html
http://cordova.apache.org/docs/en/3.6.0/guide_cli_index.md.html#The%20Command-Line%20Interface
Following notes are for the Windows Platform, but most of it probably applies for Mac or Linux.

Installing Node.js

Install Node.js

http://nodejs.org/
Current Version: v0.10.32

Install Git client

http://git-scm.com/

Install Cordova

in git-bash client:

npm install -g cordova

cordova -v : 3.6.3-0.2.13

Install your platforms

cordova platform add firefoxos
cordova platform add android

errors

"error android_home is not set and android command not in your path" when doing "cordova platform add android"

- Install Eclipse ADT (Note : for win8 32bit/64bit install 32bit ADT)
- Setup Environment Variables :
  - Add to existing system variable "path" : <path to adt-bundle\sdk\tools>;<path to adt-bundle\sdk\platform-tools>
- http://docs.phonegap.com/en/edge/guide_platforms_android_index.md.html
  - http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
  - C:\Users\Stéphane\AppData\Roaming\npm;C:\Users\Stéphane\AppData\Local\Android\android-sdk\tools;C:\Users\Stéphane\AppData\Local\Android\android-sdk\tools;C:\Users\Stéphane\AppData\Local\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools

"error failed to run javac -version make sure"

Java JDK

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html
JAVA_HOME : C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_20
add to PATH : C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_20\bin

ANT

http://ant.apache.org/manual/index.html
set ANT_HOME
add %ANT_HOME%/bin to path

"Error: Failed to run "java -version"

which java --> an old version of java in C:\Windows\System32 was causing the issue.. :-(

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/24493693/cordova-android-revision-to-low

Run SDK Manager, install Android build tools.

Android version code

in config.xml : http://stackoverflow.com/questions/23001780/how-to-get-cordova-3-4-0-to-set-android-version-name-code-on-build

Install Moodstocks

https://moodstocks.com/docs/phonegap/using-the-moodstocks-sdk-in-your-phonegap-application/

Instructions pas à jour pour Cordova 3.6 on dirait, par contre il y a un autre example :

https://github.com/Moodstocks/moodstocks-phonegap-plugin/blob/master/src/android/Demo.java

public class Demo extends CordovaActivity {

  private boolean scanActivityStarted = false;

  @Override
  public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    this.init();
    // Set by <content src="index.html" /> in config.xml
    super.loadUrl(Config.getStartUrl());
    //super.loadUrl("file:///android_asset/www/index.html")
  }

Cordova plugins

Bugs

2nd scan with Moodstocks:

java.lang.RuntimeException : Unable to start activity ComponentInfo ... The specified child already has a parent. You must call removeView() on the child's parent first.

-> Problem with jQuerymobile not "exiting" properly from scan when clicking on "Back" ?

Import on Google Play

"You have imported an APK file which is not zip-aligned. Veuillez exécuter un utilitaire d'alignement zipalign sur votre fichier APK, puis le réimporter."

Camera, File, File transfer plugins

Install the various plugins

cordova plugin add org.apache.cordova.camera
cordova plugin add org.apache.cordova.file
cordova plugin add org.apache.cordova.file-transfer

Barcode scanning plugin

You may also have to install Apache Cordova plugin for barcode scanning.

cordova plugin add com.phonegap.plugins.barcodescanner

Firefox OS

Ubuntu OS

Separate application and codebase. See #ubuntu on Slack

Publishing

See Project:AppStores
Contact Stéphane, Vince or Pierre on Slack

May be of interest for future apps

http://ionicframework.com/