Mobile Programming Pit Stop

Get the latest iftar (breaking fast) time with TimeToBuka.com

TimeToBuka.com is a mobile web application that lets you check the latest iftar time (breaking fast time – for Muslim during Ramadan month). The application detects the current user location (using Google Geocoding API) and displays the time for Iftar and Imsak for the current location.

However, the application currently only supports Malaysian and Singapore users only. But you can help the author ( Nazrul Kamaruddin ) to add support for more countries by providing him with the appropriate data.

The application is tested and confirmed to work in Android 1.6+, 2.x and iPhone

JavaME JSR-179 Example Code : Detect Location via TinyGeocoder

I’ve completed the JSR-179 Location API code for reverse geocoding in JavaME. This code essentially is an expansion of the previous JSR-179 example that i’ve posted in the blog before, plus the Reverse-Geocoding feature, thanks to TinyGeocoder service.

What this sample MIDlet does?
It obtain coordinates via the mobile phone JSR-179 Location API and subsequently display the name of the location using TinyGeocoder reverse geocoding service.

import javax.microedition.midlet.*;
import javax.microedition.lcdui.*;
import javax.microedition.location.*;
import javax.microedition.io.*;
import javax.microedition.location.*;
import java.io.*;

public class Geocoder extends MIDlet implements CommandListener
{
	public Display display;
	public Form form;
	private Command cmdExit,cmdOK;
	public StringItem si, sili;

	public Geocoder()
	{

		display =Display.getDisplay(this);
		form = new Form("Location Api test");
		cmdExit = new Command("Exit",Command.EXIT,5);
		cmdOK = new Command("OK",Command.OK,1);
		si = new StringItem("Coordinates", "Press OK");
		sili = new StringItem("Location", "");
		form.append(si);
		form.append(sili);
		form.addCommand(cmdOK);
		form.addCommand(cmdExit);
		form.setCommandListener(this);
	}

	public void startApp()
	{
		display.setCurrent(form);
	}

	public void pauseApp()
	{}

	public void destroyApp(boolean flag) {
		notifyDestroyed();
	}

	public void commandAction(Command c, Displayable d)
	{
		if (c == cmdOK){
			Retriever ret = new Retriever(this);
			ret.start();

		} else if (c == cmdExit) {
			destroyApp(false);
		}
	}

	public void displayString(String string)
	{
		si.setText(string);
	}

	public void showAlert(String message) {
		Alert alert = new Alert("Alert",message,null,AlertType.WARNING);
		display.setCurrent(alert,form);
	}

}

class Retriever extends Thread {

	private Geocoder midlet;
	Form formRunning;
	Gauge gauge;

	public Retriever(Geocoder midlet)
		{
			/**
			  * Constructor
			  *
			  * EFFECTS: Initialise the server and store midlet information
			  *
			  * @param midlet The main application midlet
			  * @param server Forecast Server URL
			  *
			  */
			this.midlet = midlet;
			formRunning = new Form("Retrieving Info");
			formRunning.append(new Gauge("Processing",false,Gauge.INDEFINITE,Gauge.CONTINUOUS_RUNNING));
			midlet.display.setCurrent(formRunning);

	}

	public void run()
		{
			/**
			* Entry point of the thread
			*
			* EFFECTS: call to connect() method
			*/
			try {
							checkLocation();
						} catch (Exception ex)
						{
							ex.printStackTrace();
							midlet.displayString(ex.toString());
			} finally {

			}

		}

	public void checkLocation() throws Exception
	{
		String string;
		Location l;
		LocationProvider lp;
		Coordinates c;
		// Set criteria for selecting a location provider:
		// accurate to 500 meters horizontally
		Criteria cr= new Criteria();
		cr.setHorizontalAccuracy(5000);
		cr.setVerticalAccuracy(5000);

		// Get an instance of the provider
		lp= LocationProvider.getInstance(cr);

		// Request the location, setting a one-minute timeout
		l = lp.getLocation(120);
		c = l.getQualifiedCoordinates();

		if(c != null ) {
		  // Use coordinate information
		  double lat = c.getLatitude();
		  double lon = c.getLongitude();
		  string = "\nLatitude : " + lat + "\nLongitude : " + lon;
		  new GetData(midlet,lat,lon).start();

		} else {
			string ="Location API failed";
		}

		formRunning.append("Obtained coordinates...");
		midlet.displayString(string);
	}
}

class GetData implements Runnable,CommandListener {

Geocoder midlet;
double lat, lon;

public GetData (Geocoder midlet, double lat, double lon) {

	this.lat = lat;
	this.lon = lon;
	this.midlet = midlet;

}

public void commandAction (Command cmd,Displayable disp)
{

}

public void start() {
       Thread t = new Thread(this);
       t.start();
}

public void run() {
	HttpConnection conn=null;
	InputStream is=null;
	String sb;

	try {
			String sUrl = "http://tinygeocoder.com/create-api.php?g="+""+lat+","+""+lon;
			conn = (HttpConnection) Connector.open(sUrl,Connector.READ);
			if (conn.getResponseCode() == HttpConnection.HTTP_OK) {
					is = conn.openInputStream();
					byte buf[] = new byte[128];
					int total =0;
					while (total < 128) {
						int count = is.read(buf,total,128-total);
						if (count<0) {
							break;
						}
						total += count;
					}

					sb = new String(buf,0,total);

				    if (sb.length() < 10) {
							midlet.showAlert("Connection error, please try again");
							is.close();
							conn.close();

							return;
					}

					  midlet.sili.setText(sb);
					//midlet.form.append(sb);
					//vectorized();
					//midlet.saveCurrency(false,midlet.vector);
					//midlet.display.setCurrent(midlet.form);
			} else if (conn.getResponseCode() == HttpConnection.HTTP_NOT_FOUND) {
					midlet.showAlert("URL not found");

			} else {
				midlet.showAlert("Server busy or unavailable. Please try again later");
			}

	} catch (SecurityException sex) {
		midlet.showAlert("Connection failed. You need to authorize this application to access network");
	} catch (IOException ioex) {
			midlet.showAlert("Connection failed. Please try again later.");
	} catch (Exception e){
		midlet.showAlert(e.toString());
		e.printStackTrace();
		//midlet.display.setCurrent(midlet.form);
	} finally {
		try {
			if (is != null) {
				is.close();
			}

			if (conn != null) {
				conn.close();
			}
		} catch (IOException ioexception) {}
			is =null;
			conn =null;
			midlet.display.setCurrent(midlet.form);

	}
}

public String URLEncode(String s)
{
		if (s!=null) {
			StringBuffer tmp = new StringBuffer();
			int i=0;
			try {
				while (true) {
					int b = (int)s.charAt(i++);
					if ((b>=0x30 && b<=0x39) || (b>=0x41 && b<=0x5A) || (b>=0x61 && b<=0x7A)) {
						tmp.append((char)b);
					}
					else {
						tmp.append("%");
						if (b <= 0xf) tmp.append("0");
						tmp.append(Integer.toHexString(b));
					}
				}
			}
			catch (Exception e) {}
			return tmp.toString();
		}
		return null;
}
}

The code requires mobile device which implements JSR-179 Location API and has been tested on Nokia E71 and 6210 Navigator.

• Download Reverse Geocoding
• Reverse Geocoding Sample Source Code

TinyGeo-coder : A cool free geocoding/reverse geocoding service

I was searching for a free and easy to use geocoding web service over the internet for my experiment involving Location Based Service (LBS). Then suddenly i came accross tinygeocoder, a web service which really suits my need.

tinygeocoder services that caught my eye :

• geocoding – you can feed it with name of place like “San Francisco, CA” and it will return result in latitude and longitude pair “(37.775196,-122.419204)”
• reverse geocoding – feed it with a coordinate, and the service will return you the name of the corresponding place.

Personally I like the “reverse geocoding” functionality more as it would be handy for my LBS project. Keep an eye for this blog as I’ll be posting JavaME JSR-179 (Location API) codes which utilizes tinygeocoder services.

p/s: If you find tinygeoder helpful, consider making donations to them.