Extending Phonegap

'Goddess Mode'

PhoneGap Day EU 2013


Holly Schinsky 
          Blog: http://devgirl.org           
Twitter: @devgirfl

agenda


              Part 1
        • PhoneGap Plugin Overview
        • Code and Implement a Plugin for Android 

             Part 2
        • Push Notifications Overview
        • Code push notification support
 

You... Right now??





end of the day...






part 1: Plugins

guide for part 1: Plugins tutorial



My Blog: http://devgirl.org - 1st tab titled 
PhoneGap Plugin Dev't for Android Tutorial

-or-

phonegap plugin architecture

  • Allows you to expose native APIs
  • PhoneGap itself is built on the plugin architecture
  • config.xml within platforms shows which native class each plugin is mapped to via the <feature> tag such as:


<feature name="Camera">
        <param name="android-package" value="org.apache.cordova.CameraLauncher"/>
</feature>   
    

<feature name="Camera">
        <param name="ios-package" value="org.apache.cordova.CDVCamera"/>
</feature>   
    

plugin Call mapping (android)


 sample javascript





code an android calendar plugin



 More on plugins...


  • Android plugins extend CordovaPlugin , iOS plugins extend  CDVPlugin
  • On iOS, the action from cordova.exec() maps directly to functions in the native class                                                                                                    

  • Threading should be considered if you're doing a lot of processing and don't want to block the main thread                  
  • onReset() - should be implemented if you have long-running processes (called on WebView location change or refresh)

current plugin platform support 


  • Android
  • Blackberry
  • Blackberry 10
  • iOS
  • Windows Phone

DISCOVERING PLUGINS


  Repository of open source plugins currently available and      growing daily:







Part 2: Push Notifications

GUIDE FOR PART 2: PUSH NOTIFICATIONS TUTORIAL


My Blog:  http://devgirl.org/ 

-or-

push notifications


    Android  - sent via Google Cloud Messaging (GCM)
    iOS - sent via Apple Push Notification service (APNs)

  • Store and forward services.
  • Both require registration of the device with the service. 
  • GCM requires an API key associated with the application's project id for the 3rd party server to send a notification.
  • APNs requires validation of an SSL certificate specific to your app id before messages are passed on.

Message Workflow


  • APNS - 3rd party server sends message to APNS w/ security credentials and device token. APNS validates the security and forwards to the device matching the token.
  • GCM - 3rd party server sends message to GCM w/ application's API key assigned from the console and device token. GCM verifies and forwards to device.
  • Device receives the notification, checks the payload for the application to notify and open.

Platform differences

  • Message Payload size - Apple = 256 bytes  Android = 4,096 bytes

  • Message expire time - Android (4 wks default and max) -Apple does not specify their max.

  • Invalid Device Token - for Apple you need to ping their Feedback Service, Google will give you a response when device id sent in.

  • Holding messages (for devices offline) - Apple only sends the last message for a given application. Google will deliver all (though configurable).

PUsh plugin


  • Supported by PhoneGap Build                                                               
  • Defines APIs for  register(), unregister(), setApplicationIconBadge()
  • APIs require success() and error() callback functions to be passed in
  • register() also requires a callback function to be specified for when communication is received from the APNs or GCM services
  • https://github.com/phonegap-build/PushPlugin/

coding time!




questions?

Extending Phonegap

By hollyschinsky

Extending Phonegap

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