Android Content Provider

1. Content
Provider
Android Training
By Khaled Anaqwa

2. Content Providers
 Content providers manage access to a
structured set of data.
 Encapsulate the data, and provide
mechanisms for defining data security.
 Content providers are the standard
interface that connects data in one
process with code running in another
process.

3. Access data in a content
provider
 you use the ContentResolver object in your
application's Context to communicate with
the provider as a client.
 The ContentResolver object communicates
with the provider object, an instance of a
class that implements ContentProvider.
 The provider object receives data requests
from clients, performs the requested action,
and returns the results.

4. Calendar Provider part of
Android platform
 Calendar Provider
 Contacts Provider

5. Calendar Provider
 The Calendar Provider is a repository for a
user's calendar events.
 The Calendar Provider API allows you to
perform query, insert, update, and delete
operations on calendars, events,
attendees, reminders, and so on

6.  Every content provider exposes a public URI
(wrapped as a Uri object) that uniquely identifies its
data set.
 A content provider that controls multiple data sets
(multiple tables) exposes a separate URI for each
one.
 All URIs for providers begin with the string "content://".
 This identifies the data as being controlled by a
content provider.
 The Calendar Provider defines constants for the URIs
for each of its classes (tables). These URIs have the
format <class>.CONTENT_URI. For example,
Events.CONTENT_URI.

8. How To Use
 Uses Permissions
 ContentResolver
 Querying

9. Uses Permissions
<uses-permission
android:name="android.permission.READ_CAL
ENDAR" />
<uses-permission
android:name="android.permission.WRITE_CA
LENDAR" />

10. ContentResolver
ContentResolver cr = getContentResolver();
Uri uri = Calendars.CONTENT_URI;

11. Query Example
 Cursor c = cr.query(uri, projection,
selection, selectionArgs, null);
 update(updateUri, values, null, null);
 insert(Events.CONTENT_URI, values);

12. Demo
 Create Event add it to calendar
 Adding Reminder

13. Task
 Select all events

14. Contacts Provider
 It’s a powerful and flexible Android component
that manages the device's central repository of
data about people.
 It’s the source of data you see in the device's
(contacts application , or your own application)
and transfer data between the device and online
services.
 It’s accommodates a wide range of data sources
and tries to manage as much data as possible for
each person, ( its organization is complex)
 Because of this, it's includes an extensive set of
contract classes and interfaces that facilitate both
data retrieval and modification.

15. Contacts Provider
Organization
 The Contacts Provider is an Android
content provider component. It maintains
three types of data about a person, each
of which corresponds to a table offered
by the provider

17.  The three tables are commonly referred to
by the names of their contract classes
 ContactsContract.Contacts table
Rows representing different people, based on
aggregations of raw contact rows.
 ContactsContract.RawContacts table
Rows containing a summary of a person's data,
specific to a user account and type.
 ContactsContract.Data table
Rows containing the details for raw contact,
such as email addresses or phone numbers.

18. Demo
 Open Contact Manager form Samples
 Task
 Modify List of Contacts add (_ID ,
HAS_PHONE_NUMBER )

19. Content Provider
 A content provider manages access to a central
repository of data.
 You implement a provider as one or more classes
in an Android application, along with elements in
the manifest file.
 One of your classes implements a subclass
ContentProvider, which is the interface between
your provider and other applications.
 Although content providers are meant to make
data available to other applications, you may of
course have activities in your application that
allow the user to query and modify the data
managed by your provider.

20. Before You Start Building C.P.
 You want to offer complex data or files to
other applications.
 You want to allow users to copy complex
data from your app into other apps.
 You want to provide custom search
suggestions using the search framework.

21.  You don't need a provider to use an
SQLite database if the use is entirely within
your own application.