CS 350 ­ Computer/Human Interaction
Fall 2012 – Android Prototype
Out: October 12, 2012
Due: October 26, 2012
An Android Message Board App
While a CGI web­based message board is interesting, your software company has decided that they would like to see a prototype Android message board application that can be installed on smartphones.
The Task ●
Your task is to create a prototype interface for this Android message board app. Note again that unlike a blogging system, a message board just displays the messages it receives in chronological order. That is, replies to messages are not displayed together with the original message. As before, each message on the board will have at least the date, the sender's name, a subject line, and a message body. ●
The prototype should consist of one or more Android activities, which allow a user to type in their message and retrieve the messages previously posted to the board. How the system stores messages is described below. You should create both an interface for posting messages and an interface for viewing messages. You do not need to provide a screen for logging in, though you may. ●
You should provide feedback when posting messages, and appropriate error messages if vital information is omitted when posting a new message. You will have to decide on how messages are displayed. Unlike a web­based system, you probably do not want to display all messages in one long list. You may wish to provide a catalog of all messages, or may want to display the most recent messages with the ability to go back to previous messages. However you display the messages, you should be able to distinguish one message from another. ●
Since this is not a networking class, we will not be actually sharing messages among app instances. (This would require a server of some sort.) The app should store and display messages entered only on its device. The information on a particular message should be stored into a file, one message per file, created in private external storage of the device. (See notes below.) The format of this file is up to you, but you should think about how it will be read back in for displaying. What to submit A clearly identified link to an APK file (only) of your project should be provided on the index page of your CS 350 webspace (/home/username/www_home/cs350/index.html).
Zip or tar your entire Eclipse/MOTODEV project folder and (re)name it so that your username is part of the file name. Email the zipfile or tar file to the instructor.
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Hand in the following items in a hardcopy document: ●
The following statement, signed and dated by the submitter: In accordance with the University of Evansville Honor Code, I attest that the project I am submitting is completely my own work, and that I have not received nor given any unauthorized aid on this project. ●
Short instructions of how a user views messages and how a user posts messages with your interface. You should assume the reader is a first­time, novice user who has not necessarily used similar interfaces before.
Grading Prototypes will be graded in the following manner: 25 points ­ prototype demonstrates an interface that meets the above specification 10 points ­ aesthetics and usability; 6­7 points for average, 8­9 points for above average, 10 points for exceptional
● 5 points ­ readability of instructions
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More notes Storage manipulation for Android devices is the same as for any other Java applications using the File API. A link to information on how to obtain directories and files on an Android device is available now on the supplemental reading list (ADAT). Purple Pizza Parlor V3 has been updated to write order information to a file in private external storage.
If you are not familiar with Java file I/O, consult the Java Tutorial trail on basic I/O. A link is given in the supplemental reading list (JTUT).
Dates in Java are handled by the Calendar class. (The Date class has been deprecated for the most part.) Purple Pizza Parlor V3 has been updated to show an example of how it can be used.
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