Programming
- page 13Android: reading float values from a XML file
Posted by Dimitri | Jun 3rd, 2011
When programming an Android app, data such as integers, drawables and strings can be loaded from XML files through the Resources class, using their automatically generated IDs. But a float can’t be placed in these XML files, since the Resources class won’t generate IDs for it. This post will focus on explaining how to load a float, and some other values from a customized XML file. All code featured in this tutorial is available at the end of the post.
It’s worth mentioning that this example uses the XmlResourceParser class (a XML pull parser) to read the contents from a XML file. This is just one of the three available methods of retrieving the contents of a XML file in Android. That being said, the first thing we are going to need is the XML file. Continue reading: “Android: reading float values from a XML file”
Android: changing the ringer volume
Posted by Dimitri | May 27th, 2011
Another Android tutorial, this time, explaining how to change the different sound volumes of the Android system, such as the ringer, music and notification loudness. The source code featured below is available for download at the end of the post.
Using a seek bar to control audio’s volume in Android is a lot like changing the screen brightness with a seek bar. However, instead of using a ContentResolver to obtain the service that controls the audio, Android has a class that makes everything easier, named AudioManager. So, the example here will basically obtain a reference to the AudioManager and will use it to get the current ringer volume and use it to set the progress of a seek bar. When changed, the seek bar progress will set the value of the sound volume. Here is the code: Continue reading: “Android: changing the ringer volume”
Android: Loading files from the Assets and Raw folders
Posted by Dimitri | May 24th, 2011
This tutorial will explain how to load files from the res/raw and the Assets folder using a String to specify the file name. Yes, there are a lot of tutorials on this subject, but they all use the automatically generated integer IDs from the R class as inputs and not many of them even mention the possibility of loading files from the Assets folder. As a result of depending on the ID, the file reference must be known beforehand.
Instead, the code featured in this post will explain how to find the reference to the file and then load it at runtime based solely on its name. This means that the reference ID and the file don’t even have to exist in the first place, and can be acquired at run time.
Continue reading: “Android: Loading files from the Assets and Raw folders”
Unity: How to make an overview map
Posted by Dimitri | May 19th, 2011
This Unity tutorial explains the required steps to create a map that displays the level in a top-down view. For a real-time, precise map, an orthographic camera can be placed on the top of the map and set to exclusively render a specific layer. However, this post isn’t about creating a precise map, instead it shows how to create a stylized one. A Unity project with everything explained here is available for download at the end of this tutorial.
The first step is to create a plane by clicking on GameObject->Create Other->Plane. Resize it underneath your level, making it have the same size of your scene, not bigger or smaller, just enough to fit all of the elements inside it. Continue reading: “Unity: How to make an overview map”