BlackBerry Programming

The Blackberry platform is Java® based, and there are number of different tools that you can
use to develop your applications. This tutorials only show basic programming for Blackberry® application. We assume that you’re not beginner in programming. Java® language is mandatory. This tutorials use Windows® OS, but you may develop use other OS.
Tools:

  • Java® SE Development Kit (JDK)
    You can use version 5 or version 6. Version 6 is required if you are using BlackBerry® MDS-CS for debugging.
  • Eclipse® IDE for Java® Developers
    The essential tools for any Java® developer, including a Java® IDE, a CVS client, XML Editor and Mylyn.
  • BlackBerry® Java® Development Environment (JDEs)
    The BlackBerry® Java® Development Environment (BlackBerry JDE) is a fully integrated development environment and simulation tool for building Java Platform, Micro Edition (Java® ME) applications for Java® based BlackBerry® smartphones.
    It is a Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP) compliant Java® ME environment for developers who wish to maintain seamless portability in their wireless applications. In addition, the BlackBerry® JDE provides a full suite of interfaces and utilities to take advantage of some of the unique features of the BlackBerry smartphone.
  • BlackBerry® Eclipse™ Plug-in
    The BlackBerry® Web Development Plug-in for Eclipse™ allows developers to debug web-based applications and content for the BlackBerry solution.
    Working through the familiarity of Eclipse™ allows simplified code profiling and increases overall efficiencies. Users enjoy seamless integration with Eclipse™ 3.4, which allows comprehensive development of BlackBerry web applications and contents.
    The BlackBerry® Web Development Plug-in for Eclipse also facilitates active web development and debugging with a BlackBerry® Smartphone Simulator as well as active web profiling to optimize web projects.

Steps:

  • Download JDK and Eclipse IDE for Java®.
    All the tools are absolutely free.
  • Install Java® SE Development Kit (JDK)
  • Install Eclipse™ IDE for Java® Developers
  • Seting up Eclipse
    • Setup JDE Plug-in for Eclipse™ update site
      • From the Help menu, select Software Updates… to open the Software Updates and Add-ons window
      • Select the Available Software tab
      • Click the Add Site… button
      • In the Add Site dialog, type the URL http://www.blackberry.com/go/eclipseUpdate into the location text box
      • Click the OK button, BlackBerry Update Site appears in the Available Software list
      • Select the BlackBerry JDE Plug-in for Eclipse item and one BlackBerry Component Pack item you want to work on
      • Click the Install… button
      • Click the Next > button
      • Check I accept the terms of the license agreement radio button after reviewing licenses
      • Click the Finish button to begin installation
        Note: You’ll need to enter your BlackBerry® Developer Zone login ID and password in an authentication dialog. Due to security policy, you may be authenticated multiple times. If you don’t have a Developer Zone login, register for access to the BlackBerry Developer Community
      • After successfully downloading the files, you’ll be prompted to restart the Eclipse Platform. Choose to restart the platform
    • Further Reference: BlackBerry® JDE Plug-in for Eclipse™ Installation and Configuration by Mike Kirkup
  • Write the code with Java® Languange
    • Setup New Project
      • Click on File/New/Project menu
      • Select BlackBerry/Blackberry Project
      • Click Next
      • Chose Project name and location
      • Enter the project name, i.e. “Hello World“
      • Select your location or use a default one to store your project
      • Click Finish
    • Configure your new BlackBerry project
      • Click on BlackBerry/Configure Blackberry Workspace
      • Click on the BlackBerry Workspace and insert your Vendor and Version data
      • Here you can change a number of different settings. Let’s just enter version number 1.0 and
        vendor “TestVendor”
      • From BlackBerry JDE, select Installed Components
      • Chose component package – 4.6.0 (Figure 6)
      • Click OK
    • Create a new HelloWorld Class
      • Click on File/New/Package
      • Enter the package path i.e. com.rim.samples.helloworld
      • Click on Finish button
      • Click on File/New/Class
      • Check the source folder and package. It should be Hello World/src and com.rim.samples.helloworld respectively
      • Enter HelloWorld as the name and click Finish
    • Implement a UiApplication
      • Type extends UiApplication after public class HelloWorld
      • Import the net.rim.device.api.ui by click on light bulb icon with red cross or by typing import net.rim.device.api.ui.UiApplication;
      • Create Method on Class HelloWorld
        public static void main(String[] args) {
        HelloWorld theApp = new HelloWorld();
        theApp.enterEventDispatcher();
        }
      • Create New Screen Object and Display it in the constructor
        public HelloWorld() {
        //display a new screen
        pushScreen(new HelloWorldScreen());
        }
    • Create HelloWorldScreen Class
      • add a HelloWorldScreen class which extends MainScreen:
        final class HelloWorldScreen extends MainScreen
      • Import net.rim.device.api.ui.container.MainScreen:
        import net.rim.device.api.ui.container.MainScreen;
        You can type the line or click on light bulb icon as described before
      • In the constructor of this class we will create LabelField title, to label our
        Application. Set the title and add a RichTextField with our message “Hello World!”. We also
        need to remember to import necessary packages as well as call MainScreen’s constructor
      • Import net.rim.device.api.ui.component.LabelField
      • Import net.rim.device.api.ui.component.RichTextField
      • add a small dialog which will appear when the user wants to exit the application. To
        do so we need to overwrite the onClose() method of the HelloWorldScreen class
      • Import net.rim.device.api.ui.component.Dialog
      • Import net.rim.device.api.ui.component.*
      • Final Source Code
        package com.rim.samples.helloworld;
        import net.rim.device.api.ui.UiApplication;
        import net.rim.device.api.ui.component.*;
        import net.rim.device.api.ui.container.MainScreen;
        public class HelloWorld extends UiApplication {
        public static void main(String[] args) {
        HelloWorld theApp = new HelloWorld();
        theApp.enterEventDispatcher();
        }
        public HelloWorld() {
        pushScreen(new HelloWorldScreen());
        }
        }
        final class HelloWorldScreen extends MainScreen {
        public HelloWorldScreen() {
        super();
        LabelField title = new LabelField(“HelloWorld Sample”,
        LabelField.ELLIPSIS | LabelField.USE_ALL_WIDTH);
        setTitle(title);
        add(new RichTextField(“Hello World!”));
        }
        public boolean onClose() {
        Dialog.alert(“Goodbye!”);
        System.exit(0);
        return true;
        }
        }
  • Build and Run…
    • Click on Run/Run or the green shortcut icon on the toolbar
    • You can also choose to click Run/Debug, which will allow you to debug your application, but it also takes longer to load
    • When you get the simulator find and start your application from Downloads folder
    • When you run the application you should see our Hello World message
      Simulator
    • And when you click on exit button you will get the “Goodbye” dialog
    • To exit the simulator, just close its window

Reference:

Yohan Naftali
http://yohanli.com

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.