Android SDK

The code examples demonstrate the use of the API calls involved in license management using NSL V10. 

You are also advised to consult the following documents that explain the logical flow using .NET as an example: 

Licensing Logic of Your Application

Retrieving a License From the Activation Server

These provide in-depth descriptions of the license life-cycle and how this should be implemented in a commercial application.

Introduction

In this article, we are going to show you an example Android app. using Android Studio as the IDE. NSL and NSA can easily be added to new or existing software as it is a shared library and can be accessed as such. 

The Nalpeiron Android libraries consist of the standard Nalpeiron C library with a JNI wrapper.

Before you start, ensure you have at least Android Studio v2.2 installed on your system. Earlier versions of Android Studio can be made to work with this project but aren't supported.  The Android Native Development Kit (NDK) is also required and may be downloaded through Android Studio (see below for details).  The NDK is used in this project as a convenient means of ensuring the Nalpeiron Android library is copied into place in the apk.

https://developer.android.com/studio/

The Android Code example currently supports Android ARMv5t, ARMv7a, ARMv8a, x86 and x86_64.

Having downloaded your Custom Licensing/Analytics library you will now need to code your project with the quick changes listed below.

Please note that this is simply a code example and it is not a complete application, please use this to understand the basics of how you might implement licensing and then create your own code. It is not a finished work and will need modifying in a number of ways depending on your use case. 

Download your custom Nalpeiron Libraries and place in your Project

Please see the article about how to generate your custom libraries.

Please ensure you download each architecture (variant) and place the .so files into each folder as below.

Collect some test Zentitle License Codes

In order to try out various functions and features of the Zentitle Service you will need to make sure you have a "Product" setup in the Zentitle UI and to have a number of license code numbers ready to input into the UI (or if you are using ADB) generated by the sample code.

Getting Started using Android

The APIs for the Android library are a bit different from those in C, C#, VS, etc. but are the same as those in Java.

So in addition to this article, we encourage you to review the existing JAVA docs and JAVA code example for the APIs. 

1. Download and install Android Studio on your system.

 https://developer.android.com/studio/

2. Download and unpack the Nalpeiron Android SDK (bottom of page).

NSATest, NSLTest and PSLTest are Android Studio projects that allow you to create test programs for licensing (NSLTest) or for analytics collection (NSATest) or for the passive licensing system (PSLTest).

A few changes need to be made in the code example to reflect the Android Studio setup on your system.

After unpacking the example, you will have an AndroidCodekit directory with subdirectories called NSATest, NSLTest, and PSLTest. 

The location of the libraries is:

• NSLTest/app/src/main/lib/ARCHDIR (licensing)

or

• NSATest/app/src/main/lib/ARCHDIR (analytics)

or

• PSLTest/app/src/main/lib/ARCHDIR (passive licensing)

In the /lib/ folder there are sub-folders for each of the architectures: armv5t, armv7a, armv8a, x86 or x86_64.

• A downloaded library of the appropriate architecture should be copied into each directory. 

• Ensure you place each file in the correct corresponding folders for their architecture armv5t, armv7a, armv8a, x86 or x86_64 (The files are not all called libShafer.so or libSimon.so  but given representative names on download so that you are clear which is which afterward).

• At this point, the project is ready to build.
  

Installing Android Studio

Android Studio provides everything you need to start developing apps for Android, including the Android Studio IDE and the Android SDK tools.

If you didn't download Android Studio, go download Android Studio now, or switch to the stand-alone SDK Tools install instructions.

[ Show instructions for all platforms ]

Working with Android Studio

The following details how to build these examples in Android Studio.

Setting up the Android Studio project

• Open Android Studio and select “Open an Existing Android Studio Project.”  

• Then select either nslTest or nsaTest.  (NSL = Licensing; NSA = Analytics; most clients combine these to get a great combination of data and entitlement controls)

• Open NSLTest.java (or NSATestActivity.java) 

The project will start to build, and you may need to allow "network" access in order to get the project open.

public class
NSLTest extends Activity
{
   private static TextView       compIDView, licStatView;
    private static TextView       licTypeView, licExpDateView;
   private static EditText       licNumbView;
   private static EditText       setFeatName, setUDFName;
   private static TextView       nslVerView, nsaVerView;
   private static TextView       FeatStatView, UDFStatView;
   private static TextView       nslHostView;
 
//Edit variables below//
   private static int customerID = 1234;
   private static int productID = 123;
   private static int authX = xxx;
   private static int authY = yyy;
   private static int authZ = zzz;
//Edit variables//
   private static int security;
   private static int offset;
   private static NALP           nalp;
   private static NSA       nsa;
   private static NSL       nsl;
   private String          licCode;
   private String          tmpStr;

• Input your 2 variables (CustomerID and ProductID) which will be available to your Application Load event and set them to the values for your NSA/NSL product in your code.

The CustomerID and ProductID are internal Zentitle numbers issued to you, they are unique to you and should be kept secret. They were sent with your trial setup email and can also be accessed again anytime from your Product details within the Publisher Center.  

• Now change the Security Constants (X, Y and Z values) to match those stamped into your library. Do not copy this example as many others may read this document and your values should be unique and secret! 

Once you have changed these and double-checked them against your Zentitle product and downloaded library values you can save and test build the project.

• Select Build->Rebuild Project.

If everything goes well, you will see a Build Successful message appear.

• Now you have everything successfully building you can start to use the example code and start any testing.

Start Testing

Now you may run the example code in a virtual machine or an Android device. 

• From the Android Studio menu select run→’run nslTest-nslTest’.  

A new window will open allowing you to choose which device you wish to use to run the application.

If you don't have devices set up to test you can follow the simple processes to add various device OS versions and sizes.

• Select the desired virtual test device and after a moment or two your should see the application open.

• So you are now all set and can use the virtual emulator to continue or you can side-load the Android project to a real device and test that way.

• If you see a screen where the Test App has stopped it is likely you didn't put the correct library files in the right folder per the instructions above.  

Testing the Service (Android)

int callNalpLibOpen(String Filename, boolean NSAEnable, boolean NSLEnable, int LogLevel, String WorkDir, int LogQLen, int CacheQLen, int NetThMin, int NetThMax, int OfflineMode, String ProxyIP, String ProxyPort, String ProxyUsername, String ProxyPass, int security)