Java Padawan - Programmer's Journal

1. Create MapViewer Project
- Create MapViewer class that extends MapActivity


package javapadawan.android;

import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.KeyEvent;
import com.google.android.maps.MapActivity;
import com.google.android.maps.MapController;
import com.google.android.maps.MapView;

public class MapViewer extends MapActivity {
private MapView map;
private MapController mc;
private static int zoomValue = 1;

@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
  super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
  setContentView(R.layout.main);
  map = (MapView) findViewById(R.id.map);
  mc = map.getController();
  mc.setZoom(zoomValue);
}

@Override
public boolean dispatchKeyEvent(KeyEvent event) {
if(event.getKeyCode() == KeyEvent.KEYCODE_DPAD_UP) {
zoomValue = zoomValue + 1;
mc.setZoom(zoomValue);
} else if(event.getKeyCode() == KeyEvent.KEYCODE_DPAD_DOWN) {
zoomValue = zoomValue - 1;
mc.setZoom(zoomValue);
} else if(event.getKeyCode() == KeyEvent.KEYCODE_DPAD_LEFT) {
map.setSatellite(false);
} else if(event.getKeyCode() == KeyEvent.KEYCODE_DPAD_RIGHT) {
map.setSatellite(true);
}
return super.dispatchKeyEvent(event);
}

@Override
protected boolean isRouteDisplayed() {
return false;
}
}

2. Modify main.xml

3. Set the required permissions in the AndroidManifest.xml

4. Clean, Build and Run the Project. You will see an Empty Map Grid instead of a google map.

4. The reason why the code does not work is that the apiKey needs to be a valid key from google. Below are the steps to obtain a valid key.

- Obtaining a Maps API Key

- Edit the main.xml and replace apiKey with the value from google. See below on how to generate an MD5 Certificate fingerprint.