Android: Real Time TTC next vehicle arrival tracker (Dennis Villasenor)

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1. Name of Application: “TTC tracker”

2. Main theme: An app that tracks next vehicle arrival for a TTC stop.

3. The data source: XML data format provided by the TTC.

4. Link: http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=4427790e6f21d210VgnVCM1000003dd60f89RCRD&vgnextchannel=1a66e03bb8d1e310VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD

5. Functionality: The user will be able to use the app to track the locations and next arrivals and departures of TTC vehicles in the locations they specify. I am thinking of incorporating this app with androids location based services to provide an option where the user can be shown the next arrivals of TTC vehicles closest to where he is currently located though right now I am considering it as an optional feature for my app.

Hurdles

Major hurdle encountered in working with this application dealt with both learning how to use XMLParser (which Lab 7 explains how to do) and using the XMLParser to parse XML attributes. I have posted a wiki in the android discovery zone detailing how to do this:

http://zenit.senecac.on.ca/wiki/index.php/Android_Discovery_Zone#Parsing_XML_Attributes_.28Dennis_Villasenor.29

I also thought that in order to carry out XML Parsing that the application needs to be run on an actual android device instead of an emulator. To that end, I also spent a great deal of time figuring out how to get the application to run on my Kobo Vox. I was initially planning on using Gingerbreak to root my Kobo device and install Android Market Place but in the end it turned out that an update introduced last year rendered Gingerbreak incapable of rooting the device. In the end it turned out that rooting my Kobo was unnecessary as the device was capable of supporting Android apps running up to Android SDK version 10.

Details on how to install, run and debug android apps in Kobo Vox via Eclipse is on Andoid Discovery Zone:

http://zenit.senecac.on.ca/wiki/index.php/Android_Discovery_Zone#Installing_and_Debugging_Android_Apps_into_a_Kobo_Vox_from_Eclipse_in_a_Ubuntu.2FUnix_Environment_.28Dennis_Villasenor.29