B4A Class Class to check SDK levels at runtime

Are you tired of checking which Android release is tied to which SDK level?

I am, so I wrote a little B4A class that links the different Android versions with their SDK. Nothing earth shattering but it has been serving me well and you might find it useful.

It’ll allow you to check the running Android API version and take decisions based on it, especially in situation where your application can take advantage of Android functionality tied up to a specific version or greater.

You could rewrite the class as a static module if you preferred, as you only need one instance by application. However creating a class made initialization easier.

If you are wondering why I hard-coded the values in the class, instead of making native calls to retrieve the values, the reason is that if your application is checking for a sdk higher than the one which it is currently running on, the call will, of course, raise an exception. Dealing with exceptions made the code ugly and therefore I hard-coded the values as they are unlikely to ever change (as sdk codes are monotonically incremented by one with each new sdk release).

The Class is dependent on the Reflection library.

24/10/2015
Added method to get the java version on B4J application.

AJbuild
Version: 1
Author: Cimperia

• AJBuild (if B4A)
  Fields:
  • BASE As Int
  • BASE_1_1 As Int
  • CUPCAKE As Int
  • CUR_DEVELOPMENT As Int
  • DONUT As Int
  • ECLAIR As Int
  • ECLAIR_0_1 As Int
  • ECLAIR_MR1 As Int
  • FROYO As Int
  • GINGERBREAD As Int
  • GINGERBREAD_MR1 As Int
  • HONEYCOMB As Int
  • HONEYCOMB_MR1 As Int
  • HONEYCOMB_MR2 As Int
  • ICE_CREAM_SANDWICH As Int
  • ICE_CREAM_SANDWICH_MR1 As Int
  • JELLY_BEAN As Int
  • JELLY_BEAN_MR1 As Int
  • JELLY_BEAN_MR2 As Int
  • KITKAT As Int
  • KITKAT_WATCH As Int
  • LOLLIPOP As Int
  • LOLLIPOP_MR1 As Int
  • M As Int
  • VERSION_CODES As Map
  Methods:
  • 
    Tests whether the object has been initialized.
  • IsInitialized As Boolean
    The current development codename, or the string "REL" if this is a release build.
    java static field: CODENAME
  • CODENAME As String
    Synomym for SDK_INT
  • DEVICE_API_LEVEL As Int
    Display the Release Name
  • DEVICE_API_NAME As String
    Initalize AJBuild
    AJBuild retrieves the device running SDK level.
    More details about Platform Releases and SDK Levels here
  • INITIALIZE As String
    The user-visible version string. E.g., "1.0" or "3.4b5".
    In other words, the platform version.
    java static field: RELEASE
  • RELEASE As String
    The user-visible SDK version of the framework; its possible values are defined in Build.VERSION_CODES.
    java static field: SDK_INT or SDK if API Level < 4
  • SDK_INT As Int

• AJBuild (if B4J)
  Methods:
  • 
    Tests whether the object has been initialized.
  • IsInitialized As Boolean
    Returns the running Java specific version as double
  • JavaVersion As Double

How to use

'
   Dim OS As AJBuild
   OS.Initialize

   Log(OS.CODENAME)
   Log(OS.RELEASE)
   Log(OS.SDK_INT)

   'DEVICE_API_LEVEL is a synonym for SDK_INT
   Log(OS.DEVICE_API_LEVEL)
   Log(OS.DEVICE_API_NAME)

   If OS.SDK_INT < OS.JELLY_BEAN Then
     Msgbox($"Functionnality is not available on this platform: ${OS.VERSION_CODES.Get(OS.SDK_INT)} "$,"INFO")
   End If

Class Code

'Class AJBuild
#IF B4A
Private Sub Class_Globals
   Private this As AJBuild = Me
   Private r As Reflector
   Public VERSION_CODES As Map
   '
   Public Const BASE = 1 As Int
   Public Const BASE_1_1 = 2 As Int
   Public Const CUPCAKE = 3 As Int
   Public Const CUR_DEVELOPMENT = 10000 As Int
   Public Const DONUT = 4 As Int
   Public Const ECLAIR = 5 As Int
   Public Const ECLAIR_0_1 = 6 As Int
   Public Const ECLAIR_MR1 = 7 As Int
   Public Const FROYO = 8 As Int
   Public Const GINGERBREAD = 9 As Int
   Public Const GINGERBREAD_MR1 = 10 As Int
   Public Const HONEYCOMB = 11 As Int
   Public Const HONEYCOMB_MR1 = 12 As Int
   Public Const HONEYCOMB_MR2 = 13 As Int
   Public Const ICE_CREAM_SANDWICH = 14 As Int
   Public Const ICE_CREAM_SANDWICH_MR1 = 15 As Int
   Public Const JELLY_BEAN = 16 As Int
   Public Const JELLY_BEAN_MR1 = 17 As Int
   Public Const JELLY_BEAN_MR2 = 18 As Int
   Public Const KITKAT = 19 As Int
   Public Const KITKAT_WATCH = 20 As Int
   Public Const LOLLIPOP = 21 As Int
   Public Const LOLLIPOP_MR1 = 22 As Int
   Public Const M = 23 As Int
   '
   Private device_api_level_ As Int
End Sub

'Initalize AJBuild
'AJBuild retrieves the device running SDK level.
'More details about Platform Releases and SDK Levels <a href="http://developer.android.com/reference/android/os/Build.VERSION_CODES.html">here</a> and <a href ="http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/uses-sdk-element.html#ApiLevels">here</a>
Public Sub Initialize
   VERSION_CODES.Initialize
   VERSION_CODES.Put(BASE, "BASE")
   VERSION_CODES.Put(BASE_1_1, "BASE_1_1")
   VERSION_CODES.Put(CUPCAKE, "CUPCAKE")
   VERSION_CODES.Put(CUR_DEVELOPMENT, "CUR_DEVELOPMENT")
   VERSION_CODES.Put(DONUT, "DONUT")
   VERSION_CODES.Put(ECLAIR, "ECLAIR")
   VERSION_CODES.Put(ECLAIR_0_1, "ECLAIR_0_1")
   VERSION_CODES.Put(ECLAIR_MR1, "ECLAIR_MR1")
   VERSION_CODES.Put(FROYO, "FROYO")
   VERSION_CODES.Put(GINGERBREAD, "GINGERBREAD")
   VERSION_CODES.Put(GINGERBREAD_MR1, "GINGERBREAD_MR1")
   VERSION_CODES.Put(HONEYCOMB, "HONEYCOMB")
   VERSION_CODES.Put(HONEYCOMB_MR1, "HONEYCOMB_MR1")
   VERSION_CODES.Put(HONEYCOMB_MR2, "HONEYCOMB_MR2")
   VERSION_CODES.Put(ICE_CREAM_SANDWICH, "ICE_CREAM_SANDWICH")
   VERSION_CODES.Put(ICE_CREAM_SANDWICH_MR1, "ICE_CREAM_SANDWICH_MR1")
   VERSION_CODES.Put(JELLY_BEAN, "JELLY_BEAN")
   VERSION_CODES.Put(JELLY_BEAN_MR1, "JELLY_BEAN_MR1")
   VERSION_CODES.Put(JELLY_BEAN_MR2, "JELLY_BEAN_MR2")
   VERSION_CODES.Put(KITKAT, "KITKAT")
   VERSION_CODES.Put(KITKAT_WATCH, "KITKAT_WATCH")
   VERSION_CODES.Put(LOLLIPOP, "LOLLIPOP")
   VERSION_CODES.Put(LOLLIPOP_MR1, "LOLLIPOP_MR1")
   VERSION_CODES.Put(M, "M")
   '
   this.device_api_level_ = SDK_INT
End Sub

#Region NATIVE METHOD CALLS
'The current development codename, or the string "REL" if this is a release build.
'java static field: CODENAME
Public Sub CODENAME As String
   Return r.GetStaticField("android.os.Build$VERSION", "CODENAME")
End Sub

'The user-visible version string. E.g., "1.0" or "3.4b5".
'In other words, the platform version.
'java static field: RELEASE
Public Sub RELEASE As String
   Return r.GetStaticField("android.os.Build$VERSION", "RELEASE")
End Sub

'The user-visible SDK version of the framework; its possible values are defined in Build.VERSION_CODES.
'java static field: SDK_INT or SDK if API Level < 4
Public Sub SDK_INT As Int
   Try
     Return r.GetStaticField("android.os.Build$VERSION", "SDK_INT")
   Catch
     Return r.GetStaticField("android.os.Build$VERSION", "SDK")
   End Try
End Sub
#End Region NATIVE METHOD CALLS

#Region SUGAR
Public Sub getDEVICE_API_LEVEL As Int
   Return this.device_api_level_
End Sub

Public Sub getDEVICE_API_NAME As String
   Return VERSION_CODES.Get(this.device_api_level_)
End Sub
#End Region SUGAR
#Else If B4J
Private Sub Class_Globals
  Private r As Reflector
End Sub

Public Sub Initialize
End Sub

'Return the running Java specific version as double
Public Sub JavaVersion As Double
   Return r.RunStaticMethod("java.lang.System", "getProperty", _
                             Array As Object("java.specification.version"), _
                             Array As String("java.lang.String"))
End Sub
#End If

 

[cimperia]

Added method to get the java specific version on B4J applications.

The class can be used unchanged on B4A or B4J applications as the class will only expose methods relevant to the platform (B4A or B4J) it's on.