Easiest way to create a register application using android networking library

p>There have been several ways that are currently existing to help submit data from an android app to an online server so that it can be stored or processed to return a result

As an android developer, you should keep updated on the best methods that can help you securely transmit data from an android app to an online server without it being accessed by third-party libraries or users

Cases of hacking have been reported across the globe where users data has been stolen and their contact information used to enroll them in programs that they are not interested in or sending spam messages for promotions that do not exist

It is, therefore, necessary as a developer to use the best ways that are secure and fast. Our previous articles have focused on some of the methods you can use to send data securely from an android application to an online server using REST APIS

To ensure you are up to date with the article, you can revisit

For this discussion, we shall explain and show in detail how to create a register application using an android networking library or an application that submits data to an online server for storage using the android networking library.

For data processing in the server, we shall make use of a REST API which will be added in the android application as a URL, and also the parameters to hold data using the POST method

To begin,

create a project and name it as Register Project or any other name that you would wish, you can follow this article to create your application
the language of development we prefer using kotlin since it is the modern that is being adopted by google to develop android applications
in the activity_main.xml which will have the layout of the application, we shall have the first name, last name, email, username, and password as the fields that we will request users to provide in the app during registration

The code to add the above fields in the XML file will be as follows

the full code for activity_main.xml is as follows

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto" xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="match_parent" tools:context=".MainActivity"> <LinearLayout android:layout_marginTop="100dp" android:layout_marginStart="50dp" android:layout_marginEnd="50dp" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="match_parent" android:orientation="vertical"> <TextView android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:text="Fill Details to Register" android:layout_marginBottom="30dp" android:textSize="30dp" app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent" app:layout_constraintLeft_toLeftOf="parent" app:layout_constraintRight_toRightOf="parent" app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" /> <TextView android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:text="First Name" app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent" app:layout_constraintLeft_toLeftOf="parent" app:layout_constraintRight_toRightOf="parent" app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" /> <EditText android:id="@+id/firstname" android:inputType="text" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="wrap_content"/> <TextView android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:text="Last Name" app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent" app:layout_constraintLeft_toLeftOf="parent" app:layout_constraintRight_toRightOf="parent" app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" /> <EditText android:id="@+id/lastname" android:inputType="text" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="wrap_content"/> <TextView android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:text="Email" app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent" app:layout_constraintLeft_toLeftOf="parent" app:layout_constraintRight_toRightOf="parent" app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" /> <EditText android:id="@+id/email" android:inputType="textEmailAddress" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="wrap_content"/> <TextView android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:text="Username" app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent" app:layout_constraintLeft_toLeftOf="parent" app:layout_constraintRight_toRightOf="parent" app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" /> <EditText android:id="@+id/username" android:inputType="text" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="wrap_content"/> <TextView android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:text="Password" app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent" app:layout_constraintLeft_toLeftOf="parent" app:layout_constraintRight_toRightOf="parent" app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" /> <EditText android:id="@+id/password" android:inputType="textPassword" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="wrap_content"/> <Button android:text="REGISTER" android:id="@+id/signupbutton" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content"/> </LinearLayout> </androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>

next, in the manifest file add the internet permission that will allow the app be able to connect to internet connection as follows


<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />

The full code for android manifest file is as follows


<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="com.example.registerproject">
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
    <application
        android:allowBackup="true"
        android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher"
        android:label="@string/app_name"
        android:roundIcon="@mipmap/ic_launcher_round"
        android:supportsRtl="true"
        android:theme="@style/Theme.RegisterProject">
        <activity android:name=".MainActivity">
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
    </application>
</manifest>

to ensure that you use the networking library for data processing and submitting to the server, import this library in the build.gradle for the app

implementation 'com.amitshekhar.android:android-networking:1.0.2'

The code for build.gradle file for app in the dependencies section is as follows

dependencies { implementation "org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-stdlib:$kotlin_version" implementation 'androidx.core:core-ktx:1.7.0' implementation 'androidx.appcompat:appcompat:1.4.0' implementation 'com.google.android.material:material:1.4.0' implementation 'androidx.constraintlayout:constraintlayout:2.1.2' testImplementation 'junit:junit:4.+' androidTestImplementation 'androidx.test.ext:junit:1.1.3' androidTestImplementation 'androidx.test.espresso:espresso-core:3.4.0' implementation 'com.amitshekhar.android:android-networking:1.0.2' }

click sync now at the top of the screen and wait for gradle build to execute and finish, once its done, the networking library will be ready for use in your project
in the MainActivity.kt, first collect all the input fields from xml file as follows


var firstname=findViewById(R.id.firstname) as EditText
 var lastname=findViewById(R.id.lastname) as EditText
 var email=findViewById(R.id.email) as EditText
 var username=findViewById(R.id.username) as EditText
 var password=findViewById(R.id.password) as EditText
 var signupbutton=findViewById(R.id.signupbutton) as Button

when you click the signup button, ensure that all fields are not empty and if not, call the signup method as follows


signupbutton.setOnClickListener {
            var next = true
            if(firstname.toString().isEmpty()){
                next = false
            }
            if(lastname.toString().isEmpty()){
                next = false
            }
            if(email.toString().isEmpty()){
                next = false
            }
            if(username.toString().isEmpty()){
                next = false
            }
            if(password.toString().isEmpty()){
                next = false
            }
            if(next){
                signup(firstname.text.toString(),lastname.text.toString(),email.text.toString(),username.text.toString(),password.text.toString())
            }else{
            }
 
        }

add this method that uses the networking library functions to send data to the server using REST API as shown below


fun signup(firstname:String,lastname:String,email:String,username:String ,password:String){
        AndroidNetworking.post("https://www.solutionspacenet.com/apis/register")
            .addBodyParameter("firstname",firstname)
            .addBodyParameter("lastname",lastname)
            .addBodyParameter("email",email)
            .addBodyParameter("username",username)
            .addBodyParameter("password",password)
            .build()
            .getAsJSONObject(object :JSONObjectRequestListener{
                override fun onResponse(response: JSONObject?) {
                    if (response!!.getInt(STATUS) == 200) {
                        Toast.makeText(applicationContext,"Register successful",Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show()
                    } else {
                        Toast.makeText(applicationContext,"error",Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show()
                    }
                }
 
                override fun onError(anError: ANError?) {
                }
 
            })
    }

The full code for MainActivity.kt is as follows


package com.example.registerproject
import android.content.Context
import android.content.Intent
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity
import android.os.Bundle
import android.provider.ContactsContract.ProviderStatus.STATUS
import android.widget.Button
import android.widget.EditText
import android.widget.Toast
import com.google.android.material.snackbar.Snackbar
import org.json.JSONObject
import com.androidnetworking.AndroidNetworking
import com.androidnetworking.error.ANError
import com.androidnetworking.interfaces.JSONObjectRequestListener
import com.google.gson.Gson
 
class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)
 
        var firstname=findViewById(R.id.firstname) as EditText
        var lastname=findViewById(R.id.lastname) as EditText
        var email=findViewById(R.id.email) as EditText
        var username=findViewById(R.id.username) as EditText
        var password=findViewById(R.id.password) as EditText
        var signupbutton=findViewById(R.id.signupbutton) as Button
 
        signupbutton.setOnClickListener {
            var next = true
            if(firstname.toString().isEmpty()){
                next = false
            }
            if(lastname.toString().isEmpty()){
                next = false
            }
            if(email.toString().isEmpty()){
                next = false
            }
            if(username.toString().isEmpty()){
                next = false
            }
            if(password.toString().isEmpty()){
                next = false
            }
            if(next){
                signup(firstname.text.toString(),lastname.text.toString(),email.text.toString(),username.text.toString(),password.text.toString())
            }else{
            }
 
        }
 
 
    }
    fun signup(firstname:String,lastname:String,email:String,username:String ,password:String){
        AndroidNetworking.post("https://www.solutionspacenet.com/apis/register")
            .addBodyParameter("firstname",firstname)
            .addBodyParameter("lastname",lastname)
            .addBodyParameter("email",email)
            .addBodyParameter("username",username)
            .addBodyParameter("password",password)
            .build()
            .getAsJSONObject(object :JSONObjectRequestListener{
                override fun onResponse(response: JSONObject?) {
                    if (response!!.getInt(STATUS) == 200) {
                        Toast.makeText(applicationContext,"Register successful",Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show()
 
                    } else {
                        Toast.makeText(applicationContext,"error",Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show()
                    }
                }
 
                override fun onError(anError: ANError?) {
                }
 
            })
    }
}

next, once the data is sent to this API https://www.solutionspacenet.com/apis/register to process and store in MySQL database. the PHP code that acts as the REST API is as shown below


<?php
header("Content-Type:application/json");
$con=mysqli_connect("localhost","username","password","database") or die("error");
$firstname = $_POST["firstname"];
$lastname = $_POST["lastname"];
$email = $_POST["email"];
$username = $_POST["username"];
$password = $_POST["password"];
if(mysqli_query($con,"INSERT INTO customers(FirstName,LastName,Email,Username,Password) VALUES('$firstname','$lastname','$email','$username','$password'")){
$json = array("status" => 200,'message' => "Success");
}else{
$json = array("status" => 300,'message' => "Error");
}
echo json_encode($json);
mysqli_close($con)
 
?>