Development of Smart Phone Applications Industrial Placement BSc (Honours) in Software Design Joseph Kenny

Placement Midland Regional Authority MidlandsIreland.ie

Strategy for Brand Management & Awareness Digital Tourism Guide Brand Guidelines

Create a multi-platform phone application for android and IOs that utilises the digital tourism guide developed by MidlandsIreland.ie The Brief – Terms of Reference

Work Programme - Stage I Concept and Design – Considerations Brand Guidelines Website Digital Tourism Guide

Work Programme - Stage II Development Google Map v2 API – Display interactive map Google Places API – Display local businesses Really Simple Syndication Feed(RSS Feeds) Information feed from midlandsireland.ie JavaScript Object Notation Feed(JSON Feed) Technique for listing nearby businesses

Digital Tourism Guide Sections Angling Golf Festivals Creative Community Active Midlands Eating out Walking Driving Historical sites Towns and Villages Accommodation

Additional Features: Display user on interactive map Display businesses nearby to the user Caching – saving results for offline use RSS Feeds – News & Events

Google Map Api Version 2 Use of map fragment Tracks user location Capable of zooming in/out Scaling of map fragment

Google Places API Takes time to search, runs in background using a specific technique called Async. Place reference ID used to find businesses details. Returns Name, Address, Contact No and GPS

RSS Feed Download the RSS feed – downloads webpage containing information Extract the data out of XML: use a XML parser - reads the data Store the data – stores on device temporary Display the data: ListView with Adapter Adapter puts data into a specific location

JSON Feed An array of keyword elements for Google places – list of keywords (pub, cafe) Retrieves all the elements in the 'places' array – uses keywords Invoking getPlaces with the array of json object where each json object represent a place – returns a list of businesses using keywords Taking each place, parses and adds to list object – finds businesses, reads it and puts it into a list on screen.

The Challenges Expansive Learning Curve Extensive Trial and Error Problem Solving Api Documentation – dictionary/phrase book for software

Lessons Learned Desk Research Testing Satisfaction Working Environment