Yes - as a beginner it is especially frustrating. Actually some of the documentation is missing especially on the XML attributes for shapes etc.
I think what the documentation needs is an example of how you might use it like the PHP docs have. So at the bottom of each class there will be a demo of how to use the basic features. For me this just makes the whole process of learning and getting your head around the concepts that much easier. I would also like to see a seperate XML section devoted to using XML in android. -jack On Oct 22, 5:09 pm, Sean Hodges <seanhodge...@googlemail.com> wrote: > On Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 10:00 AM, gmseed <gms...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Take the Sensor page, which lists the public methods: > > > float getMaximumRange() > > String getName() > > float getPower() > > float getResolution() > > int getType() > > String getVendor() > > int getVersion() > > > Not a single comment as to what these do. Readers must be expected to > > be mind readers. > > From the developer docs: > > public float getMaximumRange () > Since: API Level 3 > Returns > * maximum range of the sensor in the sensor's unit. > > public String getName () > Since: API Level 3 > Returns > * name string of the sensor. > > public float getPower () > Since: API Level 3 > Returns > * the power in mA used by this sensor while in use > > public float getResolution () > Since: API Level 3 > Returns > * resolution of the sensor in the sensor's unit. > > public int getType () > Since: API Level 3 > Returns > * generic type of this sensor. > > public String getVendor () > Since: API Level 3 > Returns > * vendor string of this sensor. > > public int getVersion () > Since: API Level 3 > Returns > * version of the sensor's module. > > The comments might be terse, but I think the general info is available > there. As a class representing abstracted hardware, I'm not entirely > sure how much much info it can provide in itself. Perhaps you are > looking for a tutorial on the sensor framework, rather than the > reference docs? > > > > > Then take SensorListener, which provides a few comments on the > > accelermoeter, magnetic and orientation sensors but no mention of the > > other sensors. > > > When I run an application with onSensorChanged (int sensor, float[] > > values) it outputs 6 values and not 3 as the documentation would > > suggest. > > I do agree that the documentation does not often follow the latest > API, some documentation becomes out of date. I suspect the extra 3 > values were added to support new devices on the market, and the docs > have not been updated to reflect that. There's no good excuse for it; > but flagging the omissions up in the Android bug tracker will > hopefully get the issue raised and resolved for future developers... > > > > > I gather from reading previous posts that this documentation issue is > > not new and has been around since the start of Android. Clearly then > > somebody at Google has a strange idea as to what documenting an API > > means. > > > The Android system is amazing but really let down by its developer > > documentation. > > I've always found the Android documentation to be fairly good, it's > far from perfect but a lot better than many commercial/OSS projects > I've come across in the past. Having said that, I'll admit that I > might have just spent far too much time sifting through GTK/Python/C++ > reference docs, and have developed a slightly skewed perspective :) --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Beginners" group. To post to this group, send email to android-beginners@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-beginners+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-beginners?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
