Add NativeScript Plugins in an MDK App

1. Launch the Dev space in SAP Business Application Studio.

2. Click Start from template on the Get Started page.

   

   If you do not see the Get Started page, you can access it by typing >get started in the center search bar.

   

3. Select MDK Project and click Next.

   

   If you do not see the MDK Project option check if your Dev Space has finished loading or reload the page in your browser and try again.

   This screen will only show up when your CF login session has expired. Enter your login credentials, click Sign in. After successful signed in to Cloud Foundry, select your Cloud Foundry Organization and Space where you have set up the initial configuration for your MDK app and click Apply.

   

4. In Basic Information step, select or provide the below information and click Finish:

   Field	Value
   MDK Template Type	Select Empty from the dropdown
   Your Project Name	Provide a name of your choice. MDK_Geolocation is used for this tutorial
   Your Application Name	<default name is same as project name, you can provide any name of your choice>
   Target MDK Client Version	Leave the default selection as MDK 6.0+ (For use with MDK 6.0 or later clients)
   Choose a target folder	By default, the target folder uses project root path. However, you can choose a different folder path

   

   The MDK Empty Project template creates a Logout action, Close page action, rule and an empty page (Main.page). After using this template, you can focus on creating your pages, other actions, and rules needed for your application. More details on MDK template is available in help documentation.

5. After clicking Finish, the wizard will generate your MDK Application based on your selections. You should now see the MDK_Geolocation project in the project explorer.

1. Click the Main.page, drag & drop Static Key Value container to the page area.

   

2. In Properties | Layout, change NumberOfColumns to 1.

   

3. Drag & drop Key Value Item to the container.

   

4. Set KeyNameas Coordinates. To bind it’s value property, click on create a rule. You will create a new JavaScript file to capture the device location: latitude & longitude.

   

5. Keep the default selection for Object Type as Rule and Folders. Click OK.

   

   You can find more details about writing a Rule.

6. Enter the Rule name as GetCoordinates and click Finish.
   

   

7. Replace the generated snippet with below code.

   JavaScript

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   import * as geolocation from "@nativescript/geolocation";
   import { CoreTypes } from "@nativescript/core";
   export default async function GetCoordinates(context) {
       var logger = context.getLogger();
       console.log("Current Log Level: " + logger.getLevel());
       // check if geolocation is not enabled
           var locationIsEnabled = await geolocation.isEnabled();
       if (!locationIsEnabled) {
           // request for the user to enable it
           await geolocation.enableLocationRequest();
       }
       // Get current location with high accuracy
       return geolocation.getCurrentLocation({
           desiredAccuracy: CoreTypes.Accuracy.high, //This will return the finest location available
           updateDistance: 5, //Update distance filter in meters.
           timeout: 11000 //How long to wait for a location in ms.
       }).then(function (loc) {
           if (loc) {
               console.log(loc);
               console.log('\nCurrent Location: (' + loc.latitude + ',' + loc.longitude + ')');
               logger.log(loc.toString());
               var locMessage = '(' + "Latitude:" + loc.latitude + ',' + "Longitude:" + loc.longitude + ')';
               logger.log('Current Location: ' + locMessage, 'INFO');
               return locMessage;
           }
       }, function (e) {
           logger.log(e.message, 'ERROR');
       });
   }
   

8. Save your changes to the GetCoordinates.js file.

When the Main page loads, you can display a loading indicator informing about something is being processed before the data appears.

Enable the loading indicator at the Sectioned Table level by providing the following information:

In GetCoordinates.js file, you referred @nativescript/geolocation plugin. You now need to list this module as external references in BAS configuration so when bundling, MDK editor knows not to worry about these references.

1. Click on the gear icon on the bottom left of the BAS window and select Settings.

   

2. Switch to the Remote tab.

   

3. Search with mdk, click Edit in settings.json.

   

4. Include below references in mdk.bundlerExternals and save the changes.

   JSON

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   "@nativescript/geolocation"
   

   

So far, you have learned how to build an MDK application in the SAP Business Application Studio editor. Now, you will deploy the application definitions to Mobile Services to use in the Mobile client.

1. Right-click Application.app and select MDK: Deploy.

   

2. Select deploy target as Mobile Services.

   

3. Select Mobile Services Landscape.

   

4. Select application from Mobile Services.

   

   If you want to enable source for debugging the deployed bundle, then choose Yes.

   

   You should see Deploy to Mobile Services successfully! message.

   

   When deploying from VS Code to App Update and using an MDK 6.0+ client, you need to set the TS Target to use es6 instead of the default es5 version. See below for the setting in VS Code where you change it for es6.
   

   

In order to use the existing NativeScript plugin in MDK client, you will need to first add it in .mdkproject and then create your branded MDK client.

1. Make sure that you have already completed steps 1 to 3 from this tutorial.

2. Open MDKProject.json file and replace existing content with below:

   JSON

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   {
     "App Display Name": "Demo Sample App",
     "AppName": "DemoSampleApp",
     "AppVersion": "1.0.0",
     "BundleID": "Enter your Bundle ID",
     "Externals": ["@nativescript/geolocation"],
     "NSPlugins": ["@nativescript/geolocation@8.0.0"],
     "UrlScheme": "mdkclient"
   }
   

With Google Play services, your app can take advantage of the latest, Google-powered features such as Maps, Google+, and more.

1. Create below file structure under DemoSampleApp.mdkproject.

       DemoSampleApp.mdkproject
         ├── App_Resources_Merge
             └── Android
                 ├── app.gradle
                 └── src
                     └── main
                         └── AndroidManifest.xml
   

   

   Files specified in the .mdkproject/App_Resources_Merge folder override a part of the files in <generated-project>/app/App_Resources. You can find more details about it in help documentation.

2. Provide below information in the app.gradle file. Save the changes.

   Java

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   // add gradle dependencies here
   project.ext {
   	googlePlayServicesVersion = "16.+"
   }
   dependencies {
   	def googlePlayServicesVersion = project.googlePlayServicesVersion
   	implementation "com.google.android.gms:play-services-location:$googlePlayServicesVersion"
   }
   

3. Provide below information in the AndroidManifest.xml file. Save the changes.

   XML

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   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
   <manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
   
   	<!-- Always include this permission -->
     <!-- This permission is for "approximate" location data -->
     <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION" />
   
     <!-- Include only if your app benefits from precise location access. -->
     <!-- This permission is for "precise" location data -->
     <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION" />
   
     <!-- Required only when requesting background location access on
          Android 10 (API level 29) and higher. -->
     <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_BACKGROUND_LOCATION" />
   </manifest>