Question

For instance, let’s take android.permission.GET_PACKAGE_SIZE.
Searching for this string in Android 1.6 *.xml source files only points to a single application that uses it, frameworks\base\tests\AndroidTests.

So the next step is to search through the .java files in a hope that I’ll eventually find the code that might look like it queries for package size.

Is this the supposed way of discovering permission use?

Answer 1

Generally speaking, you find out what permissions you need because they are referenced from APIs you want to use, normally in the docs, occasionally by exceptions.

Conversely, if a given permission is not cited in the docs, except where it is named (e.g., on Manifest.permission), then it is probably a system permission that you are ineligible to hold unless you are working on alternative firmware.

And, if you are working on alternative firmware, you’d be well-versed in searching the source code. I use Google Code Search, personally, such as this search for your desired permission.

So, in the case of GET_PACKAGE_SIZE, the only place you find it in the docs is in Manifest.permission, and the only place the source code requires it is in a non-SDK method, so I suspect you cannot hold it.