Question

I have tried starting the camera in android using an intent, something like this:

Intent camera = new Intent(MediaStore.ACTION_IMAGE_CAPTURE) 

but since my saved pictures were orientated horizontally and could find a way to fix that I tried building my own camera in android using this marvelous piece of code:

public class EditPhoto extends Activity implements SurfaceHolder.Callback,
        OnClickListener {
    static final int FOTO_MODE = 0;
    private static final String TAG = "CameraTest";
    Camera mCamera;
    boolean mPreviewRunning = false;
    private Context mContext = this;

    public void onCreate(Bundle icicle) {
        super.onCreate(icicle);

        Log.e(TAG, "onCreate");

        Bundle extras = getIntent().getExtras();

        getWindow().setFormat(PixelFormat.TRANSLUCENT);
        requestWindowFeature(Window.FEATURE_NO_TITLE);
        getWindow().setFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN,
                WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN);
        setContentView(R.layout.editphoto);
        mSurfaceView = (SurfaceView) findViewById(R.id.surface_camera);
        mSurfaceView.setOnClickListener(this);
        mSurfaceHolder = mSurfaceView.getHolder();
        mSurfaceHolder.addCallback(this);
        mSurfaceHolder.setType(SurfaceHolder.SURFACE_TYPE_PUSH_BUFFERS);
    }

    @Override
    protected void onRestoreInstanceState(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onRestoreInstanceState(savedInstanceState);
    }

    Camera.PictureCallback mPictureCallback = new Camera.PictureCallback(){
        public void onPictureTaken(byte[] imageData, Camera c) {

            if (imageData != null) {

                Intent mIntent = new Intent();

                StoreByteImage(mContext, imageData, 50,
                        "ImageName");
                mCamera.startPreview();

                setResult(FOTO_MODE, mIntent);
                finish();

            }
        }
    };

    protected void onResume() {
        Log.e(TAG, "onResume");
        super.onResume();
    }

    protected void onSaveInstanceState(Bundle outState) {
        super.onSaveInstanceState(outState);
    }

    protected void onStop() {
        Log.e(TAG, "onStop");
        super.onStop();
    }

    public void surfaceCreated(SurfaceHolder holder) {
        Log.e(TAG, "surfaceCreated");
        mCamera = Camera.open();

    }

    public void surfaceChanged(SurfaceHolder holder, int format, int w, int h) {
        Log.e(TAG, "surfaceChanged");

        // XXX stopPreview() will crash if preview is not running
        if (mPreviewRunning) {
            mCamera.stopPreview();
        }

        Camera.Parameters p = mCamera.getParameters();
        p.setPreviewSize(w, h);
        mCamera.setParameters(p);
        try {
            mCamera.setPreviewDisplay(holder);
        } catch (IOException e) {
            // TODO Auto-generated catch block
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
        mCamera.startPreview();
        mPreviewRunning = true;
    }

    public void surfaceDestroyed(SurfaceHolder holder) {
        Log.e(TAG, "surfaceDestroyed");
        mCamera.stopPreview();
        mPreviewRunning = false;
        mCamera.release();
    }

    private SurfaceView mSurfaceView;
    private SurfaceHolder mSurfaceHolder;

    public void onClick(View arg0) {

        mCamera.takePicture(null, mPictureCallback, mPictureCallback);

    }

    public static boolean StoreByteImage(Context mContext, byte[] imageData,
            int quality, String expName) {

        File sdImageMainDirectory = new File("/sdcard");
        FileOutputStream fileOutputStream = null;
        String nameFile;
        try {

            BitmapFactory.Options options=new BitmapFactory.Options();
            options.inSampleSize = 5;
            Bitmap myImage = BitmapFactory.decodeByteArray(imageData, 0,
                    imageData.length,options);
            fileOutputStream = new FileOutputStream(
                    sdImageMainDirectory.toString() +"/image.jpg");
            BufferedOutputStream bos = new BufferedOutputStream(
                    fileOutputStream);

            myImage.compress(CompressFormat.JPEG, quality, bos);

            bos.flush();
            bos.close();

            } catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
            // TODO Auto-generated catch block
            e.printStackTrace();
            } catch (IOException e) {
            // TODO Auto-generated catch block
            e.printStackTrace();
            }

            return true;
             }

}

I have permissions for camera in the manifest file but the only thing that I see is a white screen and a logcat that looks like this:

java.lang.RuntimeException: Fail to connect to camera service
 at android.hardware.Camera.native_setup(Native Method)
 at android.hardware.Camera.<init>(Camera.java:258)
 at android.hardware.Camera.open(Camera.java:235)
  at com.SplashScreen.EditPhoto.surfaceCreated(EditPhoto.java:325)
at android.view.SurfaceView.updateWindow(SurfaceView.java:543)
 at android.view.SurfaceView.dispatchDraw(SurfaceView.java:348)
at android.view.ViewGroup.drawChild(ViewGroup.java:1644)
at android.view.ViewGroup.dispatchDraw(ViewGroup.java:1373)
at android.view.ViewGroup.drawChild(ViewGroup.java:1644)
at android.view.ViewGroup.dispatchDraw(ViewGroup.java:1373)
at android.view.ViewGroup.drawChild(ViewGroup.java:1644)
at android.view.ViewGroup.dispatchDraw(ViewGroup.java:1373)
at android.view.View.draw(View.java:6883)
 at android.widget.FrameLayout.draw(FrameLayout.java:357)
at com.android.internal.policy.impl.PhoneWindow$DecorView.draw(PhoneWindow.java:1862)
at android.view.ViewRoot.draw(ViewRoot.java:1522)
at android.view.ViewRoot.performTraversals(ViewRoot.java:1258)
at android.view.ViewRoot.handleMessage(ViewRoot.java:1859)
at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:99)
at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:123)
at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:3647)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:507)
at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:839)
at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:597)
at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method)
Force finishing activity com.SplashScreen/.EditPhoto

So would you please be kind and tell me what I’m doing wrong?Thank you!

EDIT:Manifest file-

<uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.camera" />
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CAMERA" />
<uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.camera.autofocus" />

XML file:

<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="fill_parent" 
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:orientation="vertical">

<SurfaceView
 android:id="@+id/surface_camera" 
   android:layout_width="fill_parent"
   android:layout_height="fill_parent"
   />


</LinearLayout>

Answer 1

Tour activity EditPhoto.java working perfectly in my API level 7 AVD,

package x.y;

import java.io.BufferedOutputStream;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
import java.io.FileOutputStream;
import java.io.IOException;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Context;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.graphics.Bitmap;
import android.graphics.Bitmap.CompressFormat;
import android.graphics.BitmapFactory;
import android.hardware.Camera;
import android.graphics.PixelFormat;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.util.Log;
import android.view.SurfaceHolder;
import android.view.SurfaceView;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.View.OnClickListener;
import android.view.Window;
import android.view.WindowManager;

public class EditPhoto extends Activity implements SurfaceHolder.Callback, OnClickListener {
    static final int FOTO_MODE = 0;
    private static final String TAG = "CameraTest";
    Camera mCamera;
    boolean mPreviewRunning = false;
    private Context mContext = this;

    public void onCreate(Bundle icicle) {
        super.onCreate(icicle);

        Log.e(TAG, "onCreate");

        Bundle extras = getIntent().getExtras();

        getWindow().setFormat(PixelFormat.TRANSLUCENT);
        requestWindowFeature(Window.FEATURE_NO_TITLE);
        getWindow().setFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN, WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN);
        setContentView(R.layout.main);
        mSurfaceView = (SurfaceView) findViewById(R.id.surface_camera);
        mSurfaceView.setOnClickListener(this);
        mSurfaceHolder = mSurfaceView.getHolder();
        mSurfaceHolder.addCallback(this);
        mSurfaceHolder.setType(SurfaceHolder.SURFACE_TYPE_PUSH_BUFFERS);
    }

    @Override
    protected void onRestoreInstanceState(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onRestoreInstanceState(savedInstanceState);
    }

    Camera.PictureCallback mPictureCallback = new Camera.PictureCallback(){
        public void onPictureTaken(byte[] imageData, Camera c) {

            if (imageData != null) {

                Intent mIntent = new Intent();

                StoreByteImage(mContext, imageData, 50, "ImageName");
                mCamera.startPreview();

                Bundle b = new Bundle();
                b.putByteArray("imageData", imageData);
                Intent i = new Intent(mContext, ImageDisplayActivity.class);
                i.putExtras(b);
                startActivity(i);

                setResult(FOTO_MODE, mIntent);
                finish();

            }
        }
    };

    protected void onResume() {
        Log.e(TAG, "onResume");
        super.onResume();
    }

    protected void onSaveInstanceState(Bundle outState) {
        super.onSaveInstanceState(outState);
    }

    protected void onStop() {
        Log.e(TAG, "onStop");
        super.onStop();
    }

    public void surfaceCreated(SurfaceHolder holder) {
        Log.e(TAG, "surfaceCreated");
        mCamera = Camera.open();

    }

    public void surfaceChanged(SurfaceHolder holder, int format, int w, int h) {
        Log.e(TAG, "surfaceChanged");

        // XXX stopPreview() will crash if preview is not running
        if (mPreviewRunning) {
            mCamera.stopPreview();
        }

        Camera.Parameters p = mCamera.getParameters();
        p.setPreviewSize(w, h);
        mCamera.setParameters(p);
        try {
            mCamera.setPreviewDisplay(holder);
        } catch (IOException e) {
            // TODO Auto-generated catch block
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
        mCamera.startPreview();
        mPreviewRunning = true;
    }

    public void surfaceDestroyed(SurfaceHolder holder) {
        Log.e(TAG, "surfaceDestroyed");
        mCamera.stopPreview();
        mPreviewRunning = false;
        mCamera.release();
    }

    private SurfaceView mSurfaceView;
    private SurfaceHolder mSurfaceHolder;

    public void onClick(View arg0) {

        mCamera.takePicture(null, mPictureCallback, mPictureCallback);

    }

    public static boolean StoreByteImage(Context mContext, byte[] imageData, int quality, String expName) {

        File sdImageMainDirectory = new File("/sdcard");
        FileOutputStream fileOutputStream = null;
        String nameFile;
        try {

            BitmapFactory.Options options=new BitmapFactory.Options();
            options.inSampleSize = 5;
            Bitmap myImage = BitmapFactory.decodeByteArray(imageData, 0, imageData.length,options);
            fileOutputStream = new FileOutputStream(sdImageMainDirectory.toString() +"/image.jpg");
            BufferedOutputStream bos = new BufferedOutputStream(fileOutputStream);

            myImage.compress(CompressFormat.JPEG, quality, bos);

            bos.flush();
            bos.close();

        } catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
            // TODO Auto-generated catch block
            e.printStackTrace();
        } catch (IOException e) {
            // TODO Auto-generated catch block
            e.printStackTrace();
        }

        return true;
    }

}

i am posting my Layout and Manifest here …

Layout editphoto.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    >
<SurfaceView  
    android:layout_width="fill_parent" 
    android:layout_height="fill_parent" 
   android:id="@+id/surface_camera"
    />
</LinearLayout>

and Manifest file …

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
      package="x.y"
      android:versionCode="1"
      android:versionName="1.0">
    <application android:icon="@drawable/icon" android:label="@string/app_name">
        <activity android:name=".EditPhoto"
                  android:label="@string/app_name">
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>

    <activity android:name="ImageDisplayActivity"></activity>
</application>


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

</manifest> 

New Activity to display image ImageDisplayActivity.java (Image will be displayed when you will click on surface view)….

package x.y;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.graphics.Bitmap;
import android.graphics.BitmapFactory;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.widget.ImageView;

public class ImageDisplayActivity extends Activity {

    public void onCreate(Bundle icicle) {
        super.onCreate(icicle);
        Bundle extras = getIntent().getExtras();
        setContentView(R.layout.anotherlayout);

        BitmapFactory.Options options=new BitmapFactory.Options();
        options.inSampleSize = 5;
        byte[] imageData = extras.getByteArray("imageData");
        Bitmap myImage = BitmapFactory.decodeByteArray(imageData , 0, imageData.length,options);


        ImageView imageView = (ImageView) findViewById(R.id.myPic);
        imageView.setImageBitmap(myImage);
    }   
}

and it’s layout otherlayout.xml …

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    >
<ImageView  
    android:layout_width="fill_parent" 
    android:layout_height="fill_parent" 
    android:layout_gravity="center"
   android:id="@+id/myPic"
    />
</LinearLayout>