Question

I would like to get the cid from my cell phone , I am currently using this code to do that :

GsmCellLocation gsmLocation = (GsmCellLocation)telephonyManager.getCellLocation();
                 int Cid = gsmLocation.getCid();
                 Log.e("#############","current cid is: "+Cid);
                 int lac = gsmLocation.getLac();
                 Log.e("#############","current lac is: "+lac);

this returns something like 301 or 6061.

I was browsing some example codes and found this :

/**
 * Seems that cid and lac shall be in hex. Cid should be padded with zero's
 * to 8 numbers if UMTS (3G) cell, otherwise to 4 numbers. Mcc padded to 3
 * numbers. Mnc padded to 2 numbers.
 */
try {
 // Update the current location
 updateLocation(getPaddedHex(cid, cellPadding), getPaddedHex(lac, 4),
   getPaddedInt(mnc, 2), getPaddedInt(mcc, 3));
 strResult = "Position updated!";
} catch (IOException e) {
 strResult = "Error!\n" + e.getMessage();
}

// Show an info Toast with the results of the updateLocation
// call.
Toast t = Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), strResult,
  Toast.LENGTH_LONG);
t.setGravity(Gravity.CENTER_VERTICAL, 0, 0);
t.show();}});
}

/**
 * Convert an int to an hex String and pad with 0's up to minLen.
 */
String getPaddedHex(int nr, int minLen) {
  String str = Integer.toHexString(nr);
  if (str != null) {
   while (str.length() < minLen) {
    str = "0" + str;
   }
  }
  return str;
 }

 /**
  * Convert an int to String and pad with 0's up to minLen.
  */
 String getPaddedInt(int nr, int minLen) {
  String str = Integer.toString(nr);
  if (str != null) {
   while (str.length() < minLen) {
    str = "0" + str;
   }
  }
  return str;
 }

Isn’t the number from the GsmCellLocation correct or I need to alter the results as shown in the example?
what is the difference? I know from the documentation that the cid could be -1 (unknown) or 0xffff max value, the 0xffff is for 2g or 3g networks?

Answer 1

That code doesn’t really alter the numbers. It’s only displaying them differently as hex or with more zeros on the left.