Mobile Platform

Originally reported on Google Code with ID 66
This isn't really an issue but I saw nowhere to post this. Currently I use phpliteadmin
to manage all of the database that exist on my rooted Droid X. As an Android developer
it is extremely frustrating to have to pull and push your databases off your phone
and put them back on your phone whenever you are wanting to make a database change.
With phpliteadmin I now don't have to do this. While I am still waiting for multiple
bugs to be worked out I believe this is a solid solution for Android developers to
manage their development databases and get them ready for production. 

If you are un-experienced with Android development the process for creating a database
for an application is one of the most frustrating things to deal with and to MANAGE.
Your only hope really is to use the Eclipse debugger to make sure your code is executing
properly on the database. If you run into a problem or need to change the schema of
your database it is almost dauntingly impossible to perform this task inside of the
extremely slow debugging life cycle, developers you understand my frustration here.
Your only widely available solution is to use something like SQLite Browser and pull
the database off your phone and push it back, this just isn't fluent. Below I have
posted a process that I currently use for managing my dev and production databases
for Android development using phpliteadmin and a few other applications to make the
magic happen. 

There are a few steps to accomplishing this task. You need two applications and your
phone MUST be rooted.
 - PAW Server (PAW Server is an amazing web server for Android)
 - GScript Lite (Executes bash scripts with root access)

You must first install PAW Server from the Android market. Once you have done that
you need to install the PHP Plugin for PAW. You can find that by navigating to the
URL of your newly installed PAW Server(Your Device) and go to Plugins->PHP Setup. 

After you install PAW and the PHP Plugin verify that its working by adding your phpliteadmin.php
file to your /app/ folder on your mobile device. If you can navigate to the file and
hit it, then you should be good to proceed.

Next install GScript Lite. I have also attached my GScript file that I use to make
the magic happen. Take EXTREME caution with proceeding to the next step. If you mess
this up or don't perform some type of test before hand to make sure the logic of the
code will work for your phone DO NOT PROCEED. I would also encourage you to make a
backup of your mobile device before you even execute this script and be in a situation
to flash your phone if something messes up. 

Download DB Perm and put it on your SD card and load it into GScript. This script file
looks at your /data/data/ directory and applies the appropriate permissions to it,
so that phpliteadmin can scan the directory structure. In GScript you must give the
script file ROOT access so that it can perform this operation. Once the script is done
executing go back to your browser and navigate to your phpliteadmin file and you should
be able to access every single database for every application that is on your phone.


If you start getting a ton of force closes showing up on your phone then you have messed
up, and for some reason the logic of the DB Perm file did not work correctly (although
99% of the time it should work almost all Android devices have the same directory structure
at the root level). This is the worst case scenario. Again make a backup before your
proceed of your mobile device. 

The attached phpliteadmin file is version 1.8.7 I am getting ready to play with 1.8.8
in a moment. Good luck and I hope this works for anyone that tries it. I can help answer
any questions :).


Please Note: You must apply the DB Perm file often. The reason, is because of Androids
behavior with security and protecting the applications. Every time you open an application,
it re-applies the permissions to the application. So if you are working on a database
you manage for an app and then open that app up on the phone to test or something.
More than likely you will need to re-apply the DB Perm file.
Reported by combsmsteven on 2011-10-26 13:37:11
<hr> * Attachment: DB Perm .sh * Attachment: phpliteadmin .php
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