Configuration API for Android SDK

Android complete API reference for building real-time applications on PubNub, including basic usage and sample code.

Configuration

PNConfiguration instance is storage for user-provided information which describe further PubNub client behavior. Configuration instance contain additional set of properties which allow to perform precise PubNub client configuration.

Method(s)

To create configuration instance you can use the following function in the Android SDK:

new PNConfiguration();

* required

Parameter	Description
setSubscribeKey * Type: String Default: n/a	subscribeKey from the Admin Portal.
setPublishKey Type: String Default: n/a	publishKey from the Admin Portal (only required if publishing).
setSecretKey Type: String Default: n/a	secretKey (only required for access operations, keep away from Android).
setCipherKey Type: String Default: n/a	If cipher is passed, all communications to and from PubNub will be encrypted.
setUuid * Type: String Default: n/a	UUID to use. You should set a unique UUID to identify the user or the device that connects to PubNub. It's a UTF-8 encoded string of up to 92 alphanumeric characters. If you don't set the UUID, you won't be able to connect to PubNub.
setLogVerbosity Type: PNLogVerbosity Default: PNLogVerbosity.NONE	Set PNLogVerbosity.BODY to enable debugging. To disable debugging use the option PNLogVerbosity.NONE
setAuthKey Type: String Default: Not set	If Access Manager is utilized, client will use this authKey in all restricted requests.
setCacheBusting Type: Boolean Default: n/a	If operating behind a misbehaving proxy, allow the client to shuffle the subdomains.
setSecure Type: Boolean Default: true	When true TLS is enabled. TLS is enabled by default as of Android P; check this link if you want to use false in this setting (Not Recommended).
setConnectTimeout Type: Int Default: 5	How long before the client gives up trying to connect with a subscribe call. The value is in seconds.
setSubscribeTimeout Type: Int Default: 310	The subscribe request timeout. The value is in seconds.
setNonSubscribeRequestTimeout Type: Int Default: 10	For non subscribe operations (publish, herenow, etc), how long to wait to connect to PubNub before giving up with a connection timeout error. The value is in seconds.
setFilterExpression Type: String Default: Not set	Feature to subscribe with a custom filter expression.
setHeartbeatNotificationOptions Type: PNHeartbeatNotificationOptions Default: PNHeartbeatNotificationOptions.FAILURES	Heartbeat notification options. By default, the SDK alerts on failed heartbeats (equivalent to PNHeartbeatNotificationOptions.FAILURES). Other options including all heartbeats (PNHeartbeatNotificationOptions.ALL) and no heartbeats (PNHeartbeatNotificationOptions.NONE) are supported.
setOrigin Type: String Default: n/a	Custom origin if needed. To request a custom domain, contact support and follow the request process.
setReconnectionPolicy Type: PNReconnectionPolicy Default: PNReconnectionPolicy.NONE	Set to PNReconnectionPolicy.LINEAR for automatic reconnects. Use PNReconnectionPolicy.NONE to disable automatic reconnects. Use PNReconnectionPolicy.EXPONENTIAL to set exponential retry interval.
setPresenceTimeout Type: Int Default: 300	Sets the custom presence server timeout. The value is in seconds, and the minimum value is 20 seconds.
setPresenceTimeoutWithCustomInterval Type: Int, Int Default: 300, 0	Parameters are presence timeout (same as setPresenceTimeout) and custom heartbeat interval at which to ping the server.
setProxy Type: Proxy Default: n/a	Instruct the SDK to use a proxy configuration when communicating with PubNub servers. For more details see this https://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/net/Proxy.html
setMaximumReconnectionRetries Type: Int Default: -1	The config sets how many times to retry to reconnect before giving up.
setProxySelector Type: ProxySelector Default: n/a	Sets Java ProxySelector. For more details refer to https://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/net/ProxySelector.html
setProxyAuthenticator Type: Authenticator Default: n/a	Sets Java Authenticator. For more details, refer to https://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/net/Authenticator.html
setGoogleAppEngineNetworking Type: Boolean Default: n/a	Enable Google App Engine networking.
setSuppressLeaveEvents Type: Boolean Default: false	When true the SDK doesn't send out the leave requests.
requestMessageCountThreshold Type: Int Default: 100	PNRequestMessageCountExceededCategory is thrown when the number of messages into the payload is above requestMessageCountThreshold.
setDisableTokenManager Type: Boolean Default: false	Disables the TMS (Token Manager System) in a way that it won't authorize requests even if there are applicable tokens.
useRandomInitializationVector Type: Boolean Default: true	When true the initialization vector (IV) is random for all requests (not just for file upload). When false the IV is hard-coded for all requests except for file upload.

Disabling random initialization vector

Disable random initialization vector (IV) only for backward compatibility (<5.0.0) with existing applications. Never disable random IV on new applications.

Sample code

Required UUID

Always set the UUID to uniquely identify the user or device that connects to PubNub. This UUID should be persisted, and should remain unchanged for the lifetime of the user or the device. If you don't set the UUID, you won't be able to connect to PubNub.

PNConfiguration pnConfiguration = new PNConfiguration();
// subscribeKey from Admin Portal
pnConfiguration.setSubscribeKey("SubscribeKey"); // required
// publishKey from Admin Portal (only required if publishing)
pnConfiguration.setPublishKey("PublishKey");
// secretKey (only required for access operations, keep away from Android)
pnConfiguration.setSecretKey("SecretKey");
// if cipherKey is passed, all communicatons to/from pubnub will be encrypted
pnConfiguration.setCipherKey("cipherKey");
// UUID to be used as a device identifier
pnConfiguration.setUuid("myUniqueUUID");
// Enable Debugging
pnConfiguration.setLogVerbosity(PNLogVerbosity.BODY);
// if Access Manager is utilized, client will use this authKey in all restricted
// requests

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Initialization

Add PubNub to your project using one of the procedures defined under How to Get It

Permissions

Put these permission outside the <application> tag, preferable before the tag in the AndroidManifest.xml.

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

Description

This function is used for initializing the PubNub Client API context. This function must be called before attempting to utilize any API functionality in order to establish account level credentials such as publishKey and subscribeKey.

Method(s)

To Initialize PubNub you can use the following method(s) in the Android SDK:

new PubNub(pnConfiguration);

* required

Parameter	Description
pnConfiguration * Type: PNConfiguration	Goto Configuration for more details.

Sample code

Initialize the PubNub client API

Required UUID

Always set the UUID to uniquely identify the user or device that connects to PubNub. This UUID should be persisted, and should remain unchanged for the lifetime of the user or the device. If you don't set the UUID, you won't be able to connect to PubNub.

PNConfiguration pnConfiguration = new PNConfiguration();
pnConfiguration.setSubscribeKey("my_subkey");
pnConfiguration.setPublishKey("my_pubkey");
pnConfiguration.setSecure(true);
pnConfiguration.setUuid("myUniqueUUID");
PubNub pubnub = new PubNub(pnConfiguration);

Returns

It returns the PubNub instance for invoking PubNub APIs like publish(), subscribe(), history(), hereNow(), etc.

Other examples

Initialize a non-secure client

Required UUID

Always set the UUID to uniquely identify the user or device that connects to PubNub. This UUID should be persisted, and should remain unchanged for the lifetime of the user or the device. If you don't set the UUID, you won't be able to connect to PubNub.

PNConfiguration pnConfiguration = new PNConfiguration();
pnConfiguration.setSubscribeKey("SubscribeKey");
pnConfiguration.setPublishKey("PublishKey");
pnConfiguration.setSecure(false);
pnConfiguration.setUuid("myUniqueUUID");
PubNub pubnub = new PubNub(pnConfiguration);

Initialization for a Read-Only client

In the case where a client will only read messages and never publish to a channel, you can simply omit the publishKey when initializing the client:

Required UUID

Always set the UUID to uniquely identify the user or device that connects to PubNub. This UUID should be persisted, and should remain unchanged for the lifetime of the user or the device. If you don't set the UUID, you won't be able to connect to PubNub.

PNConfiguration pnConfiguration = new PNConfiguration();
pnConfiguration.setSubscribeKey("my_subkey");
PubNub pubnub = new PubNub(pnConfiguration);

Use a custom UUID

Set a custom UUID to identify your users.

Required UUID

Always set the UUID to uniquely identify the user or device that connects to PubNub. This UUID should be persisted, and should remain unchanged for the lifetime of the user or the device. If you don't set the UUID, you won't be able to connect to PubNub.

PNConfiguration pnConfiguration = new PNConfiguration();
pnConfiguration.setSubscribeKey("mySubscribeKey");
pnConfiguration.setPublishKey("myPublishKey");
pnConfiguration.setUuid("myUniqueUUID");
PubNub pubnub = new PubNub(pnConfiguration);

Initializing with SSL enabled

This examples demonstrates how to enable PubNub Transport Layer Encryption with SSL. Just initialize the client with setSecure set to true. The hard work is done, now the PubNub API takes care of the rest. Just subscribe and publish as usual and you are good to go.

Required UUID

Always set the UUID to uniquely identify the user or device that connects to PubNub. This UUID should be persisted, and should remain unchanged for the lifetime of the user or the device. If you don't set the UUID, you won't be able to connect to PubNub.

PNConfiguration pnConfiguration = new PNConfiguration();
pnConfiguration.setSubscribeKey("my_subkey");
pnConfiguration.setPublishKey("my_pubkey");
pnConfiguration.setSecure(true);
pnConfiguration.setUuid("myUniqueUUID");
PubNub pubnub = new PubNub(pnConfiguration);

Initializing with Access Manager

Requires Access Manager add-on

This method requires that the Access Manager add-on is enabled for your key in the Admin Portal. Read the support page on enabling add-on features on your keys.

Secure your secretKey

Anyone with the secretKey can grant and revoke permissions to your app. Never let your secretKey be discovered, and to only exchange it / deliver it securely. Only use the secretKey on secure server-side platforms.

When you init with secretKey, you get root permissions for the Access Manager. With this feature you don't have to grant access to your servers to access channel data. The servers get all access on all channels.

For applications that will administer Access Manager permissions, the API is initialized with the secretKey as in the following example:

Required UUID

Always set the UUID to uniquely identify the user or device that connects to PubNub. This UUID should be persisted, and should remain unchanged for the lifetime of the user or the device. If you don't set the UUID, you won't be able to connect to PubNub.

PNConfiguration pnConfiguration = new PNConfiguration();
pnConfiguration.setSubscribeKey("my_subkey");
pnConfiguration.setPublishKey("my_pubkey");
pnConfiguration.setSecretKey("my_secretkey");
pnConfiguration.setUuid("myUniqueUUID");
pnConfiguration.setSecure(true);

PubNub pubnub = new PubNub(pnConfiguration);

Now that the pubnub object is instantiated the client will be able to access the Access Manager functions. The pubnub object will use the secretKey to sign all Access Manager messages to the PubNub Network.

How to set proxy

Required UUID

Always set the UUID to uniquely identify the user or device that connects to PubNub. This UUID should be persisted, and should remain unchanged for the lifetime of the user or the device. If you don't set the UUID, you won't be able to connect to PubNub.

PNConfiguration pnConfiguration = new PNConfiguration();
pnConfiguration.setSubscribeKey("mySubscribeKey");
pnConfiguration.setPublishKey("myPublishKey");
pnConfiguration.setSecretKey("mySecretKey");
pnConfiguration.setUuid("myUniqueUUID");
Proxy proxy = new Proxy(Proxy.Type.HTTP, new InetSocketAddress("http://mydomain.com", 8080));
pnConfiguration.setProxy(proxy);
PubNub pubNub = new PubNub(pnConfiguration);

UUID

These functions are used to set/get a user ID on the fly.

Method(s)

To set/get UUID you can use the following method(s) in Android SDK:

Set UUID

pnConfiguration.setUuid(String);

* required

Parameter	Description
uuid * Type: String Default: n/a	UUID to be used as a device identifier. If you don't set the UUID, you won't be able to connect to PubNub.

Get UUID

pnConfiguration.getUuid();

This method doesn't take any arguments.

Sample code

Set UUID

Required UUID

Always set the UUID to uniquely identify the user or device that connects to PubNub. This UUID should be persisted, and should remain unchanged for the lifetime of the user or the device. If you don't set the UUID, you won't be able to connect to PubNub.

PNConfiguration pnConfiguration = new PNConfiguration();
pnConfiguration.setUuid("myUniqueUUID");

Get UUID

PNConfiguration pnConfiguration = new PNConfiguration();
pnConfiguration.getUuid();

Authentication key

Setter and getter for users auth key.

Method(s)

Set auth key

pnConfiguration.setAuthKey(String);

* required

Parameter	Description
Auth Key * Type: String	If Access Manager is utilized, client will use this authKey in all restricted requests.

Get auth key

pnConfiguration.getAuthKey();

This method doesn't take any arguments.

Sample code

Set auth key

PNConfiguration pnConfiguration = new PNConfiguration();
pnConfiguration.setAuthKey("authKey");

Get auth key

pnConfiguration.getAuthKey();

Returns

None.

Filter expression

Requires Stream Controller add-on

This method requires that the Stream Controller add-on is enabled for your key in the Admin Portal. Read the support page on enabling add-on features on your keys.

Stream filtering allows a subscriber to apply a filter to only receive messages that satisfy the conditions of the filter. The message filter is set by the subscribing client(s) but it is applied on the server side thus preventing unwanted messages (those that do not meet the conditions of the filter) from reaching the subscriber.

To set or get message filters, you can use the following method. To learn more about filtering, refer to the Publish Messages documentation.

Method(s)

Set filter expression

pnConfiguration.setFilterExpression(String);

* required

Parameter	Description
filterExpression * Type: String	PSV2 feature to subscribe with a custom filter expression

Get filter expression

pnConfiguration.getFilterExpression();

This method doesn't take any arguments.

Sample code

Set filter expression

Required UUID

Always set the UUID to uniquely identify the user or device that connects to PubNub. This UUID should be persisted, and should remain unchanged for the lifetime of the user or the device. If you don't set the UUID, you won't be able to connect to PubNub.

PNConfiguration pnConfiguration = new PNConfiguration();
pnConfiguration.setFilterExpression("such=wow");

Get filter expression

pnConfiguration.getFilterExpression();