[HOW TO] Make your own Android Toolkit for Windows in C# - Make it to your liking!

QuantumCipher · Dec 11, 2012

[HOW TO] Make your own Android Toolkit for Windows using C#

In this tutorial it will show you how to use Windows C# to create your very own toolkit for use of simple ADB commands.

Such as:

- Rebooting your Device.
- Rebooting to Recovery/CWM or Bootloader.
- Installing APK's directly to your device.
- Installing general files to the SDCARD
- Pushing and Pulling files

Or if you look into it enough you can Implement such features as:

- Rooting your Device.
- Unlocking/Locking Bootloader.
- File Permissions.
( These won't Be covered in this Tutorial, as they require much more time, especially Rooting. )

Knowledge required

- A set up Visual C# Studio ready to use on your PC. It can be downloaded here : http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/eng/downloads
- General knowledge about C# such as using buttons, text boxes and the actual studio.

Getting Started

So once you have set up your Visual C# studio, create a windows Form application and mess around with the user interface a little if you like to make it to your taste. :highfive:

So here is a picture of my preview:

I have applied a few different ADB tasks buttons as you can see, Including APK install using a Textbox to store your chose directory of the selected file.( As well as a few colour and form name changes to make it more appealing )

Writing the ADB commands to the chosen Buttons in your application.

Now we want to click on the ADB reboot button until it changes to the code layout as such...

Now we have this layout we want to add the namespaces :

using System.IO;
using System.Diagnostics;

These will allow use for CMD and Process features.

Adding ADB commands to the Buttons

How you have your ADB reboot button code ready to write to.

Use this function: and insert it in between the two Curly brackets

{
var process = Process.Start("CMD.exe", "/c adb reboot");
process.WaitForExit();
}

[/B]

Such as:

MessageBox.Show("Device is Now Rebooting..");

The line uses CMD.exe as the process which will run it as an application and use the /c (command) to execute "adb reboot".

Which will reboot the connected device as long as it's android..

So once you have gone through using the correct ADB commands your application code will look like this..

The ADB wont work yet when running a debug version, so don't try and execute any commands yet.. The adb.exe and a couple of other files need to be stored in the same folder as your toolkit as a resource for ADB to run off of.

Using Textboxes and OpenFileDialog to Install .APK files.

So once you have clicked the two buttons and textbox.

Setting you up ready to code it will look like this:

ADDING CODE

Assuming you have added OpenFileDialog to your Form Design!

We can now add code to the 2 buttons and text box.

It will look like this after adding the following to segments of code.

Add this to Open APK button:

openFileDialog1.InitialDirectory = @"C:\";
openFileDialog1.Title = "Select your APK..";
openFileDialog1.FileName = "Choose File..";
openFileDialog1.CheckFileExists = true;
openFileDialog1.CheckPathExists = true;
openFileDialog1.Filter = " .APK|*.apk";

if (openFileDialog1.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
{

textBox1.Text = openFileDialog1.FileName;

}

And add this to Install APK file button:

var process = Process.Start("CMD.exe", "/c adb install " + textBox1.Text);
process.WaitForExit();
MessageBox.Show(".APK is Installed", "", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Information);

Now' that is almost it!

Once you have saved and Built a release version of the tool.
Put the .exe from release of the saved directory into a folder ALONG with ADB.exe, ADBWinAPI.DLL and ADBWINUSBAPI.DLL

These ADB files a part of the Android platform tools from the SDK manager. You should already have these if you want to do this process

- If not just google them or download the SDK manager and find them.

Now That's it!

I think I have covered most parts if you want to write your own processes for ADB to execute feel free to do so..

I thought it maybe nice for people who liking personalizing their devices to also personalize toolkits for themselves also!

Thanks and Enjoy if you have any Issues or problems feel free to ask!

Enjoy, QuantumCipher

You can keep upto date on anything I'm doing via Facebook http://www.facebook.com/Quantumcipher

or Youtube https://www.youtube.com/user/QuantumCipher

QuantumCipher · Dec 12, 2012

Thanks for the feedback everyone (Y) ....

Not sure if everyone has no idea what C# is or Just like using developer stuff..

Saravanashines · Jun 1, 2013

Thanks....

Thanks Man.. i was looking for the same... :cowboy:

Can you give me tutorials for rooting and other aspects...

Im wating for you....

regaw_leinad · Jun 3, 2013

Also, you could show them how to integrate my AndroidLib .NET library into it to handle all of the adb stuff

jonahly · Jun 4, 2013

Nice!! Reserved below

Also!! I don't have experience with C# but I can learn by mistakes!

Miniqpa · Jun 4, 2013

Very nice tutorial!
As long it is a nexus device the rooting and flash cwm thing is the same thing except you're using fastboot commands.

kind regards

menglim · Jun 4, 2013

How can I get output text from cmd.exe? For example, if I have another textbox, and I want to display text. Text can be
Waiting for device ......(in case device not found)
Adb server start......depend on cmd.exe output.

Sent from my Spirit S using xda premium

OmarBizreh · Jun 4, 2013

regaw_leinad said:
Also, you could show them how to integrate my AndroidLib .NET library into it to handle all of the adb stuff

+1 on that, it's the shortest way and it was the reason behind Droid Manger existence, thus this tutorial shows what goes inside your lib and it's useful for those who are learning C# for the first time, or never interacted with a process in their app :good:

OP keep up the good work :cowboy:

@menglim:
To get out put from a process, here is an example:

Code:

Process process = new System.Diagnostics.Process();
                        ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo();
                        startInfo.WindowStyle = System.Diagnostics.ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden;
                        startInfo.RedirectStandardInput = true;
                        startInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
                        startInfo.RedirectStandardError = true;
                        startInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
                        startInfo.FileName = "cmd.exe";
                        process = Process.Start(startInfo);
                        process.StandardInput.WriteLine(Command_You_Want_To_Give_To_Your_Process);
                        outputTextBox.Text = process.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();

Hope this helps

menglim · Jun 5, 2013

DeepUnknown said:
+1 on that, it's the shortest way and it was the reason behind Droid Manger existence, thus this tutorial shows what goes inside your lib and it's useful for those who are learning C# for the first time, or never interacted with a process in their app :good:

OP keep up the good work

@menglim:
To get out put from a process, here is an example:

Code:

Process process = new System.Diagnostics.Process(); ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo(); startInfo.WindowStyle = System.Diagnostics.ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden; startInfo.RedirectStandardInput = true; startInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true; startInfo.RedirectStandardError = true; startInfo.UseShellExecute = false; startInfo.FileName = "cmd.exe"; process = Process.Start(startInfo); process.StandardInput.WriteLine(Command_You_Want_To_Give_To_Your_Process); outputTextBox.Text = process.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();

Hope this helps

yes, it works but there is cmd.exe window pop up....after I close this window, then I can get the output. it is not in real time...thanks

squabbi · Jun 5, 2013

DeepUnknown said:
+1 on that, it's the shortest way and it was the reason behind Droid Manger existence, thus this tutorial shows what goes inside your lib and it's useful for those who are learning C# for the first time, or never interacted with a process in their app :good:

OP keep up the good work

@menglim:
To get out put from a process, here is an example:

Code:

Process process = new System.Diagnostics.Process(); ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo(); startInfo.WindowStyle = System.Diagnostics.ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden; startInfo.RedirectStandardInput = true; startInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true; startInfo.RedirectStandardError = true; startInfo.UseShellExecute = false; startInfo.FileName = "cmd.exe"; process = Process.Start(startInfo); process.StandardInput.WriteLine(Command_You_Want_To_Give_To_Your_Process); outputTextBox.Text = process.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();

Hope this helps

Thanks for sharing this code!

Is it possible for the output to show as it appears on cmd?

Thanks

0lzi · Jun 9, 2013

Saw this last week, never programmed with C# but thought what the hell i have already done C++ at uni, some java for making an android app
so i downloaded VS2012 opened up google and went nuts, i now have a toolkit so far, downloads the sdk, extracts the sdk ( yea i know i could just pack the adb .dll's and .exe but while learning the language i might as well learn other stuff.) and i have backup/restore options for /sdcard/ and /dcim/ folders and a folder picker for backing up, contacts backup/restore ( looking to create something that will export it as a CSV or something)

so a big thanks for shedding some light on where to get started on this, now i cant stop and want to make a toolkit will loads of features lol :victory:

QuantumCipher · Jun 15, 2013

0lzi said:
Saw this last week, never programmed with C# but thought what the hell i have already done C++ at uni, some java for making an android app
so i downloaded VS2012 opened up google and went nuts, i now have a toolkit so far, downloads the sdk, extracts the sdk ( yea i know i could just pack the adb .dll's and .exe but while learning the language i might as well learn other stuff.) and i have backup/restore options for /sdcard/ and /dcim/ folders and a folder picker for backing up, contacts backup/restore ( looking to create something that will export it as a CSV or something)

so a big thanks for shedding some light on where to get started on this, now i cant stop and want to make a toolkit will loads of features lol :victory:

Thanks very much for the kind remarks everybody, it's extremely nice to know that this tutorial has helped you get into C# and this exact comment you made is what is going to get me back into this scene :good:

I will start looking into rooting devices and how I can incorporate them into ADB programs and maybe other things.

k1ll3r8e · Jun 16, 2013

DeepUnknown said:
+1 on that, it's the shortest way and it was the reason behind Droid Manger existence, thus this tutorial shows what goes inside your lib and it's useful for those who are learning C# for the first time, or never interacted with a process in their app :good:

OP keep up the good work

@menglim:
To get out put from a process, here is an example:

Code:

Process process = new System.Diagnostics.Process(); ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo(); startInfo.WindowStyle = System.Diagnostics.ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden; startInfo.RedirectStandardInput = true; startInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true; startInfo.RedirectStandardError = true; startInfo.UseShellExecute = false; startInfo.FileName = "cmd.exe"; process = Process.Start(startInfo); process.StandardInput.WriteLine(Command_You_Want_To_Give_To_Your_Process); outputTextBox.Text = process.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();

Hope this helps

Hey all together,

1st THX for this great thread!

-

I have some problems to get the "fastboot" output in my c# programm...

i tired it with adb and some other cmd tools all give me an output but fastboot not

Here my cmd launcher:

//Launch silent CMD
private string run_silent_cmd(string args, bool w = true, bool o = true)
{
string request = "";
Process process = new System.Diagnostics.Process();
ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo();
startInfo.CreateNoWindow = true;
startInfo.RedirectStandardInput = true;
startInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
startInfo.RedirectStandardError = true;
startInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
startInfo.FileName = "cmd.exe";
startInfo.Arguments = "/Q/C" + args;
process = Process.Start(startInfo);
if (o)
{
request = process.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();
}
if (w)
{
process.WaitForExit();
}
return request;
}

can some1 gimme a kick in the right direction?

Regards,
Sebastian

QuantumCipher · Jun 16, 2013

k1ll3r8e said:
Hey all together,

1st THX for this great thread!

-

I have some problems to get the "fastboot" output in my c# programm...

i tired it with adb and some other cmd tools all give me an output but fastboot not

Here my cmd launcher:

//Launch silent CMD
private string run_silent_cmd(string args, bool w = true, bool o = true)
{
string request = "";
Process process = new System.Diagnostics.Process();
ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo();
startInfo.CreateNoWindow = true;
startInfo.RedirectStandardInput = true;
startInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
startInfo.RedirectStandardError = true;
startInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
startInfo.FileName = "cmd.exe";
startInfo.Arguments = "/Q/C" + args;
process = Process.Start(startInfo);
if (o)
{
request = process.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();
}
if (w)
{
process.WaitForExit();
}
return request;
}

can some1 gimme a kick in the right direction?

Regards,
Sebastian

Have you added the Fastboot.exe to your resources - for the program your making?

k1ll3r8e · Jun 16, 2013

QuantumCipher said:
Have you added the Fastboot.exe to your resources - for the program your making?

Nope, its just in an subfolder so that the user can upgrade the version if a new 1 comes out

i call the function like run_silent_cmd(KIT + "adb\\fastboot.exe some commands")

OmarBizreh · Jun 16, 2013

@k1ll3r8e

k1ll3r8e said:
Hey all together,

1st THX for this great thread!

-

I have some problems to get the "fastboot" output in my c# programm...

i tired it with adb and some other cmd tools all give me an output but fastboot not

Here my cmd launcher:

//Launch silent CMD
private string run_silent_cmd(string args, bool w = true, bool o = true)
{
string request = "";
Process process = new System.Diagnostics.Process();
ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo();
startInfo.CreateNoWindow = true;
startInfo.RedirectStandardInput = true;
startInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
startInfo.RedirectStandardError = true;
startInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
startInfo.FileName = "cmd.exe";
startInfo.Arguments = "/Q/C" + args;
process = Process.Start(startInfo);
if (o)
{
request = process.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();
}
if (w)
{
process.WaitForExit();
}
return request;
}

can some1 gimme a kick in the right direction?

Regards,
Sebastian

Your variable "args" should include the path for Fastboot.exe or your code should be like this (I'm using an example path in this example, you must replace it with your own path):
startInfo.Arguments = "/Q/C " + @"C:\AdbTools\fastboo.exe " + args;

OR

startInfo.Arguments = String.Join(" ", "/Q/C", Path.Combine("C:","AdbTools","fastboot.exe"), args);

(The first parameter passed in String.Join refers to separator string)
-------------------------------------------------------

@menglim

menglim said:
yes, it works but there is cmd.exe window pop up....after I close this window, then I can get the output. it is not in real time...thanks

try this, enter it after you define ProcessStartInfo (let's say you named it just like in the code snippet I gave)

startInfo.CreateNoWindow = true;

now window should disappear.
if not, remove this line and keep the one I gave you in this comment: startInfo.WindowStyle = System.Diagnostics.ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden;
-------------------------------------------------------

@squabbi

squabbi said:
Thanks for sharing this code!

Is it possible for the output to show as it appears on cmd?

Thanks

it's possible but a bit tricky, you can start by making the "Label" / "TextBlock" / "TextBox" or whatever UIElement you are using and set it's background to black and it's foreground to white, then choose "Console" font family, this should get you "Close enough" to the same output style

Note for anyone passing by this page:

When dealing with Directories in C#, ALWAYS use this code snippet, I will explain why at the end of this comment:
Path.Combine("Root Dir","SubDir1","SubDir2","File_You_Want_To_Use");

Where: Root Dir could be any logical partition you have on your HDD or the root dir of your application.
in my case in Droid Manager I have an internal variable (called: ExecutablePath) that saves the path of Droid Manager after installation, so in my case when I want to call an Init.d script example I use the following code snippet:

Path.Combine(ExecutablePath,"Initd_Scripts", "File_Name");
When wanting to add multiple strings together use this following code snippet:
String.Join(Separator String, params string Arguments);

Those ensure the best result, by that I mean be sure system will read them they way they are intended to be read, if you use "+" or "\\" or "@" there might be some misunderstanding by the system which happened to me when I started learning programming 7 years ago.

Good Luck

k1ll3r8e · Jun 16, 2013

DeepUnknown said:
@k1ll3r8e

Your variable "args" should include the path for Fastboot.exe or your code should be like this (I'm using an example path in this example, you must replace it with your own path):
startInfo.Arguments = "/Q/C " + @"C:\AdbTools\fastboo.exe " + args;

OR

startInfo.Arguments = String.Join(" ", "/Q/C", Path.Combine("C:","AdbTools","fastboot.exe"), args);

Thx for the info

but... "Path.Combine" tells me only 2 strings can be combined so its useless for me coz i get the path via "Application.StartupPath" and i have 2 subfolder this means i have 3 strings to combine^^

thats why i set some vars in my form...

//KIT Vars
private static string KIT = Application.StartupPath + "\\";
private static string ADB = KIT + "adb\\adb.exe";
private static string FBT = KIT + "adb\\fastboot.exe";

also fastboot will not output anything

i googled a bit and found some threads... in this threads they say fastboot dun use the "flush" command (!?) this will mean the output is not grab able...

i think they are right^^ coz adb or cmd it self will output something via my function only fastboot returns nothing...

OmarBizreh · Jun 16, 2013

menglim said:
yes, it works but there is cmd.exe window pop up....after I close this window, then I can get the output. it is not in real time...thanks

Nope not true, Path.Combine takes more than two args. I've passed to it 4 args in Droid Manager, here is a screenshot about it:

Also be sure that you remove this:
using System.Windows.Shapes;

and replace it with:
using System.IO;

so that the correct "Path" class is being called. if it's not there then no need to do anything just be sure System.IO is added.

Also "Flush" command means the same as in the image below:

Fastboot does show output but on certain commands, for example when you type: Fastboot devices
you will get an output IF AND ONLY IF you have a connected device in Fastboot mode.
Or when you unlock a Sony Xperia bootloader you will get output.

k1ll3r8e · Jun 16, 2013

Thx for the fast reply

My doc beginning is

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.IO;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Reflection;

but see img below

the thing with the streamwriter i dun understand^^ - tried it yesterday a few times but with no luck

Finally i think im too dumb... coz "adb.exe version" give me an output and "adb start-server" brings my proggy to hangup^^

OmarBizreh · Jun 16, 2013

k1ll3r8e said:
Thx for the fast reply

My doc beginning is

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.IO;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Reflection;

but see img below

the thing with the streamwriter i dun understand^^ - tried it yesterday a few times but with no luck

Finally i think im too dumb... coz "adb.exe version" give me an output and "adb start-server" brings my proggy to hangup^^

Hmmm... Windows Form, to be honest the last time I worked with Windows Form application was two years ago, since 2011 I program WPF projects, which Microsoft is focusing on + it is more flexible when it comes to App UI and data bindings, that's why I use it.
There are differences between Windows Form and WPF unfortunately :-/

By the way if you consider switching to WPF you need to also learn XAML language (not XML, it's XAML) so you can play with the UI the way you want.

Good luck

[HOW TO] Make your own Android Toolkit for Windows in C# - Make it to your liking!

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