DCR Denmark Video Android SDK

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Overview

The Nielsen SDK is one of multiple framework SDKs that Nielsen provides to enable measuring linear (live) and on-demand TV viewing using TVs, mobile devices, etc. The App SDK is the framework for mobile application developers to integrate Nielsen Measurement into their media player applications. It supports a variety of Nielsen Measurement Products like It supports a variety of Nielsen Measurement Products like Digital in TV Ratings (DTVR), Digital Content Ratings (DCR), and Digital Ad Ratings (DAR). Nielsen SDKs are also equipped to measure static content and can track key life cycle events of an application like:

• Application launch events and how long app was running
• Time of viewing a sub section / page in the application.

Prerequisites

Before you start the integration, you will need:

	Item	Description	Source
☑	"App ID (appid)"	Unique ID assigned to the player/site and configured by product.	Contact Nielsen
☑	"Nielsen SDK"	Includes SDK frameworks and "sample implementation"; "See Android SDK Release Notes"	Download

Implementation

This guide covers implementation steps for Android Studio utilizing the Standard Nielsen SDK for DCR.

If you are building an app for the 'kids category' please review the Opt Out Requirement.

How to obtain the NielsenAppApi

The Nielsen AppSDK can either be downloaded directly or can be integrated directly within an application through the use of Gradle. We recommend using the Gradle-based integration whenever possible to ensure you maintain the most recent changes and enhancements to the Nielsen libraries.

• Select to obtain Gradle implementation guide
• Select to Download Directly

Setting up your Development Environment

Configuring Android Development Environment

• The Nielsen App SDK (located in the Downloads section of the website) class is the primary application interface to the Nielsen App SDK on Android.
• The Nielsen App SDK class is defined as the only public class belonging to the com.nielsen.app.sdk package.

Nielsen App SDK is compatible with Android OS versions 2.3+. Clients can control / configure the protocol to be used – HTTPS or HTTP to suit their needs.

The requirement for the Java AppSdk.jar library and the libAppSdk.so native library will depend on the type of host application that will make use of them.

• For Video player applications
  • The Android OS hosting the App SDK should use a media player supporting HLS streaming (Android 3.0 and later will support it natively).
  • If the player application uses a 3rd party media player implementing its own HLS, then the minimum Android version will be limited to version 2.3, since the SDK depends on Google Play support to work properly.

Once SDK is downloaded ensure to unzip the Nielsen SDK and copy the AppSdk.jar in your app (Android Studio) libs folder, then right click the AppSdk.jar and select Add As Library. Ensure the AppSdk.jar file is added in 'build.grade (App Level) file.

• App SDK 1.2 provides support for x86, mips, and armeabi-7a architecture.

Google Play Services

Add the Google Play Services in the project, Steps: Android Studio -> File -> Project Structure ->(In module selection) select App -> Dependencies (tab) -> Click "+" button and select "com.google.android.gms:play-services". Ensure it is added in build.gradle (App level) file

Manifest File

• Add the following permissions on the project’s AndroidManifest.xml file.

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

For more details to handle runtime permissions in Android versions, please visit [1].

• In AndroidManifest.xml under <application> node add the following metadata

<meta-data 
android:name="com.google.android.gms.version" 
android:value="@integer/google_play_services_version"/>

• App SDK checks to see if there is a Google service available and updated.
• If not available or updated, App SDK will not use this service when executing its functions and will make reference to missing imports and the app will not be compiled.

Library

Nielsen App SDK uses the following packages/classes from the Google Play service.

• google-play-services_lib

Classes/package

• com.google.android.gms.ads.identifier.AdvertisingIdClient;
• com.google.android.gms.ads.identifier.AdvertisingIdClient.Info;
• com.google.android.gms.common.ConnectionResult;
• com.google.android.gms.common.GooglePlayServicesUtil;
• com.google.android.gms.common.GooglePlayServicesRepairableException;
• com.google.android.gms.common.GooglePlayServicesNotAvailableException;

SDK Initialization

The latest version of the Nielsen App SDK allows instantiating multiple instances of the SDK object, which can be used simultaneously without any issue. The sharedInstance API that creates a singleton object was deprecated prior to version 5.1.1. (Version 4.0 for Android)

The following table contains the list of arguments that can be passed via the AppInfo JSON schema.

Parameter / Argument	Description	Source	Required?	Example
appid	Unique Nielsen ID for the application. The ID is a GUID data type. If you did not receive your App ID, let us know and we will provide you.	Nielsen-specified	Yes	PXXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX
nol_devDebug	Enables Nielsen console logging. Only required for testing	Nielsen-specified	Optional	"DEBUG"

Debug flag for development environment

Player application developers / integrators can use Debug flag to check whether an App SDK API call made is successful. To activate the Debug flag, Pass the argument @"nol_devDebug":@"INFO", in the JSON string . The permitted values are:

• INFO: Displays the API calls and the input data from the application (validate player name, app ID, etc.). It can be used as certification Aid.
• WARN: Indicates potential integration / configuration errors or SDK issues.
• ERROR: Indicates important integration errors or non-recoverable SDK issues.
• DEBUG: Debug logs, used by the developers to debug more complex issues.

Once the flag is active, it logs each API call made and the data passed. The log created by this flag is minimal.

Note: DO NOT activate the Debug flag in a production environment.

Sample SDK Initialization Code

AppSDK() is no longer a singleton object and should be initialized as below.

Initialization of App SDK object through a JSON object

try
{
  // Prepare AppSdk configuration object (JSONObject)
  JSONObject appSdkConfig = new JSONObject()
          .put("appid", "PDA7D5EE6-B1B8-XXXX-XXXX-2A788BCXXXCA")
          .put("nol_devDebug", "DEBUG"); // only for debug builds

// Pass appSdkConfig to the AppSdk constructor
mAppSdk = new AppSdk(appContext, appSdkConfig, appSdkListener);
}
catch (JSONException e)
{
  Log.e(TAG, "Couldn’t prepare JSONObject for appSdkConfig", e);
}

Here, appContext is the App context object and appSdkConfig is JSON object for holding the parameters (appid) the App passes to the Nielsen App SDK via a JSON string. The appid is obtained from Nielsen operational support and is unique to the app.

The integration of Nielsen App SDK will depend on type of client app.

• Ensure that SDK files (AppSdk.jar and libAppSdk.so [App SDK 1.2 Only]) are included under the App’s project and the App SDK is linked to the App (the setting to link App SDK to the App can be found on property page of the App’s project).

APP SDK Error & Event Codes

To view the Error and Event codes for iOS and Android, please review the App SDK Event Code Reference page.

Create Metadata Objects

The parameters passed must be either a JSON formatted string or a NSDictionary object. The JSON passed in the SDK must be well-formed.

• NSDictionary object
  • If an object of unexpected type is passed to the method, the error message will be logged.
  • If string has invalid JSON format, the error message will be logged.
• JSON value must be string value.
  • This includes boolean and numeric values. For example, a value of true should be represented with "true", number value 123 should be "123".
  • All the Variable Names like appid, appname, dataSrc, title, type etc. are case-sensitive. Use the correct variable name as specified in the documentation.
• JSON string can be prepared using either raw NSString or serialized NSDictionary.
  

Create channelName Metadata

channelName should remain constant throughout the completion of an episode or live stream.

Key	Description	Values	Required
channelName	Any string representing the channel/stream	custom	✓

Create Content Metadata

Content metadata should remain constant throughout the entirety of an episode/clip including when ads play.

program and title metadata values should be passed to SDK as UTF-8 strings.

Keys	Description	Values	Required
type	type of asset	"content" for main content	✓
assetid	unique ID assigned to asset	custom (no Special Characters)	✓
program	name of program	custom	✓
title	episode name	custom	✓
length	length of content in seconds	Length of content in seconds (86400 seconds for live stream (24/7). For Event-Live streams planned length. For VoD video length)	✓
airdate	the original date (local time with hh:mm:ss as 24h time stamp) content became available. This date does not change if the content is rebroadcasted on linear TV.	YYYYMMDD HH:MI:SS (if not known set it to eg. "19700101 00:00:00")	✓
isfullepisode	full episode flag	"y" full episode (full content for a program) "n" non full episode (only one part of the entire content for a program , i.e. preview, sub-episodes)	✓
adloadtype	type of Ad load	"1" Linear - matches TV ad load "2" Dynamic - Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI)	✓

Create Ad Metadata (optional for DR)

The Ad Metadata (if applicable) should be passed for each individual ad.

Note: All metadata values should be passed as UTF-8 strings.

Keys	Description	Values	Required
type	type of Ad	"preroll", "midroll", "postroll" "ad" - If specific type can not be identified.	✓
assetid	unique ID assigned to Ad	custom (no Special Characters)	✓

MetaData Example

JSONObject channelInfo = new JSONObject()
    .put("channelname","My Channel Name 1")

JSONObject contentMetadata = new JSONObject()
   .put("assetid", "unique_content_id")
   .put("type", "content")
   .put("program", "program name")
   .put("title", "episode title")
   .put("length", "length in seconds")
   .put("airdate", "20200713 10:22:00")
   .put("isfullepisode", "y")
   .put("adloadtype", "2");

JSONObject adMetadata = new JSONObject()
   .put("assetid", "unique_postroll_ad_id")
   .put("type", "postroll");

Step 4: Start the Measurement

Overview of SDK API Calls

play

The play method prepares the SDK for reporting once an asset has loaded and playback has begun. Use play to pass the channel descriptor information through channelName parameter when the user taps the ""Play"" button on the player. Call play only when initially starting the video.

loadMetadata

Needs to be called at the beginning of each asset, pass JSON object for relevant content or ad. Make sure to pass as 1st loadMetadata for content at the begining of playlist - see below API call sequence examples.

playheadPosition

Pass playhead position every second during playback. for VOD: pass current position in seconds. for Live: current Unix timestamp (seconds since Jan-1-1970 UTC) - if it is possible to seek back in Live content, then pass related Unix time (not current). Pass whole number that increments only by 1 like 1,2,3..

stop

Call when

• content or ads complete playing
• when a user pauses playback
• upon any user interruption scenario - see bellow chapter Interruption scenario

end

Call when the content asset completes playback. Stops measurement progress.

Start the Measurement

In order to start the measurement, follow the 3 first steps below for Content without Ads. When terminating the Content playback call end to terminate the Content Measurement for the given asset.

Playlist	Sample code	Description
1. Start of stream	play(channelName)	channelName contains JSON metadata of channel/video name being played
	loadMetadata(contentMetadataObject)	contentMetadataObject contains the JSON metadata for the content being played
2. Content is playing	playheadPosition(position)	playheadPosition is position of the playhead while the content is being played
3. End of Stream	end	Content playback is completed.

Step 5: Stop/Resume the Measurement for video Playback Interruptions

As part of integrating Nielsen App SDK with the player application, the Audio / Video app developer needs to handle the following possible interruption scenarios:

• Pause / Play
• Network Loss (Wi-Fi / Airplane / Cellular)
• Call Interrupt (SIM or Third party Skype / Hangout call)
• Alarm Interrupt
• Content Buffering
• Device Lock / Unlock (Video players only, not for Audio players)
• App going in the Background/Foreground (Video players only, not for Audio players)
• Channel / Station Change Scenario
• Unplugging of headphone

In case of encountering one of the above interruptions, the player application needs to

• Call stop immediately (except when content is buffering) and withhold sending playhead position.
• Start sending pings – loadMetadata and playheadPosition for the new viewing session, once the playback resumes.

Please see the Digital Measurement FAQ for more details

SDK Integration Architecture Diagram

For Content Playback

For Ad Playback

Privacy

The privacy section will be added soon.

Step 7 : Test your player by yourself

Guide

1. Connect your PC and test device (tablet or phone) via same router.
2. PC side: run Proxy sw (like Charles) and get local IP
3. Test device: modify Wifi setting to pass through Proxy IP from add 2
4. Test device: run your player, launch video
5. PC side: filter traffic by "nmr" and confirm presence of GN pings

Step 8 : Provide your app for certification

Once ready please send your application to Nielsen local staff for certification.

Step 9 : Going Live

After the integration has been certified (but not prior that), disable debug logging by deleting {nol_sdkDebug: "DEBUG"} from initialization call - see Step 2.