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VetroLog

Native Android Guide (Room & SQLite)

For native Android developers using Kotlin or Java, the dominant persistence library is Android Room (built on top of SQLite).

VetroLog provides zero-config inspection for all Room databases, standard SQLiteOpenHelper implementations, and SharedPreferences XML files.

📂 Where Native Android Stores Data

Android stores app-private data in sandbox subdirectories:

  1. SQLite & Room Databases: 
    /data/data/<package_name>/databases/<database_name>.db
    /data/data/<package_name>/databases/<database_name>.db-wal
    /data/data/<package_name>/databases/<database_name>.db-shm
  2. Android SharedPreferences: 
    /data/data/<package_name>/shared_prefs/<name>.xml

🚀 Running Your Android App for Inspection

  1. Open your project in Android Studio.
  2. Select a connected phone or emulator from the device menu.
  3. Click the green Run (▶) or Debug (🐞) button.
    • Debug builds built via Gradle automatically include android:debuggable="true" in the merged AndroidManifest.xml.
  4. Open VetroLog.
  5. Select your device from the header and choose your application package (e.g. com.example.androidapp (Active)).
  6. Your Room database and its entities will immediately load in the sidebar.

VetroLog Inspecting Native Android Room Database

🔄 Room LiveData & Kotlin Flow Reactivity

Android Room uses invalidation trackers to observe table mutations. When you use reactive queries in your DAO:

Android Room DataGrid View

@Dao
interface UserDao {
    @Query("SELECT * FROM users ORDER BY name ASC")
    fun observeAllUsers(): Flow<List<UserEntity>>
}

When you edit or delete records in VetroLog:

  1. VetroLog commits the edit to the SQLite table via ADB.
  2. Room’s SQLite trigger / content observer fires.
  3. The Kotlin Flow or LiveData emits the new list to your UI automatically!

When building your Room database with Room.databaseBuilder(), ensure multi-instance invalidation is enabled if you perform writes from multiple processes:

val db = Room.databaseBuilder(
    context.applicationContext,
    AppDatabase::class.java,
    "app_database.db"
)
    .enableMultiInstanceInvalidation()
    .build()

Next Steps