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I'm using the altbeacon android reference library for detecting beacons.

There is an option to configure the parser to detect other non-altbeacon beacons e.g. Estimote (as described here) by adding a new BeaconParser (see this) which works a treat.

However, how do I allow it to detect ALL beacons of any UUID/format (altbeacons, estimotes, roximity etc)? I've tried no parsers, blank parameters and without the "m:2-3=.." parameter. Nothing works.

Thanks

Community
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Mark Chidlow
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1 Answers1

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You can configure multiple parsers to be active at the same time so you can detect as many beacon types as you want simultaneously. But there is no magic expression that will detect them all.

Understand that the BeaconParser expression tells the library how to decode the raw bytes of a Bluetooth LE advertisement and convert it into identifiers and data fields. Each time a company comes up with a new beacon transmission format, a new parser format may be needed.

Because of intellectual property restrictions, the library cannot be preconfigured to detect proprietary beacons without permission. This is why you must get the community-provided expressions for each proprietary type.

davidgyoung
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  • Actually David I'm working with a new beacon which is to hit the market in a few months. I'm very happy to define a parser for this and make it available to the whole community. What is the best way to do this to work with the restrictions in IP? – Mark Chidlow Sep 28 '14 at 10:51
  • If the owner of the beacon format allows it, we will build support for the beacon into the library. If not, you or others are welcome to publish a parser expression for how to do so, so others may add support through configuration. All you really need is a spec for the transmission format, or to reverse engineer it. – davidgyoung Sep 28 '14 at 18:25
  • Again thank you David. I'll let you know how it goes! – Mark Chidlow Oct 01 '14 at 16:46