Manual upload of OCID database .csv files into our app

[SecUpwN]

Good evening everyone, I have just received an interesting question via email from a user of our app. In my eyes, this question is interesting and deserves a public discussion, thus I am filing this Issue for it:

Is there any way to manually upload the database .csv files from OpenCellID to the app? That way the app does not need to download the towers location each time it needs it. Many thanks for your time (and for the app btw)

This translates to me into these steps:

1. Download the full OCID database from OCID DB Download
2. Move the database into /sdcard/Android/Android/data/com.SecUpwN.AIMSICD/files/OpenCellID/
3. Our app should then detect that a database is already present and ask users if it shall be used

I hope that the person who asked this question will join this Issue for further public discussion.

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[Laiteri]

Hi SecUpwN,

I raised the issue, but didn't have an account until now. I raised it because, at the moment, I'm in a country in the middle of Africa, and fast internet connection is just a concept here. In the middle of the week-end like today, I've got an amazing connection speed of 35KB/sec. See the point of my request? :-) Anyway, thanks for the topic, as I have a few more questions about it. When you say "download the full database from OpenCellID" that means all the files? If that's the case, it's going to take a while for me.

About the path /sdcard/Android/Android/data/com.SecUpwN.AIMSICD/files/OpenCellID/, as my phone is not rooted (motorola razri xt890 with android 4.1.2), I was able to found the following path: /Android/data with already some others com.**** folders inside it, so I guessed this is the good one. But nothing like com.SecUpwN* inside, so I created it along with the needed subfolders. Is that the right thing to do? Because the app didn't ask me for anything when I launched it, and I downlaoded the first file only: cell_towers.csv (that means I did a mistake). I can't take the risk to root my phone, otherwise it would have been rooted a long time ago. And a last one: Do I need to rename the files from OpenCellID before moving them into the folder? Or the original names are fine for the app? Thanks for your time!

[SecUpwN]

I've got an amazing connection speed of 35KB/sec..

Whoa, welcome to the 21st century! :smile_cat:

When you say "download the full database from OpenCellID" that means all the files?

This was just an assumption. I've had a look I'm not sure which file we'd need to add manually.

...so I created it along with the needed subfolders. Is that the right thing to do?

No. The new file path will be created by the new version of our app. Wait for the release later today.

Do I need to rename the files from OpenCellID before moving them into the folder?

When using our app, the only thing you'd currently need to do is to access the Navigation Drawer on the left side and press Download BTS Data while haaving an internet connection (preferrably with true high speed). I would be happy if you could clarify why and if a manual upload of the .csv file is really that important so that our developers as well as @E3V3A can understand why you'd like to see this feature.

[Laiteri]

Well, sometimes you are in countries who don't have high speed mobile connection. More than a third of the world is not equipped yet with 4G (or LTE), and the 3G in some countries is very very poor (when you have 3G). That and the fact that data connection can be amazingly expensive depending on the country you are in. With a european SIM card, as long as you are in Europe/Canada/USA, it's fine, you can download stuff. But if you try that in Africa, South America, or whatever country not listed by your operator, you will suffer :-D The only way to download data quickly is via Wifi or Ethernet cable. Meaning at home. So if you move away from your house, you're doomed :-) I thought if you can download the files in a separate way and put them in your phone, you can go around and still have some data up to date. (I found a way to download quickly from my hotel: started a download at 1AM, nobody is online, and I had the whole bandwhith just for myself! (350KB/sec).

But again, this is just my point of view. I'm travelling a lot, and often in shitty connected counties, I took the habit to disable the data on my phone, in order to avoid expensive bills. So I thought this option could be usefull. If it's too much work, don't bother, I'll download everything I can before leaving my country, it's another way to do it hahahaha

[E3V3A]

@Laiteri I think it could be a good idea, but we simply don't have the developer resources to implement every possible useful feature, especially since we still have not got the basics covered. If you know how to use sqlite3 you can download and add the OCID data yourself to the AIMSICD DB, using a simple shell script. However, having said that, it should be a simple matter to make the app manually swallow an external OCID CSV. Feel free to post a PR.

[Laiteri]

Hmm, okay okay I got it. Well, thanks for the tip anyway, I'll try that :-)

[SecUpwN]

Thanks for understanding our current lack of developers, @Laiteri. I know that this Issue could as well be closed, but since it is a very useful feature I'll keep it open for now. A pull request for this is welcome.

[wvengen]

I'm also interested in this. There are more applications using the OCID database, like UnifiedNLP's Local-GSM-Backend, which uses /sdcard/.nogapps/lacells.db as its location - it may be a good idea to share this database.

Would it be hard to add an external OCID database to the app?

[wvengen]

@Laiteri I'm generating cell location CSVs by MCC here (map) daily, merging OCID and MLS. That would spare you from downloading the full database, if there would be a csv importer that would understand this format.

[wvengen]

It looks as if changing getOpenCellIDData() to also look in lacells.db would be enough. If it's that simple, I might give it a try.

[licaon-kter]

Whatever happened with this?

[SecUpwN]

Whatever happened with this?

We lack developers. Feel invited to either craft a pull request adding this functionality, or find more devs.