I have a Radbeacon dot which I am experimenting with and I am looking to add some extra string(key-value) data to it. I am using the RadBeacon app to configure the beacon, but that only lets me edit the Namespace Id and the Instance Id. I am using the Android Beacon Library which contains a method "getDataFields()" so I am convinced that this is possible to add and retrieve extra data. Can anyone help me out with this? It would also be nice to change the name of the beacon as well but adding extra data is more important. I would just need to add a short string. Thanks!
The Beacon#getDataFields() method of the Android Beacon Library is used to retrieve built-in data fields that are part of the core beacon layout, and is not used to access extra user-definable fields. Some beacon formats like AltBeacon do have a data field (byte 25 in the case of AltBeacon, which in RadBeacon Dot and RadBeacon Tag devices is populated with a battery level).
Because beacon layouts like Eddystone-UID, iBeacon and AltBeacon are fixed, it is not possible to add arbitrary ad-hoc data fields to the transmissions.
You can do something similar by using a web service or data lookup table in your app to access externally configured data fields based on the beacon identifier. The ProximityKit SDK from RadiusNetworks allows you to do exactly that.
Full Disclosure: I am the lead developer on the Android Beacon Library and work for Radius Networks.