// I'm told this code uses the org.xmlrpc.android library

public static void searchUPCdatabase() {

    try {
        Map<String, String> params = new HashMap<String, String>();
        params.put("rpc_key", rpc_key);
        params.put("upc",upc);
        HashMap result = (HashMap) client.call("lookup", params);

        resultSize = result.get("size").toString();
        resultDesc = result.get("description").toString();

    } catch (NullPointerException nl) {

        e.printStackTrace();

    } catch (XMLRPCException e) {

        e.printStackTrace();

    }

}