.BAT to install apps by dragging them into CMD - android

I am trying to make a .bat file where it goes to a location and then executes 2 commands.
First one id ADB Devices which works fine but second one ADB install requires the .apk file to work. Now i have something like this
#echo off
cd /d "C:\Users\userDesktop\adb"
adb devices
adb install
#pause
but it gives me
"adb.exe: install requires an argument"
Normally i write ADB install and then drag the file into the window. How do i skip writing ADB install and just dragging the file?

When you start any "bat" or "cmd" (they are virtually equal).
The first external argument is taken internally as parameter %1 However, since that may or may not contain spaces when you drop a file on it (the file.bat or file.cmd) we strip and guarantee "quotes" by using "%~1" which can be passed as an argument to another command.
#echo off
cd /d "C:\Users\user\Desktop\adb"
adb devices
adb install "%~1"
pause
if you wish to ensure it is only an .apk you could modify to enforce .apk by testing the file extension but just as simply filter to enforce .apk by using adb install "%~dpn1.apk" .
Note:- that ~dpn (drive path name) is considered a dirty method of testing, but is a very simple means to not install files that are not .apk (unless you drag a file that also has a similar named companion .apk)
I do not know how adb accepts its arguments, however you should be able to avoid a bat file by selecting adb.exe and making a shortcut for drag and drop usage. That you can then use different ways, such as place in your toolbar or add to your sendTo for right clicking. So it is worth making a shortcut to "....\adb.exe" then modify via properties the command line to include at the end devices & adb.exe install (make sure to add a space before and after), if all is well that should call the "devices" commmand then windows can pass the .apk file name after the " & inst ..."

Related

adb not working in powershell but adb.exe works

when typing "adb devices" in Powershell, it return a prompt to ask "How do you want to open this file".
However, if I use "adb.exe devices", it works and give me the list of devices.
As I have a lot of scripts written as adb instead of adb.exe, is there a way to fix this?
In cmd, typing adb devices would also work. But the scripts were all PS based. So fixing this in powershell will really helps. Thanks.
As you've confirmed, the problem was an extraneous, empty file literally named adb (without a filename extension) that resided in your C:\WINDOWS\system32 directory.
Since the PATH environment variable (typically) lists C:\WINDOWS\system32 before the directory in which the desired target executable (adb.exe) is located, C:\Program Files (x86)\Intel\Platform\..., PowerShell attempted to execute C:\WINDOWS\system32\adb, which - as an extension-less file - triggered the GUI dialog you saw.
Removing the extraneous C:\WINDOWS\system32\adb file solved your problem.
Get-Command -All adb helped discovered the problem: it listed all forms of a command named adb known to PowerShell, in order of precedence, with information about their type and location; that is, the effective command - the one that is actually invoked - was listed first.
Read on for background information.
As all shells do, if a command uses a mere (file) name (as opposed to a file path), PowerShell looks for executables in the directories listed in the PATH environment variable (accessible as $env:PATH in PowerShell), in order.
That is, if you submit a command line with command name adb, PowerShell - after looking for an internal command by that name first (an alias, function, or cmdlet) - looks for an executable file whose base name is adb, in the directories listed in $env:PATH, and invokes the first one it finds.
On Windows, an executable file is one whose filename extension is listed in the PATHEXT environment variable ($env:PATHEXT); again, the extensions listed there are considered in order. By contrast, on Unix-like platforms it is solely the file mode (the permission bits) that determine whether a file is executable.
However, unlike other shells, PowerShell doesn't just look for executable files in $env:PATH, it considers any file that exactly matches the command name given executable, and in effect passes such a file to the Invoke-Item cmdlet, which triggers the default GUI shell action on the file, equivalent to double-clicking a document in File Explorer on Windows.
This problematic behavior is discussed in this GitHub issue, which proposes that only true executables be considered commands.

Update AOSP built-in system app

Lets say we have downloaded, built and flashed AOSP source code. Now a change to a system app is made (e.g. changed a constant in the packages/apps/Nfc package).
The next step is to build it, and there are two ways to do it:
cd packages/apps/Nfc; mm
or
mmm Nfc
This will create out/target/product//system/app/NfcNci/NfcNci.apk file
Which is the proper way to update the system app?
I tried using adb install NfcNci.apk but no success:
~/android/aosp-7.1.2-3.10-v2/out/target/product/kugo/system/app/NfcNci$ adb install NfcNci.apk
Failed to install NfcNci.apk: Failure [INSTALL_FAILED_ALREADY_EXISTS: Attempt to re-install com.android.nfcnci without first uninstalling.]
~/android/aosp-7.1.2-3.10-v2/out/target/product/kugo/system/app/NfcNci$ adb install -r NfcNci.apk
Failed to install NfcNci.apk: Failure [INSTALL_FAILED_INVALID_APK: Package couldn't be installed in /data/app/com.android.nfcnci-1: Package /data/app/com.android.nfcnci-1/base.apk code is missing]
Found a way to easily 're-install' the app itself (let's put Settings app as an example):
mmm packages/apps/Settings # Build the module
adb root ; adb remount # Restart adbd as root and mount /system as writable
adb push out/target/product/<device_name>/system/priv-app/Settings /system/priv-app # Push the built files to the device
Then force-close and restart the app (by swiping it from Recents). No need to reboot device in order to take changes
NOTE: Depending on the app, the path may be on system/app instead of /system/priv-app
Another way is to:
copy the new apk to the sdcard of the device with adb push
mount /system read write: mount -o rw,remount,rw /system
copy your new .apk from /sdcard over your old .apk in /system/app
remove the .odex file of your old .apk
reboot the device
For development you can use a simple script for this steps.
Check build/envsetup.sh file - there's also commands mmp and mmmp to build and push a module to connected device. Also adb sync can be used to sync whole image, so if you updated a module, changed files will be pushed to device.
Also you can put the changed files via regular `adb push' and reboot device.
I do not know if system apps can be updated via adb install, probably yes, but I think you need to increment build number in the manifest file.
I do not think you can uninstall a system app with adb install -r, as apps can't be removed from system partition, only from data. I do not know why you are getting INSTALL_FAILED_INVALID_APK in that case, may be because app manager can't uninstall the base system apk indeed.

How to access android root directory

I am developing an application using ionic framework.
The app creates files (*.json) and stores them in /data/user/0/ when i verify whether they exist or not, the result was true which means the files exist in the mentioned directory and I can access and modify their content without problem, but when I check the directory with a file manager or from the computer, no result, the directory is empty.
Could someone tell me what should I do?
use adb to copy the file. Even if it's in root dir, u should have access to it via adb.
Do adb pull data/user/0/filename.json path_on_ur_comp.json.
this will copy the file to the directory you define in the 2nd parameter.
// EDIT:
adb is part of the Android SDK, stands for Android Debug Bridge.
You can use this for MANY MANY different reason but of course, the "main" reason is to debug Android devices. You can use it to transfer files in your case.
In Windows, it's located here:
C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Android\sdk\platform-tools\adb
In Mac, it's lcoated here:
/Users/USERNAME/Library/Android/sdk/platform-tools/adb
Depending on which OS you use, open that either with Terminal (Mac) or Command Prompt (Windows).
Once you do that, run the following command:
For Mac:
adb pull data/user/0/filename.json /Users/USERNAME/Desktop/somefile.json
For Windows:
adb pull data/user/0/filename.json c:\Users\USERNAME\Desktop\somefile.json
This will copy the file and put it on your desktop

what is the default working directory for adb push/pull and how do I change it?

I pulled out a file from the android sdcard using adb and it seems it goes to c:\documents and settings\userName by default. I don't know how it got set to this folder since this is not where adb is installed, but probably has got something to do with the fact that both the workspace and .android folders are located here. How do I change this default location for pull command of adb?
The default directory for adb pull or adb push seems to be the current directory (aka . ).
If you issue a command such as the following, not specifying the target directory
adb pull /boot.txt
the file (provided it exists) will be copied to the current directory.
Windows users:
Take notice of the following: If you are using Windows (Vista or newer), chances are that if the current directory requires elevated privileges to write on, Windows will silently replicate the directory structure of your current directory in a special folder called VirtualStore and will copy your files in it.
The full path for VirtualStore is: %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore, which most likely will translate into C:\Users\<account_name>\AppData\Local\VirtualStore.
So, in the following scenario,
C:\> cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\MyCustomADBInstallLocation"
C:\Program Files (x86)\MyCustomADBInstallLocation> adb pull /boot.txt
your file boot.txt will end up in this folder
C:\Users\<account_name>\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\MyCustomADBInstallLocation\
you can mention the destination location for adb push/pull, see example:-
adb push a.txt /data/local
adb pull /data/local/a.txt .
. means present directory.
or
adb pull /data/local/a.txt C:\
Hope this helps.
i'm using linux, and noticed that if i opened the terminal as root, its opened # home. when i pull items, it dumps to that repository, meaning to my "home" directory. will try opening terminal in a different folder and running adb pull from there to see if that makes the files dump to the folder terminal is opened in.

How to navigate to adb exe using command prompt in windows 7

I am trying to familiarise myself with using adb from the command prompt.
My adb.exe is installed at:
C:\Program Files(x86)\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools
I have tried starting off by typing in cd:C\ to take me to the C drive
Then I have typed in the path quoted above, sometimes putting Program Files(x86) in quote marks,
other times inserting % in between Program and Files.
But always I get the same answer - "The system cannot find the path specified".
Even when I type the path and then put in “adb devices” I get nothing.
I have tried inserting each of the following in the path in system variables as follows:
;C:\"Program Files(x86)"\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools\
C:\"Program Files(x86)"\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools\
;C:\Program Files(x86)\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools
And then typing “adb devices”.
The message is the same – “adb is not recognised as an internal or external command, operable program or batch command.
You can call adb directly from the directory you are currently in: "C:\Program Files(x86)\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools\adb.exe" (With quotes!) You can also navigate to the platform-tools directory and then call adb.exe, use cd .. to go to a directory level up, you can hit TAB to let windows list the appropriate directories, this works also if one or more characters are entered.
Btw, just added "C:\Program Files\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools" to my PATH and it works just fine! Separate the entires with a semicolon.
for using a 64 bit os try going step by step,
type in command prompt
cd "C:\Program Files (x86)"
you will enter C:\Program Files (x86)directory
then type
cd Android\android-sdk\platform-tools
It's the spaces that are messing people up. Windows users need to remember one important thing when dealing with command lines: do not install the utilities to folders where there's a space in the folder name - it will save you a lot of hassle which sometimes can't even be solved by using quotes.
For example, I've installed the Android SDK to C:\Android\android-sdk-windows
To open a command prompt, I have a shortcut to ("target") C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe
And the "Start in" path is C:\Android\android-sdk-windows\platform-tools
now all I do is double-click the shortcut and I can dive right in to ADB

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