Develop Reference

Reuse modules in Android Studio

Whenever I add a android library-project as module to my Android Studio project, the sources get copied to the Android Studio project folder.
Is there a way to solve it like in eclipse, where there is only one copy of library project, any many projects can reference it?

You have different ways to achieve it:
using a local module referring the right path
adding an aar file
using a maven repo
CASE 1:
Using gradle and a local library, inside a project you can refer an external module.
Just use:
Project
|__build.gradle
|__settings.gradle
|__app (application module)
|__build.gradle
In settings.gradle:
include ':app'
include ':myLib'
project(':myLib').projectDir=new File('pathLibrary')
In app/build.gradle:
dependencies {
compile project(':myLib')
}
Pay attention to myLib.
You have to use the path of the library inside the other project, not the root of the project.
CASE 2:
Compile the library module, get the aar file, and then add to the main project:
Add the folder where you put the aar file as repository:
repositories {
jcenter()
flatDir {
dirs 'libs'
}
}
Then add the dependency:
dependencies {
compile(name:'nameOfAarFile', ext:'aar')
}
CASE 3:
Another way is to to publish your module into a maven repository.
In this way, just use:
dependencies {
compile ('mypackage:mymodule:X.Y.Z')
}

I would compile your shared code as library project. So you will get an aar file which you can reference.
To create that Android Archive you need to build the project as a release build with this command:
gradlew aR
After that you have a file called <modulename>-release.aar this file is located in <projectroot>/<modulename>/build/outputs/aar. I rename those files to <modulename>.aar then you can put it into your lib directory of your module.
When done you can reference it from the module where you need it like this:
compile(name:'<modulename>', ext:'aar')
This also speeds up the build time since you don't need to compile the project anymore.

Multiple AAR files

I am using Android Studio 1.2
I create a private library I want to use that one in another application.
To use it I create an AAR files, but this AAR don't work. I have in my library a dependency to an AAR file.
The AAR files do not the dependencies?
If I use the jar and I includ ans create all the dependencies the project works fine.
NOTE :
I know how to importe the AAR file. The problem is to use an AAR in the AAR..
Thanks.

If I'm understanding your question correctly, there are 3 projects involved:
Library Project 2 --> Library Project 1 --> Application Project
You are editing "Library Project 1" and have added to it's app/build.grade a dependency on the Library Project 2's aar. Something like this: compile 'com.arasthel:gnavdrawer-library:1.1.5'
I am not sure where you are running into an issue, but I'll attempt an answer anyway. If I'm completely off-base, can you please elaborate on how the AAR dependency is not working? Any error messages?, a class/resource not found, etc.
I think it's unlikely you are unable to use a class from Library Project 2 inside Library Project 1, because I just tried this myself and it seems to be working just fine. It's worth noting that the Library Project 1 aar file will NOT include classes or resources from Library Project 2. Library Project 2 will be noted as a dependency in Library Project 1's pom if published using gradle's maven plugin to publish Library Project 1.
My guess is that you are having a problem in the Application Project? Perhaps the class from Library Project 2 is not found in the Application Project?
If that is correct, then there are two possible solutions:
Enable transitive dependencies on the aar dependency in the Application project's app/build.gradle: Instead of compile 'com.example:myLibrary:versionX', make it compile('com.example:myLibrary:versionX'){transitive=true}. I just verified this causes gradle to read Library Project 1's pom and automatically add dependencies found there into the Application Project.
If you would like to use transitive dependencies, your Library Project will need to be generating a pom and publishing it along with the aar. See https://stackoverflow.com/a/30085677/431296 for some additional information on how I have this working.
Manually add the dependency on Library Project 2 to the Application Project - so that your Application has a dependency line for both Libraries. Depending on your specific situation this may or may not be a workable solution.

Add following code to you project build.gradle file, and you should put you AAR file to the libs folder.
repositories {
mavenCentral()
flatDir {
dirs 'libs'
}
}
And finally add compile info to your dependencies:
dependencies {
compile(name:'AARFileName', ext:'aar')
}

How to compile forked library in Gradle?

I want to compile the following library in my project in build.gradle:
https://github.com/theDazzler/Android-Bootstrap
It is forked from https://github.com/Bearded-Hen/Android-Bootstrap, but no documentation in the repository explains how to include in in project.
I tried something like this:
compile 'com.theDazzler:androidbootstrap:+'
but gradle failed and shows error that library not found.
Edit: Can anyone fork it and/or publish it?

This fork isn't published in the maven central repo.
Then you can't use an import like compile com.theDazzler:androidbootstrap:+
You have to:
- clone this library locally as a module in your project
Clone the
https://github.com/theDazzler/Android-Bootstrap/tree/master/AndroidBootstrap folder in your root/module1 folder.
root:
module1
build.gradle
app
build.gradle
settings.gradle
Change your settings.gradle file in
include ':module1'
include ':app'
In your app/build.gradle file you have to add:
dependencies {
// Module Library
compile project(':module1')
}
Finally in your module1/build.gradle you have to check the level used for gradle plugin.
EDIT 31/10/2015:
You can use another way to add a dependency with a github project,using the github repo and the jitpack plugin
In this case you have to add this repo tp your build.gradle
repositories {
// ...
maven { url "https://jitpack.io" }
}
and the dependency:
dependencies {
compile 'com.github.User:Repo:Tag'
}

It can be simply done by using Jitpack.
Step 1. Add the JitPack repository to your build file
allprojects {
repositories {
maven { url 'https://jitpack.io' }
}
}
Step 2. Add the dependency
dependencies {
compile 'com.github.User:Repo:Tag'
}
for eg: compile 'com.github.sachinvarma:JcPlayer:0.0.1'

The issue is: has that theDazzler/Android-Bootstrap been published anywhere? In any gradle/maven repo?
The usual build.gradle file has a section repositories which should reference that maven repo.
So it is possible any project using theDazzler/Android-Bootstrap should reference the repo where it is published, And with a project like gradle-git-repo-plugin, you could publish that fork on its own release section to publish it.
That task gets wrapped into a publishToGithub task that handles committing and pushing the change. Then you can run
gradle -Porg=layerhq -Prepo=gradle-releases publishToGithub
You can also run
gradle -Porg=layerhq -Prepo=gradle-releases publish
to stage a release in the local github repo and commit it manually.

Hi i had the same issue but with a different project :)
So first you should have the library code on your dev machine.
Next steps are: add a new file called settings.gradle to the root of your project if its not already there.
inside add this:
include 'AndroidBootStrap'
project('AndroidBootStrap').path = "path/to/AndroidBootstrap/AndroidBootStrapLibrary"
also add include for your root project if its not there.
Inside your build.gradle file add
compile project(':AndroidBootStrap')
to add the dependency.
How your folder Structure should look:
root
YourProject
settings.gradle
YourProjectModule
build.gradle
AndroidBootStrap
AndroidBootStrapLibrary
build.gradle
In the end the files look like this:
settings.gradle:
include 'AndroidBootStrap'
project('AndroidBootStrap').path = "../AndroidBootstrap/AndroidBootStrapLibrary"
include 'YourProjectModule'
build.gradle (YourModule):
...
dependencies {
...
compile project(':AndroidBootStrap')
}
Maybe its necessary to modify some point but i hope you get the idea!
Cheers
Neri

importing ShowcaseView with gradle

I'm trying to use the ShowcaseView project in my app but can't get the project to build.
when I run 'gradle clean installDebug' I get the following error:
A problem occurred evaluating root project 'hows-it-going'.
Could not find method compile() for arguments [project ':ShowcaseView'] on root project 'hows-it-going'.
I'm using gradle 1.11 and Android Studio 0.54.
I've downloaded the source, and imported the project using file -> Import module -> ShowcaseView
which makes my project structure like:
-project
--app
--ShowcaseView
my settings.gradle file looks like:
include ':app', 'ShowcaseView'
and in my project level build.gradle I have the following:
dependencies {
compile project (':ShowcaseView')
}
Any help with how to include this properly would be much appreciated. Thanks.

The latest version of ShowcaseView is available as a .AAR dependency. To use it, add:
repositories {
mavenCentral()
maven {
url 'https://oss.sonatype.org/content/repositories/snapshots'
}
}
To your build.gradle file and, under the dependencies block, add:
compile 'com.github.amlcurran.showcaseview:library:5.0.0-SNAPSHOT'
I'll get a stable, non-snapshot, version out soon.

It should actually be
compile 'com.github.amlcurran.showcaseview:library:5.0.0-SNAPSHOT#aar'
That way Maven will use .AAR file

I recently just added ShowcaseView to an Android Studio project, and I hope this can push you in the correct direction.
My file structure looks something like this:
project
app
build.gradle
libraries
showcase
build.gradle
settings.gradle
Add the files from the library
folder
of ShowcaseView to the showcase directory in the libraries
directory.
Add the showcase directory as a module to your project.
Change your app's build.gradle file to include:
dependencies {
compile project(':libraries:showcase')
}
Change your settings.gradle to include:
include ':libraries:showcase'
Sync Project with gradle files
This StackOverflow answer goes over how to do this is much more detail if you have any troubles, but this method works for any library.

The compile dependency on ShowcaseView should likely be defined in app/build.gradle, not in the root project's build.gradle. Unless a project explicitly (configurations block) or implicitly (by applying a plugin such as java) defines a compile configuration, it won't have one, and an attempt to add a compile dependency will result in the error you mentioned.

I added this in build.gradle and it worked
compile 'com.github.amlcurran.showcaseview:library:5.4.3'

Use android-maps-utils in Android Studio

I am trying to use this library [1] in an Android project either with Android Studio or with ADT. But it doesn't work at all. In ADT I don't know how to handle gradle stuff and in Android Studio, when I try to "Import Project", I get the error "Could not find com.google.android.gms:play-services:3.1.36.
(don't have enough reputation to post picture, it's on imgur with xswZ3.jpg)
I am not familiar with gradle and I only have a vague idea of what it does but all I want is to use something like BubbleIconFactory f = new BubbleIconFactory(this) in my own project.
Any help is appreciated!
[1] https://github.com/googlemaps/android-maps-utils

Perhaps your problem is needing the repositories outside of the buildscript block.
The repositories internal to the buildscript is for managing the gradle dependency itself, I believe. Here's how I resolved my problem with google-maps-utils as a library dependency. Hopefully this helps. I included my maps and support-v4 libs too.
buildscript {
repositories {
mavenCentral()
}
dependencies {
classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:0.10+'
}
}
apply plugin: 'android'
repositories {
mavenCentral()
}
dependencies {
compile fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: '*.jar')
// Support Libraries
compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services:4.1.32'
compile 'com.android.support:support-v4:19.0.1'
compile 'com.google.maps.android:android-maps-utils:0.3+'
}

com.google.android.gms:play-services:3.1.36 can be downloaded by going to your SDK Manager and installing the Extras->Google Repository package (you may want to install the Extras->Android Support Repository as well while you are there). These allow Gradle to automatically use these resources without the need for library projects or jars manually added to your project.

Add the following dependency to your Gradle build file:
dependencies {
compile 'com.google.maps.android:android-maps-utils:0.2+'
}
You'll need to install the "Google Repository" from the Android SDK manager.
See demo/build.gradle for an example.
You can, of course, copy the library directory and use it like any other Android library project.
Let me know if this helps!
Chris

Steps:
First File>Project Structure>Click Plus Button >Import Graddle Project>Select the file(library folder) from the location where downloaded>CLick Ok.
Add this code to dependencies to that app module build.gradle file(remember there are two build.gradle files) :
dependencies {
compile 'com.google.maps.android:android-maps-utils:0.4+'
}
Copy gradle.properties file contents of that Android-maps-util Library project app(found inside that project library folder) TO
gradle.properties file of your project(Simple copy and paste of content to the editor).
Click Sync Project with gradle files button. And you must be fine!