Accessing resources from Android library project? - android

I am trying to build a library. I have an Android library project and some resources under the res directory that I want to access in the library project's code. The Android docs says:
source code in the library module can access its own resources through its R class
But I just can't figure out how to do this. Because it's a library and intended to be used from other applications, not run itself, I have no Activity, so I can't get a Context to use getResources(). How can I access these resources explicitly without a context?

Without an Activity, it doesn't seem possible to use the R class. If you have a test application within your library, the test application will be able to access R, but not from the lib itself.
Still, you can access the resources by name.
For instance, I have a class like this inside my library,
public class MyContext extends ContextWrapper {
public MyContext(Context base) {
super(base);
}
public int getResourceId(String resourceName) {
try{
// I only access resources inside the "raw" folder
int resId = getResources().getIdentifier(resourceName, "raw", getPackageName());
return resId;
} catch(Exception e){
Log.e("MyContext","getResourceId: " + resourceName);
e.printStackTrace();
}
return 0;
}
}
(See https://stackoverflow.com/a/24972256/1765629 for more information about ContextWrappers)
And the constructor of an object in the library takes that context wrapper,
public class MyLibClass {
public MyLibClass(MyContext context) {
int resId = context.getResourceId("a_file_inside_my_lib_res");
}
}
Then, from the app that uses the lib, I have to pass the context,
public class MyActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
MyLibClass a = new MyLibClass(new MyContext(this));
}
}
MyContext, MyLibClass, and a_file_inside_my_lib_res, they all live inside the library project.
I hope it helps.

Related

How to correctly implement and test Custom Lint Rules in Android Studio?

I'm following this tutorial and this Custom Detector Example in order to implement Custom Lint Rules. Basically what I've done is:
Create a new Android Project in Android Studio;
Create a java module for project created in step 1;
On module's build.gradle, import Lint API dependencies;
Create an Issue & IssueRegistry & CustomDetector;
Reference the IssueRegistry on module's build.gradle;
Create Unit tests;
My problem is, during the execution of my JUnits, I always receive "No Warning". When I debug the test, I can see that my Custom Detector isn't called, what am I doing wrong?
Strings.java
public class Strings {
public static final String STR_ISSUE_001_ID = "VarsMustHaveMoreThanOneCharacter";
public static final String STR_ISSUE_001_DESCRIPTION = "Avoid naming variables with only one character";
public static final String STR_ISSUE_001_EXPLANATION = "Variables named with only one character do not pass any meaning to the reader. " +
"Variables name should clear indicate the meaning of the value it is holding";
}
Issues.java
public class Issues {
public static final
Issue ISSUE_001 = Issue.create(
STR_ISSUE_001_ID,
STR_ISSUE_001_DESCRIPTION,
STR_ISSUE_001_EXPLANATION,
SECURITY,
// Priority ranging from 0 to 10 in severeness
6,
WARNING,
new Implementation(VariableNameDetector.class, ALL_RESOURCES_SCOPE)
);
}
IssuesRegistry.java
public class IssueRegistry extends com.android.tools.lint.client.api.IssueRegistry {
#Override
public List<Issue> getIssues() {
List<Issue> issues = new ArrayList<>();
issues.add(ISSUE_001);
return issues;
}
}
VariableNameDetector.java
public class VariableNameDetector extends Detector implements Detector.JavaScanner {
public VariableNameDetector() {
}
#Override
public boolean appliesToResourceRefs() {
return false;
}
#Override
public boolean appliesTo(Context context, File file) {
return true;
}
#Override
#Nullable
public AstVisitor createJavaVisitor(JavaContext context) {
return new NamingConventionVisitor(context);
}
#Override
public List<String> getApplicableMethodNames() {
return null;
}
#Override
public List<Class<? extends Node>> getApplicableNodeTypes() {
List<Class<? extends Node>> types = new ArrayList<>(1);
types.add(lombok.ast.VariableDeclaration.class);
return types;
}
#Override
public void visitMethod(
JavaContext context,
AstVisitor visitor,
MethodInvocation methodInvocation
) {
}
#Override
public void visitResourceReference(
JavaContext context,
AstVisitor visitor,
Node node,
String type,
String name,
boolean isFramework
) {
}
private class NamingConventionVisitor extends ForwardingAstVisitor {
private final JavaContext context;
NamingConventionVisitor(JavaContext context) {
this.context = context;
}
#Override
public boolean visitVariableDeclaration(VariableDeclaration node) {
StrictListAccessor<VariableDefinitionEntry, VariableDeclaration> varDefinitions =
node.getVariableDefinitionEntries();
for (VariableDefinitionEntry varDefinition : varDefinitions) {
String name = varDefinition.astName().astValue();
if (name.length() == 1) {
context.report(
ISSUE_001,
context.getLocation(node),
STR_ISSUE_001_DESCRIPTION
);
return true;
}
}
return false;
}
}
}
build.gradle
apply plugin: 'java'
configurations {
lintChecks
}
ext {
VERSION_LINT_API = '24.3.1'
VERSION_LINT_API_TESTS = '24.3.1'
}
dependencies {
implementation fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])
implementation "com.android.tools.lint:lint-api:$VERSION_LINT_API"
implementation "com.android.tools.lint:lint-checks:$VERSION_LINT_API"
testImplementation "com.android.tools.lint:lint-tests:$VERSION_LINT_API_TESTS"
}
jar {
manifest {
attributes('Lint-Registry': 'br.com.edsilfer.lint_rules.resources.IssueRegistry')
}
}
sourceCompatibility = "1.7"
targetCompatibility = "1.7"
TestVariableNameDetector.java
private static final String ARG_DEFAULT_LINT_SUCCESS_LOG = "No warnings.";
#Override
protected Detector getDetector() {
return new VariableNameDetector();
}
#Override
protected List<Issue> getIssues() {
return Collections.singletonList(Issues.ISSUE_001);
}
public void test_file_with_no_variables_with_length_equals_01() throws Exception {
assertEquals(
ARG_DEFAULT_LINT_SUCCESS_LOG,
lintProject(java("assets/Test.java", "public class Test {public String sampleVariable;}"))
);
}
public void test_file_with_variables_with_length_equals_01() throws Exception {
assertEquals(
ARG_DEFAULT_LINT_SUCCESS_LOG,
lintProject(java("assets/Test3.java", "public class Test {public String a;bnvhgvhj}"))
);
}
}
P.S.: on Java's module I do not have access to assetsor res folder, that is the reason why I've created a String.java and I'm using java(to, source) in my Unit test - I assumed that this java method does the same as the xml from the tutorial link I referenced at the top of this question.
It turned out that in my case the problem was with the JUnit itself. I think that the way I was attempting to simulate the file was wrong. The text below is part of the README.md of a sample project that I've created in order to document what I've learned from this API and answers the question in the title:
Create
Create a new Android Project;
Create a new Java Library Module - Custom Lint Rules are packaged into .jar libraries once they are ready, therefore the easiest way to implement them using them is inside a Java Module Library;
On module's build.gradle:
add target and source compatibility to Java 1.7;
add dependencies for lint-api, lint-checks and test dependencies;
add jar packing task containing two attributes: Manifest-Version and Lint-Registry, set the first to 1.0 and the second as the full path to a class that will later on contain the issue's catalog;
add a default tasl assemble;
[OPTIONAL]: add a task that will copy the generated .jar into ~/.android/lint;
Check REF001 and choose a Detector that best suits your needs, based on it create and implement a class to fulfill the Detector's role;
Still based on REF0001 chosen file, create and implement a Checker class, later referring to it inside Detector's createJavaVisitor() method;
for the sake of SRP, do not place Checker in the same file of Detector's class;
Copy the generated .jar file from build/lib to ~/.android/lint - if you added a task on build.gradle that does this you can skip this step;
Restart the computer - once created and moved into ~/.android/lint, the Custom Rules should be read by Lint next time the program starts. In order to have the alert boxes inside Android Studio, it is enough to invalidate caches and restart the IDE, however, to have your custom rules caught on Lint Report when ./gradlew check, it might be necessary to restart your computer;
Testing Detectors and Checkers
Testing Custom Rules is not an easy task to do - mainly due the lack of documentation for official APIs. This section will present two approaches for dealing with this. The main goal of this project is to create custom rules that will be run against real files, therefore, test files will be necessary for testing them. They can be places in src/test/resources folder from your Lint Java Library Module;
Approach 01: LintDetectorTest
Make sure you've added all test dependencies - checkout sample project's build.gradle;
Copy EnhancedLintDetectorTest.java and FileUtils.java into your project's test directory;
There is a known bug with Android Studio that prevents it from seeing files from src/test/resources folder, these files are a workaround for that;
EnhancedLintDetectorTest.java should return all issues that will be subject of tests. A nice way to do so is getting them from Issue Registry;
Create a test class that extends from EnhancedLintDetectorTest.java;
Implement getDetector() method returning an instance of the Detector to be tested;
Use lintFiles("test file path taking resources dir as root") to perform the check of the Custom Rules and use its result object to assert the tests;
Note that LintDetectorTest.java derives from TestCase.java, therefore, you're limited to JUnit 3.
Approach 02: Lint JUnit Rule
You might have noticed that Approach 01 might be a little overcomplicated, despite the fact that you're limited to JUnit 3 features. Because of that GitHub user a11n created a Lint JUnit Rule that allows the test of Custom Lint Rules in a easier way that counts with JUnit 4 and up features. Please, refer to his project README.md for details about how to create tests using this apprach.
Currently, Lint JUnit Rule do not correct the root dir for test files and you might no be able to see the tests passing from the IDE - however it works when test are run from command line. An issue and PR were created in order to fix this bug.
I'm not sure how to use the AST Api, however I'm personally using Psi and this is one of my lint checks that are working for me.
public final class RxJava2MethodCheckReturnValueDetector extends Detector implements Detector.JavaPsiScanner {
static final Issue ISSUE_METHOD_MISSING_CHECK_RETURN_VALUE =
Issue.create("MethodMissingCheckReturnValue", "Method is missing the #CheckReturnValue annotation",
"Methods returning RxJava Reactive Types should be annotated with the #CheckReturnValue annotation.",
MESSAGES, 8, WARNING,
new Implementation(RxJava2MethodCheckReturnValueDetector.class, EnumSet.of(JAVA_FILE, TEST_SOURCES)));
#Override public List<Class<? extends PsiElement>> getApplicablePsiTypes() {
return Collections.<Class<? extends PsiElement>>singletonList(PsiMethod.class);
}
#Override public JavaElementVisitor createPsiVisitor(#NonNull final JavaContext context) {
return new CheckReturnValueVisitor(context);
}
static class CheckReturnValueVisitor extends JavaElementVisitor {
private final JavaContext context;
CheckReturnValueVisitor(final JavaContext context) {
this.context = context;
}
#Override public void visitMethod(final PsiMethod method) {
final PsiType returnType = method.getReturnType();
if (returnType != null && Utils.isRxJava2TypeThatRequiresCheckReturnValueAnnotation(returnType)) {
final PsiAnnotation[] annotations = method.getModifierList().getAnnotations();
for (final PsiAnnotation annotation : annotations) {
if ("io.reactivex.annotations.CheckReturnValue".equals(annotation.getQualifiedName())) {
return;
}
}
final boolean isMethodMissingCheckReturnValueSuppressed = context.getDriver().isSuppressed(context, ISSUE_METHOD_MISSING_CHECK_RETURN_VALUE, method);
if (!isMethodMissingCheckReturnValueSuppressed) {
context.report(ISSUE_METHOD_MISSING_CHECK_RETURN_VALUE, context.getLocation(method.getNameIdentifier()), "Method should have #CheckReturnValue annotation");
}
}
}
}
}
Checkout the many more I wrote here.

How to access Android resources e.g. dimensions in libgdx?

I need to get dimensions defined in XML files under Android folder from classes in Core directory of libgdx.
I know I can use assets folder for accessing drawables. But how about dimensions or strings?
You can't access this kind of platform specific information directly in the core project. But this can be achieved by interfacing these functions with a Facade, providing a platform-specific implementation for each target.
In libgdx-wiki there is an example for platform specific interfaces.
public interface PlatformSpecificStuff {
public String getString();
public int getDimensions();
}
// In -Android project
public class AndroidSpecificStuff implements PlatformSpecificStuff {
public String getString(){
// do whaterver you want with the resources.
return "string resource";
}
public int getDimensions(){
// do whaterver you want with the resources.
return 42;
}
}
// In -Desktop project
public class DesktopSpecificStuff implements PlatformSpecificStuff {
public String getString(){
// there is no xml or any andorid specific resource
return null;
}
public int getDimensions(){
// there is no xml or any andorid specific resource
return 0;
}
}
public class MyGame implements ApplicationListener {
private final PlatformSpecificStuff pss;
public MyGame(PlatformSpecificStuff pss) {
this.pss= pss;
}
}
Update: I don't know what are trying to accomplish by getting the dimensions as android resources. But you are probably in wrong track. If you want to support multiple screen sizes, have a look at viewports

How to determine if Android Application is started with JUnit testing instrumentation?

I need to determine in runtime from code if the application is run under TestInstrumentation.
I could initialize the test environment with some env/system variable, but Eclipse ADK launch configuration would not allow me to do that.
Default Android system properties and environment do not to have any data about it. Moreover, they are identically same, whether the application is started regularly or under test.
This one could be a solution: Is it possible to find out if an Android application runs as part of an instrumentation test but since I do not test activities, all proposed methods there won't work. The ActivityManager.isRunningInTestHarness() method uses this under the hood:
SystemProperties.getBoolean("ro.test_harness")
which always returns false in my case. (To work with the hidden android.os.SystemProperties class I use reflection).
What else can I do to try to determine from inside the application if it's under test?
I have found one hacky solution: out of the application one can try to load a class from the testing package. The appication classloader surprisingly can load classes by name from the testing project if it was run under test. In other case the class is not found.
private static boolean isTestMode() {
boolean result;
try {
application.getClassLoader().loadClass("foo.bar.test.SomeTest");
// alternatively (see the comment below):
// Class.forName("foo.bar.test.SomeTest");
result = true;
} catch (final Exception e) {
result = false;
}
return result;
}
I admit this is not elegant but it works. Will be grateful for the proper solution.
The isTestMode() solution did not work for me on Android Studio 1.2.1.1. Almighty Krzysztof from our company tweaked your method by using:
Class.forName("foo.bar.test.SomeTest");
instead of getClassLoader(). Thanks for Krzysztof!
We created a solution to pass parameters to the MainActivity and use it inside the onCreate method, enabling you to define how the Activity will be created.
In MainActivity class, we created some constants, which could also be an enum. We created a static attribute too.
public class MainActivity {
public static final int APPLICATION_MODE = 5;
public static final int UNIT_TEST_MODE = 10;
public static final int OTHER_MODE = 15;
public static int activityMode = APPLICATION_MODE;
(...)
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle icicle) {
super.onCreate(icicle);
switch (activityMode) {
case OTHER_MODE:
(...)
break;
case UNIT_TEST_MODE:
Log.d(TAG, "Is in Test Mode!");
break;
case APPLICATION_MODE:
(...)
break;
}
(...)
}
(...)
}
We made MainActivityTest class abstract, created a setApplicationMode and called this method inside the setUp() method, before calling the super.setUp() method.
public abstract class MainActivityTest extends ActivityInstrumentationTestCase2<MainActivity> {
protected void setUp() throws Exception {
setApplicationMode(); // <=====
super.setUp();
getActivity();
(...)
}
(...)
public void setApplicationMode() {
MainActivity.activityMode = MainActivity.UNIT_TEST_MODE;
}
}
All other test classes inherit from MainActivityTest, if we want it to have another behaviour, we can simply override the setApplicationMode method.
public class OtherMainActivityTest extends MainActivityTest {
(...)
#Override
public void setApplicationMode() {
MainActivity.activityMode = MainActivity.OTHER_MODE;
}
}
The user nathan-almeida is the friend that is co-author of this solution.

Dynamically loading a library at runtime from an Android application

I followed the exact steps given in the post below:
Is it possible to dynamically load a library at runtime from an Android application?
I am using and android 2.2 phone for testing and getting an error which is driving me crazy :(
07-27 01:24:55.692: W/System.err(14319): java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: com.shoaib.AndroidCCL.MyClass in loader dalvik.system.DexClassLoader#43abbc20
Can someone help me what to do now..i have tried various suggested solutions on different posts
I was wondering whether this was feasible so I wrote the following class:
package org.shoaib.androidccl;
import android.util.Log;
public class MyClass {
public MyClass() {
Log.d(MyClass.class.getName(), "MyClass: constructor called.");
}
public void doSomething() {
Log.d(MyClass.class.getName(), "MyClass: doSomething() called.");
}
}
And I packaged it in a DEX file that I saved on my device's SD card as /sdcard/testdex.jar.
Then I wrote the program below, after having removed MyClass from my Eclipse project and cleaned it:
public class Main extends Activity {
#SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main);
try {
final String libPath = Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory() + "/testdex.jar";
final File tmpDir = getDir("dex", 0);
final DexClassLoader classloader = new DexClassLoader(libPath, tmpDir.getAbsolutePath(), null, this.getClass().getClassLoader());
final Class<Object> classToLoad = (Class<Object>) classloader.loadClass("org.shoaib.androidccl.MyClass");
final Object myInstance = classToLoad.newInstance();
final Method doSomething = classToLoad.getMethod("doSomething");
doSomething.invoke(myInstance);
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
I guess your problem lies on the way you package MyClass in a DEX. How do you do that?
I followed Shlublu's thread and tried myself and succeeded. I don't know how to "package MyClass in a DEX", so I simply build an android apk and put it in the sdcard. And the code worked.
Are you wraping MyClass in a classes.dex? DexClassLoader will only look for classes.dex in your jar/dex. Maybe you can first try what I did (build an signed apk instead of jar, but you don't need to install the apk), and see if it's working. Hope this helps!

Is there a way to use a DexClassLoader without using reflection *everywhere*?

I have a library that I plan on using in dex form. I want to compile directly against this library, but not export it. Instead I want to drop it in my resources and use a class loader to actually instantiate it.
So here's my library:
public class Foo {
public doFoo(String message) {
}
public doFoo(int count, String message) {
}
}
Now I want to call doFoo(). A lot. More than it's probably reasonable to use reflection for. Right now it works with:
public class FooConsumer {
private final DexClassLoader fooLoader;
public FooConsumer(DexClassLoader fooLoader) {
this.fooLoader = fooLoader;
}
public void go() {
Class<?> fooClass = fooLoader.loadClass("com.library.Foo");
Object fooInstance = fooClass.newInstance();
Method fooMethodDoFoo = fooClass.getMethod("doFoo", String.class);
fooMethodDoFoo.invoke(fooInstance, "Hello World");
}
This is obviously fugly. Especially since I haven't included any of the exception handling, as there are half a dozen throwables to catch in there. I could cache a bunch of stuff, helping me with speed a bit, but not a lot.
Normally I'd have both aware of a third library that has an interface, but the library has some static methods and I can't edit it anyway. It'd be really nice if I could do something like:
public class FooConsumer {
private FooAccessor accessor;
public FooConsumer(DexClassLoader fooLoader) {
Object fooInstance = fooLoader.loadClass("com.library.Foo").newInstance();
Log.i("TEST", "fooInstance: " + fooInstance);
this.accessor = new FooAccessor(fooInstance);
}
public void go() {
accessor.doFoo("Hello World");
}
private static class FooAccessor {
private Foo fooInstance;
public FooAccessor(Object instance) {
fooInstance = (Foo)instance;
}
public void doFoo(String message) {
fooInstance.doFoo(message);
}
}
}
See what I did there? The inner class is just a wrapper around the Foo object, I've linked against it, but not exported it, and all is good in the world. But it doesn't work. In logcat I get
I/TEST: fooInstance: com.library.Foo#413b1b68
E/AndroidRuntime: java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: com.library.Foo
...
Is there a way to have FooAccessor use the class loader I passed in? Or is the use of class loaders a damnation into reflection hell.
You might want to take a look at this gist.
https://gist.github.com/nickcaballero/7045993
It uses reflection to merge the new DexClassLoader to in-stock BaseDexClassLoader.

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