We can find some very good open source libraries for android. I want to know what is the best way to integrate them to our own projects in Android studio. Here are some basic methods:
Copy the source code and resource files into our own project. We need to change a lot of codes (the package name, and the name in xml,etc)
If jar files is provided, I just create libs folder for my project and copy the jar files inside. And add the jar file in Module setting's dependencies. But unfortunately I got a lot of error messages like "Gradle: Package com.google.gson doesn't exist".
Is there a general rule to add third party source or jar files into an existing android studio project? Thanks
I prefer to use central repository for dependencies management. So for gson 2.3 dependency you should add to build.gradle file:
Specify that you want to use maven central repository for your dependency
repositories {jcenter()}
Add compile dependency to gson 2.6.2
dependencies {compile 'com.google.code.gson:gson:2.6.2'}
Android Studio as well as your CI server should easily build your project now. And you can continue app development.
I prefer to use central repository for dependencies management because:
easier scope management - some libraries are only for testing, some should be included to apk and some are part of running environment (like android.jar itself)
easier transitive dependencies management - it is quite hard to collect libraries dependencies and if you use "jar-with-dependencies" you could get error "class already added" during dexing
lighter repository and easier dependency upgrade
Examples:
Robolectric jar should be used for unit testing only and shouldn't be part of apk itself
Repository is clean from different folders with jars, checkout takes much less. No needs to download and replace old jars with new jars
I should notice:
Not many libraries are in maven central and you should make some effort to use them such way in your project
You could much easier get to "class already added" error during dexing with central repository approach
You can mix usage of dependencies from central repository and from lib folder, but I prefer to use only one way for simplicity
Put the Gson jar (in my case, gson-2.2.4.jar) into the libs folder
Right click it and hit 'Add as library'
Ensure that compile files('libs/gson-2.2.4.jar') is in your build.gradle file
Do a clean build (you can probably do this fine in Android Studio, but to make sure I navigated in a terminal to the root folder of my app and typed gradlew clean. I'm on Mac OS X, the command might be different on your system
This series of steps was taken from Android Studio: Add jar as library? and is not my original answer. I am posting them here, again, because your question was the third in search results on Google when looking up this same topic. Hence, copying.
All credits to the one who wrote the steps.
Download & Copy Your .jar file in libs folder then adding one line to build.gradle:
dependencies {
compile fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar']) ----> AS creates this
compile 'com.google.code.gson:gson:2.3.4' ----------> I added this one
}
Do not forget to click "Sync now"
I´m using Android Studio 1.1.0
Download and copy your jar to libs folder then add the following to your app.gradle file and SYNC.
dependencies {
compile 'com.google.code.gson:gson:{version_you_need}'
}
repositories{
flatDir{
dirs 'libs'
}
}
Related
I am trying to setup parse server in android studio.the problem which i face i am not able to found parse jar file and how i add in lib folder??
where I found jar file how we connect with parse server
I refer this tutorial http://brainwashinc.com/2017/02/17/setting-parse-sdk-android/
Downloaded SDK
Put jar file in ‘libs’ dir same level as project ‘java’ dir under src/main
Added Gradle line for jar file to build.gradle (for app module, not project):
I notice the guide you linked doesn't mention specifying the fileTree for jars.
In your module-level build.gradle, make sure you have this line:
dependencies {
implementation fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])
...
}
This will tell gradle that it should look for .jar files in the libs directory. Without this line, gradle has no way of finding your jar file.
Please let me know if this solves your issue!
The tutorial you are referring to is very old (according to the url path), and contains outdated steps for importing Parse SDK into Android project.
So to answer your question and add little background:
where I found jar file how we connect with parse server
Parse stopped distributing SDK .jar artifacts in 2017, so there is no .jar file to download. (I'm not counting old artifacts still hanging around JFrog's Bintray) More background info here.
The current way of importing Parse SDK is to add it as a gradle dependency.
Since they're distributing artifacts via Jitpack, which is not included by default in new Android Studio project, you must add this to your root build.gradle.
allprojects {
repositories {
...
maven { url "https://jitpack.io" }
}
}
And then add the library to your module build.gradle (In most cases this would mean app/build.gradle). You can find latest version on Jitpack project page.
dependencies {
implementation "com.github.parse-community.Parse-SDK-Android:parse:latest_version"
}
For more information and to avoid similar problems with outdated instructions, I recommend reading the official docs.
If I have project-A which is a SDK and its being exported as a AAR into project-B which imports the module as a AAR how could i go about linking the two modules so changes made to the AAR in project-B don't have to be duplicated in the original project-A?
Create a Project A (library), create project B(application) and put them in the same project.
update the settings.gradle file like this:
include ':projecta', ':projectb'
And make sure the projects are in the same directory
.gradle
.idea
projecta
projectb
etc
By doing this you won't have to explicitly add the aar to project B because they will be in the same project and both automatically be built when you make a release.
Edit about linking with multiple projects
In the case you want to have links to multiple projects your best bet is to create a maven repository.
Doing so will allow you to use your project in the following way:
build.gradle
dependencies{
implementation com.mydomain.projecta:1.0.1
}
Any project you want to use you project A with can be used by writing the line above.
When you update project A you update your maven server and change the version to 1.0.2
You also will have to update the dependencies in the linked projects:
dependencies{
implementation com.mydomain.projecta:1.0.2
}
I think that is the most stress free way to distribute your SDK in one place and easily resuse it in multiple places.
Here are some links about setting up a maven server
https://inthecheesefactory.com/blog/how-to-setup-private-maven-repository/en
https://www.androidauthority.com/add-a-github-library-to-android-studio-using-maven-jcenter-jitpack-777050/
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')
}
Ok, so, I'm developing an app for the Amazon FireTV, so I have to use Eclipse.
I'm trying to use this socket.io Java client library: https://github.com/nkzawa/socket.io-client.java
at the bottom of this post, i included the installation instructions, which I'm not really sure how to make work with my existing Eclipse project (I'm new to maven). so from my understanding, do i just add a pom.xml file and a test folder? Then paste in their "maven central code" into the pom.xml? Will this cause any issues with the other code in my project? Or, can I just copy and paste all their SRC code into my project, since it's MIT licensed? I'd rather learn how to do this the proper way. The project is not in JAR format, so I was thinking maybe copying the folder structure into my project then using the Project Properties, Add Library option to connect to my code? Maybe?
Their installation instructions, (available in their readme.md):
The latest artifact is available on Maven Central. Add the following dependency to your pom.xml.
<dependencies>
<dependency>
<groupId>com.github.nkzawa</groupId>
<artifactId>socket.io-client</artifactId>
<version>0.3.0</version>
</dependency>
</dependencies>
Or to install it manually, please refer dependencies to pom.xml.
Add it as a gradle dependency for Android Studio, in build.gradle:
compile 'com.github.nkzawa:socket.io-client:0.3.0'
So, I learned that Maven Central has JAR files available for download. That way, you can just include them in your project via the Project Properties dependencies options. Without having to learn Maven.
You need to first understand how Maven works (and what pom.xml stands for). Maven is a tool that helps you automatically install dependencies (files need) for a given project. E.g if a project needs to process json files, it will need to "import" a json library which will then be a dependency for that project. When you add the dependency file above to your project, and run Maven install, it goes and fetches all the dependencies for your socket.io-client to work.
Unfortunately, Maven does work very well in building android application projects and can be fairly complex to setup correctly (from my limited experience). I would advise that you manually download the jar dependencies and then add them to your android classpath if you are not keen on investing a lot of time learning to use Maven.
To manually install the files .. you can create a default maven project (http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/39279/create-a-new-maven-project-in-eclipse/) in eclipse, add the dependency file above to your pom.xml and run Maven-install. This will download the dependencies you need to your Maven local repository. You can then copy them from there to your android project.
Regarding installing the socket.io client you can find more on these steps here
http://denvycom.com/blog/socket-io-java-android-without-maven/
First of all, I know how to add a local library to the build.gradle file, it was discussed in several questions here already (which are all basically the same), see here, here and here. But you have to hardcode the paths in the compile files('/path/to/lib.jar') statements in the build.gradle file, which isn't nice, not redistributable, etc, IF you use a library not within the project's folder structure. I prefer to maintain this library for all my projects in the same place (so it is always up to date for all projects etc.). So I would like to know how to add a library, which is not available via Maven, to an Android-Studio project using gradle, in a sane way, given that the library is added as a global library in AS's preferences.
What I have done so far:
I use Google's new Android-Studio, which uses gradle for the build management, to build an Xposed framework module. For that, I have to include an external library, XposedLibrary, which I downloaded from the respective Github repository to keep it up-to-date.
It contains the jar XposedLibrary/XposedBridgeApi.jar, which I added in AS as a global library (Ctrl+Shift+Alt+S -> Global Libraries -> green plus to add the folder XposedLibrary). The compilation failed, complaining that it doesn't know the imported classes. So I had to manually add the library to the build.gradle file, adding the respective line in the dependencies like so:
dependencies {
compile files('libs/android-support-v4.jar')
compile files('/home/sebastian/dev/android/XposedMods/XposedLibrary/XposedBridgeApi.jar')
}
I tried out to just add compile files('XposedBridgeApi.jar') or compile files('XposedLibrary/XposedBridgeApi.jar') but this didn't work.
So, what is a nice way to add an AS global library to the dependencies without using full paths? (I don't like the idea of symlinking to the jar file from within the lib/ folder ;) )
when referencing a file via
files("relative/path/to/a.jar")
the relative path is evaluated relative to the buildscript this snippet is in. so when your build.gradle file is located in let's say '/a/project/build.gradle' then the jar should be in '/a/project/relative/path/to/a.jar'. In a multiproject gradle build you can put the the jar in a folder relative to the root - project and reference it in all subprojects via
rootProject.files("relative/to/root/a.jar")
hope that helps,
cheers,
René
This post describes how to get XposedBridgeApi.jar working with Gradle in Android Sudio: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=41904291&postcount=1570
I think here is the proper way:
Import Xposed in Android Studio
Edit the /app/build.gradle like this:
dependencies {
compile fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])
provided fileTree(dir: 'deps', include: ['*.jar'])
}
The best way is to use "provided files('src/XposedBridgeApi-54.jar')" as the lib isn't allowed to be included in the module, because the XposedBridge is already installed on the phone.
With Android Studio, you have to first understand that the IDE uses the same model for a project that your command line build (gradle) uses. That is why the Project Structure dialog has a pop up that says edits here will have no effect. So adding a global library will also have no effect.
The correct way to fix such issues is to edit your gradle build scripts so that the command line gradle build works properly. Then you should just have to click on "Tools | Android | Sync Project with Gradle files" menu item to refresh the project structure in the IDE.
Finally, if your dependencies are not going to be in Maven Central, then you'd have to create a local maven repository. Read the thread here: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/adt-dev/eCvbCCZwZjs/vGfg-4vNy9MJ for background.