I have a standard app.
I need to change some text, settings and graphics per client.
This way every client gets the app, customized for their brand.
I want to do this, by making the standard app a library.
I can now overwrite text in the string.xml
but when I want to change (for example) the splashscreen.png i get this error:
Error: No resource found that matches the given name (at 'drawable' with value '#drawable/splashscreen.png')
What am I doing wrong? Or is there a better way to tackle this problem?
thanks in advance.
Ok I found the problem.
I had my default drawables in the directory "drawable".
When I changed the directory name to "drawable-ldpi" everything worked fine.
Did you link the standard app as a library in the white-labeled app? When that is done, just place the new image/drawable in the res/drawable folder of the white-label app. Make sure the image/drawable has the same names as the image/drawable in the standard app.
You might want to read this http://goo.gl/j9EMc
I can't add comment to Steven Straatemans' accepted answer but in this article http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/resources/localization.html it is said that all your default resources should be present. Thus, you should add splashscreen.png to default files too. In the article they speak about locale but the same pays true for all the resources.
Whenever the application runs in a locale for which you have not provided locale-specific text, Android will load the default strings from res/values/strings.xml. If this default file is absent, or if it is missing a string that your application needs, then your application will not run and will show an error.
Related
I've made an app that runs in multiple languages, but if the user runs it in an unsupported language, will it display the main one?
If it is the case, how can I make it display in English instead?
You are right.
Just put your english strings on the strings.xml file, so it will be loaded by default if no other language matches the phone lang.
Hope this helps.
if the user runs it in a not supported language, will it display the main one?
The default language, yes See the docs for detailed information.
Whenever the application runs in a locale for which you have not provided locale-specific text, Android will load the default strings from res/values/strings.xml. If this default file is absent, or if it is missing a string that your application needs, then your application will not run and will show an error.
how can I make it to display English instead?
Also see the docs for that, you should use english in the default strings.xml
How to Create Default Resources
Put the application's default text in a file with the following location and name:
res/values/strings.xml (required directory)
The text strings in res/values/strings.xml should use the default language, which is the language that you expect most of your application's users to speak.
Depends really what language are you using in your string.xml (main one). If there is no language case for what the user selects in the Settings, the app will load in the default values from the strings.xml
Language which you want to load by default then put that strings.xml
in values
folder without any suffix with values folder
In fact when you run your app, the app will check if the locale is available thanks to the string.xml contains in the value-locale folder. If nothing is found the string.xml in values is used so just put english traduction in your string.xml.
I hope to be clear.
I am a bit noob in Android and recently I found out that I can use the predefined string that Android provides as #android:string/cancel or #android:string/ok. At first I thought it was a good idea to use them because is a way to reuse code, but now I am not so sure about that.
What if somebody with a device configured with a language that I don't support install my app?
I assume that the app will use a default language, probably english, but those string from #android:string will get translated to the user's language, so he will end up with a mix of languages.
It this true? What do you think about use #android:string?
Thanks!
EDIT: Apparently my question hasn't been understood properly. I am NOT asking about how to support different languages. My question is about the convenience of use strings defined on #string:android, if it is correct to use them or can be lead to undesirable situation like a mix up of languages in the same application.
To ensure that your strings are appearing properly on devices configured with different languages, you'll want to create different values directories for different languages. For example, your default string values would be kept under values/strings.xml and French string values would be kept under values-fr/strings.xml.
The Android Developer website gives you plenty of information for supporting different languages in your application. http://developer.android.com/training/basics/supporting-devices/languages.html
The android: values (strings, icons, themes, etc.) will differ between devices and Android versions. If you want to use them, it's safest to copy them into your project. So for strings, you wouldn't have to worry about partial translation.
In the ressource folder of your app (res), ther is a folder "values" in it, and in this folder is the string ressource xml (strings.xml).
Usually, your app selects the strings from this file.
But you can add other value folders like this: Just create a new folder and name it "values-countryCode", for example "values-ch" for Switzerland ;)
Your app automaticly chooses the right string ressource, depending on your device's langague settings. If the langague of your device isn't available, it just takes the sting ressource of the default "values" folder.
A list if the country-codes is here.
Further information can be found here.
Hope I helped, and this is what you're looking for!
I want to add a feature on my app to let users give a feedback on data. (for example to report errors or mistakes).
Is there a standard icon for it?
please, visit your android-sdk-* folder, there should be default set of icons and pictures in the ./platforms/android-XX/data/res/drawable-Xdpi/ where "XX" and "X" stand for your android version and screen size. all the standard icons are there.
There are a few system icons whose filenames match 'feedback', but none of them look appropriate to me.
Best I could find is "ic_menu_report_image.png".
I've been using "ic_menu_start_conversation.png".
Whether it’s useful for your app mainly depends on the iconset you’re already using. In a chat-app for example, this icon would be a poor choice :)
Note: this icon is marked as protected. You'll have to copy the images to your source manually.
Because these resources can change between platform versions, you should not reference these icons using the Android platform resource IDs (i.e. menu icons under android.R.drawable). If you want to use any icons or other internal drawable resources, you should store a local copy of those icons or drawables in your application resources, then reference the local copy from your application code. In that way, you can maintain control over the appearance of your icons, even if the system's copy changes.
I wish to localize my app and of course the text that is specific to my app i will need to localize but does some standard resources exist for standard Text like the OK and CANCEL
and GPS not activated etc?
Or do i have to localize absolutely everything?
Is there is some global text resources that ships with android how do i gain access to it?
Thanks in advance
The android.R.string contains the values used by the platform.
It would be better to define your own values as there have been inconsistencies reported with the android.R.string values. Read about it here
I think that you should add your own resources and translations, as the predefined resources can change between OS versions. I don't think that there common resources that you should use - the different stock applications have their own resources/translations.
There are for example some predefined android icons you can access using R.android but the recommendation is to make a local copy.
If you create an activity and set a label without disabling the title bar you will see a title that uses a gradient as a background. Is there a way for me to re-use this resource without re-implementing it?
Thanks
I believe the background for this comes from the resource that is called "activity_title_bar.9.png" that is in the system drawable folder.
Here is a copy of it:
If you download it from here you'll have to rename it using the .9.png suffix. You can also find it in your SDK. The path is "SDK\platforms\android-4\data\res\drawable"
Note android-4 could be any other number that you happen to have installed on your machine.
Generally if you are wanting to use a system resource like this best practice is to save your own copy of it and include it in your project. Resources like this are subject to change at any time with new versions of the OS (or even with device specific skins that Manufacturers add on to the OS) So if you rely on the system copy from inside your app then you have no way to know for sure that it will look the same across all devices.