Accessing a resource in Android project for a Titanium Module - android

I am developing an application for Titanium, and therefore building a module from an Android application. But a module for Titanium generates a project in Android which has no autogenerated R file.
I need to load a bitmap image but as I dont have the R file so I cant access to my resources by the id. I have thought about accessing to this bitmap by path..But also struggling to do that, as I have read about something like in the Android .apk doesnt have folders...Dont really understand it to be honest.
Can I have a folder in my Android project and access to files on it with some path like #folder/resource/item.png? Then store it in an InputStream for example.
Thanks a lot.
David.

We just recently added support in git (our master branch) for bundling a "res" folder with your Titanium module. If you grab a new build, you should be able to put your "res" folder under "platform" in your module, and it everything there will be automatically bundled in your app.
To access the resources under Res (since the R.java is generated for the app and not the module), we have a helper class called TiRHelper that gives you access to any resource in your module like so:
int xyz = TiRHelper.getApplicationResource("id.xyz")

Related

Using a linked file in Assets directory - FileNotFound Exception

I am trying to link to an external file from a shared repository between my iOS and Android apps. This does not present a problem for iOS, but it does for Android. My current solution is to create a copy of the file from the external repository and place it in my projects Assets folder. This solution works, but is not much of a good one in my opinion and involves too many extra steps.
Using Eclipse, I am able to link to a resource. It's as simple as copying a file into my Assets folder and being prompted to either copy the file or link to the resource. If I link to the resource and try to run my app, I get a FileNotFoundException. If I copy the file instead, the app file is found just fine.
Ideally, I'd like to link to the file so that when I pull a new update from git then I don't need to copy the file over every single time. I'd prefer to link to the file.
I don't know what Eclipse uses "under the covers" for "Link here" drag-and-drop stuff. However, it is an Eclipse-ism. Android's build tools are fairly isolated from Eclipse proper, and so they won't know about those links.
Using a hardlink, or perhaps a symlink, at the OS X filesystem level should work, as both Eclipse and Android's build tools should treat it like a local file.

what files to share android app sourcecode

What is the best way to share android app with friend like i send him the whole project files or should i delete some files like cache or gen folder or something.
i just started in android development and i want the right way to share app without having problems on the other side.
also i sow some files in the project like android private library and bin folder should i share them to or is there files i need to delete before that ?
To share the app just for running - share the apk file.
To share the app for development purposes ( sharing the source code ), share the folders
src
res
lib ( If you've added some external dependencies )
assets ( If you've added something extra there )
And following files
AndroidManifest.xml
project.properties
You can safely ignore following
bin
gen
and others, as these are automatically generated.
You can delete the gen and bin directorys, when we complie or build the project, files in the two directory will recreate.
You can upload code you wanted to share in www.github.com, it also provides private mode, where you can choose members who have access to your repository
If your don't want to share the code, then you can share only .apk file of bin folder

Share assets among multiple projects

As we all know by now, Android's Eclipse+ADT IDE framework doesn't support (re)using assets from a Library Project.
Instead, any asset resources used by an application must be stored in the assets/ directory of the application project itself.
My problem is that I have 8 (eight!) applications using the same Library Project that uses assets and as a result of the aforementioned limitation I have to copy/duplicate and sync each of the asset files to all 8 (eight!) applications.
This is a maintenance nightmare and it is error prone, too.
Any idea how to work around this by sharing a single copy of each asset among multiple application projects?
Note: I'd like to avoid an OS or filesystem dependent solution like hardlinks or softlinks. I prefer a solution like context.getAssets(), if it indeed does the work.
Maybe things have changed since you posted the question, but I was able to reuse asset files from another project in my Android project. I created my project's assets folder as a linked folder. I posted a sample project to show how it works.

How can I access another APK file put within my Android project?

I have an apk file. I create other android project. I place the apk file within that project. Is it possible to access the Activities in the apk from within the new project (similar to importing classes in a jar)?
You cannot link one APK into another. You can either include the sources and resources from it (perhaps as an Android library project) to access its contents directly, or you can require that the user install it as well and you can invoke its intents.

how to reference an asset in a library project

In a class belonging to a Library project I call:
webview.loadUrl("file:///android_asset/info.html", null);
Unfortunately, this only works if I duplicate the file info.html into the Application's project asset folder as well.
Is there a way to tell an Android library code: "look for this file in the library's assets folder, not in the application's assets folder" ?
This answer is out of date, the gradle build system and AAR files support assets.
From the Android Docs:
Library projects cannot include raw assets
The tools do not support the use of raw asset files (saved in the assets/ directory) in a library project. Any asset resources used by an application must be stored in the assets/ directory of the application project itself. However, resource files saved in the res/ directory are supported.
If you want to include files from a Library project, you'll need to put it in the resources instead of the assets. If you're trying to load HTML files from your library project into a WebView, this means that you'll have to go a more roundabout method than the usual asset URL. Instead you'll have to read the resource data and use something like loadData.
This is now possible using the Gradle build system.
Testing with Android Studio 0.5.0 and v0.9 of the Android Gradle plugin, I've found that files such as
MyLibProject/src/main/assets/test.html
are correctly packaged in the final application and can be accessed at runtime via the expected URL:
file:///android_asset/test.html
You can achieve this by creating a symbolic link in the project's asset folder that points to the directory in the library project.
Then you can access as below:
webview.loadUrl("file:///android_asset/folder_in_a_libary_project/info.html", null);
Okay. Ive been stressing out and losing sleep about this for a while. Im the type of person that loves API creation, and HATES complicated integration.
There arent many solutions around on the internet, so im quite proud of what Ive discovered with a bit of Eclipse Hackery.
It turns out that when you put a file in the Android Lib's /assets folder. The target apk will capture this and place it on the root of the APK archive. Thus, making general access fail.
This can be resolved by simply creating a Raw Java Library, and placing all assets in there, ie (JAVALIB)/assets/fileX.txt.
You can in turn then include this as a Java Build Path Folder Source in
Project > Properties > Java Build Path > Source > Link Source.
Link Source
Click on Variables. and Add New Variable, ie VAR_NAME_X. location : ../../(relative_path_to_assets_project)
Click Ok
Now, when you build and run your app, the assets folder in the APK will contain your (GLOBAL Library) files as you intended.
No need to reconfigure android internals or nothing. Its all capable within a few clicks of Eclipse.
I confirm that Daniel Grant's approach works for at least the following situation: target project does NOT have an asset folder (or the folder is empty, so you can safely delete it).
I did not setup any variable.
Simply setup a LinkSource as follows (just an example)
Linked folder location: /home/matthew/workspace_moonblink/assetsForAdvocacy/assets
Folder name : assets
The "assetsForAdvocacy" is a Java project, (created with New- Project - Java Project) with empty src folder, and a new folder named "assets", which now provides the entire assets folder for the target project.
This is a fairly straightforward way within Eclipse to provide assets re-use across many different projects IF they do not already have assets, good enough to get going with. I would probably want to enhance it to become a content provider in the long run, but that is a lot more development.
My project accesses the assets with the following code:
String advocacyFolderInAssets = "no_smoking/"; //a folder underneath assets/
String fn =advocacyFolderInAssets+imageFilename;
Bitmap pristineBitmapForAdvocacy = getBitmapFromAsset(context, fn);
I use Motodev Studio 3.1.0 on Ubuntu. It would not let me 'merge' a new assets folder in the new assets-only project onto an existing assets folder in the target project.
If you want to use a setup where multiple derivate products are created from one library you might consider using svn:externals or similar solution in your SCM system. This will also do the trick that static assets like online help may be versioned seperately from the android source code.
I found this older question, it might help you, too.
This is the official way Google uses to archive this (from the above post): Link

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