I have two separate android app projects that were made in android studio I am trying to combine project 1 into project 2 to make it all one app how would I go about doing this? I know how to do it in eclipse but not in android studio.
Please note they are both of these projects are android applications none of them are android libraries.
Any help would be amazing!
When I import project 1 into project module I get this error on grade build:
Warning:Dependency School Tools Calc lib.gz:SchoolTools:unspecified on project app resolves to an APK archive which is not supported as a compilation dependency. File: /Users/chrisdebrodie/Documents/School Tools Calc lib.gz/SchoolTools/build/outputs/apk/SchoolTools-release-unsigned.apk
You cannot have two "projects" as a single project in Android Studio.
Convert one (or both) project into libraries. Then create a "shell" project to build each app. The shell project is basically empty, or it may have build specific value overrides. The advantage here is that you can modify the library and changes will be immediately reflected in both/all versions. The drawback is that you will have to fix any issues in all projects that result from any change to any library. But you can then create the "combined" project in a similar manner.
After you convert one or both to a library you can create an aar file. This gives you the option to then include that aar as a gradle dependency. Be careful to remember that you will need to re-build the aar every time you modify that project - so if you have an indication as to which is the more stable codebase, go with that for the aar. This gives you the ability to "version control" the main project dependency so that you can make changes to one project without impacting the stability of the other.
Additionally, you can write scripts and use tools like Bamboo or Jenkins to do real-time updates to the aar - but that is like using a "snapshot" dependency. When you change the aar it may compile, but it may break the build of the second project without you knowing it until you do a build on that project. (And yes, you can include a build on that project as a part of the Bamboo or Jenkins script, but it isn't easy.)
There may be other alternatives, but these seem to offer enough options to produce a wide variety of build options.
I write a repo to handle this staff safely and easily: Jacksgong/android-project-combine.
Characteristics:
Just a developing env wrapper, it can't modify projects, safe to use.
Different Android projects develop together at the one Android Studio window.
Find References and Jump into source code rather than .class file on jar package.
Jump out of the each projects compile system and using the official compile system.
Very light, very fast for each time you want to refresh combine project.
Add one project as a module of the another's. This answer explains how to do it. Note that this answer is in response to adding a library dependency, but it will work for your situation as well.
Related
I am creating a java project in IntelliJ (without maven or grandle). The project uses an external library, whose .jar file I’ve put into a /lib directory. After that I had to select at the /lib folder “add as library” to use it.
Now I want to push the project to GitHub, so that some people (who are using IntelliJ as well, but in different versions) can use the project.
Now my question:
Is there a way, that they do not have to do the step “add as a library” themselves?
My first idea was to push also some parts of the .idea folder to GitHub, but I am not sure which ones to push and if that could actually work (especially with different versions of IntelliJ).
Do you have any idea how to solve this issue?
If you are using only IntelliJ for building the project, then yes, you should push the .iml files from the .idea folder (or where they happen to be), since they contain the dependencies configured in IntelliJ.
Note, that projects with multiple contributors typically use a build tool like Maven or Gradle.
This is a special build requirement, which I would use Gradle for. With Gradle you can look up a given folder, like /lib and use all .jar files as dependency.
See Gradle example about exactly what you want.
IntelliJ is handy when you do something simple mostly for learning, but if you want to be a professional one day I highly suggest looking into Gradle. It has a learning curve for sure, but you can achieve such simple tasks like this in your question relatively simply. And as you seem to know, pushing .idea to the repository is really not the nicest thing one can do :)
Just a small additional note: Gradle solves the "different version" problem by including a "Gradle wrapper" inside the repository, so everyone cloning the repository will have the same copy of Gradle as well, so the same build process is guaranteed for all contributors.
Also, when I started programming I downloaded the dependencies and used them as jars. But if you learn at least Maven, and your dependency is uploaded to a repository like Maven Central, you can just paste a line of code into your pom.xml (Maven) or build.gradle (Gradle) and you are good to go :)
There are lot of Answers on how to use Maven in Android and work with it.
However, As Gradle being already available, which manages the build process of Android projects and support complex scenarios in creating Android applications, such as Multi-distribution and Multi-apk,
What exactly is the role of Maven in Android Studio?
And how is it different from Gradle?
The short answer is: The tools do the same thing but in different ways. The difference is how you can use them to build your project. Apache Maven goes for "follow our convention" way and Gradle gives you flexibility. Some devs don't want a new tool or don't have time to learn how to use it properly.
Now the long answer...
To understand properly why some devs are attached to Apache Maven, we have to look at some years in the past.
Apache Maven is a build automation tool just like Gradle.
Maven got released on 2004. Gradle first version got out on 2007 but it did not become as popular as Maven in the early days.
Some devs don’t like having to learn anything new and most companies don't want to risk the exchange of an already running and mastered tool (Maven) for the new kid on the block.
Gradle became popular when the Android development raised. Android's project has a different project structure from Java EE/Web projects. Trying to use Maven on Android's project just feels unnatural, the tool was not prepared to provide flexibility.
Until now, Apache Maven can be used on simple Java EE projects without being a pain in the ass if you already know the forced conventions. So devs that aren't aware of Gradle/did not get in touch with Android apps don't have motivation to change to another tool.
In my opinion, Gradle is better than Apache Maven in every way that you could imagine. It gives you flexibility and tries not to get in your way, a "feature" that you cannot find in Apache Maven. If you don't follow Apache Maven life cycle, your build will fail, that's it.
For example, your code can be spread across many directories in any kind of layout if you are using Gradle. If you are on Maven and you don't follow the 'convention', you'll lose some hours changing your pom (Maven's build file) to be able to understand and handle your folder structure.
E.g.: Java source code must be on src/main/java folder. If you got an old project and the structure is src/java, sorry, You have no guarantee that all Maven plugins will run as expected.
Gradle does us a favor and puts more features for comparison in a very organized chart. Take a look. https://gradle.org/maven_vs_gradle/
Maven is just a tool that manages and simplifies how you build your project. Among many other things (running tests, managing conflicts, documentation, modularization), its most useful purpose is that of automatically fetching dependencies that your project needs and dependencies of those dependencies (transitive dependencies) if any. Dependencies are usually just JAR files that contain re-usable code.
So what does this mean. Suppose you want to use a library such as OpenCSV to generate a CSV file in your application. Non-Maven way: Google search for the library, check if it needs other libraries and if so download them, put them in your project's classpath then build. When you move your project to another PC, copy all the JAR's or it won't work. Maven way: insert something like this in a file named pom.xml:
<dependency>
<groupId>net.sf.opencsv</groupId>
<artifactId>opencsv</artifactId>
<version>2.3</version>
</dependency>
Done. Maven will do the rest for you when you build (download to local cache if not already existing, fetch dependencies, javadoc etc). Even if you were to copy your project to another PC without the JAR's, delete the JAR's etc, if Maven is present it will re-download them automatically when you build.
For more: Link
I am starting at a disadvantage as I know neither Eclipse, Gradle or Android Studio. As such, I may not be using the correct terminology for everything, but I'll give it a shot. My ultimate goal is to get a working Eclipse-based Android app imported into Android Studio and hand it back to the Android developer. This question is about a problem I encountered on the way.
I have successfully imported the main Android project into AS. Now I'm trying to pull in another project it depends upon as a module. The dependency is a Maven project. It has a pom.xml, a .project and a .classpath. It's not an Android project, so there's no AndroidManifest.xml. It has a src but no res folder. I want this project to be a module rather than an external dependency as the developer will modify the source code on occasion.
The problem is that AS refuses to accept the project as an importable module. The Add Module dialog, when pointed to the project's root directory, continues to warn that I haven't yet selected a valid Android Eclipse or Gradle project. The Next button stays grayed-out. I agree that this is neither an Android-specific nor a Gradle project, but I have read here that IntelliJ IDEA will import such projects. It appears that AS will not.
There are several other non-Android Eclipse projects that also won't import as modules in the same way. These include ordinary Maven and ant-based libraries.
How do I accomplish this? The GUI seems out to thwart me. If I get down to the Gradle XML level, can I do it and will the modules show up normally in the GUI? Do I have to go back to Eclipse and convert these to Gradle projects first?
Thanks in advance.
I'm used to Visual Studio, so Eclipse is very new for me.
I have to start (ASAP) developing a project that contains 3 subprojects:
1 - Business logic library with Hibernate support
2 - JavaFX configuration utility
3 - Spring MVC app with a lot of JavaScript inside
2 and 3 use 1 as a core.
I've tried to google manual but all of them were about parts of this task, nothing about the complete solution.
I can create all 3 projects and put them in same subdirs in a solution directory. But how to connect them to core lib? Maven looks great for it, but I can't explain him how modules have to be connected.
How to make such a structure?
At the risk of being shot down in flames, in my opinion Eclipse does not handle structured projects as well as Visual Studio. (I program Java/Eclipse at work and use VS aka Atmel Studio at home for hobbyist C++/Arduino projects).
In Eclipse, I have found to best to check out each component to the top level and compile each component separately (mvn clean install). The output of this is generally a .jar file that will be installed in your local maven repository. You then list that jar as a dependency in the pom.xml file of the higher-level components.
I suggest you install M2Eclipse or some other Maven client into Eclipse. They are not perfect, but are far more productive than doing everything manually.in my opinion.
Also Eclipse supports multiple workspaces quite well. One workspace per major multi-component project works well.
I'm working on another issue with getting my build.gradle to understand a workspace project dependency in my Android project. I've been using Java and Android for a while and I'm still easily confused about all the different ways to add a dependency. One way is to put a .jar file in the libs/ folder. Another way is to have a workspace project dependency. Another way (if working with Android) is to add a project dependency in the Android options menu? I feel like if I truly understood why there are these different dependencies and how they work maybe I wouldn't constantly have issues with managing my dependencies (even with Gradle). Why would one want a project dependency instead of a normal .jar in the libs/ folder? I'm not even sure how a project dependency itself works. By project dependency, I mean something like the Google Play Services project that I have to import into my Eclipse workspace. When importing into Eclipse it doesn't copy the actual directory into the workspace but it's more like a link to the directory. I know this is a big topic, maybe someone can show me a concise place to gain information.
Speaking in general terms, if you add a jar to lib folder, it will (usually) be packed along with the rest of your code. Project dependency adds a compile-time dependency, but (as you already said) it will not be packed into your build. However, that dependency will have to be satisfied at runtime (meaning, for example, Google Play Services will have to exist on the device that runs your code). Aside from that, gradle keeps "its own set of dependencies" to be able to build the application not depending on the IDE you are using. But most IDEs are well integrated with build tools, so they automatically synchronize dependencies between IDE project dependencies, and build tool's dependencies. I hope this makes sense :)