For example, if I wanted to use EasyModbusJava with my android app, would it be as simple as adding the jar file as a library dependency or are there certain restrictions on libraries?
I'd like to develop a hybrid app using mgwt-phonegap.
I found this link :
What I don't get is: Why is he putting the gwt-code into the android project's folder? Isn't it unecessary to use Android at all when you use mgwt and phonegap? I thought, that was the whole idea behind it?
What do you get from creating an android project and then putting your gwt code inside it?
Can you use gwt to convert a standard android app into a hybrid app for different platforms?
I did not read the tutorial you mention, but with phonegap you can create a native shell, which is basically a WebView with some hooks to call native stuff, In this shell you place your HTML/Javascript which in your case is the compiled code of a mgwt project. The android project you create it with phonegap, their site has a tutorial, I think you should read more about phonegap.
I'm working on a server backend component for an app, and one goal is to log all the messages transmitted through the app (using MQTT). To do this, I wanted to use the app as a library of sorts so that I could use the objects defined within to parse the messages coming through, since none of the messages will be transmitted as standard types. I'm using IntelliJ for the Java development, and Android Studio for the Android development. Is this possible? I was previously able to import the code as a module, which let me use the types defined within, but when I went to build the project it tried to build the Android code as well and failed because IntelliJ hadn't set up Android dependencies. Should I try and set the Android SDK as a dependency in the app module, and then build? Or am I approaching this the wrong way? (if it's even possible) I understand that there are also Library projects which looks like a possible solution, it would just require re-factoring all the applicable code out to a different project and I was hoping that wouldn't be necessary.
Trying to import the entire Android app as a library into a different codebase probably isn't going to work; you don't want a non-Android app to have all that Android code linked in, and with resources and the whole environment it will be tough to get it to compile at all.
A better approach would be to take all of the code that needs to work cross-platform and distill it into a plain Java library that you can include in multiple contexts. On the Android side you could include it as a plain Java library project, or compile it to a jar and include the jar.
I've just finished developing an application for android. I want to have a desktop version that is based on java, too.
I have to convert all layouts to swing and what other conflicts I may face, god knows.
Is there a tool for converting android apps to jar standalone? What is the easiest way to do this?
There is no tool to do this, as Android and Normal Java apps are very different.
The best you could do is move the non platform specific code into a library project, and reference it from both the Java and Android applications. So all code that doesn't use any import with android in it should be movable into the library, while all your swing/android specific code will go into the referencing projects.
I'm currently working on an Android application built with Adobe Air sdk, in AS3. I was wondering if it's possible to compile a kind of UI library that I can import in a Android native application (Java). Basically, I would like to build my UI with Adobe Air, but the main part of my application with Java, the native way.
What I have in mind is to convert the adobe air-generated APK into a Jar file I would import in the native application project, and call some functions that display something on the Screen.
Is it possible? I think it may be possible, because when I don't import Adobe Air SDK in the application, I must install Adobe Air application with the Play Store to make my application working. I don't find lot of things on Google about that :s.
Thank you for your help.
Yes it can be done (in theory), but hold on to your hat, it's a bumpy ride!
I see it is a very old question, with a new bounty (the questioner has not logged on for 3 years!), but here we go...
This method goes to the heart of how android java apps are constructed and run (i.e. DEX, so it will work with adobe-air or ANYTHING, it is fundamental [general method]). (by the way you use the word native in a confusing way, native is commonly understood to mean the JNI (c++) library element of an app).
You say:
"What I have in mind is to convert the adobe air-generated APK into a
Jar file I would import in the native application project, and call
some functions that display something on the Screen."
Android programs are compiled into .dex (Dalvik Executable)[now called ART but binary compatible] files,
which are in turn zipped into a single .apk file on the device (with other things like the manifest and resources). (unzip a .apk and look inside).
A .jar file contains DEX files (zipped). (unzip a compiled .jar and look inside).
I have done some work like this before, here's a link to a tutorial and coding examples [tested by me] (in android studio + gradle) [custom build elements are usually needed (I also give an ant example)].
See my stack-overflow answer Dynamic loading of DEX files
This in theory answers your question, but it's fundamental stuff, complex and has limitations that make it hard to code and maintain (resources are a real pain in the a**e).
Question: This all seems very complicated and hard !
Yes it is ! It is an increadably silly an difficult thing to do! That is why we invented cross platform frameworks, (and for web based code javascript/css/html5...). Failing that PORT the code.
I'm more of a Flash/AS3 coder than Java so can't give you a full answer but...
A better approach might be to just render your SWF-based User Interface itself via Java code (as opposed to compiling SWF into APK format then trying to embed Flash APK inside Android APK).
This way your SWF can also communicate with Java functions (via AS3's external Interface class). Making it easier to trigger Java functions when a button on the SWF U.I is pressed etc..
You just have to find an SWF render library for Java.
Maybe check out SWFTools. Particularly the SWF Class looks promising. I have not tested this library but it might help you.
I am not a Adobe AIR developer at all, however, I have developed a few Android App with both native environment and with some kind of framework (specifically PhoneGap). So, may this can help you.
I don't think that there would be any tool which could directly convert mobile apps build using frameworks like Adobe AIR, PhoneGap or any other HTML5 based framework to a native Android app because technically it is very difficult and unfeasible to do a proper mapping between each and every element of HTML5 (or Flex element in your case) to a corresponding native control or logic. The best you can do is use plugin mechanism provided by your framework to interact with Java and vice-versa and basically that is why the framework is there. For most of HTML5 based frameworks there is a plugin mechanism which allows developer to interact with native functionality (like Background Services, Activity or any other native resource). Even these frameworks are build using the same modular or plugin based approach and there major functionality (accessing Camera, Audio, SD Card etc native resources) works like this. We have to enable that feature before using that in our app.
So, look for plugin type of mechanism in Adobe AIR.
Hope this helps.
Maybe this is a dirty way to help you, but you can :
Install the adobe air program in one computer
Copy the files of the install folder of the adobe air program
Embed all this files in the java application
Install the java application
Save the adobe air files in one folder
Start the adobe air with java (like you will do it with the console, a simple call to YourAirApp.exe)