I found some cool android libraries the other day and decided to try some. But I'm having trouble correctly importing the library.
This is the URL of the library : https://github.com/dmytrodanylyk/android-process-button
I first tried importing the library to eclipse (and move the files in java directory to src directory and set the project as library) and importing the sample to eclipse and set it to use the library project (Properties->Android->Libraries). But it didn't work. The layout files said it failed to instantiate [custom widget class].
The I tried importing the .jar file to libs directory (and update the java build path) but it didn't work either. It showed errors in the java files too.
I then tried copying all the java and layout files to the sample project directory and it worked. But I'm guessing that's not the way to work with 3rd party libraries.
I first thought it's some error with the library but all the other libraries I tried to import to my projects faced the same problem.
Can someone walk me through how to correctly import a 3rd party library to my android project?
The best option you can do is to use gradle as your dependency manager.
The library you have posted is using Gradle so you can link to this library in this way:
dependencies {
compile 'com.github.dmytrodanylyk.android-process-button:library:0.0.7'
}
And voilá! You have your library ready to use in your app :D
I'll let you a couple of useful links to use Gradle properly:
Mark Allison's tutorial about Gradle It will explain step by step how Gradle works (keep in mind that is using an outdated version of Android Gradle plugin, you have to adapt the version to the current one which is 0.10)
Official Developer Docs about Gradle In here you can find another step by step tutorial to configure and use Gradle (this one is more updated).
You can use Gradle directly in Android Studio (Intellij) if you don't mind to change your main editor.
If you want to stick around with Eclipse then this stackoverflow link may be helpful!
EDIT:
Oh! And if you want to search already Gradlized libraries you can navigate to Gradle Please!
I see the library uses gradle. So if you use gradle for dependency management or Android Studio (which uses gradle by default) importing will be a breeze. The installation instruction for gradle is even available at the github project site.
dependencies {
compile 'com.github.dmytrodanylyk.android-process-button:library:0.0.7'
}
Related
Okay, so I'm having difficulties implementing this Change log library into my android app in eclipse: https://github.com/gabrielemariotti/changeloglib
I tried using the clone url and importing the library into eclipse and then going into the properties of my android project and adding it as a library but that didn't work. I do not have Maven installed nor do I know anything about it. Is there a way I can just get a jar of this library somewhere? Can someone please help me? Thank you!
Its most likely not setup as an Android Library project and that is why it can't be accessed that way.
You can create the jar yourself though by using: https://stackoverflow.com/a/11289115/1784299 eclipse itself or running the jar command in a terminal. (Eclipse might be a little more user friendly if you don't use the terminal.
I would however highly recommend learning how to incorporate Maven in your projects because it is a huge time saver. If you migrate to Android Studio then Maven will become your best friend.
I answer here to help other devs with the same issue.
The library is built with the Android Studio folder structure.
I highly recommend to use the gradle build system to work.
Hovewer, you can build it locally with Eclipse.
All required steps are described here:
https://github.com/gabrielemariotti/changeloglib/blob/master/doc/BUILD.md#reference-this-project-as-a-library-in-eclipse.
It can be valid for a lot of libraries.
Eclipse uses src and res as source folders. Android Studio instead uses src/main/java and src/main/res as source folders.
So you have to mark the java folder as source (right click on folder -> Build-Path -> use as source folder)
guys, with my friend started working on a school project - developing a java app for android. He started it, now it's my turn to do my job, so i got the code he already has, set up Android SDK for Eclipse and downloaded all the neccessary files and packages, but it still gives me errors and I can't even run the project.
One of the errors (the main one, I think) is that it can't import android.support.v7.app.ActionBarActivity
If anyone knows what can I do (I've tried all kinds of solutions from the internet, but none work) I would be very grateful.
Here is a screenshot of the code
http://s17.postimg.org/8aw952lha/Capture.jpg
See if you have imported the ActionBar project to your Eclipse workspace, also, right click on your project->properties->android and check that you have referenced/linked the ActionBar project there.
If you are using a repository without the proper ignore files it is possible that you have imported your partners configurations and then have the references to the auxiliary projects broken (you just need to update that).
Hope it helps.
android.support.v7.app.ActionBarActivity is a support library. This allows older versions of Android (before native support for an action bar was available) to use the action bar.
Since you are having difficulty importing it, I'd assume you do not have the support library installed.
Full instructions are available here:
http://developer.android.com/tools/support-library/setup.html
A snippet for adding support libraries to Eclipse:
Make sure you have downloaded the Android Support Library using the SDK Manager.
Create a libs/ directory in the root of your application project.
Copy the JAR file from your Android SDK installation directory (e.g., /extras/android/support/v4/android-support-v4.jar) into your application's project libs/ directory.
Right click the JAR file and select Build Path > Add to Build Path.
So I am fairly new to Java, and I am trying to add this library to my project. The problem is that Android studio 0.3.6 doesn't have a simple way of doing that and all the answers I searched either reference an older version of Android Studio, or describe how to import an external project (source code, not jar file).
After reading a little, I got to the conclusion that manually adding the jar file would be the best way (manual copy/paste and gradle edits) but as I said, I'm fairly new to this technology and don't know where to place the file nor what lines I need to add to the gradle files.
Can someone help me?
UPDATE 1:
I finally made the IDE recognize the .jar file (I get autocomplete and class recognition). The new problem is that I get the following error when compiling: Gradle: package com.google.gson does not exist. Here are the steps I took to import the library:
Creat a folder called libs in the main directory (src/main/libs should be the result)
Copy the .jar file in that directory
add the following line to the dependencies section in the build.gradle file in your project: compile files('libs/gson-2.2.4.jar'). It should look something like this now:
dependencies {
compile 'com.android.support:support-v13:+'
compile files('libs/gson-2.2.4.jar')
}
Recompile the project (not sure if necessary, but I did it)
Right click on the libs folder and select "Add as Library"
Since the GSON library is available in MavenCentral, there's an easy way to add it that avoids having to download an archive file and save it in your project.
Go to Project Structure > Modules > Your module name > Dependencies and click on the + button to add a new dependency. Choose Maven dependency from the list:
You'll get a dialog box where you can enter search terms or the fully-qualified Maven coordinate string. Since GSON is a common library for Android developers to use, it's actually given in this dialog as an example, with the fully-qualified name. You can type it in:
Hit OK on both dialogs and you should be good to go.
With these Maven dependencies, the build system will automatically download the library and cache it if hasn't done so already; it takes care of that for you.
If you had a library that wasn't available on MavenCentral, you could save the archive in a libs folder in your project, and from that module dependencies dialog, add a File dependency instead of a Maven dependency to take care of it.
If you edit your build.gradle file by hand, you need to click on the "Sync Project with Gradle Files" button in the toolbar to force Android Studio to pick up the changes and update your project. If you go through the Project Structure dialog, that's unnecessary.
There are lots of conflicting answers to this issue in Stack Overflow because the functionality for this is in flux as the necessary features are implemented; it has been really broken before. These instructions should work properly for 0.3.6, and things will get a little easier in 0.3.7 and later.
I had the same issue. The new version of Android Studio (0.3.6) removed some necessary features to add an existing library to a project using the IDE. So you have to do this manually.
Adding the library into the build folder "<project>\App\build\libs\" will break the project on "menu > build > clear project / rebuild project".
Updated solution
My solution is to generate a new folder inside "<project>\<app name>\src\main\libs\" and add the library here. Now you have to change your "<project>\<app name>\build.gradle" by adding the following (my example shows the value for android-support library:
dependencies {
compile 'com.android.support:support-v4:13.0.0'
compile 'com.android.support:support-v13:13.0.0'
compile files('libs/gson-2.2.4.jar')
}
Now select the library in "project View" by right click and select "Add as library... > level > Global library". This will fix an import com.google.gson.Gson; issue.
Maybe you still cannot build. In this case you shall check you project module settings and see if there is an error for Gson dependency. I let Android Studio fix this issue by hitting a "small red bulb icon > add dependency" in the lower right corner of module settings dialog. Now it does not show me no errors anymore on build.
Now we have only one remaining problem: The project does lose the library reference on project close. So we have to add the library on open again. Maybe this is an issue of Android Studio 0.3.6. Mario filed a bug report.
BTW: I upvoted this question because I searched without success for a working solution in the internet. I think beginners will always fail to work with the Android developer tutorials of Google when they are forced to deal with the support library.
Update / Recommendation
Unfortunately I did not get AS 0.3.6 working properly. There are to many issues - at least when adding another module with different namespace. So I switched to the origin IDE: IntelliJ IDEA 12 community Edition. It's free and works for me. I did all the stuff in 2 hours which need days using broken Android Studio. I have no idea what forces Google to build its own IDE based on IntelliJ IDEA without additional benefits / noticeable features when the latter works like a charm.
Running Android Studio 0.4.0
Solved the problem of importing jar by
Project Structure > Modules > Dependencies > Add Files
Browse to the location of jar file and select it
For those like manual editing
Open app/build.gradle
dependencies {
compile files('src/main/libs/xxx.jar')
}
I posted the same to
importing jar libraries into android-studio
putting a duplicate here just in case you stumble into this post instead
Click on ProjectName->Libs folder.Paste that jar file into that folder.
Just refresh the project.You are done.
Using Android Studio 0.8.2, I had to do the following (supposing the library you're trying to add is called MyExternalLib):
In the "app/libs" folder on the hard disk, create a sub-folder "MyExternalLib", and copy the external library into that folder.
In the file "app/build.gradle", inside the block named "dependencies", add the line compile project('libs:MyExternalLib')
In the file "settings.gradle", add the line include ':app:libs:MyExternalLib'
Click the button "Sync Project with Gradle Files"
Create a new library module
It is good development practice to group functionality that you may reuse in other apps inside a library module. To create a library module inside the BuildSystemExample project:
Click File and select New Module.
On the window that appears, select Android Library and click Next.
Leave the default module name (lib) unchanged and click Next.
Select Blank Activity and click Next.
Type "LibActivity1" on the Activity Name field and click Finish.
The project now contains two modules, app and lib, with one activity in each module.
https://developer.android.com/sdk/installing/studio-build.html
I am trying to add Support Library v7 to my clean android project as support library (with resources). I followed every instruction here: http://developer.android.com/tools/support-library/setup.html#download and android.support.v7.* package is not visible in my main project.
Here is library reference in main project:
Support library project tree:
Support library project build path:
And finally, my main project tree
I don't see any errors in Problems tab, app compiles and runs normally but i cannot import android.support.v7 package which apparently isn't in build path in main project. I went through instruction twice in clean projects/workspace. I cleaned project, restarted Eclipse and nothing... All resources from library project are unreachable too.
Thanks in advance :)
Copy the library project to the folder where your android project is.
Select File > Import.
Select Existing Android Code Into Workspace and click Next.
Browse and import the same to eclipse
Once the library project is imported you can refer the same in your android project.
This is similar to setting up google play services in eclipse described here. Check the 4th step
http://developer.android.com/google/play-services/setup.html
It looks like android-support-v7-appcompat.jar is missing from your libs folder.
When you download the Android Support Library through the Android SDK Manager it makes the support .jar files you need available under {SDK Location}\extra\android\support.
To use the v7 files, copy these to your project's /libs folder.
android-support-v4.jar
android-support-v7-appcompat.jar
android-support-v7-gridlayout.jar (*if needed)
android-support-v7-mediarouter.jar (*if needed)
Typical gotchas (this looks OK in your setup):
Make sure the min SDK is at least API 7
Make sure the project target build is at least API 17
For more information about using the support V7 package (including running the v7 samples) can be found at the RHM Guide to Android Support Lib.
The issue seems to be in Absolute path in case of Windows base machine. I faced the issue of referencing support libraries When I moved Eclipse and related libraries to different drive than where the project was.
Copy paste the libraries to folder on same derive in a way that it can pick by relative path.
..\androidCommonlib\appcompat
android.library
I am creating a library for Android that others can include in their own project. So far I have been working on it as a normal Java project with JDK 1.6 setup as system library. This works just fine in Eclipse when I add the android.jar.
The issue comes when I try to my build script. I am running Gradle and doing a normal compile and test build cycle. My thoughts were that it does not matter if I compile it with a normal JDK, since this is not a standalone application. The benefits by creating a normal Java project is that Gradle does support this much better. My project also does not contain any UI at all. However, the problem is that of course android.jar and the JDK contains lots of the same classes and I think that this is what messes up my build script. Everything crashes when running the tests (the tests are in the same project under src/test/java).
My question is, how should I create this project that is meant to be included in Android projects as a third party library? Should I create it as an Android project in Eclipse even though I am only creating a library that does not use any of the UI features? Also, should the tests be in a separate project?
Thanks for all responses!
Have you looked at the Android plugin for Gradle? It incorporates the ProGuard tool to package only necessary classes into your Android APK file, so might address your scenario. Have a look here: https://github.com/jvoegele/gradle-android-plugin/wiki
I will start with the simple question, the one regarding the test project. My experience is that is is better to have a separate test project. I have done this with success in many Java ME project, where the problems are similar. The test project only need to import the source code, not the libraries. Then there should be no problems with duplicate classes.
The other question is a little more difficult. My intuition tells me that the core project should be an Android project.