README
1
2How to set up and run the sample app as an Android Studio project.
3
4Linux (Android Studio version 0.8.11 beta)
5=====
6(1) Launch Android Studio.
7
8(2) Choose "Import project".
9 - Navigate to the location of the sample soure code.
10 You should be looking at a directory named "sample"
11 containing a file named "AndroidManifest.xml".
12 - Pick a new destination for it.
13
14(3) Copy in the '.jar' files.
15 (a) Directly under the "app" directory of your project,
16 create a "libs" directory. Use a shell command if you like,
17 or use "File|New|Directory" from the menu. But note that
18 you only get "Directory" as an option if you are in
19 "Project" view, not "Android" view. "Project" models
20 the local machine's filesystem, but Android is a virtual
21 layout of files corresponding to the deployed hierarchy.
22 That is to say, do step (b) before step (a) if you're inclined.
23 (b) Toggle the view from "Android" to "Project"
24 in the selection list above the file hierarchy.
25 Otherwise you won't see "libs".
26 (c) Copy 'cronet.jar' and 'cronet_stub.jar' to "libs".
27
28 [Also note that it is possible to leave the '.jar' files
29 in their original locations, though this seems to be
30 somewhat discouraged by convention]
31
32(4) Inform the IDE about the '.jar' files.
33 (a) Select both files at once.
34 (b) Bring up the context menu and choose "Add as Library".
35 (d) Confirm "OK" at the "Add to module" dialog.
36 [Note: the keyboard shortcut and/or main menu selection
37 for these steps seems to be missing from Android Studio.
38 If you prefer, the advice under problem #2
39 in "Troubleshooting" below will perform the same thing
40 without reliance on menu selections]
41
42(5) Copy in the '.so' file.
43 (a) Under "app/src/main" create a directory named "jniLibs"
44 (b) Copy armeabi and ameabi-v7a into jniLibs, which should
45 contain only subdirectories, not directly a '.so' file
46 (c) The IDE will automatically know about these.
47
48(6) Click "Run".
49
50Troubleshooting:
51
52If you have vast swaths of red text (errors) in the edit window
53for CronetSampleActivity, you should confirm that the requisite
54jar files are present in 'build.gradle'. There are at least 2
55files which are named 'build.gradle'. Check them both.
56You should observe the following lines [see footnote 1]
57
58dependencies {
59 compile file('libs/cronet.jar')
60 compile file('libs/cronet_stub.jar')
61}
62
63If absent, the lines may be added by hand to the gradle file
64which corresponds to the module named "app", and not the project
65s a whole. You might have to press a "Sync" button in the IDE
66which tells it to re-scan the 'build.gradle' files.
67
68(II) If the project builds but doesn't run, verify that the '.so' files
69are present in your Android package (which is just a jar file in disguise):
70% jar tf build/outputs/apk/app-debug.apk
71AndroidManifest.xml
72res/layout/cronet_sample_activity.xml
73resource.arsc
74classes.dex
75lib/armeabi/libcronet.so
76lib/armeabi-v7/libcronet.so
77META-INF
78etc
79
80If the '.so' files are not present, it is likely that Android Studio
81misinterpreted the containing folder as "ordinary" source code,
82which, due to lack of any special directive pertaining to it, failed
83to be copied to the apk. One thing to check for is the spelling
84of "jniLibs" - it must literally be that, with a capital "L" or
85it won't work. This is a bit of magic that allows users without
86the NDK (Native Development Kit) to deploy '.so' files.
87[With the NDK, things are different because in that case you have to
88produce the '.so' files, and create build rules to do so,
89so the setup is naturally more flexible to begin with.]
90As a visual cue that the folder has been recognized as special,
91its icon should match that of the "res" (resources) folder
92which resembles a tabbed manila folder with some extra cross-hatches
93on the front, and not the icon of the "java" folder.
94The marking on the icon signifies that its contents land on the
95the target device. But to keep things interesting, the icon is
96distinct visually only in "Android" view, not "Project" view.
97
98MacOS (Android Studio version 1.0.1)
99=====
100(0) You might or might not have to set a magic environment
101 variable as follows [see footnote 3]:
102 export STUDIO_JDK=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.7.0_71.jdk
103
104(1) Launch Android Studio, which can be achieved from the command
105 line with
106 % open '/Applications/Android Studio.app'
107
108(2) Choose "Import Non-Android Studio Project"
109 (a) Navigate to the path containing "sample"
110 (b) Pick a place to put it, and choose "Finish"
111
112(3) If you are comfortable using shell commands to create directories,
113 you may proceed to step (3) for Linux above.
114 Otherwise, if you prefer to create directories from the UI,
115 proceed with the following steps.
116
117(4) Choose "File -> New -> Folder -> Assets Folder".
118 Check "Change Folder Location" and delete the entire
119 pathname that was there. Change it to 'libs'
120 which is conventional for pre-built jar files.
121
122(5) Copy and paste the two pre-built '.jar' files into 'assets'.
123 When you do this, it will say that the destination is
124 "app/libs". This is right. If you prefer to see
125 the file hierarchy as it really exists, you can change
126 the dropdown above the tree view from "android view"
127 to "project view". Or just keep in mind that assets = libs
128 at this level of the hierarchy.
129
130(6) Select both jar files that you added (Shift+click).
131 and pull up the menu for them (Ctrl+click).
132 Select "Add as library"
133
134(7) Choose "File -> New -> Folder -> JNI Folder".
135 Choose "Change Folder Location"
136 and change the name to "src/main/jniLibs" [see footnote 2]
137
138----
139
140Footnotes:
141[1] "compile file" as used in a dependency line means to package the
142 named jars into the apk, and not to make those files.
143 The opposite of this is "provided file" which assumes that the
144 jars exist on the device already (in whatever the standard
145 location is for systemwide jar files), and not that a file
146 has been externally provided to Android Studio.
147
148[2] The menu option to add JNI files assumes that you have the
149 NDK (Native Development Kit) installed and want to produce
150 files into the named directory. This is triggered by an
151 automatic rule that tries to look for C++ source code
152 and the NDK based on the existence of "src/main/jni".
153 Changing this directory to "src/main/jniLibs" is magical
154 in a different way: it informs Android Studio that you will
155 place precompiled binaries into that directory.
156
157[3] This has to do with differences between the JDK that the studio
158 runs in as distinct from the JDK that the studio understands
159 to be present on the target machine.
160 There is discussion of the issue in
161 https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=82378
162
163Additional notes:
164
165Ideally the two .jar files and one .so file could be delivered as one .aar
166(Android Archive) file, but Android Studio will try to pull aar files from
167a Maven repository without some workarounds that are about as much trouble
168as adding in three separate files.
169See https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=55863
170
171Additionally, it is unclear how to automate the creation of a '.aar' file
172outside of Android Studio and Gradle. If the entire workflow were controlled
173by Gradle, it would be one thing; but presently the cronet jars are
174produced as artifacts of the Chromium build which uses Ninja.
175