Tag: Integrated development environment

Programming Stuff

How to Clean an Android Studio Project

on September 25, 2013

You’ve probably noticed that Android Studio doesn’t have a “clean” menu option. But we know that, like any build environment, there are intermediate files created that we may want to occasionally remove.

It turns out the solution is the command line. Simply open a command line in your project’s root folder (Usually named something like MyAppProject) and run the following command

gradlew clean

You’ll see something like this…

gradlew_clean

Notice that you get a bit of an unexpected message, “BUILD SUCCESSFUL”. This simply indicates that it has gone through and successfully cleaned out the intermediate files. I’ve found that when dealing with larger projects its not uncommon to reduce the amount of disk space used by the project by 70% or more.

So a bit of an unexpected solution (especially for those who’ve been in a Windows environment for a long time) but an easy one.

To learn more about Android programming, checkout Jim’s Android courses on Pluralsight.

Jim's Android courses on Pluralsight

Jim’s latest book, “Creating Dynamic UI with Android Fragments” is now available on amazon.

Creating Dynamic UI with Fragments

Programming Stuff

Switch to Android Studio 0.2.0 a little bumpy

on July 17, 2013

Android Studio 0.2.0 update … encountering issues with both new AND existing projects.

I’m fortunate that  using the latest and (sometimes not so) greatest is actually my job. With that I’ve been able to heavily use Android Studio ever since it was first released. To my knowledge, I’ve installed and heavily used every public update since the release.

Everyone of those updates went pretty smooth … until this one.

The switch to Android Studio 0.2.0 has, by far, been the bumpiest upgrade yet. After installing it…

  • I can’t generate new projects
  • I can’t build existing projects.

Not much I can get done without being able to do one or the other. 🙂

The good news is that resolving these issues was pretty easy.

Can’t generate new projects

This issue appears to be specific to folks using Android Studio on Windows.

I initially let Android Studio handle the install as I had always done previously. Once the install completed, any attempt to create a new project resulted in the following error…

CantGenProjectBadDependencyMSg

Basically, the message indicates that Android Studio can’t find a dependency.

The solution turned out to be that a fresh install is requried ….

  1. I exited all instances of Android Studio
  2. I changed the name of the existing installation folder
    • The default installation folder is
      C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Local\Android\android-studio
  3. I then downloaded and installed the latest Android Studio installer

And that took care of the problem

Can’t build existing projects

This turned out to be a two-fold problem for me.

The first issue has to do with a fairly well documented change that’s been made to Android Studio. They’ve changed to a new version of Gradle that’s not backward compatible. As a result an attempt to build a project that was created with a prior version of Android Studio shows the following error.

GradleBuildIssue

The fix is to change the version of Gradle that’s referenced in your project’s build.gradle file (located in top-level of project folder). If you click on the “Search in build.gradle files” link in the above dialog it’ll open the build.gradle file for you. Or you can just open the build.gradle file yourself. It’s quite small and easy to navigate.

To fix the problem simply change the line that reads

classpath ‘com.android.tools.build:gradle:0.4‘

to

classpath ‘com.android.tools.build:gradle:0.5.+’

This will cause Android Studio to use the required version of Gradle.

But trouble continues…

With that fix made, I would then get an error indicating

“FAILURE:Could not determine which tasks to execute”

The problem is related to extraneous entries that were added to the [ProjectName].iml file (in your project’s top-level folder) by earlier versions of Android Studio.

To fix the problem, exit Android Studio and open the [ProjectName].iml file in an editor and delete the entire component element with the name “FacetManager”.

This changes the file from…

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<module external.system.id="GRADLE" type="JAVA_MODULE" version="4">
  <!-- *** Remove From here *** -->
  <component name="FacetManager">
    <facet type="android-gradle" name="Android-Gradle">
      <configuration>
        <option name="GRADLE_PROJECT_PATH" value=":" />
      </configuration>
    </facet>
  </component>
  <!-- ***  To Here   *** -->
  <component name="NewModuleRootManager" inherit-compiler-output="true">
    <exclude-output />
    <content url="file://$MODULE_DIR$">
      <excludeFolder url="file://$MODULE_DIR$/.gradle" />
      <excludeFolder url="file://$MODULE_DIR$/build" />
    </content>
    <orderEntry type="inheritedJdk" />
    <orderEntry type="sourceFolder" forTests="false" />
  </component>
</module>

to

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<module external.system.id="GRADLE" type="JAVA_MODULE" version="4">
  <component name="NewModuleRootManager" inherit-compiler-output="true">
    <exclude-output />
    <content url="file://$MODULE_DIR$">
      <excludeFolder url="file://$MODULE_DIR$/.gradle" />
      <excludeFolder url="file://$MODULE_DIR$/build" />
    </content>
    <orderEntry type="inheritedJdk" />
    <orderEntry type="sourceFolder" forTests="false" />
  </component>
</module>

And with that … SUCCESS!!  … I’m now able to build the project without difficulty.

Wrap Up

So the cleanup isn’t too difficult but does require some work. If you’re encountering issues other than those I’ve mentioned above the Android Studio folks have posted a couple of helpful pages addressing a variety of issues

To Learn more about Android programming, checkout Jim’s courses at Pluralsight.

PSAndroid_216x155

Programming Stuff

Android Studio Bug Workaround V2 – Project breaks when copied or moved

on June 13, 2013

As you’ll recall, I posted yesterday about working around the issue in Android Studio where copying a project to a new folder creates problems because the Android Studio project keeps references to the original folder. After my post yesterday, I figured out an easier way to work around the problem.

You still have to modify just as many files but the steps are easier to follow and perform than my suggestion from yesterday.

So the new workaround…

We’ll use the same assumptions as yesterday.

  • The project name is:
    AndroidExample
  • Original project folder:
    C:\Demo\before\AndroidExampleProject
  • Destination project folder:
    C:\Demo\AFTER\AndroidExampleProject

The cool thing about this workaround is that after copying the project to the folder, you always make the same (relatively simple) changes. There’s nothing specific about the destination folder in the changes we make.

Note: I’m including line numbers just as estimates. Your line numbers will almost definitely be different.

Be sure that Android Studio is completely closed.

In both of the following files, change the value for PROJECT_ABSOLUTE_PATH to be blank

  • C:\Demo\AFTER\AndroidExampleProject\AndroidExampleProject.iml (approx. line 7)
  • C:\Demo\After\AndroidExampleProject\AndroidExample\AndroidExample.iml (approx. line 15)

Change:

<option name="PROJECT_ABSOLUTE_PATH" value="C:\Demo\before\AndroidExampleProject" />

To:

<option name="PROJECT_ABSOLUTE_PATH" value="" />

In both of the following files remove the full path before build.gradle (including the slash ” \ “) and replace it with $PROJECT_DIR$/

  • C:\Demo\AFTER\AndroidExampleProject\.idea\gradle.xml (approx. line 6)

Change:

<option name="externalProjectPath" value="C:\Demo\before\AndroidExampleProject\build.gradle" />

To:

<option name="externalProjectPath" value="$PROJECT_DIR$/build.gradle" />
  • C:\Demo\AFTER\AndroidExampleProject\.idea\workspace.xml (approx. line 207)
    • The “option” element you’re changing will be a child of the “ExternalProjectPojo” element

Change:

<option name="path" value="C:\Demo\before\AndroidExampleProject\build.gradle" />

To:

<option name="path" value="$PROJECT_DIR$/build.gradle" />

And with that, you’re ready to open the destination project in Android Studio.

When you save the project, Android Studio will automatically save the new folder as the PROJECT_ABSOLUTE_PATH value.

I’m finding these changes much easier to manage than the ones I walked through yesterday. But as I mentioned yesterday, the best news of all is that I suspect that this will be a short lived bug and we won’t have to deal with this workaround for long.

For information on getting started developing Android applications or working with Android Studio, checkout Jim’s Android programming courses on Pluralsight including his latest course.

Android for .Net Developers Series - Getting Started

Programming Stuff

Android Studio Bug Workaround – Project breaks when copied or moved

on June 12, 2013

Since I write training courses about Android development, I frequently have to copy projects from one folder to another. I commonly create a project in a “before” folder, copy the project to an “after” folder, and then do the work being discussed in the course in the project in the “after” folder. When students view the course they can download “before” and “after” copies of the project.

Well one of the pains I’ve been dealing with in the preview release of Android Studio is the fact that when a project is copied from one folder to another, the project keeps pointers to the original folder. One ends up with a mess where some things in the new project point to the new folder and somethings point to the old. Deleting the original folder makes things even worse.

I’ve reported the issue as an Android Studio bug. It appears to have been accepted as an issue but as of this writing the version of Android Studio currently available still has the problem.

The version available as of this writing…

AndroidStudioAbout_AI-130.700763

I’m certain this is an issue that will be addressed so if you’re reading this post substantially beyond the posting date, verify that the problem still exists before doing the steps I list here.

OK so the workaround…

UPDATE: The day after I made this post, I figured out a simpler work around. Please see this post for the new workaround.

The solution I’ve found is to modify the path information contained in 4 of the project files in the destination folder.

Before doing anything, be sure Android Studio is completely closed.

Let’s make the following Assumptions in copying our project to a new folder.

  • The project name is:
    AndroidExample
  • Original project folder:
    C:\Demo\before\AndroidExampleProject
  • Destination project folder:
    C:\Demo\AFTER\AndroidExampleProject

Note: I’m including line numbers just as estimates. Your line numbers will almost definitely be different.

1. File: C:\Demo\AFTER\AndroidExampleProject\AndroidExampleProject.iml (approx. line 7)

Change:

<option name="PROJECT_ABSOLUTE_PATH" value="C:\Demo\before\AndroidExampleProject" />

To:

<option name="PROJECT_ABSOLUTE_PATH" value="C:\Demo\AFTER\AndroidExampleProject" />

2. File: C:\Demo\AFTER\AndroidExampleProject\.idea\gradle.xml (approx. line 6)

Change:

<option name="externalProjectPath" value="C:\Demo\before\AndroidExampleProject\build.gradle" />

To:

<option name="externalProjectPath" value="C:\Demo\AFTER\AndroidExampleProject\build.gradle" />

3. File: C:\Demo\AFTER\AndroidExampleProject\.idea\workspace.xml(approx. line 207)

Note: The “option” element you’re changing will be a child of the “ExternalProjectPojo” element

Change:

<option name="path" value="C:\Demo\before\AndroidExampleProject\build.gradle" />

To:

<option name="path" value="C:\Demo\AFTER\AndroidExampleProject\build.gradle" />

4. File: C:\Demo\After\AndroidExampleProject\AndroidExample\AndroidExample.iml(approx. line 15)

Change:

<option name="PROJECT_ABSOLUTE_PATH" value="C:\Demo\before\AndroidExampleProject" />

To:

<option name="PROJECT_ABSOLUTE_PATH" value="C:\Demo\AFTER\AndroidExampleProject" />

5.
Now open the project in Android Studio

You may be prompted with a dialog indicating that it’s removing a non-existent project. Let it do that. It’s just cleaning up some internal data, it doesn’t appear to have any impact on the original project.

Voila! We now have a copy of our project.

The best news of all … I’m pretty sure that the bug that’s causing us to have to go through all of these steps (rather than simply copying the project folder) is a bug that will soon be fixed.

For information on getting started developing Android applications or working with Android Studio, checkout Jim’s Android programming courses on Pluralsight including his latest course.

Android for .Net Developers Series - Getting Started

Programming Stuff

Android Studio Power Save Mode

on June 7, 2013

Have you noticed a shortening of your laptop’s battery life when working with Android Studio?

Android Studio is a great tool and some of the great things it does require fairly substantial processing to occur in the background. Much of this processing is constantly firing  performing what are called Inspections.

To get a sense of the kind of background work that’s going on, choose Project \ Settings from the Android Studio menu and then highlight Inspections in the Project Settings pane.

Android Studio Inspection Settings

To save power we could go through and turn off some of these inspections so that less background processing occurs. These inspections are good stuff, though. I prefer to have these checks available. Fortunately, Android Studio doesn’t require us to make this choice.

Android Studio gives us the option of stopping the automatic checks and instead running them on demand. You can prevent these inspections from automatically running by selecting Project \ Power Save Mode in the Android Studio menu.

You can then run the checks manually by choosing Analyze \ Inspect Code… from the Android Studio menu.

With this, we get the benefit of Android Studio code inspection while still maximizing our laptop battery life.

For information on getting started developing Android applications or working with Android Studio, checkout Jim’s Android programming courses on Pluralsight including his latest course.

Android for .Net Developers Series - Getting Started

Programming Stuff

Android Studio 0.1.2 Is WAY more stable

on June 3, 2013

The stability of the  initial preview release of Android Studio (version 0.1) was pretty impressive. Being built on a long-standing product like JetBrains Intellij IDEA gave it a great start.

That said, it did at times feel like a version 0 product … unexpected message boxes popping up, strange behavior in the feature that displays the string value where string resources are used (sometimes didn’t work .. sometimes showed the string value on a different line than where the resource appeared), those sort’a things.

About a week or so after the initial release Android Studio automatically updated to Android Studio 0.1.1 and there was some improvement but not a huge amount.

Well then yesterday, I received another update, Android Studio 0.1.2 (Build #AI-130.692269) … I’ve only been using it for less than 24 hours but so far this build feels MUCH MUCH better. It’s feeling much more stable.

AndroidStudioAbout_0.1.2

If you haven’t already done so, I encourage you to download Android Studio and start checking it out. I’m sure there will still be some issues but it’s improving quickly and IMHO is already so much better than using Eclipse that any minor annoyances are a small price to pay to have such a superior dev tool.

For information on getting started developing Android applications or working with Android Studio, checkout Jim’s Android programming courses on Pluralsight including his latest course

AndroidDotNetSeries_GettingStarted_Logo

Programming Stuff

Android Studio Dark Theme (Darcula)

on May 29, 2013

After seeing those cool demos of Android Studio showing the neat-looking dark theme, the default theme that Android Studio downloads with can be a little disappointing.

If you haven’t seen it, here’s Android Studio set to the Darcula theme.

Android Studio Darcula Theme

To get the Darcula theme, first open the Android Studio Settings dialog

  1. Select File on the Android Studio menu
  2. Then select Settings

Once on the Settings screen just…

  1. Highlight Appearence
  2. Click on the Theme dropdown and select Darcula
  3. Click OK

Setting Darcula Theme

You’ll be prompted to restart Android Studio. Allow the restart and there you have it. The great look of Android Studio in Darcula.

Adapted from Jim’s Pluralsight course Android for .NET Developers: Getting Started

AndroidDotNetSeries_GettingStarted_Logo

Programming Stuff

Android for .NET Developer Series: Getting Started

on May 24, 2013

There’s no question that smartphones and tablets have become the computers of choice for most users. Android has been the leading smartphone for some time and now Android leads in tablets as well.

According to Google, nearly 900 million Android devices have been activated. This presents an incredible opportunity for both individual developers and organizations to create software with a reach and impact beyond anything previously possible.

Android development is, of course, very different from the web-based and/or desktop app development most of us have been doing for years. But this difference doesn’t mean we can’t take part in such a great opportunity.

People will often point to Android’s use of Java rather than .NET being the biggest challenge in becoming an Android developer. I disagree. If that were the case, environments like Mono that enable the use of C# and .NET libraries on Android would enable us all to immediately become Android developers. But in my experience, developers with a .NET background who use Mono don’t become effective Android developers any faster than those who take the plunge and use Java. Why is that?

The challenge in creating Android apps is not the programming language, class libraries, or runtime. The challenge in creating Android apps is that it’s an entirely different way of thinking and an entirely different approach to application development.

To be successful on such a different platform, developers need to adopt and ultimately embrace the way-of-thinking of the Android platform.

The new series from Pluralsight, Android for .NET Developers, strives to do exactly that. We focus on guiding developers to fully embrace the tools, language, libraries and, most importantly, mindset of Android development by building on your skills as a .NET developer. Although this series assumes a .NET background, the series is appropriate for anyone with existing programming experience who wants to start working with Android.

In the first course in the series, Android for .NET Developers: Getting Started, we walk through the process of setting up your environment, using the Android development tools, and deploying apps to both real devices and emulators. We talk briefly about the long-standing development environment, Eclipse, but focus throughout the series on the new development environment, Android Studio, announced by Google just a few days ago.

The first course in the series is now available with a new course from the series being released every few weeks. The series is made up of the following courses.

Android for .NET Developers: Getting Started

Android for .NET Developers: Building an Android App

Android for .NET Developers: Android data management

Android for .NET Developers: Adopting the Android mindset

Android for .NET Developers: Embracing the Android platform

I hope you’ll join me in this experience of leveraging your existing skills to empower you to take part in the opportunity offered by the success of Android. At the end of this series, I’m confident that you will have adopted the Android mindset and will be embracing the Android platform.

Android for ,NET Developer Series: Getting Started