android - How to compile APK from command line?

Question

I am interested in making Android apps on demand. Depending on the clients request, my web site would send me a JSON file direct to a Windows application that I have created in Delphi. This one would save the file inside the Android app source folder and then, execute a command line telling the Android compiler to generate the APK file and send it to my client, all that without my presence.

The Android project was made with MotoDev. And it uses the Android SDK that is in my root.

How should I configure the command line to achieve this from inside my Delphi program?

I will also need to change the manifest to put a new version number so it does not conflict with other clients version.

Answer 1

Android uses the Ant build system, so you can create a build.xml and build.properties file for your project.

You'll need to create the build.xml file first though:

android update project -p .

This will generate a build.xml file. You should probably customize the build steps and targets for your project. A good idea in your case would be to have the build.properties file generated by your website for the specific build... Then include it via the build.xml file. In particular, you will need to specify in the build.properties file where the signing keys are, and what the password is:

Build.Properties:

key.store=keystore.dat
key.alias=signing_key
key.store.password=password123
key.alias.password=password123

The build process using ant also allows you to do variable replacements in Java files, which might be another idea. It would allow you to customize the build process further on a client by client basis.

By default, the build is triggered by:

ant clean
ant release

Another neat idea: Have Ant copy the resulting APK file to a network share accessible by the website by placing a < copy ... /> line in the < target name="release" > section.