I'm testing out the new Android Studio C/C++ building via CMake through stable gradle (http://tools.android.com/tech-docs/external-c-builds).
In my app, an already rooted device needs to use an ABI-dependent binary that I compile inside Android Studio.
When I try to compile a standard library with
add_library(mylib SHARED mylib.c)
it gets automatically compiled and copied inside the lib/[ABI] folder of the APK (e.g. /lib/armeabi/mylib.so) but if I compile an executable binary with:
add_executable(mybinary mybinary.cpp)
binaries are corectly generated inside the build folder:
app/build/intermediates/cmake/debug/lib/armeabi/mybinary
app/build/intermediates/cmake/debug/lib/x86_64/mybinary
...
but they do not seem to be copied anywhere inside the apk.
Which is the correct way to handle this need? Is a gradle-task the way to go?
build.gradle:
apply plugin: 'com.android.application'
android {
compileSdkVersion 24
buildToolsVersion "24.0.1"
defaultConfig {
applicationId "com.my.app"
minSdkVersion 10
targetSdkVersion 24
versionCode 1
versionName "1.0"
testInstrumentationRunner "android.support.test.runner.AndroidJUnitRunner"
externalNativeBuild {
cmake {
cppFlags ""
}
}
}
buildTypes {
release {
minifyEnabled false
proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), 'proguard-rules.pro'
}
}
externalNativeBuild{
cmake{
path "CMakeLists.txt"
}
}
defaultConfig {
externalNativeBuild {
cmake {
targets "
arguments "-DANDROID_TOOLCHAIN=clang", "-DANDROID_PLATFORM=android-21"
cFlags "-DTEST_C_FLAG1", "-DTEST_C_FLAG2"
cppFlags "-DTEST_CPP_FLAG2", "-DTEST_CPP_FLAG2"
abiFilters 'x86', 'x86_64', 'armeabi', 'armeabi-v7a'
}
}
}
}
dependencies {
compile fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])
androidTestCompile('com.android.support.test.espresso:espresso-core:2.2.2', {
exclude group: 'com.android.support', module: 'support-annotations'
})
testCompile 'junit:junit:4.12'
compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:24.1.1'
compile 'com.android.support:design:24.1.1'
compile 'com.android.support:recyclerview-v7:24.1.1'
compile 'eu.chainfire:libsuperuser:1.0.0.201607041850'
}
CMakeLists.txt
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.4.1)
set(CMAKE_VERBOSE_MAKEFILE on)
add_executable(mybinary ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/mybinary.cpp)
target_link_libraries( mybinary libcustom)
target_include_directories (mybinary PUBLIC ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR})
mybinary.cpp
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string>
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
string hello = "Hello from C++";
cout << "Message from native code: " << hello << "\n";
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
How the app should interact with mybinary:
import eu.chainfire.libsuperuser.Shell;
...
Shell.SU.run("/path/to/mybinary");
Ok, I've found a solution that seems to by quite comfortable but probably there are more proper ways out there;
CMakeLists.txt is by default placed inside myAppProject/app so I've added this line to CMakeLists.txt:
set(EXECUTABLE_OUTPUT_PATH "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/main/assets/${ANDROID_ABI}")
complete app/CMakeLists.txt:
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.4.1)
set(CMAKE_VERBOSE_MAKEFILE on)
# set binary output folder to Android assets folder
set(EXECUTABLE_OUTPUT_PATH "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/main/assets/${ANDROID_ABI}")
add_subdirectory (src/main/cpp/mylib)
add_subdirectory (src/main/cpp/mybinary)
complete app/src/main/cpp/mybinary/CMakeLists.txt:
add_executable(mybinary ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/mybinary.cpp)
# mybinary, in this example, has mylib as dependency
target_link_libraries( mybinary mylib)
target_include_directories (mybinary PUBLIC ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR})
complete app/src/main/cpp/mylib/CMakeLists.txt:
add_library( # Sets the name of the library.
mylib
# Sets the library as a shared library.
SHARED
# Provides a relative path to your source file(s).
# Associated headers in the same location as their source
# file are automatically included.
${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/mylib.cpp )
target_include_directories (mylib PUBLIC ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR})
Doing so, any executable binary is compiled directly into assets folder, inside a subfolder whose name is the target ABI, eg:
assets/armeabi/mybinary
assets/x86_64/mybinary
...
In order to use the proper binary inside the App, the correct binary should be selected:
String abi;
if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.LOLLIPOP) {
abi = Build.SUPPORTED_ABIS[0];
} else {
//noinspection deprecation
abi = Build.CPU_ABI;
}
String folder;
if (abi.contains("armeabi-v7a")) {
folder = "armeabi-v7a";
} else if (abi.contains("x86_64")) {
folder = "x86_64";
} else if (abi.contains("x86")) {
folder = "x86";
} else if (abi.contains("armeabi")) {
folder = "armeabi";
}
...
AssetManager assetManager = getAssets();
InputStream in = assetManager.open(folder+"/" + "mybinary");
Then, the binary should be copied away from assets folder with the correct execute permissions:
OutputStream out = context.openFileOutput("mybinary", MODE_PRIVATE);
long size = 0;
int nRead;
while ((nRead = in.read(buff)) != -1) {
out.write(buff, 0, nRead);
size += nRead;
}
out.flush();
Log.d(TAG, "Copy success: " + " + size + " bytes");
File execFile = new File(context.getFilesDir()+"/mybinary");
execFile.setExecutable(true);
That's all!
UPDATE:
gradle.build file:
apply plugin: 'com.android.application'
android {
compileSdkVersion 25
buildToolsVersion "25"
defaultConfig {
applicationId "com.myapp.example"
minSdkVersion 10
targetSdkVersion 25
versionCode 1
versionName "1.0"
testInstrumentationRunner "android.support.test.runner.AndroidJUnitRunner"
externalNativeBuild {
cmake {
cppFlags ""
}
}
}
buildTypes {
release {
minifyEnabled false
proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), 'proguard-rules.pro'
}
}
externalNativeBuild {
cmake {
path "CMakeLists.txt"
}
}
defaultConfig {
externalNativeBuild {
cmake {
targets "mylib", "mybinary"
arguments "-DANDROID_TOOLCHAIN=clang"
cFlags "-DTEST_C_FLAG1", "-DTEST_C_FLAG2"
cppFlags "-DTEST_CPP_FLAG2", "-DTEST_CPP_FLAG2"
abiFilters 'armeabi', 'armeabi-v7a', 'x86', 'x86_64'
}
}
}
}
dependencies {
compile fileTree(include: ['*.jar'], dir: 'libs')
androidTestCompile('com.android.support.test.espresso:espresso-core:2.2.2', {
exclude group: 'com.android.support', module: 'support-annotations'
})
testCompile 'junit:junit:4.12'
compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:25.0.0'
compile 'com.android.support:design:25.0.0'
compile 'com.android.support:recyclerview-v7:25.0.0'
compile 'com.android.support:cardview-v7:25.0.0'
compile 'eu.chainfire:libsuperuser:1.0.0.201607041850'
}
Make the executable files output to where the Android Gradle plugin expects libraries:
set(CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "${CMAKE_LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY}")
Fool the plugin into thinking your executable is a shared object:
add_executable(i_am_an_executable.so main.c)
Check the APK:
$ 7z l build/outputs/apk/app-debug.apk lib/ [2:08:56]
Date Time Attr Size Compressed Name
------------------- ----- ------------ ------------ ------------------------
..... 9684 4889 lib/armeabi/i_am_an_executable.so
..... 6048 1710 lib/arm64-v8a/i_am_an_executable.so
..... 9688 4692 lib/armeabi-v7a/i_am_an_executable.so
..... 5484 1715 lib/x86/i_am_an_executable.so
..... 6160 1694 lib/x86_64/i_am_an_executable.so
Access and run your executable; it is located in context.getApplicationInfo().nativeLibraryDir
.
The downside to this is that you cannot set android:extractNativeLibs
to false
— I don't know of any way to access lib/
in an APK from within the app.