The Android Development Tools (ADT) plugin for Eclipse adds powerful extensions to the Eclipse integrated development environment. It allows you to create and debug Android applications easier and faster. If you use Eclipse, the ADT plugin gives you an incredible boost in developing Android applications:
To begin developing Android applications in the Eclipse IDE with ADT, you first need to download the Eclipse IDE and then download and install the ADT plugin. To do so, follow the steps given in Installing the ADT Plugin.
If you are already developing applications using a version of ADT earlier than 0.9, make sure to upgrade to the latest version before continuing. See the guide to Updating Your ADT Plugin.
Note: This guide assumes you are using the latest version of the ADT plugin. While most of the information covered also applies to previous versions, if you are using an older version, you may want to consult this document from the set of documentation included in your SDK package (instead of the online version).
The ADT plugin provides a New Project Wizard that you can use to quickly create a new Android project (or a project from existing code). To create a new project:
Unless you know that you'll be using new APIs introduced in the latest SDK, you should select a target with the lowest platform version possible, such as Android 1.1.
Note: You can change your the Build Target for your project at any time: Right-click the project in the Package Explorer, select Properties, select Android and then check the desired Project Target.
minSdkVersion attribute in the
<uses-sdk>
of your Android Manifest file. If you're unsure of the appropriate API Level to use,
copy the API Level listed for the Build Target you selected in the Target tab.Tip: You can also start the New Project Wizard from the New icon in the toolbar.
Once you complete the New Project Wizard, ADT creates the following folders and files in your new project:
src/<Android Version>/ (e.g., Android 1.1/)android.jar file that your application will build against.
This is determined by the build target that you have chosen in the New Project
Wizard.gen/R.java file
and interfaces created from AIDL files.assets/res/AndroidManifest.xmldefault.propertiesBefore you can run your application on the Android Emulator, you must create an Android Virtual Device (AVD). An AVD is a configuration that specifies the Android platform to be used on the emulator. You can read more in the Android Virtual Devices document, but if you just want to get started, follow the simple guide below to create an AVD.
If you will be running your applications only on actual device hardware, you do not need an AVD — see Developing On a Device for information on running your applicaiton.
With ADT 0.9.3 and above, the Android SDK and AVD Manager provides a simple graphical interface
for creating and managing AVDs. (If you're using ADT version 0.9.1 or older, you must
use the android tool to create your AVDs—read the AVD guide to
Creating an AVD.)
To create an AVD with the AVD Manager:
Give it a name, a platform target, an SD card image (optional), and a skin (HVGA is default).
Your AVD is now ready and you can close the AVD Manager. In the next section, you'll see how the AVD is used when launching your application on an emulator.
For more information about AVDs, read the Android Virtual Devices documentation.
Note: Before you can run your application, be sure that you have created an AVD with a target that satisfies your application's Build Target. If an AVD cannot be found that meets the requirements of your Build Target, you will see a console error telling you so and the launch will be aborted.
To run (or debug) your application, select Run > Run (or Run > Debug) from the Eclipse main menu. The ADT plugin will automatically create a default launch configuration for the project.
When you choose to run or debug your application, Eclipse will perform the following:
By default, Android application run configurations use an "automatic target" mode for selecting a device target. For information on how automatic target mode selects a deployment target, see Automatic and manual target modes below.
If debugging, the application will start in the "Waiting For Debugger" mode. Once the debugger is attached, Eclipse will open the Debug perspective.
To set or change the launch configuration used for your project, use the launch configuration manager. See Creating a Launch Configuration for information.
The run configuration specifies the project to run, the Activity to start, the emulator options to use, and so on. When you first run a project as an Android Application, ADT will automatically create a run configuration. The default run configuration will launch the default project Activity and use automatic target mode for device selection (with no preferred AVD). If the default settings don't suit your project, you can customize the launch configuration or even create a new.
To create or modify a launch configuration, follow these steps as appropriate for your Eclipse version:
In the Target tab, consider whether you'd like to use Manual or Automatic mode when selecting an AVD to run your application. See the following section on Automatic and manual target modes).
You can specify any emulator options to the Additional Emulator Command
Line Options field. For example, you could add -scale 96dpi to
scale the AVD's screen to an accurate size, based on the dpi of your
computer monitor. For a full list of emulator options, see the Android Emulator
document.
By default, a run configuration uses the automatic target mode in order to select an AVD. In this mode, ADT will select an AVD for the application in the following manner:
However, if a "preferred AVD" is selected in the run configuration, then the application will always be deployed to that AVD. If it's not already running, then a new emulator will be launched.
If your run configuration uses manual mode, then the "device chooser" is presented every time that your application is run, so that you can select which AVD to use.
As you begin developing Android applications, understand that all Android applications must be digitally signed before the system will install them on an emulator or an actual device. There are two ways to do this: with a debug key (for immediate testing on an emulator or development device) or with a private key (for application distribution).
The ADT plugin helps you get started quickly by signing your .apk files with a debug key, prior to installing them on an emulator or development device. This means that you can quickly run your application from Eclipse without having to generate your own private key. No specific action on your part is needed, provided ADT has access to Keytool.However, please note that if you intend to publish your application, you must sign the application with your own private key, rather than the debug key generated by the SDK tools.
Please read Signing Your Applications, which provides a thorough guide to application signing on Android and what it means to you as an Android application developer. The document also includes a guide to exporting and signing your application with the ADT's Export Wizard.
You can execute arbitrary code when paused at a breakpoint in Eclipse. For example,
when in a function with a String argument called "zip", you can get
information about packages and call class methods. You can also invoke arbitrary
static methods: for example, entering android.os.Debug.startMethodTracing() will
start dmTrace.
Open a code execution window, select Window>Show View>Display from the main menu to open the Display window, a simple text editor. Type your expression, highlight the text, and click the 'J' icon (or CTRL + SHIFT + D) to run your code. The code runs in the context of the selected thread, which must be stopped at a breakpoint or single-step point. (If you suspend the thread manually, you have to single-step once; this doesn't work if the thread is in Object.wait().)
If you are currently paused on a breakpoint, you can simply highlight and execute a piece of source code by pressing CTRL + SHIFT + D.
You can highlight a block of text within the same scope by pressing ALT +SHIFT + UP ARROW to select larger and larger enclosing blocks, or DOWN ARROW to select smaller blocks.
Here are a few sample inputs and responses in Eclipse using the Display window.
| Input | Response |
|---|---|
zip |
(java.lang.String)
/work/device/out/linux-x86-debug/android/app/android_sdk.zip |
zip.endsWith(".zip") |
(boolean) true |
zip.endsWith(".jar") |
(boolean) false |
You can also execute arbitrary code when not debugging by using a scrapbook page. Search the Eclipse documentation for "scrapbook".
Although the recommended way to debug is to use the ADT plugin, you can manually run DDMS and configure Eclipse to debug on port 8700. (Note: Be sure that you have first started DDMS).