android-source-swap

Android Source Swap

NodeJS program to easily switch the Android SDK Sources which Android Studio attaches when debugging.

Reason

When running an Android application on a device with a different Android SDK Version than the compileSdkVersion used in build.gradle, debugging in Android Studio may result in off-sync lines. E.g. build an app against Android SDK 23 and run it on a phone with Kitkat (Android 4.4, SDK API Version 19). While stepping through Android system classes, the file lines are not in sync, making it difficult to keep up with the program flow.

A stackoverflow answer suggested renaming the Android Source folders for the time of debugging, as other solutions like changing the compileSdkVersion in numerous compilation errors, especially when using Android support libraries results. To simplify and speed up the process of renaming the folders and reverting the renaming, I wrote this script.

Installation

Either globally install the npm module using

npm install -g android-source-swap

or download the source-swap.js.js file and place it in your Android project root folder or a script folder. Execute with

node source-swap.js.js

The script requires the ANDROID_HOME environment variable to be set and point towards the android-sdk directory, e.g. /Users/username/.android-sdk/sdk.

Usage

Always make sure to restore the default naming with -r flag before executing any renaming action!

Common way

Running the script without any parameters gives an "interactive" mode, asking which version your application compiles against (the compileSdkVersion) and which version the device you want to debug is running. Afterwards the folders will get renamed.

android-source-swap [project SDK version] [device SDK version] quick mode: immediately provide the two Android SDK Versions that would be entered to the questions of the "interactive" guide. The script will rename the folders accordingly. E.g. android-source-swap 23 19 to debug an app that compiles against Android SDK version 23 on a device running Android SDK version 19.

Further functions

android-source-swap -i: Calling will print a list of available Android SDK Version sources and the current folder naming.

android-source-swap -r flag: Use this flag to repair and restore any previously done renaming. It will name to folders like Android Studio expect them.

android-source-swap -c [version int] flag: Check whether a given Android SDK Version is installed. If it is installed the full SDK path will be returned.

Flags are not combinable. The first one will be consumed, all subsequent will get ignored.