Is there a way to clone an IntelliJ IDEA gradle project?

Question

I'm trying to move my IntelliJ IDEA (2017.3) Android project to another computer just copying the files and it does not work. I am aware of this and this, but in the case of Android project it does not work. All the xml files inside .idea store paths relative to the home ($USER_HOME$) instead of project home ($PROJECT_DIR$). Oddly, Maven projects seem to generate paths relative to the project home and those ones can be copied. But not with gradle projects.

Anyone knows how to solve this ?

EDIT: Bear in mind that I want to copy ALL project settings included running configurations. I want that someone opens the project and find exactly what I have. I know I can reimport the project, but then I'll loose some configuration.

Have you tried re-importing the (IntelliJ) project from the `build.gradle` file? — Bastien Jansen, Jan 25 '18 at 19:29
@BastienJansen I'll edit the question since it is not clear. I want to copy all the project settings, running configuration included. — Ignacio Martin, Jan 26 '18 at 08:35

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 25 '18 at 20:56

Here's the files and folders that need to be excluded from the copy (assuming that your project has a module called app), preferably if you copy the entire project folder to some where else on the same computer and then deleting the unneeded one by one:

folders .idea, .gradle or any folder who's name starts with a .. They are usually found within the root folder of the project and within the module root folder.
build folder found in the project root folder and in module root folder.
any file who's extension is .iml, found in the project root folder and in module root folder.
local.properties found in project root folder.

The rest of the files and folders need to be kept. With the above excluded, the project can be re-imported in Android Studio properly with the correct configurations relative to your second PC.

On a side note, these are the typical exclusions added in .gitignore of an Android Project Git Repo.

The thing is that I would like to copy also the settings of the project, running configurations included. I'll edit the question. — Ignacio Martin, Jan 26 '18 at 08:34
Then I believe the file that needs to be kept is the `.idea/workspace.xml`. To be honest haven't tried it before but I looked into the file and it seems it contains all the run/debug configs in it — ahasbini, Jan 26 '18 at 11:03

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 26 '18 at 15:53

Ok, I found the problem. It is related to how gradle resolve symlinks. This is the issue. Summarizing, if you open your project with a path that contains a symlink, absolute paths will be created in the configuration files and your project won't be portable.

I have reopened the project again using an absolute path and then all the configuration files use PROJECT_DIR instead of USER_HOME

Is there a way to clone an IntelliJ IDEA gradle project?

2 Answers2