Recommended way of creating test version of Android app

Question

We have an Android app built with Mono for Android, and now we have desire to make a deployable test version for use in acceptance testing. It is important that the production version remains on the device and keeps working. What is the recommended way of creating a test build without causing interference like package name collisions?

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 21 '12 at 13:44

This solution applies to Mono for Android and allows you to change the package name of an application based on build configuration in Visual Studio:

Create a new Build Configuration, Test, for your solution.
Define a new Conditional compilation symbol, TEST, in your project.
Rename your existing AndroidManifest.xml to AndroidManifest-Template.xml

Create two .xslt files in the Properties folder:
manifest-transform.xslt:

<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" version="1.0">
  <xsl:output indent="yes" />
  <xsl:template match="@*|node()">
    <xsl:copy>
      <xsl:apply-templates select="@*|node()" />
    </xsl:copy>
  </xsl:template>
  <xsl:template match="/manifest/@package">
    <xsl:attribute name="package">
      <xsl:value-of select="'<your.test.package.name.here>'" />
    </xsl:attribute>
  </xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

manifest-copy.xslt:

<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" version="1.0">
  <xsl:output indent="yes" />
  <xsl:template match="@*|node()">
    <xsl:copy>
      <xsl:apply-templates select="@*|node()" />
    </xsl:copy>
  </xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

Add two XslTransformation tasks to the BeforeBuild target of your project file:

<Target Name="BeforeBuild">
  <XslTransformation 
    Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' != 'Test|AnyCPU'" 
    XslInputPath="Properties\manifest-copy.xslt" 
    XmlInputPaths="Properties\AndroidManifest-Template.xml" 
    OutputPaths="Properties\AndroidManifest.xml" />
  <XslTransformation 
    Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Test|AnyCPU'" 
    XslInputPath="Properties\manifest-transform.xslt" 
    XmlInputPaths="Properties\AndroidManifest-Template.xml" 
    OutputPaths="Properties\AndroidManifest.xml" />
</Target>

Use the TEST symbol for conditional code:

#if TEST
    [Application(
        Label = "App Test", 
        Theme = "@style/Theme.App.Test", 
        Icon = "@drawable/ic_launcher_test")]
#else
    [Application(
        Label = "App", 
        Theme = "@style/Theme.App", 
        Icon = "@drawable/ic_launcher")]
#endif

You can now switch between test and regular app by changing build config :)

@khellang could you please help me out with this error: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/42270255/error-with-pre-build-event-to-change-package-name — Dawood Awan, Feb 16 '17 at 09:46

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 11 '12 at 23:48

0

Changing the package name should probably be enough to keep things from conflicting, unless you are writing data to a hardcoded location, which would also need to be changed.

answered Mar 11 '12 at 23:48

jpobst

9,982
1
29
33

Changing the package name must be done in both manifest and all resource files, though. And this must be done back and forth every time we need a test build. Can this be automated based on e.g. a build configuration? – Tormod Fjeldskår Mar 12 '12 at 09:36
I was under the impression that when you changed the package name, you had to change the namespaces in your XML GUI files accordingly. Am I missing something here? – Tormod Fjeldskår Mar 13 '12 at 07:27
If you use a custom view with custom attributes, you need to define a namespace to use them. Like: `` and then use the app namespace: ``. This would be a problem when changing the package name of the application... – khellang Mar 14 '12 at 08:26

Recommended way of creating test version of Android app

2 Answers2