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WrittenbyIanElliot

Baidu

Thursday,16January2014

ArticleIndex
CustomProjectsInAndroidStudio
UsingaRecipe

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AndroidStudioisdevelopingrapidly.Sorapidlythatthe
documentationisgettingwellleftbehind.Sohowdoyoucreate
acustomprojectoractivitytemplate?Inparticularhowtoyou
createasimpleblankprojecttypethatdoesn'tuseafragment.

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InrecentversionsofAndroidStudiotherangeofprojects
availablechangedandthesimplestprojectyoucouldcreate
automaticallymakesuseofafragmenttohosttheUI.
Whiletheideaofusingafragmentevenforthesimplest
applicationmakesacertainamountofsense,therearetimes
whenworkingwiththeunderlyingwindowmakesbettersense.
InparticularourseriesintroducingAndroidStudioandAndroid
programmingingeneralmadeuseoftheearliersimplerproject
type.FromthepointofviewofteachingAndroidprogramming
therearemanyadvantagestoavoidingthecomplexityofa
fragmentuntillater.
AsaresultIProgrammerneededtocreateacustomproject
templateforasimpleAndroidprojectthatdidn'tusea
fragment.
Thisisthestoryofhowitwasachieved.
Onereallyimportantpoint:
Anychangesyoumaketoanytemplatefilesonlytake
effectafteryourestartAndroidStudio.
Thisdoesmaketestingmessyandifyouknowofabetterway
pleasecommenttoletusallknow.

Templatebasics
Atthemomentatleast,AndroidStudio'stemplatesarebased
ontheAndroidADTTemplatesystem,whichisinturnbased
onFreeMarker.Itisn'teasytofindthedocumentationforthis,
soIhavetakenthelibertyofpostingitintheResourcesand
ToolssectionofIProgrammer,seeAndroidADTTemplate
FormatDocument.
Templatesareusedtocreateentireprojectsand
subcomponentssuchasactivities.Youcanfindoutthedetails
inthedocumentationquotedabove.Thisarticleconcentrates
oncreatingaTemplateforasimpleblankActivityaspartofa
blankactivityprojecttype.
Thefirstproblemwehaveislocatingwherethetemplatefiles
arestored.Atthemoment,underWindows,thesearein:
C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Android\android
studio\plugins\android\lib\templates
althoughthiscouldchange.Onewaytofindpossibletemplate
directoriesistosimplysearchforfilesendingin.ftl.
Thetemplatesthatweareinterestedinarelocatedinthe
activitiessubdirectory.Eachsubfolderprovidesanewproject
oractivitytype.
Currentlytherearefourprojecttypes:

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3/20/2015

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Thesimplestthingtodotocreateanewtemplateistomakea
copyofBlankActivityandrenameittowhateveryoulikeinour
caseSimpleBlankActivity.
Thiswillgiveyouafewiconsandotherbitsandpiecesthat
youdon'treallyneedinyourfinishedtemplate,butitismuch
easierthanstartingfromscratch.

Template.xml
JustaddingtheSimpleBlankActivityfolderwillcauseAndroid
StudiotolistBlankActivitytwiceintheActivitytypes.Togive
yourtemplateanidentityofitown,thefirstfileyouhavetoedit
isTemplate.xml.
IfyouloadthisintoAndroidStudiooranyXMLeditoryou
shouldbeabletofigureoutwhatitisallabout.Itcontrolsthe
optionsthattheuserispresentedwithasthefinalpageofthe
NewProjectscreen.
Inourcaseallweneedtomodifyisthenamevariabletogive
thetemplateanewnameandweneedtoremoveanumberof
parametersthatarenolongerneeded.
Thatis,weneedtoremovetheparameternavType,andthe
parameterfragmentLayoutName.Everythingelsecanbeleft
asitis,buttherearesomeoptionalchangesyoumightwantto
maketotidythingsup.
Youcanfinddetailsofwhatsortsofparametersetc.youcan
definebylookingatthedocumentation.Onceyouhaveseen
anexampleitisfairlyobvious.
ThefinalTemplate.xmlis:
<?xmlversion="1.0"?>
<template
format="3"
revision="1"
name="SimpleBlankActivity"
minApi="7"
minBuildApi="14"
description="Createsanewsimple
blankactivity">
<categoryvalue="Activities"/>
<parameter
id="activityClass"
name="ActivityName"
type="string"
constraints="class|unique|nonempty"
suggest="${layoutToActivity(layoutName)}"
default="MainActivity"
help="Thenameoftheactivityclass
tocreate"/>
<parameter
id="layoutName"
name="LayoutName"
type="string"
constraints="layout|unique|nonempty"
suggest="${activityToLayout(activityClass)}"
default="activity_main"
help="Thenameofthelayouttocreatefor
theactivity"/>
<parameter
id="activityTitle"
name="Title"
type="string"
constraints="nonempty"
default="MainActivity"
suggest="${activityClass}"
help="Thenameoftheactivity.Forlauncher
activities,theapplicationtitle."/>
<parameter
id="isLauncher"
name="LauncherActivity"
type="boolean"
default="false"
help="Iftrue,thisactivitywillhavea
CATEGORY_LAUNCHERintentfilter,makingit
visibleinthelauncher"/>
<parameter
id="parentActivityClass"

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CustomProjectsInAndroidStudio
name="HierarchicalParent"
type="string"
constraints="activity|exists|empty"
default=""
help="Thehierarchicalparentactivity,
usedtoprovideadefaultimplementation
forthe'Up'button"/>
<parameter
id="packageName"
name="Packagename"
type="string"
constraints="package"
default="com.mycompany.myapp"/>
<thumb>template_blank_activity.png</thumb>
<globalsfile="globals.xml.ftl"/>
<executefile="recipe.xml.ftl"/>
</template>
Theglobals.xml.ftlfilesetsupsomevariableswhichapplytoall
ofthetemplatefiles.Ingeneralyoudon'thavetomodifythisas
anyglobalvariablesthatitdefinesyoucaneitheruseor
ignore.
Whatdoesmatterhoweveristherecipe.xml.ftlfile,whichisthe
scriptthatsetsuptheproject.

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