Installing tools for Android development

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Installing tools for Android development

Overview

Manual setup (not recommended): the necessary elements

See also

Installing tools for Android development

Overview

By default, when an Android application is generated for the first time, the generation wizard proposes to automatically download and install all the necessary elements:

Open JDK (on a new computer that uses the Android generation).
The Android SDK of Google,
Gradle.

Therefore, these tools are always available in the version adapted to the WINDEV Mobile version currently used.
Caution: The first download can be quite long.

Remark: You can configure the Proxy that will be used for the automatic download:

in the Android application generation wizard.
in the options of WINDEV Mobile ("Proxy" tab).

These elements can also be installed manually. This type of setup is not recommended because the versions of the different tools can be out of phase with the version expected by WINDEV Mobile.

Manual setup (not recommended): the necessary elements

Overview

To develop Android applications with WINDEV Mobile, you must install:

The JDK: The JDK (Java Development Kit) distributed by Oracle is used to compile the generated Java files.
The Android SDK of Google: The Android SDK (Software Development Kit) is a set of files and applications distributed by Google in order to allow the compilation of applications for the Android operating system.
Versions 21 and later
Gradle: This tool is required to compile and generate Android applications.
New in version 21
Gradle: This tool is required to compile and generate Android applications.
Gradle: This tool is required to compile and generate Android applications.
On some devices, additional files must be installed in order for the device to be properly detected by the SDK and WINDEV Mobile.

When creating a project or a project configuration for Android, the path of the Android SDK must be specified.

Android SDK

Where can I find the Android SDK?
The Android SDK can be downloaded from the Google site devoted to the development for Android (http://developer.android.com).
To develop Android applications with WINDEV Mobile, only the "Stand-alone SDK" is required.
The version of "Stand-alone" SDK for Windows is found at the following address: http://developer.android.com/sdk/installing/index.html?pkg=tools.

Click "Download the SDK Now".
Download the SDK for Windows.

Important: These addresses are valid at the time this documentation is published.

How do I install the Android SDK?
The procedure is as follows:

Decompress the downloaded file in a folder at the root of drive "C:" to avoid a Windows virtualization. For example: "C:\Android\".
Open the folder with the Windows explorer.
Run "SDK Manager.exe". This program is used to install the existing versions of the Android SDK as well as their updates.

Remark: You may have to add the path of "Tools" subdirectory into the PATH of your computer. To do so:

Display the properties of working computer.
In the "Advanced" tab, click the "Environment variables" button.
Select "PATH" in the system variables and click "Modify".
Add the full path of "Tools" directory.

Remark: The following error message can be displayed by the "SDK Manager.exe" program:
"Failed to fetch URL https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/repository/repository.xml, reason: HTTPS SSL error. You might want to force download through HTTP in the settings.".
This message indicates that the manager of Android SDK did not manage to establish an HTTPS connection to download the SDK components. To solve this problem, you must:

Click "Settings" in the list on the left of window.
Check "Force https://... source to be fetched using http://".
Click "Save & Apply".

Remark: If you did not choose the option for automatic update proposed by Gradle and the Android SDK, this path will have to be specified in the Android application generation wizard.

Version of Android SDK required for WINDEV Mobile

The Android SDK version 4.0 (or later) is required by WINDEV Mobile. This version allows you to develop applications for Android 4.0 and later.
If a more recent version is installed, WINDEV Mobile will use this version. The generated applications will remain compatible with Android version 4.0.

Remark: To benefit from the detection of the Android platform from WINDEV Mobile, we also advise you to install the "USB Driver" package.

Caution: If you do not use the automatic download of Android SDK, to generate the Android applications with WINDEV Mobile, you must:

update Android SDK Tools.
installer the two following add-ons: "Android Support Repository" and "Google Repository".

The following elements are required to generate applications with WINDEV Mobile:


	WINDEV 24	WINDEV 25
Module	Version	Version
Android SDK Tools	26.1.1	26.1.1
Android Platform-Tools	28.0.1	29.0.5
Android SDK Build-Tools	28.0.2	29.0.2
Android Support Repository	47	47
Google Repository	58	58

Runtime and compilation versions


	WINDEV Mobile 24	WINDEV Mobile 25
Compilation version	Android 8.1	Android 8.1
Runtime version	Android 4 or later	Android 5.0 or later

The Android SDK operates on Windows Vista and later versions (in 32 and 64 bits).

JDK used for Android development

Where can I find the JDK? You can download:

the Oracle JDK, which can be downloaded from the Oracle site at: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html.
OpenJDK, available for download at: https://openjdk.java.net/

JDK version to install:


	WINDEV Mobile 23 and previous versions	WINDEV Mobile 24 and 25 up to version "Update 1"	WINDEV Mobile 25 from version "Update 2" and later
JDK version	1.8	1.8 or 9	1.8 or 10

Remarks:

The JDK is sufficient. There is no need to download the versions that include addition modules (JavaFX or NetBeans for example).
The JDK 8 is sometimes called JDK 1.8. These two names identify the same product.
The 64-bit version of the JDK must be installed.
If several JDKs are installed to meet specific requirements, the Android application generation wizard allows you to select the JDK to use for compilation in the "Configuration" step:
1. Click "Advanced configuration".
2. In the window that appears, in "Command of Java compiler, select "Custom...".
3. Select the Java compiler to use.
4. Validate the window and continue with the application generation wizard.

Gradle

Where can I find Gradle?
The compilation of Android projects with WINDEV Mobile 25 works with Gradle version 5.4.1.

Gradle can be downloaded from the following site: http://gradle.org/gradle-download/. The version that can be currently downloaded is a version greater than version 5.4.1 required by WINDEV Mobile.

In "Older releases", click "releases page".
In the page that appears, select version 5.4.1.
Click on "Binary-only".
A file in Zip format is downloaded.
Unzip the archive files in a directory of the development computer.