Using flavours in Android studio and - error with wrong AndroidManifest selected / not merged

Question

I am trying to set up flavours, so I can build different apps in he same project that share the same code... But I am not sure I am doing it fully correct...

I have created a project called com.sharedid.app in folder W:\\android-studio-projects\\sharedid\\

For this I have

1) Created AndroidManifest.xml in W:\\android-studio-projects\\sharedid\\app\\src\\main looking like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
  package="com.sharedid.app"
  android:versionCode="1"
  android:versionName="1.0"
>
<activity android:name="com.shared.app.SharedMain" android:label="@string/MicMainName" >
  <intent-filter>
    <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
    <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
  </intent-filter>
</activity>  
</manifest>

2) In W:\\android-studio-projects\\sharedid\\app\\src\\main\\java ... I have all .java files

3) In W:\\android-studio-projects\\sharedid\\app\\src\\main\\res I have all shared and/or dummy resources

For my flavour I have:

1) I have created AndroidManifest.xml in W:\\android-studio-projects\\sharedid\\app\\src\\myflavour (this file is what defines everything - it is unqiue for each flavour)

2) In W:\\android-studio-projects\\sharedid\\app\\src\\myflavour\\res I have a single folder drawable-hdpi conttaining variois graphics

3) In W:\\android-studio-projects\\sharedid\\app\\src\\myflavour\\assets I have all sorts of data, configuration and graphic files for that specifc app. (read by the code at runtime)

4) In *W:\\android-studio-projects\\sharedid\\app\\src\\myfavlour* I have the following AndroidManifest.xml file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
  package="com.myflavour.app"
  android:versionCode="2"
  android:versionName="2.0"
>
<uses-sdk
  android:minSdkVersion="9"
  android:targetSdkVersion="17" 
/>
  <uses-feature android:glEsVersion="0x00020000" android:required="true" />

<application
  android:allowBackup="true"
  android:icon="@drawable/app_logo__forlarge"
  android:label="@string/MicAppName"
  android:theme="@style/MicTheme_myflavour"
  android:name="com.shared.app.MicApp"
>
<provider
  android:name="android.support.v4.content.FileProvider"
  android:authorities="com.myflavour.app.fileprovider"
  android:grantUriPermissions="true"
  android:exported="false">
  <meta-data android:name="android.support.FILE_PROVIDER_PATHS" android:resource="@xml/provider_filepaths" />
</provider>
<activity android:name="com.shared.app.SharedMain" android:label="@string/MicMainName" >
  <intent-filter>
    <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
    <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
  </intent-filter>
</activity>        
<activity>...more...</activity>        
</application>
</manifest>

Here's how "Gradle Scripts" - "Build Gradle" (Module: app) looks like:

apply plugin: 'com.android.application'

android {
    signingConfigs {
    }
    compileSdkVersion 21
    buildToolsVersion '21.1.2'
    defaultConfig {
        applicationId "com.sharedid.app"
        minSdkVersion 9
        targetSdkVersion 17
    }
    buildTypes {
        release {
            minifyEnabled true
            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), 'proguard-project.txt'
        }
    }
    repositories {
        maven { url "https://jitpack.io" }
    }     
    productFlavors {
      myflavour {
          applicationId "com.myflavour.app"
      }
    }
    sourceSets {
      main {
        manifest.srcFile 'src/main/AndroidManifest.xml'
      }
      myflavour {
        manifest.srcFile 'src/myflavour/AndroidManifest.xml'
      }
    }           
}    
dependencies {
    compile 'com.android.support:support-v4:18.0.0'
    compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services:+'
    compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:21.1.2'
    compile 'com.github.PhilJay:MPAndroidChart:v2.0.8'
}

My problem is this

When I in "build variants" select "module=app" and "build-variant=com.myflavour.appDebug" and click "Run > Debug..." I get a dialog that states: "Error: Default activity not found"

From my studies of flavours I should not need to define sourcesets paths since I use the default conventenion of files for flavours... If I am right abnout that - then why does it not see the Androidmanifest file for the flavour selected?

Links for reference I base my understanding on:

• https://developer.android.com/tools/building/manifest-merge.html
• Gradle flavors for android with custom source sets - what should the gradle files look like?

Additional troubleshooting

In my attempt to find the root of this problem, I begun to suspect manifest merging was not working. The reason for this suspicion was that if I ignored the error about no activity and tried to push the compiled app out on the mobile, I would get a warning about the version number being smaller than the one installed on the mobile - clear indication wrong manifest file was being used.

So i have also tried to delete src/main/AndroidManifest.xml which results in error:

A problem was found with the configuration of task ':app:checkmyflavourDebugManifest'. File W:\\android-studio-projects\\sharedid\\src\\main\\AndroidManifest.xml' specified for property 'manifest' does not exist

This leads me to believe Android Studio is completely ignoring that I am actually specifying it to use another manifest file... And the same time though it would seem i an building the correct variation build.

I would apreciate any comment/analysis on this - even if just to confirm my thinking of the cause

Screenshot of my current setup

(in this screenshot I have experiemented deleting main/shared androidmanifest file, but otherwise it complete)

Latest update

I conclude flavors is not working / my gradle setup must be wrong. If I eg select building variation myflavourDebug Android studio does not use the manifest file defined in gradle. This alone should be enough to conclude where the problem relies.

Maybe my gradle file is wrong somehow, I don't know, but I have taken great care in getting i right. If someone posts an asnwer while bounty is active I will try hurry and assign it.

Answer 1

I think the problem is here:

applicationId "com.myflavour.app"

You define your applicationIs as com.myflavour.app in your build.gradle. In your AndroidManifest, you specifiy

<activity android:name="com.shared.app.SharedMain"
    android:label="@string/MicMainName" >

as your main Activity. Your main activity should be named after your applicationId, if I'm not wrong. So basically, you should try to change either your manifest to state your activity as com.myflavour.app and arrange your packaging accordingly, or you could just use the same applicationId for your flavour.

Answer 2

to use Flavours It's not required to create Manifest files for every of them. Just put all your classes in src/mani/AndroidManifest.xml file. If you still wish to use both files remove conflicts by not overriding "intent-filter" block:

<intent-filter>
  <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
  <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
</intent-filter>

Use it only once.

And finally, you can find a lot useful information on http://developer.android.com/tools/building/manifest-merge.html

Fast quote from there:

During the build process, the manifest merge process stores a record of each merge transaction in the manifest-merger--report.txt file in the module build/outputs/logs folder. A different log file is generated for each of the module's build variants.

Answer 3

It's not possible to merge manifests with different package names.
I think this is the problem.
Just remove package="com.myflavour.app" from myflavour manifest.