Autoincrement VersionCode with gradle extra properties

Question

I would like to read the versionCode from an external file

I am sure that there are any number of possible solutions; here is one:

android {
    compileSdkVersion 18
    buildToolsVersion "18.1.0"

    def versionPropsFile = file('version.properties')

    if (versionPropsFile.canRead()) {
        def Properties versionProps = new Properties()

        versionProps.load(new FileInputStream(versionPropsFile))

        def code = versionProps['VERSION_CODE'].toInteger() + 1

        versionProps['VERSION_CODE']=code.toString()
        versionProps.store(versionPropsFile.newWriter(), null)

        defaultConfig {
            versionCode code
            versionName "1.1"
            minSdkVersion 14
            targetSdkVersion 18
        }
    }
    else {
        throw new GradleException("Could not read version.properties!")
    }

    // rest of android block goes here
}

This code expects an existing version.properties file, which you would create by hand before the first build to have VERSION_CODE=8.

This code simply bumps the version code on each build -- you would need to extend the technique to handle your per-flavor version code.

You can see the Versioning sample project that demonstrates this code.

Here comes a modernization of my previous answer which can be seen below. This one is running with Gradle 4.4 and Android Studio 3.1.1.

What this script does:

• Creates a version.properties file if none exists (up vote Paul Cantrell's answer below, which is where I got the idea from if you like this answer)
• For each build, debug release or any time you press the run button in Android Studio the VERSION_BUILD number increases.
• Every time you assemble a release your Android versionCode for the play store increases and your patch number increases.
• Bonus: After the build is done copies your apk to projectDir/apk to make it more accessible.

This script will create a version number which looks like v1.3.4 (123) and build an apk file like AppName-v1.3.4.apk.

Major version ⌄       ⌄ Build version
             v1.3.4 (123)
  Minor version ⌃|⌃ Patch version

Major version: Has to be changed manually for bigger changes.

Minor version: Has to be changed manually for slightly less big changes.

Patch version: Increases when running gradle assembleRelease

Build version: Increases every build

Version Number: Same as Patch version, this is for the version code which Play Store needs to have increased for each new apk upload.

Just change the content in the comments labeled 1 - 3 below and the script should do the rest. :)

android {
    compileSdkVersion 27
    buildToolsVersion '27.0.3'

    def versionPropsFile = file('version.properties')
    def value = 0
    Properties versionProps = new Properties()
    if (!versionPropsFile.exists()) {
        versionProps['VERSION_PATCH'] = "0"
        versionProps['VERSION_NUMBER'] = "0"
        versionProps['VERSION_BUILD'] = "-1" // I set it to minus one so the first build is 0 which isn't super important. 
        versionProps.store(versionPropsFile.newWriter(), null)
    }

    def runTasks = gradle.startParameter.taskNames
    if ('assembleRelease' in runTasks) {
        value = 1
    }

    def mVersionName = ""
    def mFileName = ""

    if (versionPropsFile.canRead()) {
        versionProps.load(new FileInputStream(versionPropsFile))

        versionProps['VERSION_PATCH'] = (versionProps['VERSION_PATCH'].toInteger() + value).toString()
        versionProps['VERSION_NUMBER'] = (versionProps['VERSION_NUMBER'].toInteger() + value).toString()
        versionProps['VERSION_BUILD'] = (versionProps['VERSION_BUILD'].toInteger() + 1).toString()

        versionProps.store(versionPropsFile.newWriter(), null)

        // 1: change major and minor version here
        mVersionName = "v1.0.${versionProps['VERSION_PATCH']}"
        // 2: change AppName for your app name
        mFileName = "AppName-${mVersionName}.apk"

        defaultConfig {
            minSdkVersion 21
            targetSdkVersion 27
            applicationId "com.example.appname" // 3: change to your package name
            versionCode versionProps['VERSION_NUMBER'].toInteger()
            versionName "${mVersionName} Build: ${versionProps['VERSION_BUILD']}"
        }

    } else {
        throw new FileNotFoundException("Could not read version.properties!")
    }

    if ('assembleRelease' in runTasks) {
        applicationVariants.all { variant ->
            variant.outputs.all { output ->
                if (output.outputFile != null && output.outputFile.name.endsWith('.apk')) {
                    outputFileName = mFileName
                }
            }
        }
    }

    task copyApkFiles(type: Copy){
        from 'build/outputs/apk/release'
        into '../apk'
        include mFileName
    }

    afterEvaluate {
        assembleRelease.doLast {
            tasks.copyApkFiles.execute()
        }
    }

    signingConfigs {
        ...
    }

    buildTypes {
        ...
    }
}

====================================================

INITIAL ANSWER:

I want the versionName to increase automatically as well. So this is just an addition to the answer by CommonsWare which worked perfectly for me. This is what works for me

defaultConfig {
    versionCode code
    versionName "1.1." + code
    minSdkVersion 14
    targetSdkVersion 18
}

EDIT:

As I am a bit lazy I want my versioning to work as automatically as possible. What I want is to have a Build Version that increases with each build, while the Version Number and Version Name only increases when I make a release build.

This is what I have been using for the past year, the basics are from CommonsWare's answer and my previous answer, plus some more. This results in the following versioning:

Version Name: 1.0.5 (123) --> Major.Minor.Patch (Build), Major and Minor are changed manually.

In build.gradle:

...
android {
    compileSdkVersion 23
    buildToolsVersion '23.0.1'
    def versionPropsFile = file('version.properties')
    if (versionPropsFile.canRead()) {
        def Properties versionProps = new Properties()

        versionProps.load(new FileInputStream(versionPropsFile))

        def value = 0

        def runTasks = gradle.startParameter.taskNames
        if ('assemble' in runTasks || 'assembleRelease' in runTasks || 'aR' in runTasks) {
            value = 1;
        }

        def versionMajor = 1
        def versionMinor = 0
        def versionPatch = versionProps['VERSION_PATCH'].toInteger() + value
        def versionBuild = versionProps['VERSION_BUILD'].toInteger() + 1
        def versionNumber = versionProps['VERSION_NUMBER'].toInteger() + value

        versionProps['VERSION_PATCH'] = versionPatch.toString()
        versionProps['VERSION_BUILD'] = versionBuild.toString()
        versionProps['VERSION_NUMBER'] = versionNumber.toString()

        versionProps.store(versionPropsFile.newWriter(), null)

        defaultConfig {
            versionCode versionNumber
            versionName "${versionMajor}.${versionMinor}.${versionPatch} (${versionBuild}) Release"
            minSdkVersion 14
            targetSdkVersion 23
        }

        applicationVariants.all { variant ->
            variant.outputs.each { output ->
                def fileNaming = "apk/RELEASES"
                variant.outputs.each { output ->
                    def outputFile = output.outputFile
                    if (outputFile != null && outputFile.name.endsWith('.apk')) {
                        output.outputFile = new File(getProject().getRootDir(), "${fileNaming}-${versionMajor}.${versionMinor}.${versionPatch}-${outputFile.name}")
                    }
                }
            }
        }

    } else {
        throw new GradleException("Could not read version.properties!")
    }

    ...
}

...

Patch and versionCode is increased if you assemble your project through the terminal with 'assemble', 'assembleRelease' or 'aR' which creates a new folder in your project root called apk/RELEASE so you don't have to look through build/outputs/more/more/more to find your apk.

Your version properties would need to look like this:

VERSION_NUMBER=1
VERSION_BUILD=645
VERSION_PATCH=1

Obviously start with 0. :)

A slightly tightened-up version of CommonsWare's excellent answer creates the version file if it doesn't exist:

def Properties versionProps = new Properties()
def versionPropsFile = file('version.properties')
if(versionPropsFile.exists())
    versionProps.load(new FileInputStream(versionPropsFile))
def code = (versionProps['VERSION_CODE'] ?: "0").toInteger() + 1
versionProps['VERSION_CODE'] = code.toString()
versionProps.store(versionPropsFile.newWriter(), null)

defaultConfig {
    versionCode code
    versionName "1.1"
    minSdkVersion 14
    targetSdkVersion 18
}

I looked at a few options to do this, and ultimately decided it was simpler to just use the current time for the versionCode instead of trying to automatically increment the versionCode and check it into my revision control system.

Add the following to your build.gradle:

/**
 * Use the number of seconds/10 since Jan 1 2016 as the versionCode.
 * This lets us upload a new build at most every 10 seconds for the
 * next 680 years.
 */
def vcode = (int)(((new Date().getTime()/1000) - 1451606400) / 10)

android {
    defaultConfig {
        ...
        versionCode vcode
    }
}

However, if you expect to upload builds beyond year 2696, you may want to use a different solution.