buildToolsVersion range or '+' in gradle

Question

I would like to specify a range of possible android build tool versions to Gradle.

Is it possible to use + when specifying buildToolsVersion in build.gradle? Something like buildToolsVersion 23+ ?

Or a range like it's possible with compile dependencies:

compile group: 'log4j', name: 'log4j', version: '[1.2.12,1.2.17]'

Answer 1

Good question.

Yes! It's possible. My answer heavily uses this snippet: https://github.com/aayvazyan-tgm/autodetect_android_sdk_and_buildTools/blob/master/sdktools.gradle

apply plugin: 'com.android.application'

android {
    compileSdkVersion 23
    buildToolsVersion getBuildVersionFromRange("23.0.2", "25.1.3")
    ...
}

.......

//
// get the installed SDK and build tools version
// based on: http://www.egeek.me/2013/12/07/gradle-auto-detect-android-sdk-and-build-tools-versions/
// modified by Ari Ayvazyan
import org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.StackTraceUtils

public String androidSDKDir() {
    def sdkDir = android.getSdkDirectory().toString()
    return sdkDir
}

public String[] buildToolsAvailable() {
    println "sdk dir: " + androidSDKDir()
    def buildToolsDir = new File(androidSDKDir(), "build-tools")
    String[] collection = buildToolsDir.list([accept:{ d, f-> !f.contains("android") }] as FilenameFilter)
    for (int i = 0; i < collection.length; i++) {
        String s = collection[i]
        collection[i]=s.replace("build-tools-","")
    }
    collection.sort { a, b -> b <=> a }
}

public String getBuildVersionFromRange(String defaultBuildTools, String maxBuildTools) {
    def buildToolsVersions = buildToolsAvailable()

    List maxBuild = maxBuildTools.tokenize('.')
    for (int i = 0; i < buildToolsVersions.length; i++) {
        def buildToolsToCheck = buildToolsVersions[i]
        List currentBuild = buildToolsToCheck.tokenize('.')
        boolean isPassing = true;
        for (int j = 0; j < maxBuild.size(); j++) {
            if (maxBuild.get(j) < currentBuild.get(j)) {
                isPassing = false;
                break;
            }
        }

        if (isPassing) {
            return buildToolsToCheck;
        }
    }

    return defaultBuildTools;
}

import org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.condition.Os
public boolean isWindows() {
    if (Os.isFamily(Os.FAMILY_WINDOWS)) {
        return true
    }
    return false
}

The code of getBuildVersionFromRange can be improved, of course. For example, now, the first parameter is a fallback value, but it can be rewritten to be the bottom border of the range, for example.

I hope, it helps