Can I share code & resources between Android projects without using a library?

Question

The standard advice for sharing code & resources between Android projects is to use a library. Personally I find this works poorly if (a) the shared code changes a lot, or (b) your computer isn't fast enough.

I also don't want to get into deploying multiple APK's, which seems to be necessary when I use dependent projects (i.e. Java Build Path, Projects Tab).

On the other hand, sharing a folder of source code by using the Eclipse linked source feature works great (Java Build Path, Source tab, Link Source button), but for these two issues:

1) I can't use the same technique to share resources. I can create the link to the resources parent folder but then things get wonky and the shared resources don't get compiled (I'm using ADT 21).

2) So then I settle for copying the shared resources into each project, but this doesn't work because either. The shared code can't import the copy of its resources because it doesn't know the package name of the project that uses it. The solution I've been using is to access the resources dynamically, but that has become cumbersome as the number of resources grows.

So, I need a solution to either (1) or (2), or I'll have to go back to a library project. (Or maybe there is another option I haven't thought of?)

Answer 1

Your real problem is (2). Fixing (1) would eliminate some copying, but you would still run into problems with (2).

Unfortunately, that really isn't possible. There's a fair bit of fancy footwork that goes on to make multiple packages possible with library projects, and there's no good way to get that same result without library projects. Anything in res/ of a project is accessed via that project's R class, including your copied resources.

The solution I've been using is to access the resources dynamically

I translated that into you using getIdentifier(). That certainly works. Another approach is to having the hosting app supply resource IDs as parameters to the library code -- this is the pattern that the Android SDK itself uses. This is faster at runtime than the reflection-based getIdentifier(), and it gives the hosting app somewhat more flexibility, but you do wind up adding a bunch of parameters to your methods and constructors as needed to supply the various project-specific R values.