VectorDrawable Backwards Compatibility And Installing Unofficial Support Libraries

Question

Bear with me, I'm new!
I want to use vectors in my android app, and I want my app to be backwards compatible. I found this support library that looks pretty cool!*
So I'm confused about how I would I 'install' it. It gives you a link to download the .pom, .aar, javadoc.jar, and the sources.jar file. Which one should I download, and where (what folder) should I put the file?
(I'm using Android Studio!)
*(Anybody know a different VectorDrawable support library? I'd be interested in hearing everybody's experience!)

Answer 1

Here is a option that worked for me Use this library - https://github.com/wnafee/vector-compat (api 14+)

android {
    // use version 22 or higher
    buildToolsVersion "22.0.1"
    ...
}
dependencies {
    compile 'com.wnafee:vector-compat:1.0.5'
    ...
}

And create a custom ImageView class that uses vector compat class -

public class SvgImageView extends ImageView {        
    private Drawable icon;


    public SvgImageView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
        super(context, attrs);
        TypedArray ta = context.obtainStyledAttributes(attrs,
                R.styleable.button_left, 0, 0);

        try {
            int resId = ta.getResourceId(R.styleable.button_left_b_icon, -1);            
            if (resId != -1) {
                icon = ResourcesCompat.getDrawable(this.getContext(), resId);

            }


        } finally {
            ta.recycle();
        }


        if (icon != null) {
            setImage(icon);
        }

    }   

    public void setImage(Drawable icon) {
        SvgImageView.this.setImageDrawable(icon);

    }



}

Vector image example -

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<vector xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    android:width="@dimen/logo_dimen"
    android:height="@dimen/logo_dimen"
    android:viewportWidth="@integer/view_port_dimen_logo"
    android:viewportHeight="@integer/view_port_dimen_logo"

    app:vc_viewportWidth="@integer/view_port_dimen_logo"
    app:vc_viewportHeight="@integer/view_port_dimen_logo">
    <group
        android:name="rotationGroup"
        android:pivotX="0"
        android:pivotY="0"
        android:rotation="0">

        <path
            android:name="v"
            android:fillColor="@color/white"
            android:pathData="m15.5,15.6c0,-1.5 2.8,-1.9 2.8,-5c0,-1.5 -0.7,-2.6 -1.8,-3.5h1.6l1.7,-1.1h-5c-1.7,0 -3.5,0.4 -4.8,1.6c-1,0.8 -1.6,2.1 -1.6,3.4c0,2.4 1.9,4.1 4.2,4.1c0.3,0 0.5,0 0.8,0c-0.1,0.3 -0.3,0.6 -0.3,1c0,0.7 0.3,1.2 0.8,1.8c-1.6,0.1 -3.4,0.3 -4.9,1.2c-1.1,0.7 -2,1.8 -2,3.2c0,0.6 0.2,1.1 0.4,1.6c1,1.7 3.2,2.2 5,2.2c2.3,0 4.9,-0.7 6.1,-2.8c0.4,-0.6 0.6,-1.3 0.6,-2.1c0.2,-3.5 -3.6,-4 -3.6,-5.6zm-1.7,-1.2c-2.2,0 -3.2,-2.8 -3.2,-4.6c0,-0.7 0.1,-1.4 0.6,-1.9c0.4,-0.6 1.1,-0.9 1.7,-0.9c2.2,0 3.2,3 3.2,4.8c0,0.7 -0.1,1.4 -0.6,1.9c-0.4,0.4 -1.1,0.7 -1.7,0.7zm0,10.5c-1.9,0 -4.5,-0.8 -4.5,-3.2c0,-2.5 2.9,-3.1 4.9,-3.1c0.2,0 0.4,0 0.6,0c1.2,0.8 2.8,1.8 2.8,3.4c-0.1,2.2 -2,2.9 -3.8,2.9zm9.7,-10.5v-2.6h-1.3v2.6h-2.5v1.3h2.5v2.6h1.3v-2.6h2.6v-1.3h-2.6l0,0z"
            app:vc_fillColor="@color/white"
            app:vc_pathData="m15.5,15.6c0,-1.5 2.8,-1.9 2.8,-5c0,-1.5 -0.7,-2.6 -1.8,-3.5h1.6l1.7,-1.1h-5c-1.7,0 -3.5,0.4 -4.8,1.6c-1,0.8 -1.6,2.1 -1.6,3.4c0,2.4 1.9,4.1 4.2,4.1c0.3,0 0.5,0 0.8,0c-0.1,0.3 -0.3,0.6 -0.3,1c0,0.7 0.3,1.2 0.8,1.8c-1.6,0.1 -3.4,0.3 -4.9,1.2c-1.1,0.7 -2,1.8 -2,3.2c0,0.6 0.2,1.1 0.4,1.6c1,1.7 3.2,2.2 5,2.2c2.3,0 4.9,-0.7 6.1,-2.8c0.4,-0.6 0.6,-1.3 0.6,-2.1c0.2,-3.5 -3.6,-4 -3.6,-5.6zm-1.7,-1.2c-2.2,0 -3.2,-2.8 -3.2,-4.6c0,-0.7 0.1,-1.4 0.6,-1.9c0.4,-0.6 1.1,-0.9 1.7,-0.9c2.2,0 3.2,3 3.2,4.8c0,0.7 -0.1,1.4 -0.6,1.9c-0.4,0.4 -1.1,0.7 -1.7,0.7zm0,10.5c-1.9,0 -4.5,-0.8 -4.5,-3.2c0,-2.5 2.9,-3.1 4.9,-3.1c0.2,0 0.4,0 0.6,0c1.2,0.8 2.8,1.8 2.8,3.4c-0.1,2.2 -2,2.9 -3.8,2.9zm9.7,-10.5v-2.6h-1.3v2.6h-2.5v1.3h2.5v2.6h1.3v-2.6h2.6v-1.3h-2.6l0,0z" />

    </group>
</vector>

Example -

<packagename.SvgImageView     

            app:b_icon="@drawable/google_logo"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:id="@+id/imageView3" />

Answer 2

Google just announced Android Studio 1.4 with backwards compatibility for Vector Drawables. It will generate .png files in the appropriate sizes for the different screen densities for pre-Lollipop devices and will use the vector format for Lollipop and up. See this link: http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2015/09/android-studio-14.html

Just make sure that your Gradle Build version is 1.4.0 or above!

Answer 3

Thanks for the people who ported this lib before Google!

Great news is that google released Android Support Library 23.2 Support Vector Drawables and Animated Vector Drawables !

Note:

- Vector images all the way back to API 7 (Android 2.1 Eclair).

- Animated vectors are a bit more limited, going only as far back as API 11