Tutorial: How to use the APK template

Note: Please refer to the wiki tutorial on installing the Android SDK and Eclipse if you're not familiar with those.

The source code for embedding Python scripts and the Python interpreter are provided in the form of a template project that can be opened with Eclipse.

To get started, first download the "apk" template source code files from the Source tab. Then launch Eclipse and run File->Import. Browse to and select the "apk" folder on your system.

To run the demo example script (hello.pl), open the PerlAPK template, run Project->clean to generate R.java and delete any temporary build files, then select Run and chose your emulator or device to install the APK on.

In some versions of Eclipse, there might be a bug indicating that there's an error in the project. If you receive this, then:

Right click on the PerlAPK project and select Build Path->Configure Build Path, then under Java Compiler->Building make sure Enable Project Specific Settings is checked. Under Build Path Problems uncheck Abort build when build path errors occur or change Incomplete build path from Error to Warning. Click Apply and OK.

The red X icon appearing on the project in the Project Explorer window should have changed to a yellow ! icon for a warning instead of an error. If it didn't, close and reopen the project (or restart Eclipse). On Windows, if you have a thumbnail file inside a build directory, you'll also see a red X over that directory which will prevent the build from occurring - just right click and delete the thumbnail file in that case.

After the APK is transferred to your emulator or device, you should see a Install button on it, if not check your applications and double click on PerlAPK. After you click "Install", the app will run and display a "Hello..." message.

To uninstall the demo app, just go to your device's Settings->Applications->Manage Applications and select Forceclose and Uninstall. Alternatively, from adb in your terminal, you can issue the command: adb uninstall package_name where package_name is found in the GlobalConstants.java file located in the src/ directory.

Next, read the tutorial on how to add your Perl scripts to the template project.