Well I guess this is more of a 'list of utilities, commands, and features' that might be buried so deeply into windows rt that you didn't know it was there. I don't know about other surface/winrt users but I have gotten more advanced configuring my surface rt than I ever did on an x86. Now I usually end up needing to configure my x86 devices to provide the same functionality I expect on my tablets.
So I don't think we have a list like this and I'm sure a lot of you have your own 'pro-tips', so maybe we can compile a list of hidden gems we can use with windows rt into this thread so that we collectively can reference or individually don't forget
So here is a short list to start off :
Utilities -- Many more utilities can be found by browsing c:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
WF.msc (type at command prompt or Win-R key run window) : (Windows Firewall with Advanced Security) although they removed the control panel applet it seems they left in this mmc plugin.
gpedit.msc : group policy editor... somewhat hidden but they left this in
resmon (Resource Monitor)
msconfig (System Configuration)
msinfo32 (System Information)
steps (Steps Recorder) : this is a utility that will capture your activity as screenshots to play back or upload for others to see.
Modify whether links or html files open in Desktop or Metro versions of Internet Explorer :
Open desktop Internet Explorer, click on gear icon and choose Internet options. Now click on 'Programs' tab and select your preference from the 'Opening Internet Explorer' section dropdown.
Keyboard Shortcuts :
Metro snap via keyboard : Hold Windows and tap . (period) Keep holding down windows key and tap left, right, up, or down
Win-Tab : While alt-tab lets you cycle 'desktop' programs, Windows key + Tab cycles through 'metro' app list
Win-X : Show advanced start menu (same as right clicking start menu)
Win-D : Show/Hide desktop
Win-P : Pick from various multi-monitor configurations (duplicate/extend/pc only/external monitor only)
Console Commands
'HELP' : Show a list of all commands you can get more help on.
'WHERE' : Type where wf.msc (for example) and it will tell you where that program/file exists if it is in any of your PATH'ed folders.
'WMIC' : a very deep well of information, type WMIC /? to see list of all modules
wmic volume list brief (shows all mounted drives/volumes)
wmic qfe list brief (shows all installed windows updates)
'SYSTEMINFO' : another system info command, sort of a command line version of msinfo32
'TREE' : show an 'ascii-art' tree of sub-folders for the folder you are in.
'ASSOC' : command line ability to set file associations
'CERTUTIL' : can be used (among other things) for computing file hashes
certutil -hashfile [filename] [MD5|SHA1|SHA256] so for example :
certutil -hashfile myfile.zip sha1
Associations / Context menu / 'Send To' programs :
Create a shortcut to control.exe /name Microsoft.DefaultPrograms to quickly go to this control panel applet.
Use command line ASSOC to set file associations
Manage 'Send To' folder by opening 'windows' explorer, typing shell:sendto into the location bar to be taken to a folder showing all your 'send to' programs'. You can drop shortcuts to other programs (provided those programs accept command line arguments). Now you can right click a file in windows explorer and 'send to' programs like 7-Zip, Paint.NET, notepad++, etc.
Add an "Open with Notepad++" or other top level context menu for all files :
Open registry editor and browse to : HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell.
Right-click on “shell” and choose to create a new key, calling it “Open with Notepad++”
Create a new key below that one called “command”
Double-click on the (Default) value in the right-hand pane and enter "c:\path_to_npp\notepad++.exe" $1
To have the menu item show the notepad++ icon do these extra steps :
Right click the "Open with Notepad++" key (which you created) and add a new string value called "icon"
Double click new "icon" value and set its string value to "c:\path_to_npp\notepad++.exe"
In all steps above make sure you enter the path to notepad++ on your machine instead of the path entered.
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/wind...th-notepad-to-the-context-menu-for-all-files/
Make 'command prompt here' context menu when right clicking folder in windows explorer : http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/wind...-always-display-for-folders-in-windows-vista/
Enable 7-Zip Context Menu :
Run regedit (Registry Editor), and drill into / expand HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers.
Now right click on 'ContextMenuHandlers' and choose 'permissions'.
Click 'Advanced' button.
On advanced Security Settings screen (at the top) choose Change (owner) link.
When selecting a user or group screen comes up click 'Advanced', then 'Find Now', and in search results choose 'Administrators' (may need to widen column to distinguish from singular 'Administrator').
After highlighting Administrators, click OK button to go back to Advanced Security Settings screen.
Now you are able to click on 'Administrators' and click 'Edit' and select 'Full Control' and click ok to apply permission.
Keep clicking ok on dialogs till you are back at registry editor.
Now run 7-Zip as administrator, go into tools menu and select options.
Then on 7-Zip tab choose 'Integrate 7-Zip to shell context menu' and click ok to close dialog.
Context menu should now appear when right clicking on files in windows explorer.
Disabling Connected Standby :
This is only a good idea if your tablet will always be left on a charger or 'shut down' when not in use. If you turn off connected standby and set your display to turn off after... say 5 minutes, then after 5 minutes your display will really power off (backlight as well) but any desktop programs will continue to run. You might want to do this if you are running a web server or some other process in background. When you disable connected standby, many other options appear in your power options 'advanced power settings' page. If you do this I recommend you 'Create a power plan' on the 'Choose or customize a power plan screen first'.
To toggle connected standby feature on or off, modify the :
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\CsEnabled key, setting to 0 for 'off' or 1 for 'on' and reboot to take effect.
Node Chakracore :
This is really an undocumented bonus 'add-on', made by Microsoft which you can run even on windows rt devices which are not in test-signing mode. For those who are not familiar, NodeJS is a console-based javascript scripting environment. Standard Node.js uses v8 javascript engine (same as google chrome), however this 'node-chakracore' version uses the chakra javascript engine (which is the latest version used in edge browsers). Microsoft is providing this for raspberry pi users running Windows 10 on ARM but they also work on Windows RT.
I made a utility here if you prefer to try an automated means of installing
Install Node.JS (node-chakracore) :
Download the latest ARM release from : https://github.com/nodejs/node-chakracore/releases
Extract that archive to (for example) c:\nodejs
Add that directory (which you extracted to) to your path environment variable.
(Optional) Install/Setup NPM (lets you install packages from npm repository) :
Download https://github.com/npm/npm/archive/master.zip, save somewhere.
Extract it to (for example) c:\npm.
Open windows explorer and type %AppData% into the address bar and hit enter.
Within your AppData directory, create an "npm" directory.
Double click on npm folder you just created from windows explorer
Click into the address bar to see the full path and remember (or copy) this path for next step and later.
Save the following to file named "npm.bat" and save into the directory you just created/copied
Code:
@node c:\npm\npm-master\cli.js %*
(If you extracted npm elsewhere, update the batch file to reflect actual location)
Create an etc directory under this appdata npm folder
Create an separate etc directory under your node folder (c:\nodejs if you used suggested default)
Copy .npmrc file from c:\npm\npm-master to c:\node
Rename and get rid of the '.' from the filename so the filename is just npmrc
edit that npmrc file In notepad and add the following lines :
Code:
globalconfig=c:\users\username\appdata\roaming\npm\etc\npmrc
prefix=c:\users\username\appdata\roaming\npm
(make sure to substitute your username in the above this base folder is the folder I told you to remember/copy in previous steps)
Having saved those changes to npmrc under c:\node\etc, copy that file to your appdata\npm\etc directory as well.
Add the path of your appdata\npm directory your path environment variable. If you install global packages they will install commands/batch files into this folder. If it is pathed you can exec them as native commands. This path is also where we put the npm.bat so it can be run from anywhere.
A useful demonstration if you have configured the both npm and node correctly is to install cash (an implementation of unix shell commands) by typing from a command prompt :
Code:
npm install -g cash
That should take a several minutes to complete (hopefully successfully). When done you can run 'cash' or just '$' at a command prompt to bring up simulated Linux prompt from which you can type 'help' to see supported commands. These commands interop with windows commands as well so you can mix (see cash link above).
(Thanks to @black_blob for discovering this node/npm)
I will add more info or cleanup as needed, feel free to post your own, if needed I can compile it into first post to work towards a guide if anyone wanted to make one.
I modded the Windows 10 Chakra(non-core) to run on 8.1 as a part of my earlier NodeJS port. By the way, I also had Microsoft Edge running with it at a time.(EdgeHTML)
I wonder if I should continue my backports from Win10
You mean other programs/frameworks? You have brought over some great stuff, so yes absolutely! Anything you have in mind?
nazoraios said:
You mean other programs/frameworks? You have brought over some great stuff, so yes absolutely! Anything you have in mind?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have in mind to backport the UWP framework, or maybe even a FrankenKernel(10 kernel, 8.1 userspace). Microsoft Edge works without needing UWP, as you can use edgehtml like mshtml for embedding
You would definitely be my hero if you could bring over Edge, preferably with somewhat recent (EdgeHTML? rendering) and Chakra javascript engine.
Not sure how FrankenKernel and UWP support could work out but both could potentially be awesome... guess its the details which I'm sure you have a better idea than me. So do you think we would be able to run (open source?) Windows 10 apps and would the 'developer mode' be brought over with the kernel or is that 8.1 userspace which would require 8.1 developer license signing (and renewing every 6 months)? Or would the UWP part just be for console or node-chakracore like it is on IOT?
nazoraios said:
You would definitely be my hero if you could bring over Edge, preferably with somewhat recent (EdgeHTML? rendering) and Chakra javascript engine.
Not sure how FrankenKernel and UWP support could work out but both could potentially be awesome... guess its the details which I'm sure you have a better idea than me. So do you think we would be able to run (open source?) Windows 10 apps and would the 'developer mode' be brought over with the kernel or is that 8.1 userspace which would require 8.1 developer license signing (and renewing every 6 months)? Or would the UWP part just be for console or node-chakracore like it is on IOT?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Windows 10 kernel & system, Windows 8.1 explorer.exe, dwm and other tiny GUI bits
I have a Windows Server ARM64 build, but that's not 32-bit
Yea that sounds daring... Don't brick your device please Too bad no 32bit gui bits to borrow. I doubt they would bring the Ubuntu for Windows 10 subsystem to arm, but technically i'm sure they could since Ubuntu has arm and pi2 image.... still would be neat. Also I think they added ssh server to pi2 but not sure if it would be easy to 'extract' and borrow.
We will be watching you commander...
nazoraios said:
Yea that sounds daring... Don't brick your device please Too bad no 32bit gui bits to borrow. I doubt they would bring the Ubuntu for Windows 10 subsystem to arm, but technically i'm sure they could since Ubuntu has arm and pi2 image.... still would be neat. Also I think they added ssh server to pi2 but not sure if it would be easy to 'extract' and borrow.
We will be watching you commander...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Ubuntu support uses the Linux binary compatibility SubSystem, also known as Astoria
black_blob said:
I have in mind to backport the UWP framework, or maybe even a FrankenKernel(10 kernel, 8.1 userspace). Microsoft Edge works without needing UWP, as you can use edgehtml like mshtml for embedding
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would be even more amazing than a running build of Windows 10 Mobile. So you'd have a "full" OS with the befinits of running UWP. That would def. insure the future of Windows RT.
It would be even better if astoria would work on it too. So you'd even able to run android apps.
I need help for the nodejs and the npm instructions. Can you explain it out in details for morons?
Sorry late reply... which steps are you getting confused at (for node/npm install) ? So for starters :
- if you open a command prompt and type "node -v" does it tell you the version of node your running? If so, what version does it say?
- if you type "npm -v" does it tell you the version of npm you are running or give an error? Tell version or error.
So i'll start with that to make sure your paths are set up.
I created an installer utility to install node-chakracore along with NPM. Hopefully this will make it easier for other or myself to install or upgrade as new versions of node-chakracore and npm come out.
The final step in the process (updating the system PATH environment variable) requires admin permissions so right click executable and run 'As Administrator'. If you prefer to set the environment variables yourself, this step will tell you the paths it would add.
9/13/16 : Updated default node chakracore download link to new 7.0.0-pre9 release, added a 'Complete' tab with links to further resources and made UI fix
6htGear Rom control V2.1
By @Wuby986 & Daxgirl
Hello everyone!
So here we go again... V2.0
Big thanks:
We would like to begin from crediting people, who gave us ideas, inspiration and, most importantly, their free time, in order to make v2.0 a reality.
To our dearest friends and talented developers, @tdunham and @DaOldMan:
Guys, you OWN this. You made this happen. You pushed us and we pushed you, and together, you, us and rom control, have grown to be what we are today.
No thanks can ever be enough for long nights of applying patches, merging sources, connecting through teamviewer and working out kinks together. @Wuby986 and I are forever in your debt.
Why different thread?
1. The entire application is different. It barely qualifies as an update anymore.
2. All the preferences are different. The way they work is different. It requires new way of doing things. Radically new.
3. new support library and new basic structure.
4. To sum it up... it's too different to maintain same thread for both versions
Project characteristics:
1. Rom control is an open source project, designed to provide rom builders with a core code for compiling android application for controlling core functions of their roms and mods through Content Provider of Settings.System sqlite table
2. Rom control is designed with consideration of the fact that most rom builders do not have sufficient skills in original android development to build application with this functionality on their own
3. The emphasis is given in this version (even more than previous one) to outsource most conditions and attributes to xml, and so to minimize the need of the user (rom builder) to be subjected to java programming
4. In addition to familiar utilization of ContentResolver to pass data between RomControl and system, the project offers additional properties, such as file based preference, URI selection preference, Direct intent to shortcut app preference, preference listing image thumbnails for previews, script running preference, automated template for "About Us" section, automated dialog for changelog, backup and restore finctionality and more.
5. The project is designed to be compiled in Android Studio using the latest sdk tools and gradle tools.
6. The project essentially is designed to be a system application with privileged access, and therefore needs to be installed in /system/priv-app to be granted some of its permissions
7. The project requires root access for some of its functionality. Mainly running shell scripts with su and killing some app processes.
License and sharing policy:
1. This project is distributed under GNU General Public License as open source code. The copy of said license can be obtained and reviewed here
2. As such, this project is protected from claiming exclusivity by anyone.
3. Any developer wishing to use this code, with accordance to the license, must provide full source code for each updated version. That means, for any new version of the rom including updated RomControl application, a link to full source code of the latest version must be provided.
4. By modifying and using this code, you automatically accept the License conditions and must be compliant with GPL, as stated below:
You are not required to accept this License in order to receive or run a copy of the Program. Ancillary propagation of a covered work occurring solely as a consequence of using peer-to-peer transmission to receive a copy likewise does not require acceptance. However, nothing other than this License grants you permission to propagate or modify any covered work. These actions infringe copyright if you do not accept this License. Therefore, by modifying or propagating a covered work, you indicate your acceptance of this License to do so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
5. You're under no obligation to thank us, credit us or tag us in your official postings while distributing your copy.
6. You ARE, however, prohibited from removing our copyright information from our source code.
7. You are obligated to keep the code open under GPL. Failure to provide sources for updated copies of your work will result in complaint first to XDA officials for license infringement and further to GPL legal department.
8. Using the source code on any other forum outside of xda is of course allowed with accordance to the license and sharing policy, provided the sources are kept open and obtainable by anyone.
9. Using apktool to compile a copy of this code after making changes in the decompiled form of someone else's application is strictly prohibited, as the developer will not be able to provide full open source of their version. Any illegal use of any copy of this project can be and should be legally stopped by the owner of the code copy.
10. This voids rule number 12 of xda promising a developer exclusivity over their product. This product is yours, but the code belongs to the public. You are NOT TO HOLD COPY OF ROM CONTROL EXCLUSIVE.
To protect your rights, we need to prevent others from denying you these rights or asking you to surrender the rights. Therefore, you have certain responsibilities if you distribute copies of the software, or if you modify it: responsibilities to respect the freedom of others.
For example, if you distribute copies of such a program, whether gratis or for a fee, you must pass on to the recipients the same freedoms that you received. You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the source code. And you must show them these terms so they know their rights.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Open source libraries included in this project:
1. RootTools by Stericson
2. Sergey Margaritov's ColorPickerPreference modified to adopt to our needs
3. CircleImageView by hdodenhof
Project requirements:
1. Installed and updated android sdk, including but not limited to:
Android SDK Build-Tools 24
Android SDK Platform-Tools 24
Android support repository 33
Google repository, rev 29
Latest android support library
2. Android studio version AT LEAST the latest stable version (currently 2.1.2), you can use the canary channel as well, currently on 2.2.0 preview 5.
3. Updated gradle tools
4. Working knowledge of importing project into Android Studio and troubleshooting gradle sync. If you don't know how to, Google it.
5. EXTENSIVE knowledge in android modding:
This project is for rom developers and modders. It helps coordinate between your users and your mods. If you don't build roms or don't have mods, this project means nothing to you.
What support you can expect to get:
1. Code explanation regarding major functionality
2. Adding new preferences and navigation items
What support you CANNOT expect:
1. Setting up android studio
2. Debugging gradle issues and compiling
3. Changing colors, strings, adding themes, design, changing setup... - Android documentation is vast and Stackoverflow is even vaster.
4. Smali modding
5. Private messaging support - DO NOT EVEN TRY
6. Asking for compiled apk file.
This is NOT an application thread. This is NOT an application. This is a SOURCE CODE for MAKING application.
The answer to a question "Can someone give me a compiled version" is "And what are you going to do with it?"
Project main Git repository:
Here
Thread list of contents:
Starting the project
Adding navigation drawer items
Running android app: where, how, builds, gradle tasks and you-name-it
Preferences - Part 1: Introduction
Preferences - Part 2: Types of preferences
Themes, About Us activity and Changelog dialog
Backup and Restore
XDA:DevDB Information
6thGear RomControl v2.0, Tool/Utility for all devices (see above for details)
Contributors
daxgirl, wuby986, tdunham, DaOldMan
Version Information
Status: Testing
Current Stable Version: 2.1
Stable Release Date: 2016-08-26
Created 2016-07-06
Last Updated 2016-08-26
Latest Update details:
Post number 195
Step 1 - Importing the project:
1. Perform full installation of the latest stable version of Android Studio in your environment. You can find info about stable and canary releases here
2. You can have more than one version of android studio installed on single platform. For more information please read further on the same page in section Using Multiple Android Studio Versions. I personally do recommend the latest canary build, which is currently AndroidStudio 2.2.0 preview 5. But you can always go with the stable release. Or beta channel.
3. Make sure your sdk is updated, including sdk for platform 24 (nougat). The compile sdk for this project is 24.
4. Make sure your support repositories are configured and updated.
5. Click on our github repository link on the OP first post and make sure you're connected with your github account. If you don't have one - create it! Why? because you will need to share your sources for this project. And because you all use as mantra that you can mod android apps because it's open source. So BE OPEN SOURCE. Have your name on github.
6. Once you're logged in into github, fork our repository. In the right upper corner of our main git repository you have those buttons:
Click "fork" to make a copy of this repository in your own repositories. Now you have your own repository.
7. On YOUR repository find this green button on the top right above the code, which says "Clone and Download". DO NOT DOWNLOAD ZIP. Instead, click the little "clipboard" icon to copy the .git uri and return to studio.
8. In studio: File > New >Project from Version Control > Git
9. Paste the git uri and choose destination. Click ok. Android studio will import the project from git and open it for you.
10. At this point if you're asked to update gradle build tools or anything else, do it. Wait for gradle to sync with project files. If you get errors, resolve them as referenced. If you cannot, google is your friend.
We WILL provide some support for initial importing of the project and setting it up for a very limited period of time. Gradle can be a tricky business. Please be sure to provide us with specific error from gradle log and a line in the gradle script on which the error is made.
11. We WILL know if your errors are because you didn't update sdk and build tools. And we will kick your butts for posting without following instructions. Remember, our time is valuable and given to you for free. Our instructions are clear and we made a huge effort to write them. If you can't be bothered with following them, beware.
12. Once the gradle is done syncing without errors, just in case, click Build > Rebuild Project. Once that is done without errors and it says BUILD SUCCESSFUL, you can start building your project following the instructions on the next post.
Adding items to the Navigation Drawer:
1. Switch to project view.
It will be easier for you to navigate through project files. For that:
On the left panel on top, below the android studio menu, find this:
This is what your project will look right after you import it. This is module view. By default it is categorized and to work with it you need some understanding of this view.
Click the 2 arrow icon which is circled in blue and select "project"
Your structure will now change.
Navigate into the project by the following path: Project name > app > src > main
Now you will see directories, like: java, res, assets... and so on.
This is your working directory. You will be making your code changes here.
2. Find a file called nav_drawer_arrays.xml. It is located in res/values folder. Double click on it to open.
You will see the following 3 arrays inside. The first one is a reference array (simple typed array) and the other 2 are strings arrays.
Those are WORKING ARRAYS. When you run the app as it is now, you will see all the items created in the navigation drawer based on this info.
Please read the comments we wrote in the xml file for you:
Code:
<resources>
[COLOR="Green"][B][I]<!--The following array is for icons you want to use for your items
You can create new icons bu right clicking the drawable folder and choosing
New vector drawable
You have a great selection of items in xml vector format.
Those are supported starting lollipop.
YOU SHOULD NOT USE PNG. not even material one. Vectors will work best with any device density.
Once you have created the vector, reference it as regular drawable in the array below.
MAKE SURE THE ITEMS IN ALL 3 ARRAYS CORRESPOND IN ORDER AND ALL 3 ARRAYS ARE SAME LENGTH-->[/I][/B][/COLOR]
<array name="nav_menu_prefs_drawables">
<item>@drawable/ic_system_ui</item>
<item>@drawable/ic_phone</item>
<item>@drawable/ic_framework</item>
<item>@drawable/ic_notification_panel</item>
</array>
[COLOR="green"][B][I]<!--This array is for your items titles.
Use @string reference, so later on your app can be translated with ease
KEEP THE ORDER BETWEEN ALL YOUR ARRAYS-->[/I][/B][/COLOR]
<string-array name="nav_menu_prefs_titles">
<item>@string/systemui_prefs</item>
<item>@string/phone_prefs</item>
<item>@string/framework_prefs</item>
<item>@string/notification_panel_prefs</item>
</string-array>
[COLOR="green"][B][I] <!--This array is the most valuable one
Here you put the file names of the preference files you create in your xml directory
THEY MUST BE PRECISE AND CASE SENSITIVE!!! DO NOT ADD .xml SUFFIX-->[/I][/B][/COLOR]
<string-array name="nav_menu_xml_file_names" translatable="false">
<item>ui_prefs</item>
<item>phone_prefs</item>
<item>framework_prefs</item>
<item>notification_panel_prefs</item>
</string-array>
</resources>
3. Let's say you have 10 preference files in directory called xml. That means you will want to have 10 items referring to your preference files in the navigation drawer. That means you will need to have 10 items in EACH array. Create 10 empty preference files. DO NOT COPY THE ONES FROM RC v1.0. Just right click the xml folder, choose "New" and choose "New XML resource file". Give it a name and click ok. Leave them empty for now. create all the icons you need for them in the navigation drawer.
4. Populate the arrays with titles, icons and xml names. You're done. You now have a working items in the navigation drawer. You do not need any changes in java files. the items are being generated on run time and their onClicks redirected accordingly. If you run the app right now you should have 10 empty preference files.
We strongly encourage you to keep the ui_prefs.xml file and references to it in your project while you're working on it. It contains most valuable information about the kinds of preferences we have included and their various usages. You can remove it from arrays before making the release version. You can have it as last item in your arrays and use it as test dummy to see how things should work properly
Run!
Installing and running your builds in Android Studio:
First of all - data or system app?
The simple answer is SYSTEM. And not just system - we need some high level permissions, so definitely /system/priv-app. Why?
So for that we dig deeper into android permission system.
1. Writing settings into settings storage database:
This permission was revoked from data apps on Marshmallow. Meaning, THEORETICALLY, that only system apps can write into Settings.System. So how come we can write when the app is installed as data app? Oh, this is where THEORETICALLY part comes in. Permission to write system settings is declaired in framework in such a way, that it allows data apps to write there if they target sdk lower than 23 in their build. That permission level is called "pre23". That is why in our gradle we have a somewhat peculiar sdk division for building. Let's look at the image:
As you can see, target sdk is set to 22. This is not by mistake. This is by design so if you want to test the basic functionality of the app by installing debug version in data, it will not crash every time you flip a switch.
This is the definition of pre23, we target sdk 22 so the pre MM permissions can be achieved by running the app in data.
Although all of you will be including this app in your roms in system priv-app, you will be working with it quite alot as you build it. We want you to be able to run it from data if you wish so. if we target sdk 23 and up it will never run from data, unless installed also in system.
You are free to change this to 23 or 24. But NEVER run it while installed only in data then. It will crash like a drunken monkey.
Also, changing it to 23 or 24 for TARGET sdk is meaningless. It's not better because it's a higher number. For target sdk it makes no difference.
2. Running reboot
We run reboot functions in a proper android shutdown sequence. Any of you that are familiar enough with linux kernel based platforms KNOW the system should not be shut down by killing it's process.
Therefore all reboot functionality in our app is native android reboot. For THAT we absolutely need the app to have an initial copy in priv-app. If the app is only installed in data, clicking on any reboot option, either from reboot menu or from reboot dialogs, will result in FC in your face. the following permissions cannot be obtained by data apps NEVER EVER.
Code:
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.REBOOT"
tools:ignore="ProtectedPermissions"/>
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.DEVICE_POWER"
tools:ignore="ProtectedPermissions"/>
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.RECOVERY"/>
3. But we have root permissions? Isn't it enough?
So here is the thing you should remember:
Android doesn't give a damn about root permissions. When we run command under su we talk to the linux kernel through shell. We do not run it on android level. Android is NOT linux. There is NO android permission which is compiant with su.When we are talking about android application permissions, we are talking about PackageManager, which is android framework system service, that grants the permissions to perform certain action. Package manager does not know su. It is not part of linux platform. It is android. Android is not designed to have root access. Not on any level. it does not recognize unix commands by default.
So when we execute your scripts, android doesn't do it. Our application code doesn't do it. We just pass it to the kernel as runtime command. Remember that, when you come complaining that your scripts don't run. We can't help it. If the kernel refuses to execute them, something is WRONG in the script syntax or structure.
4. So data or system? The answer is - when you build and test run your app - BOTH
Can you run apps from android studio while one of the copies is installed in system? Absolutely. As any system app, app is allowed to have an update.
The most important thing is for that update to have same signature and same package as the app in system. Once the app is installed in priv-app it has privileged permissions. You can after that, as oyu build, install updates in data, so you don't have to push every single test build into system and reboot, and all privileged permissions will work.
Gradle, baby!
Gradle is a build tool. You can read on history of gradle online. It was not developed with any relation with android. Google decided to adopt gradle as their primary build tool for their primary development environment for android and hence, android gradle plugin was born.
Build tool is a way to "put things together in orderly fashion". In essence, android application is a bunch of files in folders. Making it into a running product is a matter of some complexity. Connecting java to resources, signing, packaging, updating manifest, setting primary configs and build related configs, compiling java, compiling dependencies, including multiple modules, being able to have several builds and flavors in one project - this is what gradle does for us.
If you wish to learn more about gradle for android, please watch this amazing video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ9j7MvGPkU.
Gradle, in a manner of speaking, is a bunch of tasks. Tasks are executed in specific order. Files are being copied, deleted, compiled and packaged as result of single button click.
Android gradle plugin comes with specific predifined tasks. We can also write our own tasks, which we usually do, for our own usage. We will talk about OUR specific tasks later on in the advanced section.
For now we will talk about basic android gradle tasks, such as assembleRelease, assembleDebug, installRelease, installDebug and so on.
1. Clicking RUN button
If you have a look on the top panel of android studio you have this green "play" button next to a selection box which, usually, says "app". Like this:
This is what will appear on the run menu when you first open the project and it's done syncing with gradle. If the "app" selection box has a red "X" on it, means gradle is syncing now or has failed to sync and you need to find out WHY and fix it. Once there is no red "x" current configuration is ready to run.
When you click the green run button, it will run whatever task is in the selection box. When it says "app" in the selection box and you click run, it will do the following:
1. Compile debug build
2. Install it on your connected device
3. Run it
So what is "app"? App is the main of the module we want to run. It is the only module in our project. So by running "app", we run the RomControl application on a device in DEBUG mode.
Why is it good to run in debug mode? For 2 reasons:
1. Run "app" configuration supports instant run. You can read more on instant run here. This will push the code changes into your running app on device and apply immediately. It's very handy if you add a preference or 2 and want to test how it looks or works. If instant run is impossible for your current build tools, android studio will tell you and it will tell you why. It usually means that you need to upgrade android gradle plugin. This can be done with ease.
2. Running app module in debug mode will give you full stack trace if there is an error. It will be easier for you to copy the log here for us to have a look at and debug. Or debug yourselves.
The downside of running debug mode?
1. It's somewhat slow. Meaning the app on the device is a little slow in debug mode (although now it's not as slow as it used to be)
2. Debug mode by definition runs from data. So none of the reboot options will work. So if you want to test actual changes that require reboot from our app, you need to have a system priv-app version installed. You can have a debug version installed in priv-app and then you can use instant run, like we spoke before.
2. So how do we make a release version?
1. Generating signing key
For that we need a signing key. We already made a full prepared platform for you to run release build in our app gradle build file. All you need to do is create a signature and make some little edits. So, let's roll.
To create a signature please follow these instructions
Please remember or write down the following:
1. Path where you create the signature
2. Key password
3. Store password
4. Key aliasYou do not need to generate the release build just yet. Just finish creating your own keystore and remember where you put it.
Now go to the parent folder where your rom control project sits. For example if you put it in AndroidStudioProjects folder, in the same folder create a folder called "keys" (no caps, just "keys"). Copy your keystore there. Or originally create it there.
Now go back to android studio. to the left project panel (provided it is in project view, like we asked you to make it) and scroll down... You will see at the very bottom some singleton files, like gradlew, gradlew.bat, gradle.properties and so on. One of the files there is called key.properties. Double click on it to open.
Inside you will see 4 strings. Like this:
Out in your actual key information. The one you used to create your key. you need to make changes to all 4 fields.
for example:
As you can see we used relative path to the keystore. Which is why it's supposed to be in the parent folder of your folder containing your project in direcroty called "keys".
2. Telling gradle to use our signing key for release builds
On the left project panel look inside the "app" module folder. On the bottom of it, after the AndroidManifest.xml file, you will see a builg.gradle file. Double click to open it.
This is a gradle file for building our app module. You will see there are alot of configurations related to android build there. It will look something like this:
You need to un-comment the sections pointed to with red arrows. To comment or un-comment the section in android studio, select the section and click "ctrl + /"
Now you should be ready to build the release version. Let's test that:
1. On the right upper corner of the studio window you will see little vertical "gradle" tab. Like this
Click on it. A side window till open with gradle tasks. Like this:
2. Open app > tasks > build
3. Find a task called assembleRelease and double click on it.
4. Wait for it to finish. You will see tons of things running in the gradle console window on the bottom. Provided you didn't mess up any of the previous steps, it will work fine.
5. Once it's done, check that you did now have errors and that build was successfull.
6. If all is good, open in file manager your project folder > app > build > outputs > apk. There you should see your freshly compiled release version. Release version is called simply RomControl.apk. it is already zipaligned and signed. You can go ahead and use it in your rom, push it into priv-app and test. So on.
3. So every time I need to run assembleRelease and push the apk into priv-app and reboot? NO!!!
1. Once you run your first assembleRelease, take that apk and push it into system priv-app. Reboot your device.
2. Now look again into the app > tasks in the gradle window on the right. You also have there "install" tasks. Open it and find "installRelease". Connect your device with app installed already in priv-app and double click on installRelease. This will install the release as UPDATE in the DATA apps. This is so you don't need to push the app to device as you're building and testing. You can make code changes, install release as data and run it FULLY. Becasue you have the original sitting in the system, it will have all the premissions for the reboots. So you can build and test from data.
3. Please remember that as you build and test only the data version of your app is updated. So once you are done testing and the build is final, run assembleRelease and take the final apk from the outpute/apk folder to include in your rom.
4. Do I need to go to the gradle menu on the right all the time to run installRelease? NO!!!
After you run a task from the gradle menu have a look at the run button on the top panel. Surprise! It doesn't have "app" selected anymore. it has the latest task you ran!!! Look:
Now if you click the "run" button it will run the selected task. If you want to select another task from the tasks you used in the past, Just select from the selection box menu and click run.
So which build to run and when?
1. If you're building and testing continuously, we recommend keeping the app as debug in data only and NOT TO USE the reboot options.
For adding preferences and building your ui you don't need to use reboot options. Just click LATER on reboot dialogs if you include reboot options.
So you can use instant run, switch to "app" configuration and keep running in debug mode from data as you build.2. When you go further into preference testing, we recommend uninstaling the debug version. creating signed release version and push into priv-app. From this point on run installRelease task to instal release update in data as you build and correct and test scripts and reboot options.
3. When ready to go final release with your rom, use task assembleRelease to build your final version and include it in your rom zip
4. Commit latest changes to your github repository
Uploading sources to git
1. Provided you followed our instructions and forked the project source code and then cloned it to studio, it is now connected to your forked git project.
2. Any new file you add will ask if you want to add it to git. And will turn it's color to green if added. Any file that is not added will have brown color.
3. To add brown colored file to github, right click it, choose git > add
4. You should have the following available on the top panel:
The green arrow is for commiting and pushing changes to github. Once you push it the following window will open:
5. Check what files you would like to commit. For example, never commit key.properties file which contains your key password.
6. Write description of your commit and choose from the blue button selector box commit and push.
7. Make a habit of committing your work daily or at least on a new feature basis. It easier to follow for you and also serves as backup.
We would be happy to talk more about gradle and various tasks, but this post had a specific purpose. To teach you how to manipulate build types and use it to you advantage. Please ask us specific questions about gradle tasks related to your build.
Preferences - Part 1: Introduction
1. Major change in implementation:
1. For this release we made a major change in how preferences are handled. They are not handled anymore. They handle themselves.
2. For that to happen we needed to subclass ALL native android preferences except PreferenceScreen and PreferenceCategory.
3. What does it mean to subclass? That means we created java classses which extend (resemble) native android preferences and we wrote our own implementation of how they should behave, how they should load their values and write their values.
4. That being said - there is no more standard android preferences in this project. No more SwitchPreference, no more CheckboxPreference, no ListPreference... None of those.
5. Two reasons for that:
1. We didn't want you to get lost in special conditions anymore. We wanted you to be able to set if the preference should restart systemui from xml file when you declare preference. For that we needed to add custom xml attributes. For that we needed a preference class to be able to acknowledge that. So we needed a custom preference class.
2. We wanted the preference to manage itself in by reading and writing from and to database. Instead of fragment running endless iterations and conditions. When our new preferences are born (attached to the screen), they get their value from the database directly. No one needs to set values to them. When they are changed, they know to write into database directly. From their own class. Not containing fragment doing that for them.
2. Types of preferences
1. Two state preferences:
MySwitchPreference
MyCheckboxPreference
FilePreference
2. Dialog preferences:
MyListPreference
MyEditTextPreference
IntentDialogPreference
ThumbnailListPreference
ColorPickerPreference
3. Native preferences(PreferenceGroup subclasses):
PreferenceScreen
PreferenceCategory
4. Slider Preference:
MySeekBarPreference
5. Special preferences:
OpenAppPreference
UriSelectionPreference
RunScriptPreference
ImageHeaderPreference
3. Setting defaults:
It is ABSOLUTELY VITALLY IMPORTANT that you set android:defaultValue to all the preferences that change and read values. That means:
MySwitchPreference
MyCheckboxPreference
FilePreference
MyListPreference
MyEditTextPreference
ThumbnailListPreference
ColorPickerPreference
MySeekBarPreference
4. What happens if we use regular android preferences? Like SwitchPreference or ListPreference?
Nothing! Absolutely nothing will happen nor to this project, nor to your database and, MOST IMPORTANTLY, nor to your mods.
It will act like normal preference. It will not write to database. Your mods will not be affected and WILL NOT WORK.
5. Custom attributes for value changing preferences and RunScriptPreference
1. app: packageNameToKill
This attribute is of type string and you will need to provide which app you want to restart when this preference changes value.2. app:isSilent
This is a boolean type attribute, which is by default set to true. That means that if you don't set this attribute and you DO set the package name to kill, it will restart the app you want without warning as soon as the value has been changed. If it is set to "false", upon value change a dialog will appear with app icon and test informing user that for this action to take effect an app restart is required. They can then choose to kill app now or cancel the dialog and kill it later.3. app:rebootRequired
This is also a boolean type of preference which by default is set to false. If you set it to "true", upon preference value change a dialog will appear, informing the user that reboot is required for this action to take effect. good example for that is changing the default app intent to open on home button double click. That needs framework reload.
If rebootRequired is set to true and you ALSO set package name to kill, reboot takes preference. Package to kill will be ignored.
Preferences - Part 2: Types of Preferences
1. Two state preferences (meaning - can be true or false)
MySwitchPreference & MyCheckboxPreference
Code:
[COLOR="Teal"][B] <!--Following category shows variety of two state preferences-->[/B][/COLOR]
<PreferenceCategory
android:title="Two stated preferences test category">
[COLOR="DarkGreen"][B] <!--Normal Switch preference-->[/B][/COLOR]
<com.wubydax.romcontrol.v2.prefs.MySwitchPreference
android:defaultValue="true"
android:key="normal_test_switch"
android:summaryOff="Disabled"
android:summaryOn="Enabled"
android:title="Normal test switch"/>
<!--Switch preference which will throw a dialog that app reboot is required-->
<com.wubydax.romcontrol.v2.prefs.MySwitchPreference
android:defaultValue="true"
android:key="kill_app_with_dialog_test_switch"
android:summaryOff="Disabled"
android:summaryOn="Enabled"
android:title="Kill app with dialog switch"
app:isSilent="false"
app:packageNameToKill="com.android.systemui"/>
[COLOR="darkgreen"][B] <!--Switch preference which will in ADDITION to actual work, also silently restart app with given package-->
<!--Note, that isSilent attribute is by default TRUE. So you don't need to specify it if you want silent app restart-->[/B][/COLOR]
<com.wubydax.romcontrol.v2.prefs.MySwitchPreference
android:defaultValue="true"
android:key="kill_app_silently_test_switch"
android:summaryOff="Disabled"
android:summaryOn="Enabled"
android:title="Kill app silently test switch"
app:packageNameToKill="com.android.contacts"/>
[COLOR="darkgreen"][B] <!--Switch preference which will throw a dialog that following it's action device reboot is required-->
<!--Please note, even if you specify the need to kill app, once the rebootDevice attribute is TRUE, kill app attributes are ignored-->[/B][/COLOR]
<com.wubydax.romcontrol.v2.prefs.MySwitchPreference
android:defaultValue="true"
android:key="reboot_required_test_switch"
android:summaryOff="Disabled"
android:summaryOn="Enabled"
android:title="Switch reminding of need to reboot"
app:rebootDevice="true"/>
[COLOR="darkgreen"][B]<!--We can use kill app on checkboxes as well. Same goes for rebootDevice-->[/B][/COLOR]
<com.wubydax.romcontrol.v2.prefs.MyCheckBoxPreference
android:defaultValue="true"
android:key="test_checkbox_with_kill_app"
android:summaryOff="Disabled"
android:summaryOn="Enabled"
android:title="Kill app checkbox"
app:isSilent="false"
app:packageNameToKill="com.android.systemui"/>
</PreferenceCategory>
FilePreference
Code:
<PreferenceCategory
android:title="File preferences">
[COLOR="darkgreen"][B]<!--File preference is a very special kind of preference, which works like switch but has different output.
Normal switch preference, like any two state preference, write boolean true/false into preferences.
In our app it also writes 1/0 into database.
File preference doesn't write into database. If it is switched on, it creates a file in our app directory in data.
That name of that file is what you set as key.
This is widely used by [user=1042140]@tdunham[/user] for global boolean needs in systemui.
Please refer to his guide about setting global boolean to see appropriate smali application for this preference.
This is most useful for mods in smali files where you do not have context access to get content resolver.
Because File class is native java class and checking for it's existence does not require android context.
File preferences can have attribute to kill app or reboot device.-->[/B][/COLOR]
[COLOR="darkgreen"][B] <!--This is a simple file preference. Note that once it's switched on, a file with the name identical to key is created in
/data/data/com.wubydax.romcontro.v2l/files
When it's switched off the file is deleted.-->[/B][/COLOR]
<com.wubydax.romcontrol.v2.prefs.FilePreference
android:key="new_file"
android:summaryOff="Disabled"
android:summaryOn="Enabled"
android:title="New file preference"/>
[COLOR="darkgreen"][B] <!--This file preferences upon change will prompt to kill app-->[/B][/COLOR]
<com.wubydax.romcontrol.v2.prefs.FilePreference
android:key="another_file"
android:summaryOff="Disabled"
android:summaryOn="Enabled"
android:title="Kill app file preference"
app:isSilent="false"
app:packageNameToKill="com.android.systemui"/>
</PreferenceCategory>
2. Dialog preferences
ColorPickerPreferece
Custom attributes:
alphaSlider, hexValue - both booleans, TRUE by default
Code:
[COLOR="Teal"]<!--The following category demonstrates various ways of using ColorPickerPreference-->[/COLOR]
<PreferenceCategory
android:title="Color pickers test category">
[COLOR="DarkGreen"][B]<!--Normal color picker preference-->
<!--Please note, the [COLOR="Red"][U]hexValue and the alpha are there by default now[/U][/COLOR]. If you want to cancel them, you need to specify false-->[/B][/COLOR]
<com.wubydax.romcontrol.v2.prefs.ColorPickerPreference
android:defaultValue="#ffccdd"
android:key="test_color_preference"
android:title="Normal test color picker"/>
[COLOR="DarkGreen"][B]<!--Color picker preference without the alpha slider and without the hex value
You can set false to both or one of them-->[/B][/COLOR]
<com.wubydax.romcontrol.v2.prefs.ColorPickerPreference
alphaSlider="false"
hexValue="false"
android:defaultValue="#ffffff"
android:key="no_alpha_color_key"
android:title="Color picker with no alpha or hex"/>
[COLOR="darkgreen"][B]<!--Color picker preference with kill app option
Note, [U]you can also use rebootDevice attribute[/U], like with two stated preferences-->[/B][/COLOR]
<com.wubydax.romcontrol.v2.prefs.ColorPickerPreference
android:key="app_kill_color_key"
android:title="Color picker with app kill"
app:isSilent="false"
app:packageNameToKill="com.android.systemui"/>
</PreferenceCategory>
MyListPreference
Custom attributes:
app:dependentValue - will enable you to set dependencies upon choosing selected value. If a dependent value is selected by user, the dependent preference will become disabled.
Code:
[COLOR="DarkGreen"][I]<!--Example of simple list preference with radio button items
You absolutely HAVE to set dafaultValue and it has to be one of your entryValues string arrays
You can use any of the following with kill app attributes or rebootDevice attribute
Note, that you can now use dependency on list preference.
Custom attribute app:dependentValue will allow you to decide which list item, if selected,
will set dependent preferences disabled.-->[/I][/COLOR]
<com.wubydax.romcontrol.v2.prefs.MyListPreference
android:defaultValue="20"
android:entries="@array/test_list_entries"
android:entryValues="@array/test_list_values"
android:key="test_list_key"
app:dependentValue="1"
android:title="Choose items from the list preference"/>
ThumbnailListPreference
Custom attributes:
app:dependentValue - will enable you to set dependencies upon choosing selected value. If a dependent value is selected by user, the dependent preference will become disabled.
app:drawableArray - references array which provides resources for the thumbnail images for each list item
app:entryList - references array of strings to provide names for actual list items
app:entryValuesList - references array of strings for the entry values to be written to preferences and database for selected list item
Code:
[COLOR="darkgreen"][I] <!--Thumbnail list preference is a special kind of preference which allows you to show preview of the selected image
This can be useful f.e. for setting custom bg to toggles in systemui
Needless to say you need to put the same images you put in systemui in Rom Control in drawables
And you need to create 3 kinds of arrays in arrays.xml file. 2 string arrays for entryList and entryValuesList and one simple array
for drawable references. You can see the arrays for the following preferences inside arrays.xml
You have to set default and the default has to be one of entryValuesList strings-->
<!--Example of simple Thumbnail preference with no additional attributes-->[/I][/COLOR]
<com.wubydax.romcontrol.v2.prefs.ThumbnailListPreference
android:defaultValue="1"
android:key="test_thumbnail_key"
android:title="Simple thumbnail preference"
app:drawableArray="@array/thumbnail_drawables"
app:entryList="@array/thumbnail_items"
app:entryValuesList="@array/thumbnail_values"
app:dependentValue="2"/>
[COLOR="darkgreen"][I]<!--Example of Thumbnail preference which calls to kill app upon selected item-->[/I][/COLOR]
<com.wubydax.romcontrol.v2.prefs.ThumbnailListPreference
android:defaultValue="2"
android:key="test_thumbnail_kill_app"
android:title="Kill app thumbnail preference"
android:dependency="test_thumbnail_key"
app:drawableArray="@array/thumbnail_drawables"
app:entryList="@array/thumbnail_items"
app:entryValuesList="@array/thumbnail_values"
app:isSilent="false"
app:packageNameToKill="com.android.systemui"/>
IntentDialogPreference
Custom attributes:
app:intentSeparator - to allow you to set the char which will separate the package name from activity name in the intent component name
app:showSearch - boolean attribute which determines whether search field will be available in the dialog window. By default it's TRUE. If you want no search, set to FALSE
Code:
[COLOR="DarkGreen"][I]<!--The following preference is a special preference that's called IntentDialogPreference
This preference allows you to choose an app from the list. it also conveniently includes search field
This preference writes into database what's called component name for specific system needs.
When we want to call an app in android, we need to provide some information as to which app we want to launch
and which activity inside that app we want to lunch.
Launching app by combination of those is called explicit intent. Explicit intent needs 2 things to run an app:
1. Package name
2. Activity or service name
This preference is most useful for launching an specific app based on info you can fetch from database
For example on double click on home key
Intent dialog preference puts the info for explicit intent in a string. First package name, then separator, then activity name
You can use any separator you want. The default separator is "##"
But as you can see in following example we set the separator to be forward slash "/"
The separator depends on how you build the mod in smali for your needs.
Any kill app or reboot device attributes are applicable here as well-->
[/I][/COLOR]
[COLOR="darkgreen"][I]<!--This specific IntentDialogPreference has defaultValue set to Settings app.
You DO NOT need to set default. Only if you want to. But it is in most cases not necessary and even not that good.
This is just an example. When you run this, you will see that the preference has an icon of the chosen app on the right
and a name of the app set as summary. When you choose a new app, those things change-->[/I][/COLOR]
<com.wubydax.romcontrol.v2.prefs.IntentDialogPreference
android:defaultValue="com.android.settings/com.android.settings.Settings"
android:key="test_intent_with default"
android:title="Select Test App with default"
app:intentSeparator="/"/>
[COLOR="darkgreen"][I]<!--This IntentDialogPreference comes with no default and no separator. So default separator will be applied "##"
and it also has no search showing-->[/I][/COLOR]
<com.wubydax.romcontrol.v2.prefs.IntentDialogPreference
android:key="test_intent_without default"
android:title="Select app, no default, no search, ## separator"
app:showSearch="false"/>
[COLOR="darkgreen"][I]<!--This preference will prompt to reboot device upon selection
This is useful if f.e. you use it to set default app to open when home button is double clicked
Reboot is advised but not necessary immediately. So user will be shown a dialog to let them know they need to reboot
And they can reboot immediately or later-->[/I][/COLOR]
<com.wubydax.romcontrol.v2.prefs.IntentDialogPreference
android:key="test_intent_without_default"
android:title="Select app and reboot device"
app:intentSeparator="/"
app:rebootDevice="true"
app:showSearch="true"/>
MyEditTextPreference
Code:
[COLOR="DarkGreen"][I][B] <!--Edit text preference is a dialog preference that allows you to enter custom text-->[/B][/I][/COLOR]
<com.wubydax.romcontrol.v2.prefs.MyEditTextPreference
android:defaultValue="test"
android:key="test_edit_text_key"
android:title="Input custom text"/>
3. Special Preferences
OpenAppPreference
Custom attributes:
app:componentName - string type attribute to provide package name and desired activity name to open installed app. Please pay attention to instructions in code.
Code:
[COLOR="darkgreen"][B][I]<!--The following category shows usage of special preference we use to open an app based on component info
All you need to provide for this preference is package name and activity name separated by forward slash "/" like shown below
We will split the component info into components and check if the app is installed
if it's installed, we will show the app icon as preference icon and app name as title
If the app is not installed the preference is automatically removed from the list.
You can set your own summary to explain about the app.
If you wish to show a custom icon for that app shortcut or have custom title,
if you wish to use custom icon or custom title, like you would do normally with preference,
You are free to use android:title and android:icon attributes.
Our class will then use the items you chose instead of the application title and icon.
This WILL NOT affect the intent for opening application. It's a cosmetic measure for your convenience.-->[/I][/B][/COLOR]
<PreferenceCategory
android:title="Shortcut to apps preferences">
[COLOR="darkgreen"][B][I] <!--Example of simple app shortcuts. If those apps are not installed, the preferences will not show-->
[/I][/B][/COLOR] <com.wubydax.romcontrol.v2.prefs.OpenAppPreference
android:summary="Application to browse your files, including root files"
app:componentName="com.speedsoftware.rootexplorer/com.speedsoftware.rootexplorer.RootExplorer"/>
<com.wubydax.romcontrol.v2.prefs.OpenAppPreference
android:summary="Control samsung's toolbox, turn it on or off, choose available apps and rearrange them"
app:componentName="com.wubydax.toolboxsettings/com.wubydax.toolboxsettings.ToolboxSettings"/>
[COLOR="darkgreen"][B][I] <!--Example of OpenAppPreference with custom title and icon-->
[/I][/B][/COLOR] <com.wubydax.romcontrol.v2.prefs.OpenAppPreference
android:summary="Choose what app or shortcut to open when TW launcher is being swiped to the magazine page"
android:title="Shortcut to GearTWSwipe"
android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher"
app:componentName="com.wubydax.geartwswipe/com.wubydax.geartwswipe.ResetDialogActivity"/>
[COLOR="darkgreen"][B][I] <!--Open app preference with only cuctom title and the icon which is loaded from the app-->
[/I][/B][/COLOR] <com.wubydax.romcontrol.v2.prefs.OpenAppPreference
app:componentName="eu.chainfire.supersu/eu.chainfire.supersu.MainActivity-Material"
android:title="Chainfire's SuperSu App"
android:summary="Manage root permissions for apps and services"/>
</PreferenceCategory>
UriSelectionPreference
Code:
<PreferenceCategory
android:title="Select image preferences">
[COLOR="darkgreen"][B][I]<!--Select image preferences allow the user to select any image from the gallery.
The uri for that image will be written into the database
Android can fetch images based on their uri (universal resource identifier).
A type of uri that you all know is called URL, which is a web address.
Uri for database is the "address" of an item inside the database.
In android we have Media database, which hosts info about media items. In our case we are interested in images.
Upon clicking this preference a Gallery will launch, upon selecting image, it's uri will be written into database.
In your mods you can fetch the string, convert it to Uri and set that image as background to anything you want.
We use this method for setting custom image in our mod for background to notification panel-->[/I][/B][/COLOR]
<!--Those are examples of simple uri selection preference. The icon for them will be the selected image preview
You need to set title and key. That's it.-->
<com.wubydax.romcontrol.v2.prefs.UriSelectionPreference
android:key="test_image_selection_key_2"
android:title="Select Image 2"/>
</PreferenceCategory>
RunScriptPreference
Custom attributes:
app:scriptFileName - string type attribute to provide script name to run, including the .sh extension.
app:showConfirmDialog - a boolean type preference, dtetermining whether a warning dialog will be shown before executing the script. we have had this request for previous version, since users sometimes hit script preference by mistake and it executes immidiately. By default this boolean is TRUE. So for any script a warning dialog will show. Youc an set it to FALSE to execute without warning.
app:rebootOptions - enum type attribute:
Sometimes you will perform actions in script which will require a device reboot to take effect
For this purpose we created this attribute, which can take 3 values:
1. None - this is default. You do not need to specify "none". if you don't specify rebootOptions it will always be "none"
This means reboot is not required upon running script
2. Optional - this means that the execution of this script is ok without immediate reboot,
but for the action to take effect, reboot is required. if you set rebootOption to "optional",
upon successful script execution a user will be presented with a dialog.
A dialog has 2 buttons: reboot now or reboot later.
Use this option ONLY if reboot is required for action to take effect and reboot is not VITAL. Meaning no app will FC without reboot.
3. Imminent- sometimes you will want to run scripts which replace key system components, such as entire apk
or even jar files. When a script like that is executed, you want immediate reboot. Because other wise the app in question
can throw FC. Most of you from what we have seen, use reboot option for scripts like these at the end of the script.
You NO LONGER HAVE TO. We will handle the reboot for you ONLY if the script is executed successfully and "imminent" option was chosen.
It is nice to WARN the user that their phone will reboot after running the script.
That is why if you choose app:rebootOptions="imminent" a dialog will be shown to the user once they click on preference.
This dialog will warn them that upon script execution their device will reboot
If you use this option, once the script is done we will execute the reboot. Make sure you have your app in priv-app before testing this. It will need reboot permissions. Please read the gradle explanation 2 posts above, regarding those permissions.
DO NOT use "reboot" or "kill zygote" commands at the end your scripts. Do yourselves and your users a favour and stop using those all together.
Code:
[COLOR="darkgreen"][I][B]<!--Running scripts in rom modding is no silly business.
We need shell scripts for purposes that can vary from writing a line into a file on sd,
through replacing sound files and host files,
to as far as replacing entire apk and jar files.
Because shell scripts can vary in their complexity, we created a special preference that runs shell scripts.
The major component in this preference is the scriptName attribute. The script name should be given in full,
as string, including extension (.sh).
The code for the preference knows where your scripts are found. It will locate the script if it's found there
and execute it.
if script execution fails, a number is being shown. That means the exit code of a script is not 0.
That means something is wrong in the script.
If the script is executed properly, a toast will be shown saying "Executed successfully"-->[/B][/I][/COLOR]
<PreferenceCategory
android:title="Run script preferences">
[COLOR="darkgreen"][B][I]<!--This is the basic script preference. It will jujst run a script.-->[/I][/B][/COLOR]
<com.wubydax.romcontrol.v2.prefs.RunScriptPreference
android:title="Execute script with prompt"
app:scriptFileName="simple_test.sh"
android:summary="This action will throw warning dialog before executing script"/>
[COLOR="darkgreen"][I][B]<!--Because of the radical nature of running shall scripts with su,
We included a dialog which is shown when a user clicks on script preference
By default confirm dialog will be shown before executing eny script. If you wish to run a script without the warning dialog,
You need to specify the custom attribute that a dialog should not be shown.
We strongly encourage you to keep the dialog. It's better for your users to be sure they clicked on the right option-->[/B][/I][/COLOR]
<com.wubydax.romcontrol.v2.prefs.RunScriptPreference
android:title="Execute without prompt"
app:scriptFileName="simple_test.sh"
app:showConfirmDialog="false"
android:summary="This action will execute script without warning"/>
[COLOR="darkgreen"][I][B]<!--Script preference with optional reboot-->[/B][/I][/COLOR]
<com.wubydax.romcontrol.v2.prefs.RunScriptPreference
android:title="Script with optional reboot"
app:rebootOptions="optional"
app:scriptFileName="simple_test.sh"
android:summary="This action will write into a file on sd card and show dialog that reminds the user to reboot their phone at this time or later for the action to take effect"/>
[COLOR="darkgreen"][I]<!--Script preference with imminent reboot-->[/I][/COLOR]
<com.wubydax.romcontrol.v2.prefs.RunScriptPreference
android:title="Script with imminent reboot"
android:summary="This action will run script which has reboot command at the end and warn user that reboot of device will follow the script execution immediately"
app:rebootOptions="imminent"
app:scriptFileName="simple_test.sh"/>
[COLOR="DarkGreen"][B][I] <!--We were asked by some developers to make a kill app option available for script preference
Therefore, you can also use the kill package attributes now, silent or with dialog,
for your script preferences.
The following RunScriptPreference will prompt killing contacts app f.e
P.s. you can set icons to your run script preferences like any other preference-->[/I][/B][/COLOR]
<com.wubydax.romcontrol.v2.prefs.RunScriptPreference
android:title="Execute and kill app + icon"
android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher"
android:summary="Upon finishing, this script preference will prompt a user to kill app, since we set the isSilent attribute to false"
app:packageNameToKill="com.android.contacts"
app:isSilent="false"
app:scriptFileName="simple_test.sh"/>
</PreferenceCategory>
ImageHeaderPreference
Custom attributes:
app:imageSource - reference type of attribute to set the image to show as header preference. The default size for image is width match_parent and height 200dp.
This is just one of those little things we made for fun, but it ended up being @tdunham 's favourite toy
Code:
[COLOR="DarkGreen"][I]<!--This is one of those little bonus thingies what we made for our beta-testers
and you all get to inherit it. It's a little preference class called ImageHeaderPreference
It allows you to choose and image as header for your preference screen.
Just to bring a little color and life into all those switches and checkboxes...-->[/I][/COLOR]
<com.wubydax.romcontrol.v2.prefs.ImageHeaderPreference
app:imageSource="@drawable/android"/>
Themes, About Us activity and changelog dialog
1. Themes:
1. There 2 built in themes: light and dark. In the navigation drawer, much like in previous version, you have a section under More options which is called "Set Theme".
2. Upon clicking it a dialog will pop up to allow theme selection.
3. The default theme is the light one. If you wish your default theme to be the dark one, please navigate to res/values/styles and find the following line (at the very bottom):
Code:
<integer name="default_theme">0</integer>
(yes, we put integer in styles (because we CAN), we're weird like that... LOL. It's for your convenience.
4. To make the default theme the dark one, change 0 to 1.
2. About Us activity - how to populate it:
1. Navigate to values/about_us_resources.xml
2. When you open it you have 3 sets of 3 arrays each. This idea is very similar to how you populated the navigation drawer items. Let's have a look:
Code:
<resources>
[COLOR="Teal"][B]<!--Contact info arrays-->[/B][/COLOR]
[COLOR="DarkGreen"][B][I] <!--In this array you will put the icons for contact information,
for example xda icon for your xda thread, site icon for your site, facebook icon and so on-->[/I][/B][/COLOR]
<array name="about_contact_us_drawables">
<item>@drawable/icon_2</item>
<item>@drawable/icon_1</item>
<item>@drawable/icon_3</item>
</array>
[COLOR="darkgreen"][B][I]<!--In this array you will put the titles for your contact info items. Keep the order consistent between all 3 arrays-->[/I][/B][/COLOR]
<string-array name="about_contact_us_text">
<item>Facebook</item>
<item>Our Site</item>
<item>XDA</item>
</string-array>
[COLOR="darkgreen"][B][I]<!--In this array you will put the titles for the URL strings that will open once a user clicked on the item-->[/I][/B][/COLOR]
<string-array name="about_contact_us_links" translatable="false">
<item>https://www.facebook.com/</item>
<item>https://www.google.com/</item>
<item>http://forum.xda-developers.com/</item>
</string-array>
[COLOR="teal"][B]<!--Team info arrays-->[/B][/COLOR]
<array name="about_team_drawables">
<item>@drawable/icon_5</item>
<item>@drawable/icon_6</item>
<item>@drawable/icon_1</item>
</array>
<string-array name="about_team_names">
<item>Master Yoda - wise and talented lead developer</item>
<item>Luke Skywalker - one handed theme master</item>
<item>Darth Vader - dark theme master</item>
</string-array>
<string-array name="about_team_links" translatable="false">
<item>https://www.facebook.com/</item>
<item>https://www.google.com/</item>
<item>http://forum.xda-developers.com/</item>
</string-array>
[COLOR="teal"][B] <!--Credits and thanks info arrays-->[/B][/COLOR]
<array name="about_credits_drawables">
<item>@drawable/icon_1</item>
<item>@drawable/icon_3</item>
<item>@drawable/icon_4</item>
<item>@drawable/icon_2</item>
<item>@drawable/icon_6</item>
<item>@drawable/icon_5</item>
</array>
<string-array name="about_credits_names">
<item>Star Trek - for being ultimately better than Star Wars</item>
<item>Jean-Luc Picard - for making us crave hot earl-grey tea even in the middle of the summer</item>
<item>Data - for running on the best rom. Google, we still are waiting for THAT android version</item>
<item>Janeway - for being a normal person and drinking black coffee</item>
<item>Q - for reminding us that you can live forever and still look great</item>
<item>Worf - for teaching us to love Klingons. It was NOT easy</item>
</string-array>
<string-array name="about_credits_links" translatable="false">
<item>https://www.facebook.com/</item>
<item>https://www.google.com/</item>
<item>http://forum.xda-developers.com/</item>
<item>https://www.facebook.com/</item>
<item>https://www.google.com/</item>
<item>http://forum.xda-developers.com/</item>
</string-array>
</resources>
3. As you can see from the code above it's very simple. Find images you want to use, You don't need to make them round. They will be made round on runtime.
4. Replace the demo information in our arrays with your own, including images reference, titles and links. Make sure the lenghts of 3 arrays in each category are equal.
5. You can make as many or as little items as you want. As long as the length of drawable array equals to length of titles array and equals to length of links array in single category.
6. All the magic is done in java for you. Just populate arrays and RUNNNN
3. Changelog Dialog - how to populate it:
1. Navigate to /res/values/changelog_resources.xml
2. Inside you will find 1 string and 1 string array. Let's have a look:
Code:
<resources>
[COLOR="Teal"][B]<!--Do not forget to include this in any locale specific folders for translation-->[/B][/COLOR]
[COLOR="Green"][B][I]<!--In the following array put your changelog items
Take as many lines as you need.
Add as many items as you want or delete some if those are too many
This order is how they will appear in the dialog
Make any order you want from top to bottom-->[/I][/B][/COLOR]
<string-array name="changelog_items">
<item>Some changelog thing lkjh l lkjh slkjh lkjh s,mnb lkjhs lkjh poiuy slkjh</item>
<item>Another changelog thing ;lkj d;lkj ;lkjs ;lkj ;lkj s;lkj ;lkj s;lkj ;lkj ;lks ;lkj ;lkj</item>
<item>Some more changelog things</item>
<item>Some even more changelog thing</item>
<item>And another changelog thing ;lsj; lkjs ;lkj ; lkj;lsjk ;sklj s;lkj s;lk js;lkj s;lkj</item>
<item>How many changelog things</item>
<item>What a long changelog!!!</item>
<item>Is it twenty already?</item>
<item>Are we there yet?</item>
<item>Live long and prosper</item>
<item>So say we all</item>
<item>Patience you must have</item>
<item>Great scot!!!</item>
<item>No disassemble…</item>
<item>Almost there</item>
<item>Done with changelog</item>
</string-array>
[COLOR="green"][B][I] <!--This will be the dialog title.
Put your own rom version and name.
Have fun-->[/I][/B][/COLOR]
<string name="rom_version_for_changelog">build v1.0 6thgearrom</string>
</resources>
3. Fill and up with your own items. Enjoy!
Backup and Restore functionality
Backup and restore is done on a background thread using a service. Once the service gets intent with certain action it performs the required activity and shuts down.
The service can be called with wither backup action or restore action. In each case it will act differently.
1. How does that work - BACKUP:
When a request for backup is passed to the service, it does several things:
1. Checks if on your sdcard there exists a folder called RomControl and checks if the folder contains subfolder backups. If they don't exist, they are being created.
2. In our data f folder in data/data/com.wubydax... we have a shared_prefs folder. Inside it we have preference xml files for all of your preferences.
3. We iterate through those files and read them line by line, and once they are read, we take the keys and read the actual database value for that key
4. Then we write those values with their corresponding keys into a new backup file
5. Each backup file has a new name. You can see how it's formed here:
Code:
String currentDate = new SimpleDateFormat(getString(R.string.backup_file_prefix_date_format), Locale.ENGLISH).format(Calendar.getInstance().getTime());
String fileName = currentDate + "_" + Build.DISPLAY;
String backupFileName = fileName + getString(R.string.backup_file_suffix);
File newBackupFile = new File(Constants.BACKUP_FOLDER_PATH + File.separator + backupFileName);
As you can see we use 3 components for name:
a. Current date and time up to munites
b. The display id from the build.prop
c. suffix RCBackup
That is so the users can differentiate between different backups from different roms or versions
6. It also backs up the file preferences (see the preference explanation post for that)
7. The service finishes and throws a toast that it's done and the file can be found in the backup directory
2. How does that work - RESTORE:
1. During restoring action, the main activity closes. It also says so in the warning dialog which appears right before restore is activated.
2. We made it so to make sure no onPreferenceChangeListener is triggered for any of your preferences. We also want a clean restart of the activity once the restore is done, so all the items can be loaded from the database, which has been updated by the restore process.
3. During restore we read the selected backup file, break it into pieces and write the values to database. When the activity is reloaded, preferences read from databases and update their own values.
4. For file preferences, during restore process we delete the files saved previously and only create the ones contained in backup file.
reserved 8
reserved 9
reserved 11
reserved 12
This blows away the original version folks.
Cant wait for it to go live. And couldn't resist being the first poster as well.
tdunham said:
This blows away the original version folks.
Cant wait for it to go live. And couldn't resist being the first poster as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are simply the best ???
Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
Wow. This is amazing. Thank you for your time and sharing it. It's just another treasure after v1.0.
Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
Waiting
Wooooow , loooong time waiting for this , now time for reading & starting ready for it xD , as usual thanks for ur awesome work , ???
thereassaad said:
Wooooow , loooong time waiting for this , now time for reading & starting ready for it xD , as usual thanks for ur awesome work , ???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Happy to see you here! Don't read yet. Only posts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 are finalized.
Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
Wow, I am loving how this version is going to handle killing apps. And about custom preferences I am a bit confused but I guess I should wait till it's out and see how it would work. Setting default_theme it's just mind blowing! Guys before the source is out I think it would be a good idea to try reading and understanding what is outlined in OP I didn't use to sign my rc but it's explained clearly how to do it in studio. :good:
WOW!
As I have said before, you and Wuby are the most precious thing to us, the ROM devs
What an incredible update!
Sure, I have a lot of work to do on rom control v2, but I have you on my side -that's a good thing hehe.
Amazing work! I am sure my users enjoy it as well.
Keep it up, but make some time for me too
Sent from my SM-G900F boosted by PhoeniX ROM