How to get the build/version number of your Android application?

Question

I need to figure out how to get or make a build number for my Android application. I need the build number to display in the UI.

Do I have to do something with

Answer 1

If you're using PhoneGap, then create a custom PhoneGap plugin:

Create a new class in your app's package:

package com.Demo; //replace with your package name

import org.json.JSONArray;

import android.content.pm.PackageInfo;
import android.content.pm.PackageManager;
import android.content.pm.PackageManager.NameNotFoundException;

import com.phonegap.api.Plugin;
import com.phonegap.api.PluginResult;
import com.phonegap.api.PluginResult.Status;

public class PackageManagerPlugin extends Plugin {

    public final String ACTION_GET_VERSION_NAME = "GetVersionName";

    @Override
    public PluginResult execute(String action, JSONArray args, String callbackId) {
        PluginResult result = new PluginResult(Status.INVALID_ACTION);
        PackageManager packageManager = this.ctx.getPackageManager();

        if(action.equals(ACTION_GET_VERSION_NAME)) {
            try {
                PackageInfo packageInfo = packageManager.getPackageInfo(
                                              this.ctx.getPackageName(), 0);
                result = new PluginResult(Status.OK, packageInfo.versionName);
            }
            catch (NameNotFoundException nnfe) {
                result = new PluginResult(Status.ERROR, nnfe.getMessage());
            }
        }

        return result;
    }
}

In the plugins.xml, add the following line:

In your deviceready event, add the following code:

var PackageManagerPlugin = function() {

};
PackageManagerPlugin.prototype.getVersionName = function(successCallback, failureCallback) {
    return PhoneGap.exec(successCallback, failureCallback, 'PackageManagerPlugin', 'GetVersionName', []);
};
PhoneGap.addConstructor(function() {
    PhoneGap.addPlugin('packageManager', new PackageManagerPlugin());
});

Then, you can get the versionName attribute by doing:

window.plugins.packageManager.getVersionName(
    function(versionName) {
        //do something with versionName
    },
    function(errorMessage) {
        //do something with errorMessage
    }
);

Derived from here and here.