NDK can't find the application directory

Question

When running the ndk-build command I get the following error:

Android NDK: Could not find application project directory !    
Android NDK: Please define the          


        

Answer 1

I haven't found a single answer which is satisfactory for me, perhaps it depends whether you're trying to build an existing application, create a new one, or perhaps you are porting some existing native app. These guidelines work with android-ndk-r9b but should work with the last few releases

The makefile build-local.mk used by ndk-build will make some guesses about the location of the application makefile.

By default it seems the NDK is oriented towards having you stow your NDK application Application.mk and Android.mk files under a sub-directory called jni. This works nicely, and you can just use the command line:

$ ndk-build

If you don't want to have a jni sub-directory, for example, perhaps you're porting a linux command-line tool to Android, the following maybe appropriate for you:

Create an empty AndroidManifest.xml file

Now create an Application.mk file with the following contents:

APP_BUILD_SCRIPT := Android.mk

Then create an Android.mk file, for example:

LOCAL_PATH := $(call my-dir)
include $(CLEAR_VARS)
LOCAL_SRC_FILES := foo.c
LOCAL_MODULE := foo
include $(BUILD_EXECUTABLE)

To build the application use:

$ ndk-build NDK_APPLICATION_MK=`pwd`/Application.mk