How to exclude a file from an .AAR Android library archive with gradle

Question

I am trying to create an AAR file for a library Android project using Android Studio and gradle.

I want to exclude from this archive specific folders and files but

Answer 1

I can't try it right now, but this would probably be my approach:

sourceSets {
    main {
        manifest.srcFile 'AndroidManifest.xml'
        aidl.srcDirs = ['src']
        resources.srcDirs = ['src']           
        renderscript.srcDirs = ['src']
        java.srcDirs = ['src']
        res.srcDirs = ['res']
    }

    flavor1 {
        java.srcDirs = ['src/main/java', 'src/flavor1/java']         
        res.srcDirs = ['src/flavor1/res'] //this differs from your structure
        assets.srcDirs = []
    }

    flavor2 {
        java.srcDirs = ['src/main/java', 'src/flavor2/java']
        res.srcDirs = ['src/flavor2/res'] //this differs from your structure
        assets.srcDirs = ['src/main/res/raw']
    }
}

Again, I couldn't try it, so this could be complete nonsense. The idea was to not exclude stuff, but only include the files/dirs you do want in you flavor. This may will lead to duplication of files/folders per flavor!

As sources I would recommend: Gralde Plugin User Guide, the answer from Xavier Ducrohet and also this Gradle + Android, want to overwrite /assets with custom folder in buildFlavor.