Can't start an activity from a cordova plugin using .aar files

Question

I am trying to write a simple cordova-plugin for android, but I am stuck into a crash that I don't know how to resolve.

I basically followed these steps to create simple plugin and it worked fine.

http://www.mat-d.com/site/tutorial-creating-a-cordova-phonegap-plugin-for-android-app/

Yet, my plugin must call an activity that is packaged as an .aar file. Basically I have a full blown application with java/layouts that needs to be triggered by the plugin.

I followed these steps to add my .aar file to the android build of cordova.

Cordova plugin development - adding aar

It also worked. Now, I have so far in my plugin structure these files (admittedly is pretty hacked right now since I kept most of original names):

in my yourFile.gradle I have this:

repositories{    
  jcenter()
  flatDir{
      dirs 'libs'
   }
}

dependencies {
   compile(name:'mylittlelibrary-release', ext:'aar')
   compile 'com.android.volley:volley:1.0.0'
}

android {
  packagingOptions {
    exclude 'META-INF/NOTICE'
    exclude 'META-INF/LICENSE'
  }
}

and the main part of my "CoolPlugin.java" looks like this:

public class CoolPlugin extends CordovaPlugin {
    public CoolPlugin() {}
    public void initialize(CordovaInterface cordova, CordovaWebView webView) {
        super.initialize(cordova, webView);
    }
    public boolean execute(final String action, JSONArray args, CallbackContext callbackContext) throws JSONException {
        cordova.getActivity().runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
            public void run() {
                final Context context = cordova.getActivity().getApplicationContext();
                try {
                    Intent intent = new Intent(context, testv.com.mylittlelibrary.MainActivity.class);
                    intent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
                    cordova.getActivity().startActivity(intent);
                } catch (Exception e) {
                    String errorText = e.toString();
                    Toast toast = Toast.makeText(context, errorText, duration);
                    toast.show();
                }

My "mylittlelibrary-release.aar" has its main activity under the namespace "testv.com.mylittlelibrary" so the MainActivity.java looks like this:

package testv.com.mylittlelibrary;

import android.content.Context;
import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;

import com.android.volley.*;
import com.android.volley.toolbox.*;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {


    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

        etc...

I was reading the thread below, and looks like I need in somehow register the main activity of my aar file.

open an activity from a CordovaPlugin

I am not totally sure how to do this, so I went inside the auto-generated AndroidManifest.xml under

C:\cordova\hello\platforms\android\AndroidManifest.xml

and hacked the activity with the namespace inside as such:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<manifest android:hardwareAccelerated="true" android:versionCode="1" android:versionName="0.0.1" package="com.example.hello" xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <supports-screens android:anyDensity="true" android:largeScreens="true" android:normalScreens="true" android:resizeable="true" android:smallScreens="true" android:xlargeScreens="true" />
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
    <application android:hardwareAccelerated="true" android:icon="@drawable/icon" android:label="@string/app_name" android:supportsRtl="true">
        <activity android:configChanges="orientation|keyboardHidden|keyboard|screenSize|locale" android:label="@string/activity_name" android:launchMode="singleTop" android:name="MainActivity" android:theme="@android:style/Theme.DeviceDefault.NoActionBar" android:windowSoftInputMode="adjustResize">
            <intent-filter android:label="@string/launcher_name">
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
        <activity android:label="@string/activity_name"
        android:launchMode="singleTop"
        android:name="testv.com.mylittlelibrary.MainActivity">
        </activity>
    </application>
    <uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="17" android:targetSdkVersion="23" />
</manifest>

I installed the plugin and ran the app using:

cordova plugin add c:/CoolPlugin/
cordova build android
cordova run android

there is button in the html file that triggers the plugin, which then triggers my activity as you see on the "MainActivity" of the "mylittlelibrary-release.aar" file.

Yet, I keep getting this crash. I believe the android plugin cannot resolve the namespace properly and throws this exception.

com.example.hello E/AndroidRuntime: FATAL EXCEPTION: main
    Process: com.example.hello, PID: 13119
    java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: Failed resolution of: Ltestv/com/mylittlelibrary/MainActivity;
    at CoolPlugin$1.run(CoolPlugin.java:59)
    at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:739)
    at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:95)
    at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:145)
    at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5835)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:372)

I also believe is has something to do with the proper registering the MainActivity under the testv.com.mylittlelibrary. But I can't figure out how to do in in cordova. I need to resolve this, so I am glad to give you points of my reputation for a solid answer that unblocks me.

thank you.

Answer 1

nevermind, it was simple mistake. The library missed some imports and a theme. This fixed the issue.

Manifest:

android:theme="@style/Theme.AppCompat.Light"

Gradle:

dependencies {
   compile(name:'mylittlelibrary-release', ext:'aar')
   compile 'com.android.support:support-v13:23.1.0'
   compile 'com.android.support:support-v4:23.1.0'
   compile 'com.android.support:gridlayout-v7:23.1.1'
   compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:23.1.0'
   compile 'com.android.support:design:23.1.0'