Clean Install..Mobile Preferences Reconstruct.. Big Sur

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Jim Mac
VIP Livecode Opensource Backer
VIP Livecode Opensource Backer
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Joined: Wed Jun 28, 2006 9:22 pm

Clean Install..Mobile Preferences Reconstruct.. Big Sur

Post by Jim Mac » Thu Dec 31, 2020 3:10 am

I had an upgrade to Big Sur go bad. Had to do a clean install and my backups seem worthless. I decided to go ahead and rebuild from scratch. I'm having trouble getting Mobile Preferences setup and thought I'd see if anyone has any advice.

I consider myself an okay LC coder but I know little about lower level things. So, I'm looking at the Mobile Setup process from the perspective of a new user. Any info as to why the things that are confusing to me don't matter (or why they do) would be appreciated.
NOTE: I'm doing the same type of writeup for iOS which is also not going according to plan/lessons......

Android:
I followed the instructions in the lesson "LiveCode and Android Studio"
1) Not knowing whether I needed to or not I downloaded and installed Java 8. I have no clue how to uninstall other versions nor do I know fits necessary? I also have no idea where the installer "put" the files.
2) I downloaded Android Studio (though I remember ages ago I skipped Studio when getting things setup).
3) Got to SDK Manager...
  • I installed Android 10.0 (Q) in addition to the default 10.0 (R). I figured I'd do others later if I wanted to downgrade LC but for now I'm 9.6.1+.
  • I confirmed that build tools were selected and installed.
4) I finally figured out how to see the Android folder since it's hidden in Big Sur.
Hint: Hidden files don't seem to show in the basicLC File Chooser so I had no way to select the correct sdk folder. I used the "Option"-"." trick to show hidden files in Finder and then put the folder into my Finder sidebar so I could select it from the LC Mobile preferences File chooser pane.
5) In the LC Mobile preferences pane, I selected the sdk folder as the "location of Android development SDK root" and did NOT get the dreaded "the chosen folder is not a valid Android SDK...." HOWEVER, The JDK Path remained blank. Usually this would fill itself in one the SDK folder was located.
6) I tried Bernard's trick (http://forums.livecode.com/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=34837) to show the JDK File Chooser button but had no idea what to look for so that was a bit of a dead end.

Just for the heck of it I went ahead and built a "Hello World" standalone for Android and got no errors. The ,app seems to be okay so... I am waiting for my test device to recover fro being completely discharged but my guess is the .apk will work and the issue with no JDK path is unique to Big Sur and LC 9.6.2 (RC 1) which is what I'm using.

I'll update regarding success or lack of it. Since it may fail, any hints about where I went wrong would be appreciated even if I haven't been back. It sure seems like Big Sur changed a lot.... or maybe I never noticed because my upgrade to Catalina went smoothly.

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UPDATE #1:
Built a virtual device in Android Studio, started it up and... it showed up in the Test Target menu in LC.... chose it and clicked Test.
App opened just fine in the simulator... SUCCESS!

I have not ben able to get a physical device to register yet.... but not done experimenting. More later?
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UPDATE #2:
Downloaded Android File Transfer. I can't get direct access to the files on my device...... App says "Can't access device storage" even though window opens with folder structure. Clicking Okay shuts everything down.
In LC.... my device shows under Development menu albeit with an undecipherable name. Select it and the select "Test" and.... lo and behold.... my app is loaded the device and works.

I guess this part of my journey is done. Now on to iOS....

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UPDATE #3:
I'd completely forgotten I went through all this stuff previously. I just "rediscovered" that having the JDK path not show in the Mobile Support pane is fine.

The "I have not been able to get a physical device to register yet...." issue was I believe due to a bad cable!
Always check the basics before going down a rabbit hole?
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