Question

I am using Eclipse + Subversion for Android development. I used to create a free version of my apps with ads, and another one payed without them, so I kept them in two separate branches on subversion.

The problem I have found is that as these are two different app for Google Play and other markets, they must have different package names. So I have, for example:

com.package.game
com.package.gamefree

When I do some changes on the free version of the game and want to merge them with subversion into the payed branch, I found myself in a trouble because source files for the free game are below com/package/gamefree and for payed under com/package/game

I ended up doing a “manual” merge, making a diff of source file by source file, but I also have to check those files that have been added into another directories and those that has been deleted. A waste of time.

So, is there any manner to make subversion know that com/package/game in one branch is the “same” directory than com/package/gamefree in the other?

Thanks a lot in advance,

Answer 1

After googling a bit in deep, I found that my better chances was just two:

• Using ANT in anny manner that automatizes the switch between free and payment versions at building time.
• Using an Android Library project shared between two versions.

I have seen that most of the people using ANT were doing it some time ago by the lack of another option, but since there is Android Library projects on Eclipse/ADT this is the preferred way for this kind of things. Even in the development docs of Android, says:

http://developer.android.com/tools/projects/projects-eclipse.html#SettingUpLibraryProject

If you are creating an application that exists in both free and paid versions. You move the part of the application that is common to both versions into a library project. The two dependent projects, with their different package names, will reference the library project and provide only the difference between the two application versions.

This seems to be the best way for me also because I have never used ANT and given the library option there is no reason for learning it.

So I have done that way: my project is splited now into MyGameCore that is the library project with all common files to both MyGameFree and MyGamePay projects, that now just have the minimal classes needed to have a different main package name so Google Play knows they are different applications, plus the raw assets folder that according to Google Docs cannot be moved to the library. Anyway these are binary files that I simply copy from one version to another when they are changed, that is not very often.

So from now on, most of the time I just need to work on the MyGameCore project and the changes done have inmediate effect on both MyGameFree and MyGamePay projects without needing to merge branches.

This will save me A LOT of time and I will use it on my further projects from the very first code line.