Support for Gradle and Hook Scripts

[Osahon_O_]

Dear Intel XDK.

As a developer that has used your product for at least 2 years, I have enjoyed watching the product evolve and improve.

Every addition to the XDK has helped to make development with Cordova fun for developers and keep pace with the traditional Cordova CLI.

However, My Dearest Team, in recent months, things have started to change. Intel XDK does not support gradle, it does not support build hooks. These  new cordova features have been around for some time, especially gradle script; but XDK is yet to adopt support.

The lack of gradle support means that developers cannot make use of alot of new plugins on the XDK. (E.g. The latest releases of Crosswalk are already using gradle scripts).

Please XDK team, there are thousands of developers who build products and businesses on your wonderful tool. Kindly, continue to update the XDK with the latest Cordova features, starting with Gradle and Hook scripts.

Please respond to these inquiries

We love you.

[PaulF_IntelCorp]

Thank you for the feedback, it has been noted and provided to the product manager.

[Hamilton_Tenório_da_]

+1

I am very sad. Intel's decision is too painful for me.

[Dmitry_P_2]

+10

This becomes a show stopper for us as we start integrating our apps with Google Firebase messaging. All the plugins I've tried so far use gradle scripting. Some other plugins use hooks.. I would hate to move away from XDK, it's really a fantastic tool, but it seems we have no choice as it looks that gradle and hook issues are not getting addressed for very long time and no specific plan is given..

[Deepak_S_1]

10/10

Hi Intel XDK team,

First of all thank you very much for providing such a great tool to Web developers for joining mobile development race. Indeed it is a very very powerful tool. It would be great if you can please consider to add GRADLE support as soon as possible. Because we are missing many new features in application. Where are in today;s time clients are more demanding and want each bit of new technology to be used in the final product.

Developers like me who are using IntelXDK to build the mobile hybrid apps will love your effort and request you to kindly make this addition as soon as possible.

One more thing i would like to add here is: Kindly also add an option to include the design mode if is not selected while creating the application.

Thanks once again for a great effort.

Regards,

Deepak Sharma

[Hamilton_Tenório_da_]

+1

I have a complete ecosystem under XDK (I am using XDK for a long time...). And I love it.

[Ramon_E_]

Hello,

Is there a plan for when Gradle will be added to intel xdk?  Notifications are a big key to having a successful app.  When is this going to be added?

Thanks,

Ramon

[PaulF_IntelCorp]

Ramon -- sorry, but we're not allowed to publish any details regarding future features or provide information regarding release dates in public forums, it is strictly against company policy.

[Ramon_E_]

Paul -- understood, any suggestions on a push notification plugin that is currently fully compatible with Intel XDK?

[Dmitry_P_2]

We have started to drift away from XDK and building on local computers due to these uncertainties. The most reasonable plugin for integration with Firebase seems to be this one:

https://github.com/fechanique/cordova-plugin-fcm

Since we need the iOS support, the entire build has to move into MAC OS.

I hate every second of using MAC + XCode to building cordova apps. It's pure torture for developers, these people will make you cry when you meet these tools for practical use.

Intel XDK please don't die, you were so beautiful !

[PaulF_IntelCorp]

Ramon E. wrote:

Paul -- understood, any suggestions on a push notification plugin that is currently fully compatible with Intel XDK?

The plugins change rapidly, so I'm not able to make any specific recommendations. However, see this FAQ > https://software.intel.com/en-us/xdk/faqs/cordova#push-plugin-fix < for the conditions that must exist in order to use a push plugin with our build system. In essence, if the push plugin includes only a single gradle script that performs the identical function to that shown in this FAQ, it should work.

[Ramon_E_]

Paul,

I followed the instructions and installed phonegap-plugin-push from my local machine.  I built the APK and installed it.  I tried sending myself a notification via firebase but I can't seem to receive it.  Would removing the gradle framework element from the xml file prevent me from receiving messages?

FYI.  I used the below link to implement it onto my app

https://phonegappro.com/tutorials/apache-cordova-phonegap-push-notification-tutorial-part-2/

Thanks,

Ramon

[PaulF_IntelCorp]

Our build system implements the feature that the gradle script performs, so removing the gradle script should not prevent your push from working, it is likely something else. I recommend you use a built Android app with debug enabled and remote CDT to debug the issue. See this doc page for help with that > https://software.intel.com/en-us/xdk/docs/intel-xdk-debug-and-test-overview#RemoteChromeDevTools < and this page > https://software.intel.com/en-us/xdk/docs/using-remote-chrome-devtools-to-debug-android-cordova-apps <

[Ramon_E_]

Paul,

I used the apktool to extract the AndroidManifest.xml file to inspect it.  I noticed that the provider tag, receiver tag, or the service tag aren't in the file.  Could this be the reason why my gcm notifications aren't showing up in my device?  If so how do I resolve this?

Thanks,

Ramon Escamilla

[PaulF_IntelCorp]

I'm not intimately familiar with how that plugin works, but I do see there is a SENDER_ID variable that needs to be set (which has a default and, I believe, is getting overwritten by the gradle script, but you'll have to confirm). Also, there are some references in the plugin.xml file that might be related to your question, but, again, I'm not intimately familiar with what is required of this plugin. You'll have to do some searching in places like Stack Overflow for Cordova PhoneGap solutions to get a better picture of what should be where.

Sorry, but the third-party plugins change at a rapid pace and we are not able to keep up with all of them, best to find the developers who are using them and see what problems/solutions they've come up with. The XDK creates a standard Cordova app, so finding solutions for Cordova and PhoneGap Build will generally apply here, as well (other than where our build system may limit some solutions).

[Kiriakos_T_]

I am using this plugin https://github.com/fechanique/cordova-plugin-fcm in bootstrap framework and the following error happens when I built in https://build.phonegap.com

Execution failed for task ':processDebugGoogleServices'.
> File google-services.json is missing. The Google Services Plugin cannot function without it. 
   Searched Location: 
  /project/src/debug/google-services.json
  /project/google-services.json

Although I have put the file in the source directory (www).. Can anybody help?

[Kiriakos_T_]

About the phonegap-plugin-push I have intsalled it locally in the same way and fixed it accordingly to the link you provide and also set the SENDER_ID parametre according tho my google account and the following error occur when build in the https://build.phonegap.com

Execution failed for task ':mergeDebugResources'.
> /project/res/values/strings.xml: Error: Found item String/google_app_id more than one time

[PaulF_IntelCorp]

Kiriakos T. wrote:

I am using this plugin https://github.com/fechanique/cordova-plugin-fcm in bootstrap framework and the following error happens when I built in https://build.phonegap.com

Execution failed for task ':processDebugGoogleServices'.
> File google-services.json is missing. The Google Services Plugin cannot function without it. 
   Searched Location: 
  /project/src/debug/google-services.json
  /project/google-services.json

Although I have put the file in the source directory (www).. Can anybody help?

That plugin will not work with the XDK or with PhoneGap Build because it uses gradle scripts (see this line in the plugin.xml file). It can only be used with Cordova CLI.

[PaulF_IntelCorp]

Kiriakos T. wrote:

About the phonegap-plugin-push I have intsalled it locally in the same way and fixed it accordingly to the link you provide and also set the SENDER_ID parametre according tho my google account and the following error occur when build in the https://build.phonegap.com

Execution failed for task ':mergeDebugResources'.
> /project/res/values/strings.xml: Error: Found item String/google_app_id more than one time

As with the other plugin, there is a gradle script, which is likely not being honored by PGB, causing this problem (https://github.com/phonegap/phonegap-plugin-push/blob/master/push.gradle). According to this post by the plugin author, from one of the issue threads for that plugin, you have to use the version 1.x branch of the plugin to make it work with PhoneGap Build. It works with the XDK build system because the particular operation being done with that plugin is quite common, so our build system provided the function automatically, meaning you could remove the gradle script and the plugin would still get the information that the gradle script was providing. However, I do not know how PGB handles this issue, other than they do not run gradle scripts (just like the XDK does not run gradle scripts).

For updates and workarounds you'll have to work with the plugin vendors, the solutions are outside of our control. If you want to use these two plugins you may be better off using Cordova CLI.