Are you familiar with Android development environment and interested to learn more while helping the project?
Head over documentation or start of by following these step-by-step instructions and build CODE from scratch:
Build CODE for Android
The development of the Android app has to be done on Linux, it’s currently not possible to build the native parts on Windows. Similarly to the normal CODE, you will need the following projects, cross-compiled to your target platform:
- LibreOffice
- POCO
If you want to build the full app, you need to build for 4 platforms: ARM, ARM64, x86 and x86-64. For development, just one of them is enough, the build currently defaults to ARM.
Build LibreOffice master for Android
Create a file called autogen.input in your LibreOffice clone with the
following content:
--build=x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
--with-android-ndk=/home/$USER/Android/Sdk/ndk-bundle
--with-android-sdk=/home/$USER/Android/Sdk
--with-distro=LibreOfficeAndroid
--enable-sal-log
Then run ./autogen.sh && make
Build the POCO for Android
# clone the poco repository in the same folder where LibreOffice core and online folders are placed.
git clone https://github.com/pocoproject/poco poco-android
cd poco-android
# use the 1.10.1 branch
git checkout -b poco-1.10.1 origin/poco-1.10.1
# configure
./configure --config=Android --no-samples --no-tests --omit=Crypto,NetSSL_OpenSSL,Zip,Data,Data/SQLite,Data/ODBC,Data/MySQL,MongoDB,PDF,CppParser,PageCompiler,JWT
# make it
PATH="$PATH":~/Android/Sdk/ndk-bundle/toolchains/llvm/prebuilt/linux-x86_64/bin make -j8 ANDROID_ABI=armeabi-v7a CC=armv7a-linux-androideabi21-clang CXX=armv7a-linux-androideabi21-clang++ SYSLIBS=-static-libstdc++
# install it to /opt/poco-android
PATH="$PATH":~/Android/Sdk/ndk-bundle/toolchains/llvm/prebuilt/linux-x86_64/bin make -j8 ANDROID_ABI=armeabi-v7a CC=armv7a-linux-androideabi21-clang CXX=armv7a-linux-androideabi21-clang++ SYSLIBS=-static-libstdc++ install INSTALLDIR=/opt/poco-android
(Optional) ARM64 POCO for Android
Build the ARM64 version of POCO if you want to include ARM64 in the APK too:
# checkout the 1.10.1 in a different location and apply the following patch:
--- a/build/config/Android
+++ b/build/config/Android
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@ TOOL = arm-linux-androideabi
ARCHFLAGS = -march=armv7-a -mfloat-abi=softfp
LINKFLAGS = -Wl,--fix-cortex-a8
else
+ifeq ($(ANDROID_ABI),arm64-v8a)
+TOOL = aarch64-linux-android
+else
ifeq ($(ANDROID_ABI),x86)
TOOL = i686-linux-android
ARCHFLAGS = -march=i686 -msse3 -mstackrealign -mfpmath=sse
@@ -29,6 +32,7 @@ $(error Invalid ABI specified in ANDROID_ABI)
endif
endif
endif
+endif
#
# Define Tools
# configure as above:
./configure --config=Android --no-samples --no-tests --omit=Crypto,NetSSL_OpenSSL,Zip,Data,Data/SQLite,Data/ODBC,Data/MySQL,MongoDB,PDF,CppParser,PageCompiler,JWT
# and make it:
PATH="$PATH":~/Android/Sdk/ndk-bundle/toolchains/llvm/prebuilt/linux-x86_64/bin make -j8 ANDROID_ABI=arm64-v8a CC=aarch64-linux-android21-clang CXX=aarch64-linux-android21-clang++ SYSLIBS=-static-libstdc++
# install
PATH="$PATH":~/Android/Sdk/ndk-bundle/toolchains/llvm/prebuilt/linux-x86_64/bin make -j8 ANDROID_ABI=arm64-v8a CC=aarch64-linux-android21-clang CXX=aarch64-linux-android21-clang++ SYSLIBS=-static-libstdc++ install INSTALLDIR=/opt/poco-android-64bit
(Optional) x86 POCO for Android
If you want to add the support for that into the APK too; eg. for Chromebooks:
# checkout the 1.10.1 in yet another location
git clone https://github.com/pocoproject/poco poco-android-x86
cd poco-android-x86
git checkout -b poco-1.10.1 origin/poco-1.10.1
# configure
./configure --config=Android --no-samples --no-tests --omit=Crypto,NetSSL_OpenSSL,Zip,Data,Data/SQLite,Data/ODBC,Data/MySQL,MongoDB,PDF,CppParser,PageCompiler,JWT
# build
PATH="$PATH":~/Android/Sdk/ndk-bundle/toolchains/llvm/prebuilt/linux-x86_64/bin make -j8 ANDROID_ABI=x86 CC=i686-linux-android21-clang CXX=i686-linux-android21-clang++ SYSLIBS=-static-libstdc++
# install
PATH="$PATH":~/Android/Sdk/ndk-bundle/toolchains/llvm/prebuilt/linux-x86_64/bin make -j8 ANDROID_ABI=x86 CC=i686-linux-android21-clang CXX=i686-linux-android21-clang++ SYSLIBS=-static-libstdc++ install INSTALLDIR=/opt/poco-android-x86
(Optional) x86-64 POCO for Android
If you want to add the support for that into the APK too:
# checkout the 1.10.1 in yet another location
git clone https://github.com/pocoproject/poco poco-android-x86-64
cd poco-android-x86-64
git checkout -b poco-1.10.1 origin/poco-1.10.1
# and apply the following patch:
diff --git a/build/config/Android b/build/config/Android
index 9227a3352..1abf6df7c 100644
--- a/build/config/Android
+++ b/build/config/Android
@@ -25,10 +25,14 @@ ifeq ($(ANDROID_ABI),x86)
TOOL = i686-linux-android
ARCHFLAGS = -march=i686 -msse3 -mstackrealign -mfpmath=sse
else
+ifeq ($(ANDROID_ABI),x86_64)
+TOOL = x86_64-linux-android
+else
$(error Invalid ABI specified in ANDROID_ABI)
endif
endif
endif
+endif
#
# Define Tools
# configure
./configure --config=Android --no-samples --no-tests --omit=Crypto,NetSSL_OpenSSL,Zip,Data,Data/SQLite,Data/ODBC,Data/MySQL,MongoDB,PDF,CppParser,PageCompiler,JWT
# build
PATH="$PATH":~/Android/Sdk/ndk-bundle/toolchains/llvm/prebuilt/linux-x86_64/bin make -j8 ANDROID_ABI=x86_64 CC=x86_64-linux-android21-clang CXX=x86_64-linux-android21-clang++ SYSLIBS=-static-libstdc++
# install
PATH="$PATH":~/Android/Sdk/ndk-bundle/toolchains/llvm/prebuilt/linux-x86_64/bin make -j8 ANDROID_ABI=x86_64 CC=x86_64-linux-android21-clang CXX=x86_64-linux-android21-clang++ SYSLIBS=-static-libstdc++ install INSTALLDIR=/opt/poco-android-x86-64
Configure the online.git
Don’t forget to change --with-lo-builddir in the following:
./autogen.sh
./configure --enable-androidapp \
--with-lo-builddir=/local/libreoffice/master-android \
--with-poco-includes=/opt/poco-android/include --with-poco-libs=/opt/poco-android/lib \
--disable-setcap \
--enable-silent-rules --enable-debug
make
If you build for more platforms (with the optional bits described above), just
add more values to –with-lo-builddir, –with-poco-includes and
–with-poco-libs, delimited with :. The order must be ARM, ARM64, x86,
x86-64.
For example:
--with-lo-builddir=/local/libreoffice/master-android-release:/local/libreoffice/master-android-release-64bit \
--with-poco-includes=/opt/poco-android/include:/opt/poco-android-64bit/include \
--with-poco-libs=/opt/poco-android/lib:/opt/poco-android-64bit/lib \
Build the actual app using Android Studio
Just open Android Studio, open the android subdirectory as a project and
start the build (Buiild -> Make Project).
Alternatively you can build from the command line:
cd android
./gradlew build
Debugging
To debug the native LibreOffice code in Android Studio, you need the debugging symbols and to setup Android Studio to actually read & use them.
Build debugging symbols for the modules you are interested in
Add something like the following to autogen.input:
--enable-symbols="vcl/ desktop/ sal/ svx/ framework/ sfx2/ tools/ cppu/ cppuhelper/ filter/ comphelper/ Library_sw Library_swd Library_swui"
clean the appropriate modules, like
make vcl.clean desktop.clean sal.clean svx.clean framework.clean sfx2.clean tools.clean cppu.clean cppuhelper.clean filter.clean comphelper.clean sw.clean
and rebuild using ‘make’.
Add android/obj/local/armeabi-v7a from core.git as a Symbol Directory
In Android Studio, choose Run -> Debug… -> Edit Configurations…
There go to the Android App -> app, choose the Debugger tab, and:
Debug type: Auto (or Dual)
Symbol Directories: here add the full path, like
/local/libreoffice/master-android/android/obj/local/armeabi-v7a
This path contains the non-stripped version of the liblo-native-code.so, and the debugger will read the symbols from that one (even if the APK contains the stripped version). NB ensure that this is before any internal source directories - since the internal source contains stripped native code.
Alternatively you can add the following to your ~/.lldbinit instead:
settings set target.inline-breakpoint-strategy always
settings append target.exec-search-paths /local/libreoffice/master-android/android/obj/local/armeabi-v7a
To use pretty printers for types like OUString, add the following to your ~/.lldbinit:
command script import '/local/libreoffice/master-android/solenv/lldb/libreoffice/LO.py'
From now on, you will be able to debug directly in the Android Studio debugger. Happy debugging!
Tip: How to speed up your core.git build
If you use icecream for parallel building, you can use it for cross-compilation too.
# first generate a tarball with the toolchain (once)
icecc-create-env ~/Android/Sdk/ndk-bundle/toolchains/llvm/prebuilt/linux-x86_64/bin/armv7a-linux-androideabi21-clang ~/Android/Sdk/ndk-bundle/toolchains/llvm/prebuilt/linux-x86_64/bin/armv7a-linux-androideabi21-clang++
And add it and the paths to the compiler as the first things to the autogen.input:
CC=icecc [here copy what the output of ./autogen.sh without icecream said for C compiler]
CXX=icecc [here copy what the output of ./autogen.sh without icecream said for C++ compiler]
ICECC_VERSION=/path/to/the/tarball/generated/above/955ceb546ceb7a5715bf0223ddd788fe.tar.gz
--with-parallelism=[amount of cpu threads in your icecream farm]
--enable-icecream
[...the original autogen.input...]
So the result will look something like this:
CC=icecc /home/$USER/Android/Sdk/ndk-bundle/toolchains/llvm/prebuilt/linux-x86_64/bin/clang -mthumb -march=armv7-a -mfloat-abi=softfp -mfpu=neon -Wl,--fix-cortex-a8 -gcc-toolchain /home/$USER/Android/Sdk/ndk-bundle/to>
CXX=icecc /home/$USER/Android/Sdk/ndk-bundle/toolchains/llvm/prebuilt/linux-x86_64/bin/clang++ -mthumb -march=armv7-a -mfloat-abi=softfp -mfpu=neon -Wl,--fix-cortex-a8 -gcc-toolchain /home/$USER/Android/Sdk/ndk-bundle>
ICECC_VERSION=/local/libreoffice/android/955ceb546ceb7a5715bf0223ddd788fe.tar.gz
--with-parallelism=25
--enable-icecream
--build=x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
--with-android-ndk=/home/$USER/Android/Sdk/ndk-bundle
--with-android-sdk=/home/$USER/Android/Sdk
--with-distro=LibreOfficeAndroid
--enable-sal-log
