1 page.title=Exploring the SDK 2 excludeFromSuggestions=true 3 walkthru=1 4 5 @jd:body 6 7 8 <p>The Android SDK is composed of modular packages that you can download separately using 9 the Android SDK Manager. For example, when the SDK Tools are updated or a new version of 10 the Android platform is released, you can use the SDK Manager to quickly download them to 11 your environment. Simply follow the procedures described in <a 12 href="{@docRoot}sdk/installing/adding-packages.html">Adding Platforms and Packages</a>.</p> 13 14 <p>There are several different packages available for the Android SDK. The table below describes 15 most of the available packages and where they're located once you download them.</p> 16 17 18 <h2 id="Packages">Available Packages</h2> 19 20 21 <table> 22 <tr><th>Package</th><th>Description</th><th>File Location</th></tr> 23 <tr> 24 <td><a href="{@docRoot}tools/sdk/tools-notes.html">SDK Tools</a></td> 25 <td>Contains tools for debugging and testing, plus other 26 utilities that are required to develop an app. If you've just installed the SDK starter package, 27 then you already have the latest version of this package. Make sure you keep this up to date.</td> 28 <td>{@code <sdk>/tools/}</td></tr> 29 <tr><td>SDK Platform-tools</td> 30 <td>Contains platform-dependent tools for developing and debugging 31 your application. These tools support the latest features of the Android platform and are typically 32 updated only when a new platform becomes available. These tools are always backward compatible with 33 older platforms, but you must be sure that you have the latest version of these tools when you 34 install a new SDK platform.</td> 35 <td>{@code <sdk>/platform-tools/}</td> 36 </tr> 37 38 <tr> 39 <td>Documentation</td> 40 <td>An offline copy of the latest documentation for the Android 41 platform APIs.</td> 42 <td>{@code <sdk>/docs/}</td> 43 </tr> 44 <tr><td>SDK Platform</td> 45 <td>There's one SDK Platform available for each version of Android. It includes an {@code 46 android.jar} file with a fully compliant Android library. In order to build an Android app, you must 47 specify an SDK platform as your build target.</td> 48 <td>{@code <sdk>/platforms/<android-version>/}</td> 49 </tr> 50 <tr> 51 <td>System Images</td> 52 <td>Each platform version offers one or more different system images (such as for ARM 53 and x86). The Android emulator requires a system image to operate. You should always test your 54 app on the latest version of Android and using the emulator with the latest system image is a 55 good way to do so.</td> 56 <td>{@code <sdk>/platforms/<android-version>/}</td> 57 </tr> 58 <tr> 59 <td>Sources for Android SDK</td> 60 <td>A copy of the Android platform source code that's useful for 61 stepping through the code while debugging your app.</td> 62 <td>{@code <sdk>/sources/}</td> 63 </tr> 64 <tr> 65 <td><a href="{@docRoot}tools/samples/index.html">Samples for SDK</a></td> 66 <td>A collection of sample apps that demonstrate a variety of the 67 platform APIs. These are a great resource to browse Android app code. The API Demos app in 68 particular provides a huge number of small demos you should explore.</td> 69 <td>{@code <sdk>/platforms/<android-version>/samples/}</td> 70 </tr> 71 <tr> 72 <td><a href="http://developers.google.com/android">Google APIs</a></td> 73 <td>An SDK add-on that provides both a platform you can use to develop an app 74 using special Google APIs and a system image for the emulator so you can test your app using the 75 Google APIs.</td> 76 <td>{@code <sdk>/add-ons/}</td> 77 </tr> 78 79 <tr> 80 <td><a href="{@docRoot}tools/extras/support-library.html">Android Support</a></td> 81 <td>A static library you can include in your app sources in order to use powerful 82 APIs that aren't available in the standard platform. For example, the support library 83 contains versions of the {@link android.support.v4.app.Fragment} class that's compatible with 84 Android 1.6 and higher (the class was originally introduced in Android 3.0) and the {@link 85 android.support.v4.view.ViewPager} APIs that allow you to easily build a side-swipeable UI.</td> 86 <td>{@code <sdk>/extras/android/support/}</td> 87 </tr> 88 <tr> 89 <td><a href="{@docRoot}google/play/billing/index.html">Google Play Billing</a></td> 90 <td>Provides the static libraries and samples that allow you to 91 integrate billing services in your app with Google Play.</td> 92 <td>{@code <sdk>/extras/google/}</td> 93 </tr> 94 <tr> 95 <td><a href="{@docRoot}google/play/licensing/index.html">Google Play Licensing</a></td> 96 <td>Provides the static libraries and samples that allow you to perform license verification for 97 your app when distributing with Google Play.</td> 98 <td>{@code <sdk>/extras/google/}</td> 99 </tr> 100 </table> 101 102 <p>The above table is not comprehensive and you can <a 103 href="#AddingSites">add new sites</a> to download additional packages from third-parties.</p> 104 105 <p>In some cases, an SDK package may require a specific minimum revision of 106 another package or SDK tool. For example, there may be a dependency between the ADT Plugin for 107 Eclipse and 108 the SDK Tools package. When you install the SDK Tools 109 package, you should also upgrade to the required version of ADT (if you 110 are developing in Eclipse). In this case, the major version number for your ADT plugin should 111 always match the revision number of your SDK Tools (for example, ADT 8.x requires SDK Tools r8). 112 </p> 113 114 <p>The development tools will notify you with debug warnings if there is dependency that you need to 115 address. The Android SDK Manager also enforces dependencies by requiring that you download any 116 packages that are needed by those you have selected.</p> 117 118 119 120 121 122 <h2 id="AddingSites">Adding New Sites</h2> 123 124 <p>By default, <strong>Available Packages</strong> displays packages available from the 125 <em>Android Repository</em> and <em>Third party Add-ons</em>. You can add other sites that host 126 their own Android SDK add-ons, then download the SDK add-ons 127 from those sites.</p> 128 129 <p>For example, a mobile carrier or device manufacturer might offer additional 130 API libraries that are supported by their own Android-powered devices. In order 131 to develop using their libraries, you must install their Android SDK add-on, if it's not already 132 available under <em>Third party Add-ons</em>. </p> 133 134 <p>If a carrier or device manufacturer has hosted an SDK add-on repository file 135 on their web site, follow these steps to add their site to the Android SDK 136 Manager:</p> 137 138 <ol> 139 <li>Select <strong>Available Packages</strong> in the left panel.</li> 140 <li>Click <strong>Add Add-on Site</strong> and enter the URL of the 141 <code>repository.xml</code> file. Click <strong>OK</strong>.</li> 142 </ol> 143 <p>Any SDK packages available from the site will now be listed under a new item named 144 <strong>User Add-ons</strong>.</p> 145 146 147 148 149 <h2 id="troubleshooting">Troubleshooting</h2> 150 151 <p><strong>Problems connecting to the SDK repository</strong></p> 152 153 <p>If you are using the Android SDK Manager to download packages and are encountering 154 connection problems, try connecting over http, rather than https. To switch the 155 protocol used by the Android SDK Manager, follow these steps: </p> 156 157 <ol> 158 <li>With the Android SDK Manager window open, select "Settings" in the 159 left pane. </li> 160 <li>On the right, in the "Misc" section, check the checkbox labeled "Force 161 https://... sources to be fetched using http://..." </li> 162 <li>Click <strong>Save & Apply</strong>.</li> 163 </ol> 164 165 166 167 168
