How to import multi-module SDK project by exposing its core module only-CodePudding

I am developing a project which should work as an Android sdk, the project includes:

an app module for demo
a module called mainSdkModule
other minor modules that are used in the mainSdkModule (lets say moduleA and moduleB)

the mainSdkModule imports moduleA and moduleB this way:

implementation project(':moduleA')
implementation project(':moduleB')

I am publishing the whole project as an SDK that I want to use in another app project. To test the integration of this SDK I am temporarily publishing it to my local maven folder. What happens is that when I import the sdk into the app project, the build fails with the following error:

Could not find sdk-main-package:moduleA:unspecified.
Required by:
    project :mainSdkModule > sdk-main-package:core:1.0.0

I could avoid this error by publishing each module as an indipendent library but I need to keep them internal without exposing them.

Is it normal that the app project asks for a dependency that isn't even supposed to be visible by other projects besides the sdk one? How can I include moduleA and moduleB inside the core and grant access to them for those who import the SDK without exposing these internal modules on maven?

CodePudding user response：

In Android Studio
Do This:
1-File -> Project Structure
2-select Dependencies from left menu
3-select app you see and - in top middle of screen, click on
4-select Module Dependency and tick your mainSdkModule and add it to your app module
5-select mainSdkModule and click and tick ModuleA and ModuleB
6-apply and build your project

CodePudding user response：

Modules A and B are declared as external dependencies and will be referenced as such in the pom.xml file. Something like this:

<dependency>
   <groupId>sdk-main-package</groupId>
   <artifactId>moduleA</artifactId>
   <version>unspecified</version>
   <scope>compile</scope>
</dependency>

What you want is to create a fat jar or a fat aar. A fat jar/aar is a jar/aar file that also includes the dependencies (instead of referencing them as external dependencies). I don't know if your SDK needs to be a jar file or an aar file and if you don't know either then you can find out the difference e.g. here: Android Archive Library (aar) vs standard jar.

If you need a fat jar then you can use the Shadow plugin: https://imperceptiblethoughts.com/shadow/introduction.

If you need a fat aar then you can e.g. use this: https://medium.com/android-news/android-fat-aar-from-gradle-892038facc87. There are other solutions but I haven't personally tested any of them so don't know which ones really work. If you google fat aar you'll get plenty of hits and I hope one of them solves your problem.