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= How To Build BOINC Apps for AndroidBOINC =

This document describes how to build BOINC scientific apps
to be executed by AndroidBOINC on Android-powered devices.


= Introduction =

== Naming convention ==

'''AndroidBOINC''' - Android application that bundles a cross compiled BOINC
Client together with a Android-specific BOINC Manager (GUI).

'''BOINC apps''' - scientific applications to be distributed
and calculated on participating devices.


== Requirements ==

 * Android NKD: http://developer.android.com/tools/sdk/ndk/index.html
 * AndroidBOINC build script: *link*


== Used versions ==

Development target:
 * ARM architecture featuring ABI v5
 * NDK-level 4 (Android 1.6)

Tested with:
 * ARM ABI v7 device (Samsung Galaxy SII)
 * Android platform 2.3.4


== Compatibility with AndroidBOINC ==

Caution: Verification whether volunteering Android devices meets the requirements
is only done upon AndroidBOINC app installation.
It is the project's responsibility to ensure,
that distributed BOINC apps meet the requirements.
If a higher minimum platform version is used for BOINC apps than for AndroidBOINC,
they are likely to crash on some devices.

There are two approaches to this:
 *  use the same toolchain and AndroidBOINC build script configuration for
   building the BOINC Client and BOINC apps.
 *  make use of "BOINC platform" configuration of the AndroidBOINC
   build script to distinct versions with the scheduler.


= Setup NDK toolchain =

==  Setup NDK toolchain ==

Note: 0.3 Compatibility with AndroidBOINC

To set up a custom cross compilation toolchain,
see section 1.1 of "HowTo Build AndroidBOINC" at: *link*


= Invoke build script =

It is recommended to use the same AndroidBOINC build script for compiling BOINC apps
and the BOINC Client for AndroidBOINC.

It is possible to adapt the scripts routine,
by un-setting the environment variables BUILDOPENSSL, BUILDCURL and BUILDBOINC.


= Example =

An example of how to adapt a BOINC app's Makefile to compile it for Android
can be found in the BOINC sources at:
"/samples/example_app/Makefile_android"

Note that the AndroidBOINC build script sets up the required environment
variables for the standard c++ library as well as the Android SYSROOT.

-llog refers to the library required to use Logcat from native code.
Logcat is used for debugging purposes and is not required for the app's functionality.