Crosswalk-app-tools Alpha Release
=================================
We are happy to announce the alpha version for Crosswalk-app-tools.
This is a preview milestone of our forthcoming Node.js based tools for
Android app development. Deployment in a production environment is not
encouraged at this time.
Crosswalk-app-tools is licensed under the Apache License Version 2.0,
please refer to the file LICENSE-APACHE-V2 included in the package.
## Installation
Crosswalk-app-tools is cross-platform by virtue of being based on
Node.js. However at this point most testing is done on Linux, so we
expect the least number of hiccups there. In any case we have seen
reports of successful runs on Apple OS X, and are looking forward to
hearing about adventurous individuals giving it a spin on Microsoft
Windows as well. (But be warned that there are known problems with
proxy support on Windows, for starters)
The following components are required
1. Android SDK with 5.0 (target-21) installed
2. Java JDK and Apache Ant
3. Node.js and NPM
The best way to check if a machine has all the required dependencies
is to create and build a plain empty Android app on the system. If
this does not work, then building Crosswalk apps will not succeed
either.
1. android create project -a MainActivity -k com.example.foo \
-p com.example.foo -t android-21
2. cd com.example.foo
3. ant debug
In order to get the `crosswalk-app` script available everywhere,
global npm installation is required. On most Linux distributions this
can be achieved by using `sudo`.
sudo npm install -g crosswalk-app-tools
## Usage
crosswalk-app create <package-id>
Create project <package-id>
crosswalk-app build [release|debug]
Build project to create packages. Defaults to debug when not given
crosswalk-app update <channel>|<version>
Update Crosswalk to latest in named channel, or specific version
crosswalk-app help
Display usage information
crosswalk-app version
Display version information
Options for platform 'android'
For command 'create'
--android-crosswalk
Channel name (stable/beta/canary) or version number (w.x.y.z)
### Example: Create App
crosswalk-app create com.example.foo
This sets up a skeleton project in directory com.example.foo/,
downloads and imports Crosswalk, and puts a sample "hello world" web
app under com.example.foo/app/.
### Example: Build App
cd com.example.foo
crosswalk-app build
Builds packages. The APKs can be found under pkg/ when done.
For more details, see the project's README file:
https://github.com/crosswalk-project/crosswalk-app-tools/blob/master/README.md
## Highlights
* Straightforward creation and building of app packages (APKs) for Android.
Crosswalk is downloaded and integrated into the build process without user
intervention.
* Distributed via the Node Package Manager, with the Android SDK and Ant as
only requirements, relying only on standard web app and Android
development tools.
* Extensible architecture allows for adding operating system support and
package formats over time.
## Limitations
Tested and known to work on Linux. Support for additional host
operating systems coming soon (has been found to work on OS X,
although there is no official support yet).
## Upcoming features
* Support for W3C manifest.
* Building release packages for round-trip tested via the Google Play Store.
## Issue tracking
Bugs are tracked and fixed as quickly as possible. Please enter those
you find. Crosswalk JIRA can be found at
https://crosswalk-project.org/jira/ ("App Tools" component)
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