When editing native JNI code in an Android project using the Android NDK you may configure Eclipse to automatically rebuild your project when editing native code, just as it does for java. The below steps shows how to perform the necessary configuration (note that this requires revision 4 or later of the NDK - previous revisions does not contain the necessary ndk-build
binary):
Start by right clicking on your android project (named hello-neon in the below screenshots) with JNI resources, and select Properties
. In the resulting dialog, choose the Builders
entry in the list to the left and press the New...
button:
![](http://mobilepearls.com/labs/ndk-builder-in-eclipse/configure-builders.png)
A new dialog will open presenting a list of builder types. Select the Program
type and press the OK
button:
![](http://mobilepearls.com/labs/ndk-builder-in-eclipse/choose-configuration-type.png)
In the Main
tab, fill in the following:
-
Name:
- NDK Builder Location:
- /opt/android-ndk/ndk-build (or wherever your ndk-build binary is). You may use a variable as in ${system_property:user.home}/lib/android-ndk/ndk-build Working Directory:
-
${workspace_loc:/hello-neon} (replace hello-neon with your project name. Press the
Browse Workspace...
button to select it graphically)
The result should look something like the below:
![](http://mobilepearls.com/labs/ndk-builder-in-eclipse/edit-builder-main.png)
Now continue with the refresh tab. Make sure the two checkboxes Refresh resources upon completion.
and Recursively include sub-folders
are checked. Choose the Specific resources
radio button and press the Specify Resources...
button:
![](http://mobilepearls.com/labs/ndk-builder-in-eclipse/edit-builder-refresh.png)
Since the ndk-build process will generate files in the lib folder, we want Eclipse to discover changes made there without having to refresh manually. So select the lib folder in the project (create one if necessary) and press the Finish
button:
![](http://mobilepearls.com/labs/ndk-builder-in-eclipse/edit-refresh-working-set.png)
Now skip the Environment
tab and go to the final Build Options
tab. Make sure the Run the builder: During auto builds
checkbox is checked.
![](http://mobilepearls.com/labs/ndk-builder-in-eclipse/edit-builder-build-options.png)
Since the NDK build only needs to happen when editing files in the jni
folder, check that folder and press the Finish
button.
![](http://mobilepearls.com/labs/ndk-builder-in-eclipse/jni-working-set.png)
Now finally press OK
in the builder configuration dialog - the new NDK builder should now be up and running. Try editing any file in the jni
folder and check that the Console
view produces output from the build process:
![](http://mobilepearls.com/labs/ndk-builder-in-eclipse/console-output.png)