How can you get the Manifest Version number from the App s Layout XML variables

Question

I would like to have a way to reference the project s manifest version number in the main part of the code  What I have been doing up until now is to link the version number in a String XML file to the manifest   string Version   What I would like to do is to do it the other way around  link a string XML variable to the version in the manifest  The reason  I d like to only have to change the version number in one location  the manifest file  Is there any way to do this  Thanks

User · Answer

I solved this issue by extending the Preference class.

package com.example.android;

import android.content.Context;
import android.preference.Preference;
import android.util.AttributeSet;

public class VersionPreference extends Preference {
    public VersionPreference(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
        super(context, attrs);
        String versionName;
        final PackageManager packageManager = context.getPackageManager();
        if (packageManager != null) {
            try {
                PackageInfo packageInfo = packageManager.getPackageInfo(context.getPackageName(), 0);
                versionName = packageInfo.versionName;
            } catch (PackageManager.NameNotFoundException e) {
                versionName = null;
            }
            setSummary(versionName);
        }
    }
}

Then in my preferences XML:

<PreferenceScreen xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <com.example.android.VersionPreference android:title="Version" />
</PreferenceScreen>

User · Answer

I use BuildConfig VERSION NAME toString     What s the difference between that and getting it from the packageManager   No XML based solutions have worked for me  sorry

User · Answer

Late to the game  but you can do it without  string xyz by using  android attr        lt TextView     android layout width  wrap content      android layout height  wrap content      android text   android attr versionName         gt       lt  -- or -- gt       lt TextView     android layout width  wrap content      android layout height  wrap content      android text   android attr versionCode         gt

User · Answer

You can use the versionName in XML resources  such as activity layouts  First create a string resource in the app build gradle with the following snippet in the android node   applicationVariants all   variant - gt      variant resValue  string    versionName   variant versionName     So the whole build gradle file contents may look like this   apply plugin   com android application   android       compileSdkVersion 23     buildToolsVersion  24 0 0 rc3      defaultConfig           applicationId  com example myapplication          minSdkVersion 15         targetSdkVersion 23         versionCode 17         versionName  0 2 3          jackOptions               enabled true                     applicationVariants all   variant - gt          variant resValue  string    versionName   variant versionName           buildTypes           release               minifyEnabled false             proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile  proguard-android txt     proguard-rules pro                      productFlavors             compileOptions           sourceCompatibility JavaVersion VERSION 1 8         targetCompatibility JavaVersion VERSION 1 8           dependencies       compile fileTree include      jar    dir   libs       testCompile  junit junit 4 12      compile  com android support appcompat-v7 23 3 0      compile  com android support design 23 3 0      compile  com android support support-v4 23 3 0      Then you can use  string versionName in the XML  Android Studio will mark it red  but the app will compile without issues  For example  this may be used like this in app src main res xml preferences xml    lt  xml version  1 0  encoding  utf-8   gt   lt PreferenceScreen xmlns android  http   schemas android com apk res android  gt        lt PreferenceCategory         android title  About          android key  pref key about  gt            lt Preference             android key  pref about build              android title  Build version              android summary   string versionName    gt        lt  PreferenceCategory gt     lt  PreferenceScreen gt

User · Answer

IF you  are using Gradle you can use the build gradle file to programmatically add value to the xml resources at compile time   Example Code extracted from  https   medium com  manas manage-your-android-app-s-versioncode-versionname-with-gradle-7f9c5dcf09bf  buildTypes       debug           versionNameSuffix   debug          resValue  string    app version      defaultConfig versionName   versionNameSuffix             release           resValue  string    app version      defaultConfig versionName             now use  string app version as needed in XML  It will add  debug to the version name as describe in the linked article when in debug mode

User · Answer

There is not a way to directly get the version out  but there are two work-arounds that could be done    The version could be stored in a resource string  and placed into the manifest by    lt manifest xmlns android  http   schemas android com apk res android       package  com somepackage       android versionName   string version  android versionCode  20  gt   One could create a custom view  and place it into the XML  The view would use this to assign the name   context getPackageManager   getPackageInfo context getPackageName    0  versionName     Either of these solutions would allow for placing the version name in XML  Unfortunately there isn t a nice simple solution  like android R string version or something like that

User · Answer

I believe that was already answered here   String versionName   getPackageManager   getPackageInfo getPackageName    0  versionName    OR  int versionCode   getPackageManager   getPackageInfo getPackageName    0  versionCode

User · Answer

You can t use it from the XML   You need to extend the widget you are using in the XML and add the logic to set the text using what s mentioned on Konstantin Burov s answer

User · Answer

Easiest solution is to use BuildConfig   I use BuildConfig VERSION NAME in my application   You can also use BuildConfig VERSION CODE to get version code

[android] How can you get the Manifest Version number from the App's (Layout) XML variables?

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