How can I use external JARs in an Android project

Question

I have created an Android project and added an external JAR  hessian-4 0 1 jar  to my project  I then added the JAR to the build path and checked it off in Order and Export   Order and Export is ignored it seems  and all classes from the external JAR are missing at runtime   Is there a trick to properly include the needed classes from an external JAR when building an Android application using the Eclipse plugin  I do not want to use ant or Maven

User · Answer

Yes  you can use it  Here is how    Your Project -  right click -  Import -  File System -  yourjar jar Your Project -  right click -  Properties -  Java Build Path -  Libraries -  Add Jar -  yourjar jar   This video might be useful in case you are having some issues

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If you are using gradle build system  follow these steps    put jar files inside respective libs folder of your android app  You will generally find it at Project   app   libs  If libs folder is missing  create one  add this to your build gradle file your app   Not to your Project s build gradle   dependencies       compile fileTree dir   libs   include     jar          other dependencies     This will include all your jar files available in libs folder    If don t want to include all jar files  then you can add it individually   compile fileTree dir   libs   include   file jar

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If using Android Studio  do the following  I ve copied and modified  Vinayak Bs answer                 Select the Project view in the Project sideview  instead of Packages or Android      Create a folder called libs in your project s root folder     Copy your JAR files to the libs folder     The sideview will be updated and the JAR files will show up in your project     Now right click on each JAR file you want to import and then select  Add as Library      which will include it in your project     After that  all you need to do is reference the new classes in your code  eg  import javax mail

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For Eclipse   A good way to add external JARs to your Android project or any Java project is    Create a folder called libs in your project s root folder Copy your JAR files to the libs folder Now right click on the Jar file and then select Build Path   Add to Build Path  which will create a folder called  Referenced Libraries  within your project  By doing this  you will not lose your libraries that are being referenced on your hard drive whenever you transfer your project to another computer    For Android Studio   If you are in Android View in project explorer  change it to Project view as below      Right click the desired module where you would like to add the external library  then select New   Directroy and name it as  libs  Now copy the blah blah jar into the  libs  folder Right click the blah blah jar  Then select  Add as Library     This will automatically add and entry in build gradle as compile files  libs blah blah jar   and sync the gradle  And you are done   Please Note   If you are using 3rd party libraries then it is better to use transitive dependencies where Gradle script automatically downloads the JAR and the dependency JAR when gradle script run   Ex   compile  com google android gms play-services-ads 9 4 0   Read more about Gradle Dependency Mangement

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Goto Current Project           RightClick- Properties- Java Build Path- Add Jar Files into Libraries -  Click OK       Then it is added into the Referenced Libraries File in your Current Project

User · Answer

I know the OP ends his question with reference to the Eclipse plugin  but I arrived here with a search that didn t specify Eclipse   So here goes for Android Studio    Add jar file to libs directory  such as copy paste  Right-Click on jar file and select  Add as Library     click  Ok  on next dialog or renamed if you choose to    That s it

User · Answer

Copying the  jar file into the Android project s folder isn t always possible  Especially if it s an output of another project in your workspace  and it keeps getting updated   To solve this you ll have to add the jar as a linked file to your project  instead of importing it  which will copy it locally      In the UI choose   Project -  Import -  File System -  yourjar jar -   Options area  Advanced -  Create link in workspace   The link is save in the  project file    lt linkedResources gt       lt link gt           lt name gt yourjar jar lt  name gt           lt type gt 1 lt  type gt           lt locationURI gt PARENT-5-PROJECT LOC bin android ndk10d armeabi-v7a yourjar jar lt  locationURI gt       lt  link gt   lt  linkedResources gt    PARENT-5-PROJECT LOC means relative to the project file  5 directories up                     Then add it to the libraries  Project -  Properties -  Java Build Path -  Libraries -  Add Jar -  yourjar jar   In the same window choose the Order and Export tab and mark your jar so it will be added to the apk

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I m currently using SDK 20 0 3 and none of the previous solutions worked for me    The reason that hessdroid works where hess failed is because the two jar files contain java that is compiled for different virtual machines   The byte code created by the Java compiler is not guaranteed to run on the Dalvik virtual machine   The byte code created by the Android compiler is not guaranteed to run on the Java virtual machine   In my case I had access to the source code and was able to create an Android jar file for it using the method that I described here   https   stackoverflow com a 13144382 545064

User · Answer

create a folder  like lib  inside your project  copy your jar to that folder  now go to configure build path from right click on project  there in build path select    add jar  browse to the folder you created and pick the jar

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Turns out I have not looked good enough at my stack trace  the problem is not that the external JAR is not included   The problem is that Android platform is missing javax naming   and many other packages that the external JAR has dependencies too   Adding external JAR files  and setting Order and Export in Eclipse works as expected with Android projects

User · Answer

Android s Java API does not support javax naming   and many other javax   stuff  You need to include the dependencies as separate jars

User · Answer

in android studio if using gradle  add this to build gradle  compile fileTree dir   libs   include      jar      and add the jar file to libs folder

[android] How can I use external JARs in an Android project?

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