[node8-android] Building the application image

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[node8-android] Building the application image

A node8-android application has a s8 snapshot embedded as an asset.
To build the s8 snapshot we use s8 console platform and script files in s8 subfolder.

This process provides a modular building and also the ability to dynamically change the deployed s8 system.

Files and structure

At Android Studio project level we have s8 subfolder containing sources to build our s8 snapshot

_build.bat: script to build s8 images for each Android app contained in the Android project.

For instance:

cd \Android\node8\s8
\C\v8\s8\release\s8vm.exe --expose-gc --shell app.js build.js
\C\v8\s8\release\s8vm.exe --expose-gc --shell appS8.js build.js

In this case we have two Android apps in the project: app and appS8.
The files app.js and appS8.js define constants for building process of both apps.

For example, in appS8.js we have:

// Settings to build application image
applicationSources = "sources/appS8/build.st";
assetsPathName = "../appS8/src/main/assets/";
snapshotPathName = assetsPathName+"default.snapshot.js";

That depict:

applicationSources path: where appS8 specifics are defined
assetsPathName path: Android application assets path (snpashot is as Android app asset)
snapshotPathName: defines the file name of the s8 snapshot to embedd into the Android app

build.js defines the process to build all node8 applications

library: contains core base pieces to be loaded (in particular, in library\s8 we have a default standard s8 image with all minimum core behavior).
sources and common: we have two levels: application level and common -to all applications- level. In each application level folder we put s8 specific behavior for the application, while in common folder we include behavior needed to all S8 applications. Note that common/net.smalltalking.s8.jx8.st implements custom initialization of the app
apps: app frameworks to be included; e.g. barcode scanning, NodeJS, computer vision stuff, etc

Building the snapshot

Add your s8 code in \s8\sources\ and edit __rebuild.bat in the same folder to include your app.
The s8 snapshot will be built and included as an asset of your Android application.
Generate your application apk and deploy it to the Android device.