Hi all, before I begin, this is NOT meant to be a complete guide, but rather, just help to point in the right direction for those who want to compile/mod some of the system apps, but are a little lost. I was like this myself, and searched all over the place before putting bits and pieces together. Thanks goes out to xenio2000 and cytown for some of their advice.
Introduction:
To compile system apps such as Mms.apk, Contacts.apk, etc. you need the entire Android source. Also, you have to be running either Linux or OS X (with case-sensitive file system). Personally I dual boot Ubuntu 9.10 for it, so this instructions will be based on Ubuntu 9.10.
Step 1: Get Android Sources
To get the Android sources, follow the Linux instructions here: http://source.android.com/download
Remember you have to specify "-b donut" at the end of your repo command if you want to get the Donut base. Otherwise you will get master which is a mix of Eclair already
.
Step 2: Get Java 5
If you are running Ubuntu 9.10, you will need to install Java 5 as you cannot compile AOSP on Java 6. I followed the instructions here: http://androidenea.blogspot.com/2009/12/ubuntu-910-java-5-and-android-open.html, and used Method 1. However, I downloaded Java 5 update 22 here: http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/5u22/jdk (the one linked in the post is update 21).
The reason I use method 1 over method 2 is that this way, I only export the path when I want to compile (and it's only within the environment), while my browsers like Firefox, etc. are still running the latest Java 6.
Step 3: gcc
Lastly, I remember having some issues compiling due to gcc. I followed the guide here: http://www.mobileadvice.com.au/2009/11/how-to-compile-android-on-ubuntu-9-10/
Step 4: Compiling
Once all is done, you can "cd" to the root directory of your Android source, and type "make Contacts" or "make Mms". The first compilation will be a little long. I know of some people who do "make", that is they compile the entire source the first time, before using "mmm Phone". I don't recommend that because doing a "make" without any parameters will result in compilation of many apps you don't need, or want, and it's very slow.
Also, to "replace" the AOSP Contacts with let's say my Contacts, just "cd" to your root directory of Android, and type "git clone git://github.com/Wysie/android_packages_apps_Contacts.git". You can then play with my code but can't push back (need to know more git stuff for that). I suggest you fork the repos you are interested in, so you can push and make direct changes. Sorry I can't advice much on that, as I use git as though it's svn :X. I'm a git noob.
Hope it helps. As I said earlier, this is just to give you guys a rough idea of what's needed. In fact, I copied and paste my reply to someone else into here.
Introduction:
To compile system apps such as Mms.apk, Contacts.apk, etc. you need the entire Android source. Also, you have to be running either Linux or OS X (with case-sensitive file system). Personally I dual boot Ubuntu 9.10 for it, so this instructions will be based on Ubuntu 9.10.
Step 1: Get Android Sources
To get the Android sources, follow the Linux instructions here: http://source.android.com/download
Remember you have to specify "-b donut" at the end of your repo command if you want to get the Donut base. Otherwise you will get master which is a mix of Eclair already
.Step 2: Get Java 5
If you are running Ubuntu 9.10, you will need to install Java 5 as you cannot compile AOSP on Java 6. I followed the instructions here: http://androidenea.blogspot.com/2009/12/ubuntu-910-java-5-and-android-open.html, and used Method 1. However, I downloaded Java 5 update 22 here: http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/5u22/jdk (the one linked in the post is update 21).
The reason I use method 1 over method 2 is that this way, I only export the path when I want to compile (and it's only within the environment), while my browsers like Firefox, etc. are still running the latest Java 6.
Step 3: gcc
Lastly, I remember having some issues compiling due to gcc. I followed the guide here: http://www.mobileadvice.com.au/2009/11/how-to-compile-android-on-ubuntu-9-10/
Step 4: Compiling
Once all is done, you can "cd" to the root directory of your Android source, and type "make Contacts" or "make Mms". The first compilation will be a little long. I know of some people who do "make", that is they compile the entire source the first time, before using "mmm Phone". I don't recommend that because doing a "make" without any parameters will result in compilation of many apps you don't need, or want, and it's very slow.
Also, to "replace" the AOSP Contacts with let's say my Contacts, just "cd" to your root directory of Android, and type "git clone git://github.com/Wysie/android_packages_apps_Contacts.git". You can then play with my code but can't push back (need to know more git stuff for that). I suggest you fork the repos you are interested in, so you can push and make direct changes. Sorry I can't advice much on that, as I use git as though it's svn :X. I'm a git noob.
Hope it helps
. As I said earlier, this is just to give you guys a rough idea of what's needed. In fact, I copied and paste my reply to someone else into here.
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