Great work man, will help a lot of ppl to create nice themes!

Originally Posted by bga7x

Well Done Jai I have been living and dying by this write up!!!!


this is bgill55 btw

Yeah you were one of the lucky one's to see it early lol. I'm glad it has been helping you though.

When porting to a new version of cm what are the usual changes that have to be made to properly port it over?

Originally Posted by mrty4short

When porting to a new version of cm what are the usual changes that have to be made to properly port it over?

The services.jar changes in most updates, so safe practice would be to redo that. Same goes for the framework-res.apk.

In apk's the thing you have to redo if you edited when an apk has been updated, is any xml in /layout.

For example, in framework-res.apk there are 4 ( 5 if you want to change the battery % color)
Locations:
/drawable/progress_horizonal.xml (this hasn't changed, it's safe to keep reusing the same on over and over)
Update all of these:
/layout/status_bar.xml
/layout/status_bar_expanded.xml
/layout/status_bar_icon.xml (this isn't in the guide yet, this is the battery %)
/layout/status_bar_latest_content.xml

Same would go for the xml's in the layout of:
DownloadProvider
Music
Phone

If you are trying to get around redoing all the apps, you need to ensure that the apps haven't been updated since the last copy. There is a utility that will do a compare, something that I need to bookmark so I can add it to be able to use as a reference.

Examples are like going from the 5.0.5's to the 5.0.6, when the ability to move apps back and forth between internal and sd-ext, this option was not in Settings, it's in MediaProvider, so if you had themed it before, you need to replace it with the new copy and put the images back in again.

ROM to ROM these things are different also (for services, framework-res; most apps are the same minus the ones carrying options like Settings, MediaProvider and SpareParts). So you want to redo them for that.

Edit: This may be a good question to add to an appendix of the doc as a reference only thing, I'll give that some thought.

Originally Posted by jairomeo

If you are trying to get around redoing all the apps, you need to ensure that the apps haven't been updated since the last copy. There is a utility that will do a compare, something that I need to bookmark so I can add it to be able to use as a reference.

Examples are like going from the 5.0.5's to the 5.0.6, when the ability to move apps back and forth between internal and sd-ext, this option was not in Settings, it's in MediaProvider, so if you had themed it before, you need to replace it with the new copy and put the images back in again.

ROM to ROM these things are different also (for services, framework-res; most apps are the same minus the ones carrying options like Settings, MediaProvider and SpareParts). So you want to redo them for that.

Edit: This may be a good question to add to an appendix of the doc as a reference only thing, I'll give that some thought.

I use beyond compare great program!!!

Originally Posted by bga7x

I use beyond compare great program!!!

Never used to do that lol, dunno why I never thought to, thanks.

Mods, is there a chance of making this a Sticky?

My thoughts are:

1. Once the guide is done, Iĺl leave the link up, but will attach it to the thread also.
2. For questions that give information to add, Iĺl add it to the document.
3. To help keep good questions organized, I will make a second document, a Q&A, and Ill pull them so it can be used as a reference

Looks great and thanx i hate having to dig thru 7 million bookmarks for different theming posts. Thought i'd throw this out there you might know this already and it may be too detailed but google changed the color code line in the blue_button.xml in Calculator.apk/res/drawable to 08 00 00 1D instead of ending with a C. I haven't seen any other xmls with that change but it's something to keep an eye out for in the future if a search for 08 00 00 1C doesn't get any results and dunno if this will help but here http://markcarson.com/markcarson/ColorCalc.html is a color calculator that i use to get my xml hex colors. It has some presets and you can adjust the lightness and sat to your liking, so all you have to do is reverse it and add the aa after you find the color your looking for.

Originally Posted by amac25

Looks great and thanx i hate having to dig thru 7 million bookmarks for different theming posts. Thought i'd throw this out there you might know this already and it may be too detailed but google changed the color code line in the blue_button.xml in Calculator.apk/res/drawable to 08 00 00 1D instead of ending with a C. I haven't seen any other xmls with that change but it's something to keep an eye out for in the future if a search for 08 00 00 1C doesn't get any results and dunno if this will help but here http://markcarson.com/markcarson/ColorCalc.html is a color calculator that i use to get my xml hex colors. It has some presets and you can adjust the lightness and sat to your liking, so all you have to do is reverse it and add the aa after you find the color your looking for.

Nope, nothing is too detailed I figure anything that dives into a lot of detail, like when I add in the meanings in the xml that Stericson wrote, I'm going to add it as an appendix to the document.

Thats good to know and I'll make sure to put that in. I have seen 08 00 00 1D in a few places, but I never messed with it to see what it changed, I guess with that tip, it's time to start playing more.

I would like to slowly come up with a list of xml's we know to edit and where they are.

I've thought about adding links in for hex sites, and since you are the 2nd person to mention it, I will add it in.

Thanks amac for the inputs

Originally Posted by jairomeo

Nope, nothing is too detailed I figure anything that dives into a lot of detail, like when I add in the meanings in the xml that Stericson wrote, I'm going to add it as an appendix to the document.

Thats good to know and I'll make sure to put that in. I have seen 08 00 00 1D in a few places, but I never messed with it to see what it changed, I guess with that tip, it's time to start playing more.

I would like to slowly come up with a list of xml's we know to edit and where they are.

I've thought about adding links in for hex sites, and since you are the 2nd person to mention it, I will add it in.

Thanks amac for the inputs

No problem wish i had more to add then a color code and a link but you did a great job putting it together already, can't wait to see the finished product!