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== Building Fennec ==
{{Admon/important|Fennec has been replaced by Fenix.  The build documentation has moved!|See the most up to date documentation at https://firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org/contributing/build/building_mobile_firefox.html}}


First follow the platform-specific instructions below to set up a build environment on your machine. Once you have done that, follow the steps to get the source code, set up your mozconfig, and build Fennec.
Here is a table of contents of all the in-depth information you might need to find about Firefox for Android development.


Also, the [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Mobile/Fennec/Android_OtherBuildEnvs OtherBuildEnvs page] has some notes on a few other environment variations, so take a look at that as well if you have an environment or configuration that deviates from "normal".
New to the community? Welcome! [[Mobile/Get_Involved|Start here!]]


=== Windows (using Linux VM) ===
== Develop ==
*[[Mobile/Get Involved|New contributor page]]
**[[Mobile/Fennec/Android/Suggested workflow|Suggested workflow]]
*[https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Simple_Firefox_for_Android_build Build documentation]
*[[Mobile/Fennec/Android/Testing|Testing]]
*[[Mobile/Fennec/Android/CommonTips|Common tips & how-to's]]
*[[Mobile/Fennec/Android/Multilocale_Builds|Multilocale Builds]] - how to build an apk containing multiple languages (instead of just en-US by default).
*[[Mobile/Fennec/Android/Development/Addons|Useful addons for development (e.g. copy profile)]]
*[[Mobile/Fennec/Android/AdvancedTopics|Advanced topics (e.g. special build configs & advanced debugging)]]
*[https://gecko.readthedocs.org/en/latest/mobile/android/fennec/index.html In-tree Firefox for Android documentation]
*[[Mobile/Triage|Triage]]
*[[Mobile/Metrics|Metrics]]
*[[Mobile/Fennec/Android/png_optimisation|png optimisation]] - a guide on how to prepare png and raster images for landing in the tree, in order to minimise their size. This includes details on webp conversion, when applicable.


It is not currently possible to compile Fennec directly on Windows.
=== App and development overview ===
* [[Mobile/Fennec/Android/App_Structure|App Structure]]: Fennec is a combination of Java frontend code, Javascript glue and display code, and C++ rendering code. Here's a brief 9000m (30'000ft) overview of what each of those parts does.
** [[Mobile/Fennec/Android/Build_Systems|Build Systems]]: Our app structure results in a complex build process. Moreover, we are in the process of migrating our builds from a custom (Makefile based) build, to using Gradle for the frontend/Java portions of our app. This is a brief description of our parallel build systems and what we're trying to achieve in the future.


A fresh install of Ubuntu 13.10 in a virtual machine can be configured to build Fennec following the Linux directions below, but ensure that you've assigned plenty of RAM and CPU to the VM. Beware that having insufficient RAM for the build, or assigning more RAM to the VM than the host system can support, may result in very very slow builds.
=== Feature development ===
* [[Mobile/Distribution_Files|Distribution files]]
* [[Mobile/Fennec/Android/Java_telemetry|Java telemetry]]
* [[Mobile/Fennec/Android/Switchboard|Switchboard]]
* [[Mobile/Fennec/Android/Downloadable_Content|Downloadable Content]]


If your virtualization software supports connecting USB devices to a VM, it should be possible to install directly to device from the build VM.
=== Test results ===
*[https://scan.coverity.com/projects/firefox-mobile Coverity static analysis]


=== Linux ===
=== Build infrastructure ===
*[[Mobile/Fennec/Android/Task Cluster notes|Task Cluster notes]]
*[[Mobile/Fennec/Android/mach_bootstrap_SDK_dependencies|`./mach bootstrap` SDK dependencies]]


==== Preparation ====
=== General developer resources ===
*[https://mozilla-version-control-tools.readthedocs.org/en/latest/hgmozilla/index.html Mercurial for Mozillians]
*[https://moz-conduit.readthedocs.io/en/latest/phabricator-user.html Mozilla Phabricator User Guide]


If you're using a 64-bit Linux, you'll need to install 32 bit libs to allow the toolchain binaries to run.  Otherwise you may get a "bash: file not found" error when trying to use any of the SDK/NDK tools.
=== Crash Stats ===
 
* The crash-stats page lives at https://crash-stats.mozilla.com/home/product/FennecAndroid
  # http://stackoverflow.com/questions/13571145/android-adb-not-found
** Be careful to select "'''FennecAndroid'''" under the product dropdown to see Firefox on Android crashes.
  sudo apt-get install libc6-i386 lib32stdc++6 lib32gcc1 lib32ncurses5 lib32z1
*** Nightly has the name XX.0a1 (e.g. 52.0a1)
 
*** Aurora has the name XX.0a2 (e.g. 51.0a1 - the number is one lower than nightly)
or for Fedora
*** Beta is XX.0bN (e.g. 50.0b12). N is increased every time a new beta is released (usually weekly).
 
**** '''Note:''' Multiple beta versions can be listed under the versions dropdown, the first one listed might not be the currently released beta.
  yum install glibc-devel.i686 ncurses-libs-devel.i686 libstdc++-devel.i686 zlib-devel.i686
*** Release is XX.0.N (e.g. 49.0.2). N is increased every time there is a dot release, we usually try to avoid dot releases.
 
** Beware: a single device (which potentially has a hardware issue and/or a user who has done something strange with their configuration) can result in a crash-spike on nightly, or even aurora - not every crash is something significant.
On older Debian/Ubuntu systems you can run
** You can view devices that are affected by selecting a crash-signature, then going to "Aggregations", followed by clicking on the "Aggregate on" dropdown and selecting "Android device". Some issues might be device or manufacturer specific.
 
** To create a bugzilla entry for a given crash, open a crash report (if you are viewing a signature, go to "reports" and click on one of the items there). From the crash report search for "Bugzilla - Report this bug in" and select the appropriate module.
  # On recent Debian or Ubuntu you may need to run "sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386" first.
  # For details see: http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=697924
  sudo apt-get install ia32-libs
 
If you later on encounter errors during the build process, check the detailed instructions in the following section: in particular, verify that all required packages are installed running Android SDK GUI updated.
 
==== Step by step installation ====
 
This section describes in greater detail all the dependencies and requirements of getting a working build environment on Linux.
 
===== Install Java =====
 
First install JDK 7 or 8. Either the Sun JDK or OpenJDK is acceptable. If you're on Ubuntu (pre-11.10), you'll need to [https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Repositories/Ubuntu#Adding_Canonical_Partner_Repositories enable the partners repo] to get it. Java 6 or earlier won't work.
 
# Ubuntu pre-11.10
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install sun-java7-jdk
sudo update-java-alternatives -s java-7-sun
 
# Ubuntu 11.10 and after
# Use this PPA, the instructions are on the page:
# https://launchpad.net/~webupd8team/+archive/java
 
If you're on Ubuntu 64-bit, you'll also want to install ia32-libs at this point (things like adb won't work until you do):
 
  apt-get install -y ia32-libs
 
On Ubuntu 13.10 and later ia32-libs is no longer in the standard repository. Add the following line to the end of your /etc/apt/sources.list file (or add it through synaptic)
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ raring main restricted universe multiverse
 
apt-get update
apt-get install -y ia32-libs
 
===== Install ant =====
ant 1.8.0 or later is required to build GeckoViewExample
sudo apt-get install ant
 
===== Install Gecko Requirements =====
 
Then install the usual stuff needed for a firefox build.
 
sudo apt-get install mercurial ccache
sudo apt-get build-dep firefox
 
===== Install Android NDK =====
 
Download and extract the [http://developer.android.com/sdk/ndk/ Android NDK]. The automated builders currently use version r8e. r8d does NOT work (see {{bug|825968}}).
For 64 Bit OS:
wget https://dl.google.com/android/ndk/android-ndk-r8e-linux-x86_64.tar.bz2
tar -xjf android-ndk-r8e-linux-x86_64.tar.bz2
 
For 32 Bit OS:
wget https://dl.google.com/android/ndk/android-ndk-r8e-linux-x86.tar.bz2
tar -xjf android-ndk-r8e-linux-x86.tar.bz2
 
===== Install Android SDK =====
 
You should install the latest [http://developer.android.com/sdk/ Android SDK] ('''not''' the big download button that says "Eclipse ADT", just get the SDK). The SDK download will take a while, make sure you have a decent internet connection and go get coffee, or maybe lunch.
 
After extracting the SDK, ensure it's up to date with these commands:
 
  ./adt-bundle-linux/sdk/tools/android update sdk -u
  ./adt-bundle-linux/sdk/tools/android update adb
 
Or to update manually, run the Android SDK GUI updater:
 
  ./adt-bundle-linux/sdk/tools/android
 
Members of the Fennec team are successfully building Fennec with SDK Build Tools '''version 21''', SDK Platform Tools '''21''', and Android SDK Tools '''23.0.5'''. You will also need the "Android Support Library" and "Google Play Services" under Extras. In addition, you should check an Android SDK Platform, such as '''Android 5.0 (API 21)'''. You can uninstall & remove all other/older SDK Platforms as well as older versions of the SDK Tools/SDK Build Tools/SDK Platform Tools, and doing so might in fact stop the build from getting confused.
 
You will probably want to add the SDK's "tools", "build-tools", and "platform-tools" directories to the PATH environment variable in your shell, so that you can run [http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/tools/adb.html adb] and other tools easily. For example, if you installed the SDK in $HOME/opt, you could add the following line to the end of your .bashrc:
 
  export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/opt/adt-bundle-linux/sdk/tools:$HOME/opt/adt-bundle-linux/sdk/build-tools:$HOME/opt/adt-bundle-linux/sdk/platform-tools
 
You'll also have to ensure that the jarsigner executable from the JDK is in your path somewhere. Its probably easiest to just find it using
 
  locate jarsigner
 
==== Possible Footguns ====
===== Don't set CC / CXX environmental variables =====
If you've set the environmental variables CC and CXX (e.g. via .bash_aliases or via your .mozconfig), then you probably need to unset them before building for Android, or else your build may fail with something like:
  checking whether the C compiler (gcc -mandroid -fno-short-enums (etc etc)) works... no
followed by errors about "C compiler cannot create executables", "Relocations in generic ELF (EM: 40)", and "crtbegin_dynamic.o: error adding symbols: File in wrong format". This is a sign that you're compiling with your platform's native compiler (due to having CC / CXX set), instead of the android-specific GCC version that ships with the NDK.  See {{bug|977817}} for more details; as noted there, the build system may trust your custom CC & CXX variables, when you probably don't want it to.
 
=== Mac OS X ===
 
To set up a build environment on Mac OS X, you first need to install XCode and a few supplementary build tools via a package manager. To do this, follow steps 1 and 2 of the [https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Developer_Guide/Build_Instructions/Mac_OS_X_Prerequisites Mac OS X Build Prerequisites page]. Once you have completed steps 1 and 2, come back here and continue with the instructions below.
 
After installing XCode make sure you also have wget installed. If wget is not a recognized command in terminal follow these steps to install it:
 
curl -O http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/wget/wget-1.14.tar.gz
tar -xzvf wget-1.14.tar.gz
cd wget-1.14
./configure --with-ssl=openssl
make
sudo make install
which wget #Should output: /usr/local/bin/wget
 
===== Other packages =====
You'll need some additional packages, which you can install with HomeBrew.
 
  brew install ant
 
You can optionally install [https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Ccache ccache], which can make rebuilding Firefox faster after you have built it once and don't change (much) of the source code.  (If you don't install ccache, you must remove the --with-ccache line from the sample mozconfig below.)
 
  brew install ccache
 
===== Install Android NDK =====
 
Download and extract the [http://developer.android.com/sdk/ndk/ Android NDK]. The NDKs with 64-bit toolchains (x86_64) are recommended because linking Firefox requires a lot of memory. The supported NDK version right now is <b>r8e</b>. Installing newer versions <i>will</i> break your builds (see {{bug|951968}} and {{bug|994859}} for some examples).
 
wget http://dl.google.com/android/ndk/android-ndk-r8e-darwin-x86_64.tar.bz2
tar -xjf android-ndk-r8e-darwin-x86_64.tar.bz2
 
NOTE: there have been reports that r8c does not work on OS X before 10.7.0 (i.e. on Snow Leopard); you may need to try an older (or newer!) NDK version if you are running Snow Leopard. [https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/android-ndk/2L0TyNaiywA link] and [https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/android-ndk/gpo3IHkIKeE link]. At time of updating this doc (17-may-2013), we have not tried r8e on OSX before 10.7.0.
 
===== Install Android SDK =====
 
You should just install the latest [http://developer.android.com/sdk/ Android SDK], since we set the API level in our manifest files.
 
The SDK download will take a while, make sure you have a decent internet connection and go get coffee, or maybe lunch.
 
<!-- You will need SDK version at least 21.
 
<s>Ensure it's up to date with these commands:</s>
 
  <s>./android-sdk-macosx/tools/android update sdk -u</s>
  <s>./android-sdk-macosx/tools/android update adb</s>
 
'''The above update commands will update your Android SDK tools to a version that does not work to build Firefox. Do not run them -- use the GUI updater instead:'''-->
 
You will need to install support for Android API version 21. Run the Android SDK GUI updater:
 
  ./adt-bundle-mac/sdk/tools/android
 
Members of the Fennec team are successfully building Fennec with SDK Build Tools '''version 21''', SDK Platform Tools '''21''', and Android SDK Tools '''23.0.5'''. You will also need the "Android Support Library" and "Google Play services" under Extras. In addition, you should check an Android SDK Platform, such as '''Android 5.0 (API 21)'''.
 
You will probably want to add the SDK's "tools", "build-tools", and "platform-tools" directories to the PATH environment variable in your shell, so that you can run [http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/tools/adb.html adb] and other tools easily. For example, if you installed the SDK in $HOME, you could add the following line to the end of your .bashrc:
 
  export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/adt-bundle-mac/sdk/tools:$HOME/adt-bundle-mac/sdk/build-tools:$HOME/adt-bundle-mac/sdk/platform-tools
 
===== NDK/SDK version notes =====
 
Note that in the event that the NDK and SDK versions listed here are out of date, you can always find the canonical version numbers [http://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/annotate/tip/mobile/android/config/mozconfigs/common here].  Look for the following variables, which should be self-explanatory.
 
* ANDROID_NDK_VERSION
* ANDROID_NDK_VERSION_32BIT
* ANDROID_SDK_VERSION
 
=== Getting the source ===
 
Once you have build tools set up, you should configure Mercurial as described [https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Installing_Mercurial#Configuration here]. (It is not required, but highly recommended if you plan on touching the code in any way). Once you have done that, grab a clone of the repository:
 
hg clone http://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/ src
 
=== Setup Fennec mozconfig ===
 
The mozconfig file is what tells the mozilla build scripts how your build environment is set up, and sets various build options. To build scripts will read the mozconfig file from the $MOZCONFIG environment variable, if one is set, or the .mozconfig file in your src directory, if there is one. So you could do either this:
 
cd src
vim .mozconfig # put mozconfig here
 
or this:
 
cd some/random/folder
vim my-fennec-mozconfig # put mozconfig here
export MOZCONFIG=$PWD/my-fennec-mozconfig
 
Here is the minimal mozconfig file for building Fennec, assuming you have followed the instructions above and are using version r8e of the NDK.
 
<pre>
# Add the correct paths here:
ac_add_options --with-android-ndk="$HOME/android-ndk-r8e"
ac_add_options --with-android-sdk="$HOME/adt-bundle-linux/sdk/platforms/android-21"
 
# android options
ac_add_options --enable-application=mobile/android
ac_add_options --target=arm-linux-androideabi
</pre>
 
You may optionally add support for ccache:
 
<pre>
ac_add_options --with-ccache
</pre>
 
Note that if you are using ccache, the default cache size of 1GB is not large enough for a Firefox build. To fully utilize ccache (full builds in <5 minutes after the initial build), you'll need to change the cache size to at least 4GB, so run:
 
<pre>
$ ccache --max-size 4G
</pre>
 
Or use the objdir of your liking:
<pre>
mk_add_options MOZ_OBJDIR=./objdir-droid
</pre>
 
Remember to use $HOME instead of ~ in the mozconfig, because ~ will not get expanded to the right path!
 
If you want to build for ARMv6 instead of ARMv7 (ONLY required for old/very low end phones!) add this:
 
<pre>
  ac_add_options --with-arch=armv6
</pre>
 
'''Note that ARMv6 is no longer a supported target as of Firefox 33.'''
 
If you want to build for x86, substitute:
 
<pre>
  ac_add_options --target=i386-linux-android
</pre>
 
for the target specified above.  You cannot use <tt>ac_add_options --disable-optimize</tt> when building for x86.  See {{bug|965870}}.
 
If you want to create a debug build, you may add:
 
<pre>
ac_add_options --enable-debug-symbols
</pre>
 
Do '''*not*''' specify these flags because the resulting build will cause out-of-memory crashes:
 
<pre>
ac_add_options --disable-install-strip # do not use
</pre>
 
=== Building and deploying the code ===
 
Before you start building  [http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/device.html connect your Android device and enable USB debugging].
 
The following steps will build (compile+link), package into apk, and deploy to the Android device.
 
cd src
./mach build
./mach package
./mach install
 
The APK file can be found in your objdir-droid/dist/ folder, and will be called something like fennec-28.0a1.en-US.android-arm.apk. You can install this APK to your device manually using "adb install" or "./mach install".
 
The name of the app that shows up on your phone will be "Fennec $USER" (where $USER is the username under which you built the code).
 
To speed up subsequent builds you should specify the android directory using "./mach build mobile/android" or "./mach build mobile/android/base" depending on where your changes are.
 
== Hacking ==
 
=== Finding relevant code ===
 
The Fennec-specific code can be found in the following locations in the mozilla-central source tree:
 
mobile/android/...
widget/android/...
 
Of particular interest to most new contributors will be:
 
mobile/android/base/GeckoApp.java # the main android activity that starts up when you open Fennec
mobile/android/chrome/content/browser.js # the main JS file that controls Gecko to make it do what we want
 
If you are looking for something specific, use the code-search tools at https://mxr.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/ and http://dxr.mozilla.org/ to search for relevant pieces of code.
 
=== Coding Style ===
==== Java ====
Follow the [https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Developer_Guide/Coding_Style#Java_practices Mozilla Coding Style].
 
==== XML files (layout, resources, styles, etc) ====
* Each child tag should be indented with 4 spaces.
* The properties should be aligned with the first property of a tag.
* Each element should have "android:id" first, "style" (if exists) second, and the other properties follow. The root will have "xmlns:android" as first property.
* A Line break after every tag.
 
==== Common nits ====
Check for these nits before asking for review for a patch:
* Remove trailing whitespace
* Spacing
** Four spaces for Java indent (for main Fennec code - [https://github.com/mozilla-services/android-sync android-sync github project] has different spacing)
** Around operators (+, -, etc.) and :
** Between comment "//" and text
* Braces for Java if statements, even if they are one line
* Comments should be full sentences (capitalization, punctuation)
** Good comments are useful and clear even for someone reading a particular area of code for the first time
* Avoid using single-letter variables in almost all cases - it makes code harder to read
 
==== Closing resources ====
When handling resources (like Cursors), a try/finally block should be used to ensure these are closed properly. For example:
 
final Cursor c = getCursor();
try {
    useCursorWhichMightThrowException(c);
} catch (SomeSpecificException sse) {
    log(sse);
} finally {
    c.close();
}
 
Once the try block is entered, the finally block will *always* get executed upon exit of the try block. The one exception is if there is a System.exit call inside the try block, which immediately exits the program and makes everything moot anyway. The finally block will get executed on caught and uncaught exceptions, as well as normal returns.
 
If you are casting the resource to something, make sure that you do the cast inside the try block, like so:
 
// GOOD!
InputStream is = getInputStream();
try {
    FileInputStream fis = (FileInputStream) is;
    ...
} finally {
    ...
}
 
rather than doing this:
 
// BAD!
FileInputStream fis = (FileInputStream) getInputStream();
try {
    ...
} finally {
    ...
}
 
This is so that in case of ClassCastExceptions you don't get a dangling open resource left behind.
 
==== Caveats for Timing ====
 
TLDR: Google recommends using SystemClock.uptimeMillis() for general purpose interval timing of user interface events or performance measurements. If you're adding stuff for timing, use SystemClock.uptimeMillis(), rather than something like new Date().getTime().
 
Normally in Java the default time-getter is System.currentTimeMillis() since it avoids the overhead of creating a new Date object. This is also what new Date() does under the hood. However, currentTimeMillis() and the Date object are both subject to change in unexpected ways if the user changes the time on their device, or if daylight savings comes into effect, or there's a network time update, or whatever. So Android has generously provided android.os.SystemClock which has various functions that you can use to get a better timestamp. Refer to the class javadoc and pick whichever function is most suitable for what you're trying to measure.
 
http://developer.android.com/reference/android/os/SystemClock.html
 
=== Multilocale builds ===
 
* Create a directory, clone mozharness, copy the config file for easy editing/usage:
 
mkdir multilocale
cd multilocale
hg clone http://hg.mozilla.org/build/mozharness
cp mozharness/configs/multi_locale/standalone_mozilla-central.py myconfig.py
 
* Edit myconfig.py
** currently will check out m-c into a directory named 'mozilla-central' in this directory
** currently assumes your mozconfig is in this directory and named 'mozconfig'
** currently assumes your mozconfig sets your objdir name to 'objdir-droid'
 
* pull mozilla-central
 
mozharness/scripts/multil10n.py --cfg myconfig.py --pull-build-source
# Alternately, you can hg clone http://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central
 
* Run the script, which will create a multilocale apk
 
mozharness/scripts/multil10n.py --cfg myconfig.py
 
And you're done.
 
* If you want to recompile or re-run the script, restore your objdir to en-US first!
 
mozharness/scripts/multil10n.py --cfg myconfig.py --restore-objdir
 
Also see [http://escapewindow.dreamwidth.org/234671.html this blog post] for more information.
 
=== Single-locale language repacks ===
 
There is a script in mozharness for this (scripts/mobile_l10n.py) but it relies on buildbot information so it's not suitable for local repacks.
 
This assumes that $(AB_CD) is the locale you want to repack with; I tested with "ar" and "en-GB".
 
* clone l10n-central/$(AB_CD) so that it is a sibling of your mozilla-central directory
* I assume your object directory is "objdir-droid" and that you have built and packaged already
make -f client.mk && make -C objdir-droid package
* copy your .mozconfig to .mozconfig.l10n and add the following lines
# L10n
ac_add_options --with-l10n-base=../../l10n-central
# Global options
ac_add_options --disable-tests
mk_add_options MOZ_OBJDIR=./objdir-l10n
* cd to mozilla-central
* configure and prepare objdir-l10n
MOZCONFIG=.mozconfig.l10n make -f client.mk configure
make -C objdir-l10n/config
* copy your built package into objdir-l10n
cp ./objdir-droid/dist/fennec-*en-US*.apk ./objdir-l10n/dist
* unpack.  This files objdir-l10n/dist with the bits of the APK, ready for re-assembling.
make -C objdir-l10n/mobile/android/locales unpack
* compare locales (you may need to install the compare-locales tool first).  This writes locale differences into objdir-l10n/merged.
compare-locales -m objdir-l10n/merged mobile/android/locales/l10n.ini ../l10n-central $(AB_CD)
* finally, re-assemble with the locale differences
LOCALE_MERGEDIR=objdir-l10n/merged make -C objdir-l10n/mobile/android/locales installers-$(AB_CD)
 
You should find an APK at "objdir-l10n/dist/fennec-*$(AB_CD)*.apk".
 
=== Developing Fennec with Eclipse (and other IDEs) ===
 
See [[Mobile/Fennec/Android/Eclipse|Developing Fennec with Eclipse]].
 
== Testing  ==
 
This section has instructions for running tests locally on a device of your choice. In theory, it is easy to run tests locally, but the test infrastructure is optimized and maintained primarily for the tegra boards and the panda boards used for continuous integration: It is not uncommon for device-specific bugs to creep in to the test infrastructure, causing problems when tests are run locally.
 
Running tests locally on non-rooted devices is particularly troublesome and sometimes impossible -- use a rooted device if at all possible.
 
Having trouble? Ping :gbrown on #mobile, or ask for help on #ateam.
 
==== Device Managers ====
Most test suites - mochitests, reftests, xpcshell tests, and others - use a "device manager" module to communicate with the remote device. There are two device manager implementations: ADB and SUT.
 
The ADB device manager uses the adb command from the Android SDK to communicate with the remote device. To use the ADB device manager:
* ensure the adb command is in your shell's PATH
* set environment variable DM_TRANS=adb
* do not set environment variable TEST_DEVICE, or set TEST_DEVICE= (unless you really need it)
 
The SUT device manager uses TCP to communicate with a remote agent, which must be installed on the device. To use the SUT device manager:
* ensure TCP connectivity between the local host and the remote device: check that they are on the same network and you can ping each from the other
* ensure the SUT agent is installed and started on the remote device
** the SUT agent APK is built alongside Fennec; just install <objdir-droid>/build/mobile/sutagent/android/sutAgentAndroid.apk
** The agent should be configured to start automatically with your phone when it boots. To start it immediately from an adb shell do: `am start -n com.mozilla.SUTAgentAndroid/.SUTAgentAndroid -a android.intent.action.MAIN`
* set environment variable DM_TRANS=sut
* set environment variable TEST_DEVICE=<ip address of remote device -- displayed by SUT agent>
 
Note: to run the tests you should ensure that your host machine and device are on the same network so that the device can contact the server that will run on the host.
 
==== Host Builds (MOZ_HOST_BIN) ====
Android mochitests and reftests are driven by a test suite on a host machine running [https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Tech/XPCOM/Language_bindings/XPConnect/xpcshell xpcshell]. The test suite locates xpcshell via the environment variable '''MOZ_HOST_BIN''', which must point to the directory that contains the xpcshell binary, and its shared libraries (certutil, pk12util, and ssltunnel).
 
===== Quick setup =====
 
You can get setup quickly by using the '''getxre''' utility [[Mobile/Fennec/Android/GDB|JimDB]]. This utility will download the correct binaries, and set the appropriate permissions.
 
  wget https://github.com/darchons/android-gdbutils/raw/master/python/getxre.py
  python getxre.py -d <output_dir>
  export MOZ_HOST_BIN=<output_dir>/bin
 
===== Advanced setup =====
 
Alternatively, you can build desktop Firefox with a mozconfig which might be as simple as:
 
  ac_add_options --enable-application=browser
  mk_add_options MOZ_OBJDIR=./objdir-desktop
 
Then execute:
 
  export MOZCONFIG=mozconfig.desktop
  ./mach build
  MOZ_HOST_BIN=objdir-desktop/dist/bin
  ls -l $MOZ_HOST_BIN/xpcshell
 
On Linux, the path to that build may also need to be in your LD_LIBRARY_PATH, unless your LD_LIBRARY_PATH contains ".":
 
  LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:.
 
==== Test Directory ====
All Android tests require a remote test directory: A place to store pre-configured profiles, support binaries and libraries, test files, etc. Most tests use a directory in /mnt/sdcard by default; xpcshell and cppunittests use /data/local by default (because it is usually not possible to set execute permission on files on /mnt/sdcard).
 
The default remote test directory is usually correct and sufficient, but sometimes the default is not appropriate for a device:
* the device may not contain an SD card, or the SD card may not be mounted
* there may not be enough free space on the default location's partition
* the default location may not be writable by the ADB shell and/or SUT agent
 
(If you are using a Nexus S, the trick to making your device mountable is to not allow USB Storage between your computer and your device.  When you plug in your device to your computer, simply don't click the button to allow this on your device and you should be able to run your tests.)
 
If necessary, the default remote test directory may be changed with:
 
  export EXTRA_TEST_ARGS=--remoteTestRoot=<remote-directory>
 
=== Reftests  ===
First, ensure that MOZ_HOST_BIN has been set according to the [[Mobile/Fennec/Android#Host_Builds_.28MOZ_HOST_BIN.29|directions above]].
 
  TEST_PATH=<path> make -C <objdir-droid> reftest-remote
 
Example TEST_PATH:
 
  TEST_PATH=layout/reftests/reftest-sanity/reftest.list
 
Notes:
 
* If TEST_PATH is not specified, *all* reftests will be attempted: This usually fails/hangs and is not recommended. Specify a TEST_PATH or use the --total-chunks and --this-chunk arguments to reduce the number of tests executed.
* sut recommended. Test results displayed and saved to reftest.log and reftest-remote.log.
* adb works also. Test results displayed and saved to reftest.log (additional diagnostics in reftest-remote.log).
* Ensure that the device and host machine are on the same network.
 
=== Mochitests  ===
Linux:
 
First, ensure that MOZ_HOST_BIN has been set according to the [[Mobile/Fennec/Android#Host_Builds_.28MOZ_HOST_BIN.29|directions above]].
 
  TEST_PATH=<path> make -C <objdir-droid> mochitest-remote
Mac:
  MOZ_HOST_BIN="<abspath-to-objdir-desktop>/dist/Nightly.app/Contents/MacOS/" TEST_PATH=<path> make -C <objdir-droid> mochitest-remote
 
Note that as of this writing (September 2011) many mochitests will not complete successfully. Try setting your TEST_PATH to "dom/tests/mochitest/dom-level1-core" or "content/smil/test" if you want to restrict yourself to a subset of tests that are known to pass.
 
Some examples of possible TEST_PATH values are:
Harness_sanity
MochiKit-1.4.2/tests
content/smil/test
content/xml/document/test
content/xslt/tests/mochitest
dom/src/json/test
dom/src/jsurl/test
dom/tests/mochitest/ajax/jquery
dom/tests/mochitest/ajax/mochikit
dom/tests/mochitest/ajax/scriptaculous
dom/tests/mochitest/dom-level0
dom/tests/mochitest/dom-level1-core
dom/tests/mochitest/dom-level2-core
dom/tests/mochitest/dom-level2-html
dom/tests/mochitest/orientation
dom/tests/mochitest/storageevent
editor/composer/test
intl/uconv/tests
js
layout/inspector/tests
layout/xul/test
modules/libjar/test/mochitest
parser/htmlparser/tests/mochitest
toolkit/components/microformats/tests
toolkit/xre/test
 
Notes:
* A rooted device is required to run the unit tests using the SUT Agent. Use ADB for unrooted devices (see [[https://wiki.mozilla.org/Mobile/Fennec/Android#Device_Managers]]).
* Currently using ADB and using /data/local/tests on a non-rooted phone causes setting TEST_PATH to a directory rather than an individual HTML file to fail, and SpecialPowers tests to fail too - filed as {{bug|822652}}
* '''Ensure that the device and host machine are on the same network''' <-- This is important. The device and the host need to communicate over the network to run the tests. Having the device connected to the host via USB is '''not''' sufficient.
 
=== Robocop ===
 
The Robocop test suite verifies UI behavior in native Fennec.  It is built on the Robotium testing framework. To run tests locally, a separate Robocop test APK also needs to be installed.
 
To get tests running locally, first build and install native Fennec,
 
  mach build
  mach package
  mach install
 
Next, execute <tt>mach robocop</tt> which installs the Robocop APK to the device and starts the entire testing the entire test suite. Prior to running this, ensure that MOZ_HOST_BIN has been set according to the [[Mobile/Fennec/Android#Host_Builds_.28MOZ_HOST_BIN.29|directions above]].
 
  mach robocop
 
More info at [[Auto-tools/Projects/Robocop|Robocop]] and http://mxr.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/source/mobile/android/base/tests/README.rst.
 
If you make changes to the tests and want to see them run on a device, you need to build the tests again and reinstall.
 
  mach build build/mobile/robocop
  mach robocop
 
This builds the tests in <tt>mobile/android/base/tests</tt> and then installs the debug-signed Robocop APK onto the device. (It's unintuitive that building <tt>mobile/android</tt> doesn't build the tests within <tt>mobile/android/base/tests</tt>.)
 
Notes:
* Mach is self documenting!  For help, try <tt>mach help robocop</tt>.
* To run one test at a time, find the test name (like "testLoad") in <tt>mobile/android/base/tests/robocop.ini</tt> and pass it as an argument, like: <tt>mach robocop testLoad</tt>.
* A rooted device is NOT required.
* SUT and ADB device managers are both supported.
* <tt>MOZ_HOST_BIN</tt> is used to launch <tt>xpcshell</tt> on the desktop to provide a web server.
* You can also run tests using <tt>make -C $OBJDIR mochitest-robocop</tt>, but this is deprecated.  Use <tt>TEST_PATH=<test-name></tt> to run just one test at a time, like: <tt>TEST_PATH=testAwesomebar make -C $OBJDIR mochitest-robocop</tt>.
 
Troubleshooting:
* Ensure the device's screen is on
* Ensure that the device and host machine are on the same network.
** Are the phone and the desktop both using wifi? (wifi vs ethernet??)
** Are the phone and the desktop both using the same wifi network? (Mozilla vs Mozilla Guest??)
** Is the desktop environment running in a VM? If so, you likely want a "Bridged" connection -- not NAT or Host-only.
* Ensure Robocop has the correct IP address for your machine
** Make sure _SERVER_ADDR in the Robocop output is the same as your machine's IP address.
** If not, set it to your IP by running <tt>export DM_FLAGS="--remote-webserver=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx"</tt>
* Ensure the binaries in your MOZ_HOST_BIN folder are executable, in case you pull them down from the FTP site. You might see "OSError: [Errno 13] Permission denied" if they are not executable. Use chmod to fix them. Check certutil, pk12util and ssltunnel.
*Additional tips at [[Auto-tools/Projects/Robocop#Frequently_found_errors]]
 
=== xpcshell  ===
 
Be sure you have successfully built Fennec and generated an APK, as described above.
 
To run all tests referenced by the master xpcshell manifest:
 
  mach xpcshell-test
 
(Currently the master manifest is restricted: not all tests are run.)
 
To run a subset of tests in the specified directory:
 
  mach xpcshell-test <test-directory>
 
Once either of the xpcshell-tests-remote commands has completed successfully, all test files have been copied to device, and it is then possible to run a single test quickly, without setup:
 
  mach xpcshell-test <test.js> --no-setup
 
Notes:
* A rooted device IS required.
* Both ADB and SUT device managers are supported.
* Setup can take several minutes! When using ADB, setup is faster if unzip is available on the remote device; if your device does not have unzip, try installing busybox.
 
=== cppunittests ===
 
To run a single compiled code test:
 
  cd <objdir-droid>
  export TEST_PATH=<test>
  make cppunittests-remote
 
For example, TEST_PATH=xpcom/tests/TestTimers, or TEST_PATH="xpcom/tests/TestTimers xpcom/tests/TestFile".
 
To run all the compiled code tests in a directory:
 
  cd <objdir-droid>
  make -C <dir> cppunittests-remote
 
For example:
 
  make -C xpcom/tests cppunittests-remote
 
Advanced features:
 
As with xpcshell tests, you can skip setup if needed:
 
  export EXTRA_TEST_ARGS="--noSetup"
 
This will avoid copying any files to the device -- be sure that all necessary files are on the device before using this!
 
You can change the environment variables seen by the unit test:
 
  export EXTRA_TEST_ARGS="--addEnv MYVAR=value"
  export EXTRA_TEST_ARGS="--addEnv MYVAR1=value1 --addEnv MYVAR2=value2"
  export EXTRA_TEST_ARGS="--addEnv HOME="
 
Notes:
* Either adb or sut device manager may be used
* All files are copied to /data/local/tests by default. On some devices, you may need to create /data/local/tests and make it world writable.
 
=== browser-chrome ===
 
Before you run tests, you will need to make sure you have packaged the tests in your object dir:
 
  make -C <objdir-droid> package-tests
 
There is currently no special make command to build and run browser-chrome tests, but it should be possible to make them run by calling:
 
  cd <objdir-droid>/_tests/testing/mochitest
  python runtestsremote.py --dm_trans=adb --test-path=mobile --browser-chrome --deviceIP=1.2.3.4
                          --app=org.mozilla.fennec_$USER --xre-path=<objdir_x86>/dist/bin/
 
=== Running the Android 2.3 ARM emulator ===
 
The "Android 2.3 Opt" tests on tbpl run in an Android ARM emulator. For best results investigating and reproducing Android 2.3 test failures, try server is recommended: Running the same tests on the same emulator on different host hardware may very well produce different results. You can also borrow a slave: https://wiki.mozilla.org/ReleaseEngineering/How_To/Request_a_slave.
 
But if you really want to try running the emulator locally...
 
1. Obtain the AVD definitions from tooltool. To determine the url, open http://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/raw-file/default/testing/config/tooltool-manifests/androidarm/releng.manifest and you'll see something like:
 
  [{
  "size": 261782928,
  "digest":
  "7140e026b7b747236545dc30e377a959b0bdf91bb4d70efd7f97f92fce12a9196042503124b8df8d30c2d97b7eb5f9df9556afdffa0b5d9625008aead305c32b",
  "algorithm": "sha512",
  "filename": "AVDs-armv7a-gingerbread-build-2014-01-23-ubuntu.tar.gz",
  "unpack": "True"
  }]
 
Now browse https://secure.pub.build.mozilla.org/tooltool/pvt/build and download '7140e0...' -- this is AVDs-armv7a-gingerbread-build-2014-01-23-ubuntu.tar.
 
2. Extract the AVD definition archive in your .android directory:
 
tar xvf AVDs-armv7a-gingerbread-build-2014-01-23-ubuntu.tar -C ~/.android
 
3. Use the emulator executable from any recent Android SDK. In production, the emulator from Android 18 is used.
 
4. Launch the emulator with:
 
emulator -avd test-1 -debug init,console,gles,memcheck,adbserver,adbclient,adb,avd_config,socket -port 5554 -qemu -m 1024 -cpu cortex-a9
 
(expect lots of output).
 
5. Wait for sutagent to launch.
 
6. If you want to use sutagent, redirect ports for sutagent and set the device manager environment variables:
 
adb forward tcp:20700 tcp:20700
adb forward tcp:20701 tcp:20701
DM_TRANS=sut
TEST_DEVICE=127.0.0.1
 
7. Run tests as described above.
 
(Or, if you want to run tests very much like on tbpl, see https://wiki.mozilla.org/ReleaseEngineering/Mozharness/How_to_run_tests_as_a_developer.)
 
=== Running the Android 4.2 x86 emulator ===
 
The "Android 4.2 x86 Opt" tests on tbpl run in an Android x86 emulator. For best results investigating and reproducing Android 4.2 x86 test failures, try server is recommended: Running the same tests on the same emulator on different host hardware may very well produce different results. You can also borrow a slave: https://wiki.mozilla.org/ReleaseEngineering/How_To/Request_a_slave.
 
But if you really want to try running the emulator locally...
 
1. Obtain the AVD definitions from tooltool. To determine the url, open http://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/raw-file/default/testing/config/tooltool-manifests/androidx86/releng.manifest and you'll see something like:
 
  [{
  "size": 561274118,
  "digest":  "3b2d18eb0194d82c70c5ee17487ccbac309f9b2e9839fe7ca4a27a9a06f6338bb24394476da78559685d99151fccc85fdde03297aa73ee2f7fb3183e11925c4d",
  "algorithm": "sha512",
  "filename": "AVDs-x86-android-4.2_r1-build-2013-11-13-ubuntu.tar.gz",
  "unpack": "True"
  }]
 
Now browse https://secure.pub.build.mozilla.org/tooltool/pvt/build and download '3b2d18...' -- this is AVDs-x86-android-4.2_r1-build-2013-11-13-ubuntu.tar.
 
2. Extract the AVD definition archive in your .android directory:
 
tar xvf AVDs-x86-android-4.2_r1-build-2013-11-13-ubuntu.tar -C ~/.android
 
3. Install KVM, if necessary:
 
sudo apt-get install cpu-checker qemu-kvm bridge-utils
 
See bug 929048 for more details, if you have trouble with KVM on your host.
 
You may be able to use the emulator executable from any recent Android SDK. In production, a patched version of "tools-r22" SDK is used. See bug 933918 for details.
 
4. Launch the emulator with:
 
emulator -avd test-1 -debug init,console,gles,memcheck,adbserver,adbclient,adb,avd_config,socket -port 5554 -qemu -m 1024 -enable-kvm
 
(expect lots of output).
 
5. Wait for sutagent to launch.
 
6. If you want to use sutagent, redirect ports for sutagent and set the device manager environment variables:
 
adb forward tcp:20700 tcp:20700
adb forward tcp:20701 tcp:20701
DM_TRANS=sut
TEST_DEVICE=127.0.0.1
 
7. Run tests as described above.
 
(Or, if you want to run tests very much like on tbpl, see https://wiki.mozilla.org/ReleaseEngineering/Mozharness/How_to_run_tests_as_a_developer.)
 
=== talos ===
 
*NOTE: this requires python 2.7
 
See https://wiki.mozilla.org/Buildbot/Talos
 
This is 100% out of band from mozilla-central (same for desktop also).
 
  hg clone http://hg.mozilla.org/build/talos talos
  cd talos
  python INSTALL.py
  . bin/activate
  cd talos
 
Run these commands to check out the talos dependencies (assuming you are already in the "talos/talos" directory):
 
  cd page_load_test
  wget http://people.mozilla.org/~jmaher/mobile_tp4.zip
  unzip mobile_tp4.zip
 
Configure a talos profile. You can do this via adb or [http://people.mozilla.com/~bmoss/SUTAgent/ SUTAgent] - if you want to use adb make sure you have rooted your device such that "adb shell" goes directly into a root shell. If you want to use adb to communicate with the device remotely, do something like this:
 
  talos -v -e org.mozilla.fennec \
                        --develop \
                        --activeTests tprovider \
                        --output trobo.yml \
                        --remotePort -1 \
                        --remoteDevice 1.2.3.4 \
                        [--fennecIDs <abs-path-to-objdir>/dist/fennec_ids.txt]
 
If you want to use [http://people.mozilla.com/~bmoss/SUTAgent/ SUTAgent] to communicate with the device, do something like this:
 
  talos -v -e org.mozilla.fennec \
                        --develop \
                        --activeTests tsvg \
                        --results_url file://${PWD}/tsvg.txt \
                        --noChrome \
                        --remoteDevice <ip of your sutagent> \
                        [--fennecIDs <abs-path-to-objdir>/dist/fennec_ids.txt]
 
SUTAgent will not be able to read the application.ini on the device, so you will need to copy it. We highly recommend pulling the application.ini from the .apk and copying it to the talos/talos/remoteapp.ini file.
 
For Robocop based tests (tcheck, tcheck2, tcheck3, tprovider, etc...), we need to use the --fennecIDs flag to pass in the generated fennec_ids.txt file from the build you are testing.  This file is generated during build time and has to match the fennec.apk and robocop.apk file.  When this flag is used, we copy fennec_ids.txt and robotium.config (generated during configuration time) to the device and use those to run Robocop.  If you are running ts, tp4, tsvg, or other traditional talos tests, there is no need for the --fennecIDs flag.
 
Unless two applications are signed with the same key they cannot read each others' /data/data directories, so SUTAgent cannot read org.mozilla.fennec's data directory.
You can extract it from the fennec .apk or get it from adb from e.g. /data/data/org.mozilla.fennec/application.ini
 
  shell@android:/ $ su
  shell@android:/ # cat /data/data/org.mozilla.fennec/application.ini
  [App]
  Vendor=Mozilla
  Name=Fennec
  Version=10.0a1
  BuildID=20111031031100
  SourceRepository=http://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central
  SourceStamp=04b4ea333800
  ID={a23983c0-fd0e-11dc-95ff-0800200c9a66}
 
  [Gecko]
  MinVersion=1.9.2b5pre
  MaxVersion=10.0a1
 
  [XRE]
  EnableExtensionManager=1
 
  [Crash Reporter]
  Enabled=1
  ServerURL=https://crash-reports.mozilla.com/submit
 
'''Note''': As of this writing (Sept 27, 2011), the tgfx pageset does not currently work (it isn't run on the desktop either). Don't try it. :)
 
'''Note''': When running robocop-based talos tests (tcheck, etc), be aware that some robocop-required files are not updated by Talos. For example, robocop.apk is not installed. Your best bet is to run mochitest-robocop first to make sure everything is up to date, or manually install robocop.apk from the dist folder.
 
Aside: For a quick-and-dirty hacky way to run robocop-talos tests locally, see [[Mobile/Fennec/Android/LocalRoboTalos]]
 
=== S1/S2 Automation ===
These tests start Fennec with a URL and measure the time to throbber start, time to throbber stop, and drawing end times.
S1/S2 graphs can be viewed at:  http://phonedash.mozilla.org/
 
Manual run instructions can be found at: https://etherpad.mozilla.org/fennec-perf-ts-take2
 
See also: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Mobile/Performance/S1S2-Tests
 
=== Eideticker ===
Eideticker measures perceived Firefox performance by video capturing automated browser interactions.
 
Eideticker graphs can be viewed at: http://eideticker.mozilla.org/
 
See also:
 
** http://wrla.ch/blog/2011/11/measuring-what-the-user-sees/
** http://wrla.ch/blog/2012/03/announcing-the-eideticker-mobile-performance-dashboard/
** https://github.com/mozilla/eideticker
 
=== Trouble-shooting testing problems ===
 
* Does your mozconfig contain "ac_add_options --disable-tests"?
** If so, you will see something like:
<pre>
make: *** No rule to make target <your-test-target>.  Stop.
</pre>
* Is adb in your $PATH?
* Is your device connected? Does it appear in the output from "adb devices"?
* Can you run adb shell?
 
== Debugging ==
 
=== Using logcat ===
 
[http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/tools/logcat.html logcat] is a tool that is going to show you some logs prompted by the device. It might be a good help if you don't want to or can't run gdb. You can use it by running this command:
 
  adb logcat -v time
 
You can make things appear in logcat using printf_stderr. With debug builds, NS_WARNING, NS_ERROR and NS_ASSERTIONS will show up in logcat. If you're trying to debug something, you may wish to pipe the logcat output through grep to filter out irrelevant things (most Fennec-related output will be viewable by
 
  adb logcat -v time | grep Gecko
 
but remember that when attaching log output to a bug you should include unfiltered output as there may be relevant log entries under other tags.
 
==== Using other logcat apps ====
===== ICS (4.1) and below =====
* Install the [https://market.android.com/details?id=org.jtb.alogcat&hl=en aLogCat] app. Use it to capture logs and attach the logs to bugs.
 
Once you have alogcat installed, just use Fennec as you would normally. Upon encountering a bug or issue, start the aLogcat app (as soon as possible after seeing the Fennec issue) and select "Share" or "Save" from the menu to send it via email or save it to the SD card. The log can then be attached to a bug or sent to a developer. As with adb logcat, it is better to have a log with timestamps than without timestamps. To enable timestamps in the log, select "Preferences" from the aLogcat menu, and change the "Format?" option to "Time".
 
If you need to, you can search for some kinds of Fennec-related output by using the "Filter" menu item and entering "Gecko". However, when submitting logs for bug reports, please make sure you clear the filter and include all of the available log data.
 
===== Jelly Bean (4.2) and above =====
* Install the [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/android/addon/logview/ LogView add-on]
* Root the device and use the [https://market.android.com/details?id=org.jtb.alogcat&hl=en aLogCat] app as above.
 
==== JavaScript dump() ====
 
To use the dump() function in JavaScript to write to the log:
 
# Go to about:config and set browser.dom.window.dump.enabled to "true"
# Run the following ADB commands:
 
adb shell stop
adb shell setprop log.redirect-stdio true
adb shell start
 
=== Using JimDB ===
 
See [[Mobile/Fennec/Android/GDB]]
 
=== Using Debug Intent ===
 
'''Note: this is not useful with JimDB. If you want to use JimDB, just start it.'''
 
In order to attach before things get running, launch with:
 
  adb shell am start -a org.mozilla.gecko.DEBUG -n org.mozilla.fennec_foobar/.App
 
(Replace foobar by your username)
 
and just click launch once gdb is attached. If you need to debug a crash that happens before XRE_Main is called, the patch on {{bug|572247}} may be useful.
 
this script [http://dump.lassey.us/debug.sh] will attach gdbserver for you
 
=== Getting dalvik java stack dumps using gdb ===
 
(gdb) call dvmDumpAllThreads(true)
 
this will dump a stack trace to logcat
 
Note: this will only work if you have symbols for dalvik.
 
=== Debugging with jdb ===
 
JimDB can now launch JDB integration
 
You can also use eclipse for debugging in a similar way by setting up for debugging "Remote Java application".
 
=== Debugging with eclipse ===
 
You need to find the PID of your fennec process. Forward it to a local TCP socket as in "Debugging with jdb."
 
In Eclipse switch to the debug perspective. Go to Run > Debug configurations... Remote Java Application. Change the port to the TCP port you specified in your adb command. Under Source, navigate to your checkout, then into mobile/android.
 
Eclipse looks for source code in a specific location. You need to create the directory hierarchy:
<code>
mobile
  /android
    /org
      mozilla/
        gecko -> ../../base</code>
 
That is, in mozilla-central/mobile/android, create org/mozilla, and put the symlink gecko pointing to mozilla-central/mobile/android/base.
 
You may also want to add more debugging information and can do that like this:
diff --git a/config/android-common.mk b/config/android-common.mk
index 4591239..a47726a 100644
--- a/config/android-common.mk
+++ b/config/android-common.mk
@@ -70,6 +70,6 @@ JAVAC_FLAGS = \
    -classpath $(JAVA_CLASSPATH) \
    -bootclasspath $(JAVA_BOOTCLASSPATH) \
    -encoding UTF8 \
-  -g:source,lines \
+  -g:source,lines,vars \
    -Werror \
    $(NULL)
 
=== Arguments and Environment Variables ===
 
If you need to set an environment variable at run time, append '''--es env# VAR=VAL''' to your activity manager command where # is the ordered number of variables for example:
 
  adb shell am start -a android.activity.MAIN -n org.mozilla.fennec_$USER/.App --es env0 VAR=val --es env1 FOO=bar
 
If you need to pass arguments at run time, append '''--es args "<your-args>"''' to your activity manager command. For example, to launch with a specific profile:
 
  adb shell am start -a android.activity.MAIN -n org.mozilla.fennec_$USER/.App --es args "--profile /mnt/sdcard/myprofile"
 
To launch with a specific URL, use the am -d option to set the intent's data URI:
 
  adb shell am start -a android.activity.MAIN -n org.mozilla.fennec_$USER/.App -d 'http://www.mozilla.org'
 
=== PR Logging ===
 
You can use the env vars as described above to enable NSPR logging:
 
  adb shell am start -a android.activity.MAIN -n org.mozilla.fennec_$USER/.App --es env0 NSPR_LOG_MODULES=all:5 --es env1 NSPR_LOG_FILE=/mnt/sdcard/log.txt
 
If no file is specified, logging is directed to the android logs:
 
  adb shell am start -a android.activity.MAIN -n org.mozilla.fennec_$USER/.App --es env0 NSPR_LOG_MODULES=all:5
 
Look for lines marked "PRLog" in the adb logcat output.
 
=== Using legacy GDB (non-JimDB)  ===
 
See [[Mobile/Fennec/Android/GDBNoRoot|Fennec/Android/GDBNoRoot]]
 
=== Reading back the framebuffer ===
If you need to verify what is in the back buffer at a particular time, you can cleverly call functions from gdb to allocate memory, read back, and write that to disk.
 
You need to know the size of your framebuffer a priori; in this case, it's 480x699.
 
You also need to know what the GL enum values are, because unless you compile with -ggdb, you don't have #defines available to you in the debugger. Very helpful information: GL_RGBA = 0x1908, GL_UNSIGNED_BYTE = 0x1401. The rest you can find in gfx/gl/GLDefs.h.
 
You '''should''' be able to call glReadPixels directly, but in my experience that causes Fennec to crash. However, if you have a GLContext* lying around, as you often do, you can work around that problem.
 
<pre>(gdb) set $m = (int*)malloc(480*699*4)
(gdb) call aManager->mGLContext.mRawPtr->fReadPixels(0, 0, 480, 699, 0x1908, 0x1401, (void*)$m)
(gdb) set $f = fopen("/sdcard/outputfile", "wb+")
(gdb) call fwrite($m, 1, 480*699*4, $f)
$7 = 1342080
(gdb) call fclose($f)
$8 = 0</pre>
 
Now there is a file called /sdcard/outputfile that you can adb pull. But since it's just raw RGBA values, you need to be able to wrap that in PNG headers to display it. [https://github.com/jrmuizel/minpng/blob/master/minpng.h Jeff Muizelaar wrote a header called minpng.h that you can use to do so.]
 
Get Jeff's minpng.h, and put it in a directory along with a driver c program:
 
<pre>#include "minpng.h"
 
int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
FILE* f = fopen(argv[1], "rb");
int w = atoi(argv[2]);
int h = atoi(argv[3]);
char* d = (char*) malloc(w * h * 4);
fread(d, w * h * 4, 1, f);
fclose(f);
write_png(argv[4], d, w, h);
}</pre>
 
Compile and run:
<pre>$ gcc -o minpng minpng.c
$ ./minpng outputfile 480 699 output.png
</pre>
=== Using Rendertrace (Maple) ===
 
Rendertrace is a utility that will dump layer position and timing information (such as drawing, upload) to the console. This information can pasted into the rendertrace web front end to visualize the layer position and event timeline. This will let you understand where you're gecko is spending its time and why were checkerboarding.
 
To enable go in 'gfx/layers/RenderTrace.h' and uncomment '#define MOZ_RENDERTRACE'. Rebuild and run 'adb logcat | grep RENDERTRACE', paste the result in http://people.mozilla.org/~bgirard/rendertrace.html and hit 'reload'. For details talk to BenWa.
 
=== Using apitrace ===
 
Apitrace is a tool for tracing GL/EGL calls for debugging purposes. It basically uses an interim shared library called libapitrace that contains shadow gl* and egl* functions, which then get logged and then passed through to the real driver.
 
 
Use apitrace from https://github.com/apitrace/apitrace to build for desktop and android.
 
<pre>
apt-get install libegl1-mesa-dev libgles1-mesa-dev libgles2-mesa-dev libqt4-dev cmake
git clone https://github.com/gw280/apitrace.git
cd apitrace
 
# Build for Android
cmake -DANDROID_NDK=/path/to/your/ndk -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=android/android.toolchain.cmake -DANDROID_API_LEVEL=9 -Bbuild-android -H.
make -C build-android -j8
 
# Build for desktop
cmake -H. -Bbuild
make -C build -j8
 
export EGL_SOFTWARE=true
./build/eglretrace -v /path/to/your/apitrace_log.trace
</pre>
 
The Android build will create egltrace.so in build-android/wrappers, which you can then push to your device to /data/local:
 
<pre>
adb push build-android/wrappers/egltrace.so /data/local/tmp
</pre>
 
Restarting Fennec will cause it to load the apitrace library and the apitrace log will be saved to /data/data/org.mozilla.fennec_username/firefox.trace
 
You can then adb pull /data/data/org.mozilla.fennec_username/firefox.trace and analyse it on your desktop.
 
You can also use qapitrace as a GUI to inspect your trace files. (be sure to switch qapitrace to the EGL api using the options dialog)
 
These instructions provide a trace that does not include the Java GL code. To get traces including java code is more complicated. You need to use
the patch from this bug https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=749859 and this version of https://github.com/ideak/apitrace/tree/dev. Further, you'll need to build your own image/modify the current one to replace /init.rc. You also need to disable hardware acceleration of the UI (https://bug746703.bugzilla.mozilla.org/attachment.cgi?id=619009) Ask jrmuizel for more information if you want to do this.
 
=== about:memory ===
about:memory provides heaps (ha!) of useful memory information.
 
You can obtain a snapshot of memory info from a running Fennec instance using:
 
  adb shell am broadcast -a org.mozilla.gecko.MEMORY_DUMP
 
This dumps a json file to the SD card and prints out the exact filename to logcat. You can pull the json file to desktop using
 
  adb pull <absolute-path-to-file>
 
and view it in firefox's about:memory: use the "Read reports from a file" option at the bottom of the about:memory page.
 
=== Profiling ===
 
See https://wiki.mozilla.org/Mobile/Fennec/Android/Profiling.
 
=== Debugging Java code with DDMS ===
 
See http://developer.android.com/tools/debugging/ddms.html
 
== Other useful tips and tricks  ==
 
=== Addons ===
There are some addons which may be useful for development purposes. See [[Mobile/Fennec/Android/Development/Addons]].
 
=== Tweaking UI prefs ===
By default, all of these prefs are set to "-1" in Fennec, meaning they take the values listed below, which are maintained in Axis.java.
 
Fractional values are specified in 1/1000th of a value; to specify a value of 0.3, write 300.
 
Note: You need to restart Fennec after changing these values.
 
{|
! Pref !! Default value !! Description !!
|-
| ui.scrolling.friction_slow || 850 || This fraction in 1000ths of velocity remains after every animation frame when the velocity is low.||
|-
| ui.scrolling.friction_fast || 970 || This fraction in 1000ths of velocity remains after every animation frame when the velocity is high.||
|-
| ui.scrolling.velocity_threshold || 10 || Below this velocity (in pixels per frame), the friction changes from friction_fast to friction_slow.||
|-
| ui.scrolling.max_event_acceleration || 12 || The maximum velocity change factor between events, per ms, in 1000ths. ||
|-
| ui.scrolling.overscroll_decel_rate || 40 || The rate of deceleration when the surface has overscrolled, in 1000ths. ||
|-
| ui.scrolling.overscroll_snap_limit || 300 || The fraction of the surface which can be overscrolled before it must snap back, in 1000ths. ||
|-
| ui.scrolling.min_scrollable_distance || 500 || The minimum amount of space that must be present for an axis to be considered scrollable, in 1/1000ths of pixels. ||
|-
| gfx.displayport.strategy || 1 || The strategy we use to determine how display ports are calculated. 0 = fixed margin, 1 = velocity bias, 2 = dynamic resolution, 3 = no margins ||
|-
| gfx.displayport.strategy_fm.multiplier || 1500 || When gfx.displayport.strategy = 0 (fixed margin), the 1000th of each dimension of the viewport the displayport is sized to. ||
|-
| gfx.displayport.strategy_fm.danger_x || 100 || When gfx.displayport.strategy = 0 (fixed margin), the 1000th of the width of the viewport the horizontal danger zone is set to.
 
 
Danger zone is defined as the space at the edge of the viewport at which the viewport (and hence displayport) starts being changed.
|-
| gfx.displayport.strategy_fm.danger_y || 200 || When gfx.displayport.strategy = 0 (fixed margin), the 1000th of the height of the viewport the vertical danger zone is set to. ||
|-
| gfx.displayport.strategy_vb.multiplier || 1500 || When gfx.displayport.strategy = 1 (velocity bias), the 1000th of each dimension of the viewport the displayport is sized to. ||
|-
| gfx.displayport.strategy_vb.threshold || 32 || When gfx.displayport.strategy = 1 (velocity bias), the threshold for velocity, in pixels/frame, when multiplied by the screen DPI. ||
|-
| gfx.displayport.strategy_vb.reverse_buffer || 200 || When gfx.displayport.strategy = 1 (velocity bias), the fraction of the buffer (in 1000ths) to be kept in the direction opposite the direction of the scroll. ||
|-
|}
 
=== Invalidate the JavaScript startup cache ===
 
To make life easier for developers, '''in local development builds only''', {{bug|976216}} invalidates the JavaScript startup cache every time Firefox for Android starts.  On non-local development builds (including TBPL builds and try builds), the JavaScript startup cache is not invalidated at startup.
 
Background: JavaScript files and modules (like <code>browser.js</code>) are cached for fast startup.  The cache is invalidated only when an internal build ID is updated, which only happens when certain C++ code is rebuilt.  That doesn't happen for most patches that only touch Java and JavaScript within <code>mobile/android</code>.  See {{bug|695145}} for the details of this build ID handling.  If you happen to be building a non-local development build in some way, you might need to invalidate the JavaScript startup cache by touching <code>toolkit/xre/nsAndroidStartup.cpp</code> and rebuilding libxul.
 
=== killer script ===
 
#!/bin/sh
if [ $# -ne 1 ]
then
    echo "usage: $0  packagename.of.your.activity"
    echo "for example:"
    echo "  $0 org.mozilla.fennec"
    exit
fi
p=`adb shell ps | grep $1 | awk '{print $2}'`
if [ "$p" = "" ];
then
    echo "ERROR: That doesn't seem to be a running process. Please make sure your"
    echo "application has been started and that you are using the correct"
    echo "namespace argument."
    exit
fi
adb shell run-as $1 kill $p
 
=== .gdbinit ===
 
This is an example .gdbinit that uses the symbols from a locally built rom and automatically attaches to gdbserver. Note that putting a ''.gdbinit'' file inside a directory will make gdb load it thus you will not pollute your regular gdb init with those configurations.
 
set solib-search-path /home/blassey/android/system/out/target/product/passion/symbols/system/bin:/home/blassey/android/system/out/target/product/passion/symbols/system/lib/:/home/blassey/src/ndk5-m-c/objdir-droid-dbg/dist/bin
set solib-absolute-prefix /home/blassey/android/system/out/target/product/passion/symbols/system/lib/
target remote localhost:12345
 
=== Rooting Android devices ===
 
See [[Mobile/Fennec/Android/Rooting|Rooting Android Devices]].
 
=== Sign a Fennec build ===
Nightly builds are available unsigned, so that you can sign them with your local debug key and install them on top of your own debug builds (without uninstalling and losing your profile). To sign and install the unsigned nightly build:
   
  wget http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/mobile/nightly/latest-mozilla-central-android-r7/gecko-unsigned-unaligned.apk
  jarsigner -sigalg SHA1withRSA -digestalg SHA1 -keystore ~/.android/debug.keystore -storepass android -keypass android gecko-unsigned-unaligned.apk androiddebugkey
  zipalign -f -v 4 gecko-unsigned-unaligned.apk gecko-signed-aligned.apk
  adb install -r gecko-signed-aligned.apk
 
Or you can also re-sign a signed build. If "fennec.apk" is signed already, this will remove the signature and replace it with your own. The result will be saved as "fennec-resigned.apk":
   
  zip fennec.apk -d META-INF/*
  jarsigner -sigalg SHA1withRSA -digestalg SHA1 -keystore ~/.android/debug.keystore -storepass android -keypass android fennec.apk androiddebugkey
  zipalign -f -v 4 fennec.apk fennec-resigned.apk
 
If you get this error when you try to sign a package:
   
  jarsigner: unable to sign jar: java.util.zip.ZipException: invalid entry compressed size (expected 16716 but got 16964 bytes)
   
You should to follow some steps to complete your task:
   
* rename the .apk to .zip
* unzip the file in some folder
* remove the METAINF folder
* zip the remaining files
* change the name .zip to .apk
* sign again
 
To verify if everything is alright use the command
   
  jarsigner -verbose -verify
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