Build project with Android.bp for GNU/Linux system

Question

I'm developing a command line tool which I run in Android; but I would also like to compile and run it stand alone on a desktop system, for instance a Ubuntu GNU/Linux system.

Currently it use an Android.bp file and is built it in AOSP.

How could I build for GNU/Linux system using the Android.bp?

I could of course just rewrite the Android.bp as a plain old Makefile but I would prefer not to create this extra layer of code to maintain.

Answer 1

You can specify which target your module should be built for: Android, Host, or Both. Host means GNU/Linux if that is what you build the AOSP in.

Android

This is the typical binary module to be built for the device architecture.

cc_binary {
    name: "my-binary",
    srcs: [ "main.cpp" ],
    shared_libs: [ "libcutils" ]
}

Host

There are multiple _host module types (e.g. cc_binary_host, cc_test_host, java_binary_host) that will create host binaries.

cc_binary_host {
    name: "my-binary-host",
    srcs: [ "main.cpp" ],
    shared_libs: [ "libcutils" ]
}

Both

If you want to build both, a device binary and a host binary, you can use host_supported: true.

cc_binary {
    name: "my-binary",
    srcs: [ "main.cpp" ],
    shared_libs: [ "libcutils" ],
    host_supported: true
}

You might want to specify additional flags, defines, sources, etc. for android or host. You can do that with the target property:

cc_binary {
    name: "my-binary",
    srcs: [ "main.cpp" ],
    shared_libs: [ "libcutils" ],
    host_supported: true,

    target: {
        android: {
            // android specific properties
        },
        host: {
            // host-side specific properties
        }
    }
}

A note on module dependencies

Every module another module depends on needs to be supported for the same target.

Example: a cc_binary_host cannot depend on a cc_library with host_supported: false.