How to show current Git branch in an Android application programatically?

Question

I want to show the current Hash/Branch Ref of the GIT repo in the About dialog of my Android Application. I can copy it by hand, but it's much more interesting to do it programmatically.

I have a library for my apps, so my activities and my applications inherit from my own library classes. So, I thought of adding a method [getGitHash()] to my library application class. I can refer to the current branch by reading .git/HEAD, which is virtually referenced in a res/raw file under Eclipse project (look here to see how it's done). My project has the R.raw.HEAD resource now.

But now the library can't reference the R.raw.HEAD, so I can't implement the method in the library. The method in the library should be something like this:

public static String getGitHash(int nDigits) { String hash = ""; SB_ResourceReader.LoadRAWFile(R.raw.HEAD,SB_Application.getContext()); return hash; }

LoadRAWFile() is a static method to read raw file content and SB_Application.getContext() is another static method to retrieve... well, the app context.

Is it possible for the library to 'trust' that there will be a certain resource although it is not accessible when compiling?

So while I haven't tried it, in the new dev tools introduced with ics, library projects are a little different. It may be possible to override the content, by creating a stub file, because the values for the variables in R are no longer final. In the final compilation with a android app project it should become final. I haven't tried it, but although this may get around the compilation step, aapt might not actually package the correct content consistently. — Greg Giacovelli
– Greg Giacovelli, Commented Oct 27, 2011 at 5:00
Well, thanks! It sounds like something to study, but I am working on 2.2 for this project and I don't know how coupled are the tools with the ICS entities. — Dani bISHOP
– Dani bISHOP, Commented Oct 27, 2011 at 6:08

Hugo Gresse · Accepted Answer · 2017-02-07 17:12:06Z

More easily (without any plugin), you can achieve this by setting a new resource in your app.gradle like so:

android { defaultConfig { minSdkVersion 16 targetSdkVersion 25 versionCode 1 versionName "1" resValue "string", "gitBranch", gitBranch() } buildTypes {...} } def gitBranch() { def branch = "" def proc = "git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD".execute() proc.in.eachLine { line -> branch = line } proc.err.eachLine { line -> println line } proc.waitFor() branch }

So you'll have access to a new string resource

getString(R.string.gitBranch)

@CaptainCrunch the code shown is neither Kotlin nor java (except the getString at the end but the OP meant for Android so...)

moshe navon · Accepted Answer · 2022-08-25 20:35:33Z

write in the end of build.gradle reuse fun to execute some commands,

static def getExecute(command) { def result = "" def proc = command.execute() proc.in.eachLine { line -> result = line } proc.err.eachLine { line -> println line } proc.waitFor() return result }

then you have 2 options:

1: buildConfig

 buildConfigField "String", "BUILD_TIME", "\"${getExecute("git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD")}\"" buildConfigField "String", "GIT_BRANCH", "\"${getExecute("git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD")}\"" buildConfigField "String", "GIT_COMMIT", "\"${getExecute("git rev-parse --short HEAD")}\"" buildConfigField "String", "GIT_COMMIT_NAME", "\"${getExecute("git show-branch --no-name HEAD")}\"" buildConfigField "String", "GIT_LAST_COMMIT_TIME", "\"${getExecute(" git log -1 --format=%cd")}\"" buildConfigField "String", "GIT_UESRNAME", "\"${getExecute("git config user.name")}\"" buildConfigField "String", "GIT_EMAIL", "\"${getExecute("git config user.email")}\""

and call them like this,

private fun getGitInfo() :String { var gitInfo = "" gitInfo += "build time: " + BuildConfig.BUILD_TIME + "\n" gitInfo += "branch: " + BuildConfig.GIT_BRANCH + "\n" gitInfo += "commit: " + BuildConfig.GIT_COMMIT + "\n" gitInfo += "commit name: " + BuildConfig.GIT_COMMIT_NAME + "\n" gitInfo += "time: " + BuildConfig.GIT_LAST_COMMIT_TIME + "\n" gitInfo += "username: " + BuildConfig.GIT_UESRNAME gitInfo += "email: " + BuildConfig.GIT_EMAIL return gitInfo }

2: resValue

resValue "string", "build_time", getExecute("date") resValue("string", "git_branch", "\"${getExecute("git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD")}\"") resValue("string", "git_commit", "\"${getExecute("git rev-parse --short HEAD")}\"") resValue("string", "git_commit_name", "\"${getExecute("git show-branch --no-name HEAD")}\"") resValue("string", "git_last_commit_time", "\"${getExecute(" git log -1 --format=%cd")}\"") resValue("string", "git_username", "\"${getExecute("git config user.name")}\"") resValue("string", "git_email", "\"${getExecute("git config user.email")}\"")

and call them like this,

private fun getGitInfo() :String { var gitInfo = "" gitInfo += "build time: " + getString(R.string.build_time) + "\n" gitInfo += "branch: " + getString(R.string.git_branch) + "\n" gitInfo += "commit: " + getString(R.string.git_commit) + "\n" gitInfo += "commit name: " + getString(R.string.git_commit_name) + "\n" gitInfo += "time: " + getString(R.string.git_last_commit_time) + "\n" gitInfo += "username: " + getString(R.string.git_username) + "\n" gitInfo += "email: " + getString(R.string.git_email) return gitInfo }

Pal Szasz · Accepted Answer · 2011-10-27 06:16:09Z

If you are using eclipse, try the following: add the .git folder as a source folder, and as inclusion pattern just write "HEAD". This will result in the HEAD file to be stored as an asset (not an android resource!) in the jar. You can access it using the getClass().getResourceAsStream("/HEAD") method:

 try { InputStream is = getClass().getResourceAsStream("/HEAD"); byte buff[] = new byte[256]; int len = is.read(buff); String s = new String(buff, 0, len); System.out.println("!!! HEAD: " + s); } catch (Exception e) { e.printStackTrace(); }

Kurtis Nusbaum · Accepted Answer · 2011-10-27 05:56:01Z

So the way to do this is to script it in your ant build file. You should checkout the various ant file tasks. I think in you case the ReplaceRegEx is just what you need. Put some sort of unique string in the file where you want to put the current git branch your on, run a command to get the current git branch, and replace the unique string with the output of that command.

Thanks @kurtis-nusbaum! I saw something about ant tasks but I didn't even checked it out. Now I have a perfect excuse. Basically what you say is a label replacement, previous to the compilation. As soon as I can, I'll give it a try.

HBB20 · Accepted Answer · 2020-04-07 16:16:50Z

Thanks @Hugo Gresse for your answer. If you are using gradle.kts (Kotlin), then you will need following modifications:

In your build.gradle.kts file:

 android { defaultConfig { compileSdkVersion(29) applicationId = "xxx.xxxxxx.xxxx" minSdkVersion(21) targetSdkVersion(29) versionCode = 3 versionName = "0.0.3" resValue("string", "gitBranch", getGitBranchName()) } } // function to read current git branch name fun getGitBranchName(): String { val process = Runtime.getRuntime().exec("git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD") val sb: StringBuilder = StringBuilder() while (true) { val char = process.inputStream.read() if (char == -1) break sb.append(char.toChar()) } return sb.toString() }

Then you will have access to new string res named gitBranch:

getString(R.string.gitBranch)

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