How do I create an Apk file in Visual Studio for developing Xamarin UI tests?

Question

I am trying to develop Xamarin.UiTests using this: "Introduction to Xamarin UITests which says my setup code needs to look like this:

[SetUp]
public void Setup()
{
    app = ConfigureApp.Android.AppBundle("/path/to/application.apk").StartApp();
}

Previously I used to used to right click my project and press "Publish .apk file" which would create me a file to use. A similar technique is talked about here: http://www.sweet-web-design.com/wordpress/how-to-build-your-android-app-for-testing-in-visual-studio/2581/

But now Xamarin have introduced something called "Archiving" which is talked about here: https://developer.xamarin.com/releases/vs/xamarin.vs_4/xamarin.vs_4.2/#publishing

Which states:

The new Archive command replaces the old Build > Export Android Package (.apk) and Tools > Android > Publish Android App commands.

The archive button gives me an error which I cannot actually read all of (no matter how big I make the window) see below:

So is there a way I can create an .apk file using visual studio, preferably without the "Archive" feature (as creating a seperate package version while developing ui tests seems like a waste of time, plus doesn't actually work)

If you right-click in the error message box, does it give you the option to select all? If so, can you copy the full error message — BytesGuy, Jan 27 '17 at 13:08
@SushiHangover do you have any examples or links of how I can do that? That would be great, I could integrate that into my test — JKennedy, Jan 27 '17 at 14:33
@user1 Try https://forums.xamarin.com/discussion/2114/create-apk-from-command-line Let me know if you have problems.... — SushiHangover, Jan 27 '17 at 14:37
I've received an error much like this when I tried to launch the Archive Manager while the project was not in Release mode. — Trevor Balcom, Jan 27 '17 at 20:25

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 30 '18 at 13:47

If you have your application installed on your android device, you can use something like this:

[SetUp]
public void BeforeEachTest()
{
  app = ConfigureApp.Android.InstalledApp("package_name").StartApp();
}

where "package_name" is the name of your package. You can get it from android manifest under the name package

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 29 '17 at 16:48

0

If you associate the UITest project with your Android project then the .apk should be generated automatically when you build the UITest project.

From the Xamarin documentation:

The next step is to establish the association between the UITest project and the mobile apps. Right click on the References folder in the UITest project and select Add References... from the context menu. Select the mobile app projects from the Reference Manager dialog that appears.

When this is done you should not need to specify the path to the app bundle in your UITest. The .apk path should be determined by Xamarin.UITest since the project is referenced.

answered Jan 29 '17 at 16:48

Matt Ward

47,057
5
93
94

Thanks for the link. I have followed the steps and referenced my dll but I still get the error: `System.Exception : ApkFile or InstalledApp has not been configured`. I am calling `app = ConfigureApp.Android.WaitTimes(new WaitTimes()).EnableLocalScreenshots().StartApp(Xamarin.UITest.Configuration.AppDataMode.DoNotClear);`. Where should I be able to find my .apk file? I cant see it in any debug folders – JKennedy Jan 30 '17 at 08:52
@User1 - Yes it does not seem to work in Visual Studio. The .apk is not generated. This does work in Xamarin Studio. The only workaround I know of is to explicitly call the SignAndroidPackage MSBuild target from the command line: `msbuild /t:SignAndroidPackage YourAndroid.csproj`. That will create an .apk in the bin\Debug directory. I could not find an easy way to enable that for every build - but it may be possible to do that. – Matt Ward Jan 30 '17 at 11:37

How do I create an Apk file in Visual Studio for developing Xamarin UI tests?

2 Answers2