How to build the MuPDF viewer for Android

Prerequisites

You need a working Android development environment, consisting of the Android SDK and the Android NDK. The easiest way is to use Android Studio to download and install the SDK and NDK. Make sure that the Android/Sdk/tools and Android/Sdk/ndk-bundle directories are on your path.

You also need Oracle's Java JDK (OpenJDK is not compatible with Android). You also need the Apache Ant build system. You also need Git, GNU Make, and a C compiler.

If everything is working, you should be able to run these commands from the command line:

Android SDK tools: android, emulator, and adb.
Android NDK tools: ndk-build.
Oracle Java JDK 8: java, and javac.
Apache Ant: ant.
Git: git.
GNU Make: make, or gmake.
C compiler: cc, gcc, or clang.

Building

Download the project using Git (and don't forget the --recursive flag):

$ git clone --recursive git://git.ghostscript.com/mupdf-android-viewer-mini.git

If all tools have been installed as per the prerequisites, build the app using make:

$ make

The makefile will take care of setting up the android project and configuration files. This is of course assuming that you have set up the pre-requisites properly.

Running

To run the app in the android emulator, first you'll need to set up an "Android Virtual Device" for the emulator. Run "android avd" and create a new device. You can also use Android Studio to set up a virtual device. Use the x86 ABI for best emulator performance.

Then launch the emulator, or connect a device with USB debugging enabled:

$ emulator -avd MyVirtualDevice &

Then copy some test files to the device:

$ adb push file.pdf /mnt/sdcard/Download

Then install the app on the device:

$ make install

In order to build, install, and launch the app in one step:

$ make run

To see the error and debugging message log:

$ adb logcat

Release

To release you MUST first change the package name. Do NOT use the com.artifex domain for your custom app!

$ mv src/com/artifex src/com/YourCompanyName

Change all references to com.artifex.mupdf.mini into com.YourCompanyName.mupdf.mini in the Java source files and XML resources.

In order to sign a release build, you will need to create a key and a key store.

$ keytool -genkey -v -keystore android.keystore -alias MyKey \
    -validity 3650 -keysize 2048 -keyalg RSA

Then add the following entries to local.properties:

key.store=android.keystore
key.store.password=your keystore password
key.alias=MyKey
key.alias.password=your key password

If your keystore has been set up properly, you can now build a release APK.

$ make release

Good Luck!