Debugging on Android

Here we describe how to debug a build using Android Studio, the official IDE for Google’s Android operating system.

Android Studio

• Prepare the bundle by setting the android.debuggable option in game.project

  

• Bundle the app in debug mode into a folder of choice.

  

• Launch Android Studio

• Choose Profile or debug APK

  

• Choose the apk bundle you just created

  

• Select the main .so file, and make sure it has debug symbols

  

• If it doesn’t, upload an unstripped .so file. (size is around 20mb)

• Path mappings help you remap where the individual paths from where the executable was built (in the cloud) to an actual folder on your local drive.

• Select the .so file, then add a mapping your local drive

  

  

• If you have access to the engine source, add a path mapping to that too.

• Make sure to checkout the version you are currently debugging

  defold$ git checkout 1.2.148

• Press Apply changes

• You should now see the source mapped in your project

  

• Add a breakpoint

  

• Press Run -> Debug "Appname" and invoke the code you meant to break into

  

• You can now step in the callstack as well as inspect the variables

Notes

Native Extension job folder

Currently, the workflow is a bit troublesome for development. This is because the job folder name is random for each build, making the path mapping invalid for each build.

However, it works fine for a debugging session.

The path mappings are stored in the .iml file in the Android Studio project.

It’s possible to get the job folder from the executable

$ arm-linux-androideabi-readelf --string-dump=.debug_str build/armv7-android/libdmengine.so | grep /job

The jobfolder is named like so job1298751322870374150, each time with a random number.