| page.title=Using the Support Library |
| parent.title=Building a Dynamic UI with Fragments |
| parent.link=index.html |
| |
| trainingnavtop=true |
| next.title=Creating a Fragment |
| next.link=creating.html |
| |
| @jd:body |
| |
| <div id="tb-wrapper"> |
| <div id="tb"> |
| <h2>This lesson teaches you to</h2> |
| <ol> |
| <li><a href="#Setup">Set Up Your Project with the Support Library</a></li> |
| <li><a href="#Apis">Import the Support Library APIs</a></li> |
| </ol> |
| <h2>You should also read</h2> |
| <ul> |
| <li><a href="{@docRoot}tools/extras/support-library.html">Support Library</a></li> |
| </ul> |
| </div> |
| </div> |
| |
| <p>The Android <a href="{@docRoot}tools/extras/support-library.html">Support Library</a> provides a JAR |
| file with an API library that allows you to use some of the more recent Android APIs in your app |
| while running on earlier versions of Android. For instance, the Support Library provides a version |
| of the {@link android.app.Fragment} APIs that you can use on Android 1.6 (API level 4) and |
| higher.</p> |
| |
| <p>This lesson shows how to set up your app to use the Support Library in order to use fragments |
| to build a dynamic app UI.</p> |
| |
| |
| <h2 id="Setup">Set Up Your Project with the Support Library</h2> |
| |
| <div class="figure" style="width:527px"> |
| <img src="{@docRoot}images/training/basics/sdk-manager.png" alt="" /> |
| <p class="img-caption"><strong>Figure 1.</strong> The Android SDK Manager with the |
| Android Support package selected.</p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <p>To set up your project:</p> |
| |
| <ol> |
| <li>Download the Android Support package using the SDK Manager.</li> |
| |
| <li>Create a <code>libs</code> directory at the top level of your Android project.</li> |
| <li>Locate the JAR file for the library you want to use and copy it into the <code>libs/</code> |
| directory. |
| <p>For example, the library that supports API level 4 and up is located at |
| <code><sdk>/extras/android/support/v4/android-support-v4.jar</code>.</p></li> |
| <li>Update your manifest file to set the minimum API level to <code>4</code> and the target |
| API level to the latest release: |
| <pre><uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="4" android:targetSdkVersion="15" /></pre> |
| </li> |
| </ol> |
| |
| |
| <h2 id="Apis">Import the Support Library APIs</h2> |
| |
| <p>The Support Library includes a variety of APIs that were either added in recent versions of |
| Android or don't exist in the platform at all and merely provide additional support to you when |
| developing specific application features.</p> |
| |
| <p>You can find all the API reference documentation for the Support Library in the |
| platform docs at {@link android.support.v4.app android.support.v4.*}.</p> |
| |
| <div class="warning"><p><strong>Warning:</strong> To be sure that you don't accidentally use new |
| APIs on an older system version, be certain that you import the {@link |
| android.support.v4.app.Fragment} class and related APIs from the {@link android.support.v4.app} |
| package:</p> |
| <pre> |
| import android.support.v4.app.Fragment; |
| import android.support.v4.app.FragmentManager; |
| ... |
| </pre> |
| </div> |
| |
| |
| <p>When creating an activity that hosts fragments while using the Support Library, you must also |
| extend the {@link android.support.v4.app.FragmentActivity} class instead of the traditional {@link |
| android.app.Activity} class. You'll see sample code for the fragment and activity in the next |
| lesson.</p> |
| |