Adding support for ".res-auto" in ContentProvider authorities in AndroidManifest.xml. This replaces ".res-auto" with the current package name, making it possible to install multiple build variants on the same devices without getting [INSTALL_FAILED_CONFLICTING_PROVIDER]

AndroidManifest.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="com.trifork.example"
    android:installLocation="auto"
    android:versionName="@string/client_info" >

    <!-- ... -->
 
    <application
        android:hardwareAccelerated="true"
        android:icon="@drawable/icon"
        android:label="@string/app_name"
        android:theme="@style/Theme.Standard" >

        <!-- ... -->

        <provider
            android:name="path.to.provider.ProviderImpl"
            android:authorities=".res-auto.path.to.provider.ProviderImpl"
            android:exported="false" >
        </provider>

        <provider
            android:name="path.to.provider.ProviderImpl"
            android:authorities="@string/provider_auth"
            android:exported="false" >
        </provider>
    </application>
</manifest>

build.gradle

buildscript {
    repositories {
        mavenCentral()
    }
    dependencies {
        classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:0.6.+'
    }
}

apply plugin: 'android'
apply from: './build_extras.gradle'

repositories {
    mavenCentral()
}

android {
    compileSdkVersion 18
    buildToolsVersion "18.0.1"

    defaultConfig {
        minSdkVersion 10
        targetSdkVersion 18
    }
}

dependencies {
}

build_extras.gradle

/**
 * Version 1.1.
 *
 * Add support for installing multiple variants of the same app which have a
 * content provider. Do this by overriding occurrences of ".res-auto" in
 * android:authorities with the current package name (which should be unique)
 *
 * V1.0 : Initial version
 * V1.1 : Support for ".res-auto" in strings added, 
 *        eg. use "<string name="auth">.res-auto.path.to.provider</string>"
 *
 */
def overrideProviderAuthority(buildVariant) {
    def flavor = buildVariant.productFlavors.get(0).name
    def buildType = buildVariant.buildType.name
    def pathToManifest = "${buildDir}/manifests/${flavor}/${buildType}/AndroidManifest.xml"

    def ns = new groovy.xml.Namespace("http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android", "android")
    def xml = new XmlParser().parse(pathToManifest)
    def variantPackageName = xml.@package

    // Update all content providers
    xml.application.provider.each { provider ->
        def newAuthorities = provider.attribute(ns.authorities).replaceAll('.res-auto', variantPackageName)
        provider.attributes().put(ns.authorities, newAuthorities)
    }

    // Save modified AndroidManifest back into build dir
    saveXML(pathToManifest, xml)

    // Also make sure that all strings with ".res-auto" are expanded automagically
    def pathToValues = "${buildDir}/res/all/${flavor}/${buildType}/values/values.xml"
    xml = new XmlParser().parse(pathToValues)
    xml.findAll{it.name() == 'string'}.each{item ->
        if (!item.value().isEmpty() && item.value()[0].startsWith(".res-auto")) {
            item.value()[0] = item.value()[0].replace(".res-auto", variantPackageName)
        }
    }
    saveXML(pathToValues, xml)
}

def saveXML(pathToFile, xml) {
    def writer = new FileWriter(pathToFile)
    def printer = new XmlNodePrinter(new PrintWriter(writer))
    printer.preserveWhitespace = true
    printer.print(xml)
}

// Post processing of AndroidManifest.xml for supporting provider authorities
// across build variants.
android.applicationVariants.all { variant ->
    variant.processManifest.doLast {
        overrideProviderAuthority(variant)
    }
}

OK, I still haven't got the modified value.xml to make it into a deployed build with the latest Android Studio plugin/Gradle, but I have got the process working other than that.

The alternative I'm using is simply to define something like:

public final static String AUTHORITY = BuildConfig.PACKAGE_NAME + ".MyProviderName";

in my provider class, and using the direct form of .res-auto in the manifest:

<provider android:name=".MyProviderName" android:authorities=".res-auto.MyProviderName" />

which works fine. Since the provider I'm specifically using is a SearchSuggestionProvider, I also tried adding a new section to overrideProviderAuthority that processes searchable configuration xml files, but this suffers from the same issue as values.xml - the modified version is getting replaced with the original prior to deployment.

I do not, as yet, have a workaround for that...

@influenced, in searchable.xml you can use something like

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<searchable xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
            android:label="@string/app_name"
            android:hint="@string/search_hint"
            android:searchSuggestAuthority="@string/search_provider"
            android:searchSuggestSelection=" ?"
        >
</searchable>

and add to your strings.xml

    <string name="search_provider">.res-auto.util.LocationSuggestionProvider</string>

But I do have the same issue with the values being overwritten when I use IntelliJ.

That's what I'd like to do - and what I originally did - but by the time it gets onto the device, it'll have been reset to .res-auto again, so the OS won't be able to find that provider.

I spent way too much time on this, but I finally have a version that works. Please check out https://gist.github.com/paour/9189462

@influenced: do you manage to get .res-auto replaced when you hit run/debug?