Import and building the project (Android, iOS, Windows Phone)

We must import the IBMAppCenter project into MobileFirst Studio and then build the project.

Follow the normal procedure to import a project into MobileFirst Studio.

1. Select File > Import.

2. Select General > Existing Project into Workspace.

3. On the next page, select Select root directory and locate the root of the IBMAppCenter project.

4. Select "IBMAppCenter project".

5. Select "Copy projects into workspace". This selection creates a copy of the project in the workspace. On UNIX systems, the IBMAppCenter project is read only at the original location. so copying projects into workspace avoids problems with file permissions.

6. Click Finish to import the IBMAppCenter project into MobileFirst Studio.

What to do next

Build the IBMAppCenter project. The MobileFirst project contains a single application named AppCenter. Right-click the application and select Run as > Build All Environments.

Android

MobileFirst Studio generates a native Android project in IBMAppCenter/apps/AppCenter/android/native. A native Android development tools (ADT) project is in the android/native folder. We can compile and sign this project using the ADT tools. This project requires Android SDK level 16 to be installed, so the resulting APK is compatible with all Android versions 2.3 and later. If we choose a higher level of the Android SDK when you build the project, the resulting APK will not be compatible with Android version 2.3.

See the Android site for developers for more specific Android information that affects the mobile client application.

To enable push notifications for application updates, we must first configure the Application Center client properties. See Configure push notifications for application updates.

iOS

MobileFirst Studio generates a native iOS project in IBMAppCenter/apps/AppCenter/iphone/native. The IBMAppCenterAppCenterIphone.xcodeproj file is in the iphone/native folder. This file is the Xcode project that we must compile and sign using Xcode.

See The Apple developer site to learn more about how to sign the iOS mobile client application. To sign an iOS application, we must change the Bundle Identifier of the application to a bundle identifier that can be used with the provisioning profile that we use. The value is defined in the Xcode project settings as com.your_internet_domain_name.appcenter, where your_internet_domain_name is the name of your internet domain.

To enable push notifications for application updates, we must first configure the Application Center client properties. See Configure push notifications for application updates.

Windows Phone 8

MobileFirst Studio generates a native Windows Phone 8 project in IBMAppCenter/apps/AppCenter/windowsphone8/native. The AppCenter.csproj file is in the windowsphone8/native folder. This file is the Visual Studio project that we must compile using Visual Studio and the Windows Phone 8 SDK.

See Windows Phone Dev Center to learn more about how to build and sign the Windows Phone mobile client application.

See Develop MobileFirst applications.about how create hybrid mobile applications with MobileFirst Studio.

Parent topic: Preparations for using the mobile client