featureModule = apply plugin: 'com.android.dynamic-feature'
libraryModule = apply plugin: 'com.android.library'
Problem - Using any library resources in feature module requires full package name qualifier which eventually creates a problem for databinding generated classes in feature module.
Description - I have this above app structure. When I am trying to use any library resource in any featureModule it requires to specify the resource with full package name qualifier because by default I have the feature resource R as the main import.
So for any kotlin class let say activity code looks like this
feature-1/TestActivity.kt
internal class TestActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
val binding: ActivityTestBinding = DataBindingUtil.setContentView(this, R.layout.activity_test)
binding.testName.text = getText(R.string.abc_test) // this resource is present in core-lib module
}
}
The above will lead to an unresolved reference error which you can resolve by using full-name so instead of R.string.abc_test use com.blah.core-lib.R.string.abc_test.
R.layout.activity_test
<layout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
<TextView
android:id="@+id/test_name"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:padding="@dimen/spacing_medium"
android:text="@{@string/abc_test}" />
</layout>
But for XML-databinding it creates a bigger problem. Since R.layout.abc_test is in feature module it's not able to access the library resource. I can resolve this by using a utility class & let the utility class return the string with full-package name qualifier but this problem sort of restricts many feature of databinding where I can't use the resource directly in the XML itself.
PS: This all works fine if I convert my feature module to a library module. Even at the code level I don't end up using full package name qualifier if it's a library module.
Does anyone have any better suggestions to resolve this problem for feature modules?