How to use the C++ REST SDK on Android (2.3+)
The easiest way to use the C++ REST SDK on android is to add the "C++ REST SDK - Android" NuGet package available via Visual Studio 2015 (including the free Community Edition). Go to
Using NuGet to add the C++ REST SDK to a VS project for general information about adding NuGet packages.
After adding the package, you will need to enable exceptions, rtti, c++11, and the GNU standard library (gnustl_static). These options are all found under
Configuration Properties as follows:
- General -> Use of STL = gnustl_static
- C++ -> Code Generation -> Enable C++ Exceptions = Unwind Tables (-funwind-tables)
- C++ -> Language -> Enable Run-Time Type Information = Yes
- C++ -> Language -> C++ Language Standard = C++11
Finally, you will need to add some small initialization code detailed under
StaticLinking. In addition to the instructions mentioned here, you can get a walkthrough with a simple sample application from this
blog post.
Non-NuGet
First, follow the steps here:
Setup and Build on AndroidYou will need to link against the following from your project:
- build.armv7.debug/Binaries/libcpprest.a
- Boost-for-Android/build/lib/libboost_*-clang-mt-1_55.a
- libiconv/armeabi-v7a/lib/libiconv.a (removed in version 2.6.0)
- openssl/armeabi-v7a/lib/libssl.a
- openssl/armeabi-v7a/lib/libcrypto.a
- libm (math library, link with -lm)
- liblog (logging library, link with -llog)
You will also need to include the headers for boost and the C++ REST SDK:
- ../../Release/include
- Boost-for-Android/build/include/boost-1_55
Use the included documentation with your NDK to add these prebuilt libraries and include paths. An outdated version of the relevant documentation is hosted at
http://www.kandroid.org/ndk/docs/PREBUILTS.html.
Static Linking and Initialization
The C++ REST SDK prefers static linking for Android since version 2.3. This makes it much simpler for both Native Activities and Java-based Activities since there is only one shared object file in the final app bundle.
However, in order to prevent conflicts with other code, you must provide a pointer to the JVM to the SDK before it can initialize. This pointer is provided through the method
cpprest_init(vm) which is located in the
pplx/pplxtasks.h header file.
Note: If you do not do this, your application will terminate upon attempting to create a task.Native Activity (android_main)
For most NativeActivity projects, if you have an entry point like
void android_main(struct android_app* state) {
You can add the following code at the top of the
android_main function:
cpprest_init(state->activity->vm);
Other Shared Libraries (JNI_OnLoad)
For most shared library projects, you will simply need to copy the following code into your main cpp file:
extern "C" jint JNI_OnLoad(JavaVM* vm, void* reserved)
{
JNIEnv* env;
if (vm->GetEnv(reinterpret_cast<void**>(&env), JNI_VERSION_1_6) != JNI_OK)
{
return -1;
}
cpprest_init(vm);
return JNI_VERSION_1_6;
}