cordova-custom-config plugin

Table of Contents

Overview
- Why should I use it?
- Important note for PhoneGap Build / Intel XDK
Installation
- Using the Cordova/Phonegap CLI
- Using Cordova Plugman
Usage
Example project
TODO
Version notes
Credits
License

Overview

This Cordova/Phonegap plugin for iOS and Android provides hook scripts to update platform configuration files based on custom preferences and config-file data defined in config.xml that are not supported out-of-the-box by Cordova/Phonegap.

Why should I use it?

While some platform preferences can be set via Cordova/Phonegap in the config.xml, many (especially ones related to newer platform releases) cannot. One solution is to manually edit the configuration files in the platforms/ directory, however this is not maintainable across multiple development machines or a CI environment where subsequent build operations may overwrite your changes.

This plugin attempts to address this gap by allowing additional platform-specific preferences to be set after the prepare operation has completed, allowing either preferences set by Cordova to be overridden or other unspecified preferences to be set. Since the custom preferences are entered into the config.xml, they can be committed to version control and therefore applied across multiple development machines, CI environments, and maintained between builds or even if a platform is removed and re-added.

The plugin is registered on npm (requires Cordova CLI 5.0.0+) as cordova-custom-config

Important note for PhoneGap Build / Intel XDK

This plugin WILL NOT WORK with Phonegap Build because it relies on using hook scripts which are not supported by Phonegap Build.

The same goes for Intel XDK which also does not support hook scripts.

If you are using another cloud-based Cordova/Phonegap build service and find this plugin doesn't work, the reason is probably also the same.

Installation

Upon installing this plugin, an after_plugin_add hook script will run to satisfy npm dependencies defined in the package.json. Any modules that need to be installed will be placed in a node_modules folder inside the project folder.

Using the Cordova/Phonegap CLI

$ cordova plugin add cordova-custom-config
$ phonegap plugin add cordova-custom-config

Using Cordova Plugman

$ plugman install --plugin=cordova-custom-config --platform=<platform> --project=<project_path> --plugins_dir=plugins

For example, to install for the Android platform

$ plugman install --plugin=cordova-custom-config --platform=android --project=platforms/android --plugins_dir=plugins

Usage

The hook scripts included in this plugin are run after each platform prepare operation and apply preferences dictated by custom keys in the project config.xml file to the relevant platform config files. As such, all you need to do to "use" this plugin is include the relevant keys in your config.xml and the scripts will take care of the rest when you build your project.

NOTE: There are no run-time source files included in this plugin - it is simply a convenient package of hook scripts.

Removable preferences via backup/restore

By default, any changes made by this plugin to platform config files are irreversible - i.e. if you want to undo changes made by the plugin, you'll need to remove then re-add the Cordova platform, for example:

cordova platform rm android && cordova platform add android

However, if you want the changes made to be reversible, you can enable auto-backup/restore functionality by adding the following preference inside the top-level <widget> element of your config.xml:

<preference name="cordova-custom-config-autorestore" value="true" />

When the first prepare operation runs after the plugin is installed, it will make backup copies of the original configuration files before it makes any modifications. These backup copies are stored in plugins/cordova-custom-config/backup/ and will be restored before each prepare operation, allowing Cordova to make modifications and then the plugin to make further modifications after the prepare.

This means changes made by the plugin are reversible, so removing a custom element from the config.xml will remove it from the platform configuration file on the next prepare operation and uninstalling the plugin will restore the configuration files to their original state (before the plugin made any modifications).

Consequently, any manual changes made to the platform configuration files in platforms/ after installing the plugin will be overwritten by the plugin on the next prepare operation.

To prevent auto-restoring of backups and make manual changes to platform configuration files persist, remove the autorestore preference from the config.xml

Preferences

Preferences are set by defining a <preference> element in the config.xml, e.g. <preference name="android-launchMode" value="singleTop" />

Preferences defined outside of the platform element will apply to all platforms
Preferences defined inside a platform element will apply only to the specified platform
Platform preferences take precedence over common preferences
Platform-specific preferences must be prefixed with the platform name (e.g. name="ios-somepref") and be defined inside a platform element.

Config blocks

<config-file> blocks allow platform-specific chunks of config to be defined as an XML subtree in the config.xml, which is then applied to the appropriate platform configuration file by the plugin.

config-file elements MUST be defined inside a platform element, otherwise they will be ignored.
config-file target attributes specify the target file to update. (AndroidManifest.xml or *-Info.plist)
config-file parent attributes specify the parent element (AndroidManifest.xml) or parent key (*-Info.plist) that the child data will replace or be appended to.
config-file elements are uniquely indexed by target AND parent for each platform.
If there are multiple config-file's defined with the same target AND parent, the last config-file will be used
Elements defined WITHIN a config-file will replace or be appended to the same elements relative to the parent element
If a unique config-file contains multiples of the same elements (other than uses-permission elements which are selected by by the uses-permission name attribute), the last defined element will be retrieved.

Android

The plugin currently supports setting of custom config only in platforms/android/AndroidManifest.xml. For a list of possible manifest values see http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/manifest-intro.html

Android preferences

<preference> elements in config.xml are used to set set attributes on existing elements in the AndroidManifest.xml.
- e.g. <preference name="android-manifest/@android:hardwareAccelerated" value="false" />
- will result in AndroidManifest.xml: <manifest android:hardwareAccelerated="false">
Sometimes there plugins set some defaults in AndroidManifest.xml that you may not want. It is also possible to delete nodes using the preferences and the delete="true" attribute.
- e.g. <preference name="android-manifest/uses-permission/[@android:name='android.permission.WRITE_CONTACTS']/@android:name" delete="true" />
- will delete the existing node <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_CONTACTS" />

Android namespace attribute

Important: In order to user the android: namespace in preferences within your config.xml, you must include the android namespace attribute on the root <widget> element. The namespace attribute fragment is:

xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"

so your <widget> element should look something like:

<widget
    id="com.my.app"
    version="0.0.1"
    xmlns="http://www.w3.org/ns/widgets"
    xmlns:cdv="http://cordova.apache.org/ns/1.0"
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">

XPath preferences

Android manifest preferences are set by using XPaths in the preference name to define which element attribute the value should be applied to.

The preference name should be prefixed with android-manifest then follow with an XPath which specifies the element and attribute to apple the value to.

For example:

<preference name="android-manifest/application/activity/@android:launchMode" value="singleTask" />

This preference specifies that the launchMode attribute should be given a value of singleTask:

<activity android:launchMode="singleTask">

If your manifest contains other activities, you should specify the activity name in the XPath. Note that the activity name for Cordova 4.2.0 and below was "CordovaApp" whereas Cordova 4.3.0 and above is "MainActivity". For example:

<preference name="android-manifest/application/activity[@android:name='MainActivity']/@android:launchMode" value="singleTask" />

If the attribute you are setting is on the root <manifest> element, just omit the element name and specify the attribute. For example:

<preference name="android-manifest/@android:installLocation" value="auto" />

Android config blocks

<config-file> blocks are use to define chunks of config an XML subtree, to be inserted into AndroidManifest.xml
the target attribute must be set to AndroidManifest.xml: <config-file target="AndroidManifest.xml">
the parent attribute defines an Xpath to the parent element in the AndroidManifest.xml under which the XML subtree block should be inserted
- to insert a block under the root <manifest> element, use parent="/*"
- to insert a block under a descendant of <manifest>, use an Xpath prefixed with ./ e.g parent="./application/activity" will insert the block under /manifest/application/activity
the child elements inside the <config-file> block will be inserted under the parent element.

For example:

<config-file target="AndroidManifest.xml" parent="./application">
    <some-element />
</config-file>

will result in AndroidManifest.xml with:

<manifest ...>
    <application ...>
        <some-element />
    </application>
</manifest>

NOTE: if the specified parent element contains an existing child element of the same name as that defined in the XML subtree, the existing element will be overwritten. For example:

<config-file target="AndroidManifest.xml">
    <application android:name="MyApp" />
</config-file>

will replace the existing <application> element. In this case, it would be better to use a preference:

<preference name="android-manifest/application/@android:name" value="MyApp" />

Android example

config.xml:

<platform name="android">
    <!-- custom preferences examples -->
    <preference name="android-manifest/application/activity/@android:windowSoftInputMode" value="stateVisible" />
    <preference name="android-manifest/@android:installLocation" value="auto" />
    <preference name="android-manifest/application/@android:hardwareAccelerated" value="false" />
    <preference name="android-manifest/@android:hardwareAccelerated" value="false" />
    <preference name="android-manifest/application/activity/@android:configChanges" value="orientation" />
    <preference name="android-manifest/application/activity/@android:theme" value="@android:style/Theme.Material" />

    <!-- specify activity name -->
    <preference name="android-manifest/application/activity[@android:name='MainActivity']/@android:launchMode" value="singleTask" />


    <!-- These preferences are actually available in Cordova by default although not currently documented -->
    <preference name="android-minSdkVersion" value="10" />
    <preference name="android-maxSdkVersion" value="22" />
    <preference name="android-targetSdkVersion" value="21" />

    <!-- Or you can use a config-file element for them -->
    <config-file target="AndroidManifest.xml" parent="/*">
        <uses-sdk android:maxSdkVersion="22" android:minSdkVersion="10" android:targetSdkVersion="21" />
    </config-file>


    <!-- custom config example -->
     <config-file target="AndroidManifest.xml" parent="/*">
        <supports-screens
            android:xlargeScreens="false"
            android:largeScreens="false"
            android:smallScreens="false" />

        <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_CONTACTS" android:maxSdkVersion="15" />
        <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_CONTACTS" />
    </config-file>
</platform>

iOS

The plugin currently supports custom configuration of the project plist (*-Info.plist) using config blocks, and project settings (project.pbxproj) using preference elements.
All iOS-specific config should be placed inside the <platform name="ios"> in config.xml.

iOS preferences

<preference> elements are used to set preferences in the project settings file platforms/ios/{PROJECT_NAME}/{PROJECT_NAME}.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj
Preferences should be defined in the format <preference name="ios-SOME_BLOCK_TYPE-SOME_KEY" value="SOME_VALUE" />
- e.g. <preference name="ios-XCBuildConfiguration-ENABLE_BITCODE" value="NO" />

Build Configuration preferences

Currently, XCBuildConfiguration is the only supported block type in the project.pbxproj.
However, there is no constraint on the list of keys for which values may be set.
If an entry already exists in an XCBuildConfiguration block for the specified key, the existing value will be overwritten with the specified value.
If no entry exists in any XCBuildConfiguration block for the specified key, a new key entry will be created in each XCBuildConfiguration block with the specified value.
By default, values will be applied to both "Release" and "Debug" XCBuildConfiguration blocks.
However, the block type can be specified by adding a buildType attribute to the <preference> element in the config.xml: value is either debug or release
- e.g <preference name="ios-XCBuildConfiguration-IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET" value="7.0" buildType="release" />
By default, both the key (preference name) and value will be quote-escaped when inserted into the XCBuildConfiguration block.
- e.g. <preference name="ios-XCBuildConfiguration-IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET" value="7.0" buildType="release" />
- will appear in project.pbxproj as: "IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET" = "7.0";
The default quoting can be override by setting the quote attribute on the <preference> element.
- Valid values are:
  - "none" - don't quote key or value
  - "key" - quote key but not value
  - "value" - quote value but not key
  - "both" - quote both key and value
- e.g. <preference name="ios-XCBuildConfiguration-IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET" value="7.0" buildType="release" quote="none" />
- will appear in project.pbxproj as: IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET = 7.0;

.xcconfig files

Cordova uses .xcconfig files in /platforms/ios/cordova/ to override Xcode project settings in project.pbxproj with build-type specific values.
- build.xcconfig is overriden by settings in build-debug.xcconfig and build-release.xcconfig for the corresponding build type.
When applying a custom preference, the plugin will look for an existing entry in the .xcconfig file that corresponds to the buildType attribute.
- If buildType attribute is "debug" or "release", the plugin will look in build-debug.xcconfig or build-release.xcconfig respectively.
- If buildType is not specified or set to "none", the plugin will look in build.xcconfig.
By default, if an entry is found in the .xcconfig file which corresponds to the custom preference name in the config.xml, the value in the .xcconfig file will be overwritten with the value in the config.xml.
To prevent the plugin from overwriting the value of a specific preference in the corresponding .xcconfig file, set the preference attribute xcconfigEnforce="false".
- e.g <preference name="ios-XCBuildConfiguration-SOME_PREFERENCE" value="Some value" buildType="debug" xcconfigEnforce="false" />
If a preference value doesn't already exist in the corresponding .xcconfig file, you can force its addition by setting the preference attribute xcconfigEnforce="true". This will append it to the corresponding .xcconfig` file.
- e.g <preference name="ios-XCBuildConfiguration-SOME_PREFERENCE" value="Some value" buildType="debug" xcconfigEnforce="true" />
A backup copy of any modified .xcconfig file will be made in 'plugins/cordova-custom-config/backup/ios'. By default, these backups will be restored prior to the next prepare operation.
Auto-restore of the backups can be disabled by setting <preference name="cordova-custom-config-autorestore" value="false" /> in the config.xml.
Preference names and values will not be quote-escaped in .xcconfig files, so the quote attribute has no effect on them.

CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY preferences

Cordova places its default CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY for Release builds in build-release.xcconfig but for Debug builds in `build.xcconfig.
If you set a CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY preference in the config.xml with buildType="release", the plugin will overwrite the defaults in build-release.xcconfig.
- e.g. <preference name="ios-XCBuildConfiguration-CODE\_SIGN\_IDENTITY" value="iPhone Distribution: My Release Profile (A1B2C3D4)" buildType="release" />
If you set a CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY preference in the config.xml with buildType="debug", the plugin will overwrite the defaults in build.xcconfig.
- e.g. <preference name="ios-XCBuildConfiguration-CODE\_SIGN\_IDENTITY" value="iPhone Distribution: My Debug Profile (A1B2C3D4)" buildType="debug" />
You can prevent the CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY preferences being overwritten by setting xcconfigEnforce="false".
- e.g. <preference name="ios-XCBuildConfiguration-CODE\_SIGN\_IDENTITY" value="iPhone Distribution: My Release Profile (A1B2C3D4)" buildType="release" xcconfigEnforce="false" />
You can force the plugin to add a new entry for CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY preference with buildType="debug" to build-debug.xcconfig, rather than overwriting the defaults in build.xcconfig by setting xcconfigEnforce="true". This will still override the defaults in build.xcconfig, because build-debug.xcconfig overrides build.xcconfig.
- e.g. <preference name="ios-XCBuildConfiguration-CODE\_SIGN\_IDENTITY" value="iPhone Distribution: My Debug Profile (A1B2C3D4)" buildType="debug" xcconfigEnforce="true" />

iOS config blocks

<config-file> elements are currently only used to set preferences in the project .plist file (platforms/ios/{PROJECT_NAME}/{PROJECT_NAME}-Info.plist).
the target attribute of the <preference> should be set to *-Info.plist and the platform to ios: <config-file platform="ios" target="*-Info.plist">
the parent attribute is used to determine which key name to use for the custom preference
- e.g. <config-file platform="ios" target="*-Info.plist" parent="NSLocationAlwaysUsageDescription">
- will appear in {PROJECT_NAME}-Info.plist as <key>NSLocationAlwaysUsageDescription</key> under /plist/dict
the value of the preference is set by the child elements of the <config-file> element. These will appear directly below the preference <key> in the .plist file.
- For example:
  
  <config-file platform="ios" target="*-Info.plist" parent="NSLocationAlwaysUsageDescription"> <string>This app requires constant access to your location in order to track your position, even when the screen is off.</string> </config-file>
- will appear in the plist file as:
  
  <key>NSLocationAlwaysUsageDescription</key> <string>This app requires constant access to your location in order to track your position, even when the screen is off.</string>

iOS example

config.xml:

<platform name="ios">

    <!-- Set ENABLE_BITCODE to YES in XCode project file override NO value in /ios/cordova/build.xcconfig -->
    <preference name="ios-XCBuildConfiguration-ENABLE_BITCODE" value="YES" />

    <!-- Set deploy target SDKs for release and debug builds -->
    <preference name="ios-XCBuildConfiguration-IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET" value="9.1" buildType="debug" quote="none" />
    <preference name="ios-XCBuildConfiguration-IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET" value="7.0" buildType="release" />

    <!-- Custom code signing profiles (overriding those in /ios/cordova/*.xcconfig -->
    <preference name="ios-XCBuildConfiguration-CODE\_SIGN\_IDENTITY" value="iPhone Developer: Dave Alden (8VUQ6DYDLL)" buildType="debug" xcconfigEnforce="true" />
    <preference name="ios-XCBuildConfiguration-CODE\_SIGN\_IDENTITY[sdk=iphoneos*]" value="iPhone Developer: Dave Alden (8VUQ6DYDLL)" buildType="debug" />
    <preference name="ios-XCBuildConfiguration-CODE\_SIGN\_IDENTITY[sdk=iphoneos9.1]" value="iPhone Developer: Dave Alden (8VUQ6DYDLL)" buildType="debug" />
    <preference name="ios-XCBuildConfiguration-CODE\_SIGN\_IDENTITY" value="iPhone Distribution: Working Edge Ltd (556F3DRHUD)" buildType="release" xcconfigEnforce="false" />
    <preference name="ios-XCBuildConfiguration-CODE\_SIGN\_IDENTITY[sdk=iphoneos*]" value="iPhone Distribution: Working Edge Ltd (556F3DRHUD)" buildType="release" />
    <preference name="ios-XCBuildConfiguration-CODE\_SIGN\_IDENTITY[sdk=iphoneos9.1]" value="iPhone Distribution: Working Edge Ltd (556F3DRHUD)" buildType="release" />

    <!-- Set orientation on iPhone -->
    <config-file platform="ios" target="*-Info.plist" parent="UISupportedInterfaceOrientations">
        <array>
            <string>UIInterfaceOrientationPortrait</string>
            <string>UIInterfaceOrientationPortraitUpsideDown</string>
        </array>
    </config-file>

    <!-- Set orientation on iPad -->
    <config-file platform="ios" target="*-Info.plist" parent="UISupportedInterfaceOrientations~ipad">
        <array>
            <string>UIInterfaceOrientationPortrait</string>
            <string>UIInterfaceOrientationPortraitUpsideDown</string>
        </array>
    </config-file>

    <!-- Set background location mode -->
    <config-file platform="ios" target="*-Info.plist" parent="UIBackgroundModes">
        <array>
            <string>location</string>
        </array>
    </config-file>

    <!-- Set message displayed when app requests constant location updates -->
    <config-file platform="ios" target="*-Info.plist" parent="NSLocationAlwaysUsageDescription">
        <string>This app requires constant access to your location in order to track your position, even when the screen is off.</string>
    </config-file>

    <!-- Set message displayed when app requests foreground location updates -->
    <config-file platform="ios" target="*-Info.plist" parent="NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription">
        <string>This app will now only track your location when the screen is on and the app is displayed.</string>
    </config-file>

    <!-- Allow arbitrary loading of resources over HTTP on iOS9 -->
    <config-file platform="ios" target="*-Info.plist" parent="NSAppTransportSecurity">
        <dict>
            <key>NSAllowsArbitraryLoads</key>
            <true/>
        </dict>
    </config-file>
</platform>

Plugin preferences

The plugin supports some preferences which are used to customise the behaviour of the plugin. Each preference name is prefixed with cordova-custom-config to avoid name clashes, for example:

<preference name="cordova-custom-config-autorestore" value="true" />

The following preferences are currently supported:

cordova-custom-config-autorestore - if true, the plugin will restore a backup of platform configuration files taken at plugin installation time. See the Removable preferences section for details. Defaults to false.
cordova-custom-config-stoponerror - if true and an error occurs while updating config for a given platform during a prepare operation, the error will cause the prepare operation to fail. If false, the plugin will log the error but will proceed and attempt to update any other platforms, before allowing the prepare operation to continue. Defaults to false.

Log output

If you run the prepare operation with the --verbose command-line option, the plugin will output detail about the operations it's performing. Console messages are prefixed with cordova-custom-config: . For example:

cordova prepare ios --verbose

Example project

An example project illustrating use of this plugin can be found here: https://github.com/dpa99c/cordova-custom-config-example

TODO

See the TODO list for planned features/improvements.

Version notes

cordova-custom-config@2.0.0

changes made by the plugin are non-reversible by default, so removing a custom element from the config.xml will not remove it from the platform configuration file. To make plugin changes reversible, see Removable preferences via backup/restore.
Support for pre-defined preferences used prior to cordova-custom-config@1.1.8 has been removed.

cordova-custom-config@1.1.8

Android manifest preferences are set by using XPaths in the preference name to define which element attribute the value should be applied to.

Credits

Config update hook based on this hook by Diego Netto

NPM module dependency resolution is based on this hook by @nikDemyankov

License

================

The MIT License

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

panaggio / cordova-custom-config