adb: Explicitly match package name in pm list package output
#135
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The positional `FILTER` argument to `pm list package` works as a substring match: if you have a package named `foo.bar.baz` and `foo.bar.baz_debug` for example, and try to run `foo.bar.baz`, both packages will be returned, the `_debug`-suffixed one likely first, and the wrong UID ends up being used as `logcat` filter. To counter that we could use the very slow and extremely verbose (thousands of lines) `pm dump PACKAGE`, _or_ look for the right explicit text match in the line-based `package:foo.bar.baz uid:1234` output from `pm list package`: the latter approach is chosen here.
MarijnS95
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Sep 11, 2023
This is a port of: rust-mobile/xbuild#131 rust-mobile/xbuild#135 Having never really understood how Android Studio does it, I just stumbled upon this very new [stackoverflow answer] that has a rather beatiful solution to the current problems with `pidof`, without drawbacks. Pidof has always been flaky as it relies on the app to be running, which may either take some time or never happen if the app crashed before `pidof` is first run. This results in silly workarounds such as loops that induce extra delay and need to have an upper bound. And this `pid` changes every time the app is restarted, making it a tedious process that also doesn't react to manual app restarts on the device. Retrieving the `uid` via `pm list packages -U` on the other hand, and passing that to `logcat --uid` has the following advantages: - Always available immediately after the app has been installed, no need to check it in a loop (no extra delay); - Doesn't change after the app is (re!)installed, unless the user fully deletes and installs the app again; - Is resilient against app crashes because of that, and allows the user to see any error/crash related messages straight away; - Still includes logs printed by other system components that run or are invoked within an app, as before. The only downside is that `pm list package` possibly returns multiple packages if there is a substring match; for this reason the code searches for an explicit match in the output. [stackoverflow answer]: https://stackoverflow.com/a/76551835
MarijnS95
added a commit
to rust-mobile/cargo-apk
that referenced
this pull request
Nov 21, 2023
This is a port of: rust-mobile/xbuild#131 rust-mobile/xbuild#135 Having never really understood how Android Studio does it, I just stumbled upon this very new [stackoverflow answer] that has a rather beatiful solution to the current problems with `pidof`, without drawbacks. Pidof has always been flaky as it relies on the app to be running, which may either take some time or never happen if the app crashed before `pidof` is first run. This results in silly workarounds such as loops that induce extra delay and need to have an upper bound. And this `pid` changes every time the app is restarted, making it a tedious process that also doesn't react to manual app restarts on the device. Retrieving the `uid` via `pm list packages -U` on the other hand, and passing that to `logcat --uid` has the following advantages: - Always available immediately after the app has been installed, no need to check it in a loop (no extra delay); - Doesn't change after the app is (re!)installed, unless the user fully deletes and installs the app again; - Is resilient against app crashes because of that, and allows the user to see any error/crash related messages straight away; - Still includes logs printed by other system components that run or are invoked within an app, as before. The only downside is that `pm list package` possibly returns multiple packages if there is a substring match; for this reason the code searches for an explicit match in the output. [stackoverflow answer]: https://stackoverflow.com/a/76551835
MarijnS95
added a commit
to rust-mobile/cargo-apk
that referenced
this pull request
Nov 22, 2023
This is a port of: rust-mobile/xbuild#131 rust-mobile/xbuild#135 Having never really understood how Android Studio does it, I just stumbled upon this very new [stackoverflow answer] that has a rather beatiful solution to the current problems with `pidof`, without drawbacks. Pidof has always been flaky as it relies on the app to be running, which may either take some time or never happen if the app crashed before `pidof` is first run. This results in silly workarounds such as loops that induce extra delay and need to have an upper bound. And this `pid` changes every time the app is restarted, making it a tedious process that also doesn't react to manual app restarts on the device. Retrieving the `uid` via `pm list packages -U` on the other hand, and passing that to `logcat --uid` has the following advantages: - Always available immediately after the app has been installed, no need to check it in a loop (no extra delay); - Doesn't change after the app is (re!)installed, unless the user fully deletes and installs the app again; - Is resilient against app crashes because of that, and allows the user to see any error/crash related messages straight away; - Still includes logs printed by other system components that run or are invoked within an app, as before. The only downside is that `pm list package` possibly returns multiple packages if there is a substring match; for this reason the code searches for an explicit match in the output. [stackoverflow answer]: https://stackoverflow.com/a/76551835
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The positional
FILTERargument topm list packageworks as a substring match: if you have a package namedfoo.bar.bazandfoo.bar.baz_debugfor example, and try to runfoo.bar.baz, both packages will be returned, the_debug-suffixed one likely first, and the wrong UID ends up being used aslogcatfilter.To counter that we could use the very slow and extremely verbose (thousands of lines)
pm dump PACKAGE, or look for the right explicit text match in the line-basedpackage:foo.bar.baz uid:1234output frompm list package: the latter approach is chosen here.