"xml\provider_paths.xml" file disappears after "briefcase create android"

[pd4321]

The documentation says that after editing pyproject.toml I have to do "briefcase create android" for the changes to take effect. But at the same time this process deletes "xml\provider_paths.xml" and removes the changes made in the "xml\file_paths.xml" file. Is this expected or a bug? Should I make the changes in "xml\file_paths.xml" after doing "briefcase create android"?

[freakboy3742]

Yes, this is completely intended behavior. The contents of the build folder should be considered ephemeral - it can (and will) be deleted at any time if Briefcase needs to do so.

If you need to make modifications to files generated by Briefcase, then yes - those changes need to be made after running briefcase create. However, those changes will be lost the next time you run briefcase create.

If you want to preserve modifications to files generated by Briefcase, the immediate solution is to fork the template that is used for Android support, make your modifications to that template, and then set template = "https://github.com/..." in your pyproject.toml to use the template.

If you can make a case for why Briefcase's default template should be extendable in a particular way, we're open adding other modification points. As an example, we already have configuration items such as android_manifest_extra_content that allow you to define blocks of content you'd like to inject verbatim into your AndroidManifest.xml. Adding analogous entry points to allow injecting custom file_paths.xml content - or even entire new XML configuration files - doesn't seem unreasonable to me. However, we'd need a specific proposal with an example of why it's needed to evaluate that request.

[pd4321]

THX