doc/docs/en/manuals/extensions-manifest-merge-tool.md

---

title: Native extensions - Manifest Merge Tools

brief: This manual describes how the merging of application manifests work

Application manifests

For some platforms we support extensions supplying snippets (or stubs) of application manifests. It can me part of an AndroidManifest.xml, Info.plist or engine_template.html

Each extension manifest stub will be applied one after another, starting with the application base manifest. The base manifest is either the default one (in builtins\manifests\<platforms>\...), or a custom one supplied by the user.

Naming and Structure

The extension manifests must be placed in a certain structure for the extension to function as intended.

/myextension
    ext.manifest
    /manifests
        /android
            AndroidManifest.xml
        /ios
            Info.plist
        /osx
            Info.plist
        /web
            engine_template.html

Android

The Android platform already has a manifest merging tool (based on ManifestMerger2), and we use it inside bob.jar to merge manifests. For a complete set of instructions on how to modify your Android manifests, please refer to their documentation

::: important If you don't set your app's android:targetSdkVersion in your extension manifest, the following permissions will be added automatically: WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE, READ_PHONE_STATE, READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE. You can read more about it in the official documentation here. We recommend to use: <uses-sdk android:targetSdkVersion=“{{android.target_sdk_version}}” /> :::

Example

Base manifest

    <?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
    <manifest xmlns:android='http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android'
            package='com.defold.testmerge'
            android:versionCode='14'
            android:versionName='1.0'
            android:installLocation='auto'>
        <uses-feature android:required='true' android:glEsVersion='0x00020000' />
        <uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion='9' android:targetSdkVersion='26' />
        <application android:label='Test Project' android:hasCode='true'>
        </application>
        <uses-permission android:name='android.permission.VIBRATE' />
    </manifest>

Extension manifest:

    <?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
    <manifest xmlns:android='http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android' package='com.defold.testmerge'>
         <uses-sdk android:targetSdkVersion=“{{android.target_sdk_version}}” />
        <uses-feature android:required='true' android:glEsVersion='0x00030000' />
        <application>
            <meta-data android:name='com.facebook.sdk.ApplicationName'
                android:value='Test Project' />
            <activity android:name='com.facebook.FacebookActivity'
              android:theme='@android:style/Theme.Translucent.NoTitleBar'
              android:configChanges='keyboard|keyboardHidden|screenLayout|screenSize|orientation'
              android:label='Test Project' />
        </application>
    </manifest>

Result

    <?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
    <manifest xmlns:android='http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android'
        package='com.defold.testmerge'
        android:installLocation='auto'
        android:versionCode='14'
        android:versionName='1.0' >
        <uses-sdk
            android:minSdkVersion='9'
            android:targetSdkVersion='26' />
        <uses-permission android:name='android.permission.VIBRATE' />
        <uses-feature
            android:glEsVersion='0x00030000'
            android:required='true' />
        <application
            android:hasCode='true'
            android:label='Test Project' >
            <meta-data
                android:name='com.facebook.sdk.ApplicationName'
                android:value='Test Project' />
            <activity
                android:name='com.facebook.FacebookActivity'
                android:configChanges='keyboard|keyboardHidden|screenLayout|screenSize|orientation'
                android:label='Test Project'
                android:theme='@android:style/Theme.Translucent.NoTitleBar' />
        </application>
    </manifest>

iOS / macOS

For the Info.plist we use our own implementation to merge two property lists. They can handle lists and dictionaries.

Example

Base Manifest

    <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
    <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC '-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN' 'http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd'>
    <plist version='1.0'>
    <dict>
            <key>NSAppTransportSecurity</key>
            <dict>
                <key>NSExceptionDomains</key>
                <dict>
                    <key>foobar.net</key>
                    <dict>
                        <key>testproperty</key>
                        <true/>
                    </dict>
                </dict>
            </dict>
            <key>INT</key>
            <integer>8</integer>
            <key>REAL</key>
            <real>8.0</real>
            <key>BASE64</key>
            <data>SEVMTE8gV09STEQ=</data>
    </dict>
    </plist>

Extension manifest:

    <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
    <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC '-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN' 'http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd'>
    <plist version='1.0'>
    <dict>
        <key>NSAppTransportSecurity</key>
        <dict>
            <key>NSExceptionDomains</key>
            <dict>
                <key>facebook.com</key>
                <dict>
                    <key>NSIncludesSubdomains</key>
                    <true/>
                    <key>NSThirdPartyExceptionRequiresForwardSecrecy</key>
                    <false/>
                </dict>
            </dict>
        </dict>
        <key>INT</key>
        <integer>42</integer>
    </dict>
    </plist>

Result:

    <?xml version='1.0'?>
    <!DOCTYPE plist SYSTEM 'file://localhost/System/Library/DTDs/PropertyList.dtd'>
    <plist version='1.0'>
        <dict>
            <key>NSAppTransportSecurity</key>
            <dict>
                <key>NSExceptionDomains</key>
                <dict>
                    <key>foobar.net</key>
                    <dict>
                        <key>testproperty</key>
                        <true/>
                    </dict>
                    <key>facebook.com</key>
                    <dict>
                        <key>NSIncludesSubdomains</key>
                        <true/>
                        <key>NSThirdPartyExceptionRequiresForwardSecrecy</key>
                        <false/>
                    </dict>
                </dict>
            </dict>
            <key>INT</key>
            <integer>8</integer>
            <key>REAL</key>
            <real>8.0</real>
            <key>BASE64</key>
            <data>SEVMTE8gV09STEQ=</data>
            <key>INT</key>
            <integer>42</integer>
        </dict>
    </plist>

HTML5

For the html template, we named each section, so that we can match them (e.g. "engine-start"). You can then specify the attributes merge or keep. merge is the default.

Example

Base manifest

    <!DOCTYPE html>
    <html>
    <body>
     <script id='engine-loader' type='text/javascript' src='dmloader.js'></script>
     <script id='engine-setup' type='text/javascript'>
     function load_engine() {
         var engineJS = document.createElement('script');
         engineJS.type = 'text/javascript';
         engineJS.src = '{{exe-name}}_wasm.js';
         document.head.appendChild(engineJS);
     }
     </script>
     <script id='engine-start' type='text/javascript'>
         load_engine();
     </script>
    </body>
    </html>

Extension manifest

    <html>
    <body>
     <script id='engine-loader' type='text/javascript' src='mydmloader.js'></script>
     <script id='engine-start' type='text/javascript' merge='keep'>
         my_load_engine();
     </script>
    </body>
    </html>

Result

    <!doctype html>
    <html>
    <head></head>
    <body>
        <script id='engine-loader' type='text/javascript' src='mydmloader.js'></script>
        <script id='engine-setup' type='text/javascript'>
            function load_engine() {
                var engineJSdocument.createElement('script');
                engineJS.type = 'text/javascript';
                engineJS.src = '{{exe-name}}_wasm.js';
                document.head.appendChild(engineJS);
            }
        </script>
        <script id='engine-start' type='text/javascript' merge='keep'>
            my_load_engine(
        </script>
    </body>
    </html>