Element Android support can be found in this room: [](https://matrix.to/#/#element-android:matrix.org).
Please set the "hard wrap" setting of Android Studio to 160 chars, this is the setting we use internally to format the source code (Menu `Settings/Editor/Code Style` then `Hard wrap at`).
Please ensure that you're using the project formatting rules (which are in the project at .idea/codeStyles/), and format the file before committing them.
An Android Studio template has been added to the project to help creating all files needed when adding a new screen to the application. Fragment, ViewModel, Activity, etc.
For now, the Matrix SDK and the Element application are in the same project. So there is no specific thing to do, this project should compile without any special action.
If you want to fix an issue in other languages, or add a missing translation, or even add a new language, please use [Weblate](https://translate.element.io/projects/element-android/).
[knit](https://github.com/Kotlin/kotlinx-knit) is a tool which checks markdown files on the project. Also it generates/updates the table of content (toc) of the markdown files.
So everytime the toc should be updated, just run
<pre>
./gradlew knit
</pre>
and commit the changes.
The CI will check that markdown files are up to date by running
Element is currently supported on Android Lollipop (API 21+): please test your change on an Android device (or Android emulator) running with API 21. Many issues can happen (including crashes) on older devices.
You should consider adding Unit tests with your PR, and also integration tests (AndroidTest). Please refer to [this document](./docs/integration_tests.md) to install and run the integration test environment.
**As a general rule, please never edit or add or remove translations to the project in a Pull Request**. It can lead to merge conflict if the translations are also modified in Weblate side. Pull Request containing change(s) on the translation files cannot be merged.
When adding new string resources, please only add new entries in the file `values/strings.xml` ([this file](./library/ui-strings/src/main/res/values/strings.xml)). Translations will be added later by the community of translators using Weblate.
The file `values/strings.xml` must only contain American English (U. S. English) values, as this is the default language of the Android operating system. So for instance, please use "color" instead of "colour". Element Android will still use the language set on the system by the user, like any other Android applications which provide translations. The system language can be any other English language variants, or any other languages. Note that this is also possible to override the system language using the Element Android in-app language settings.
New strings can be added anywhere in the file `values/strings.xml`, not necessarily at the end of the file. Generally, it's even better to add the new strings in some dedicated section per feature, and not at the end of the file, to avoid merge conflict between 2 PR adding strings at the end of the same file.
Please use `plurals` resources when appropriate, and note that some languages have specific rules for `plurals`, so even if the string will always be at the plural form for English, please always create a `plurals` resource.
Specific plural forms can be found [here](https://unicode-org.github.io/cldr-staging/charts/37/supplemental/language_plural_rules.html).
- If the meaning is not the same, please create a new string and do not remove the existing string. See below for instructions to remove existing string.
If a string is not used anymore, it should be removed from the resource, but please do not remove the strings or its translations in the PR. It can lead to merge conflict with Weblate, and to lint error if new translations from deleted strings are added with Weblate.
This is possible to rename ids of the String resources, but since translation files cannot be edited, add TODO in the main strings.xml file above the strings you want to rename.
To group strings per feature, or for any other reasons, it is possible to reorder string resources, but only in the [main strings.xml file](./library/ui-strings/src/main/res/values/strings.xml). ). We do not mind about ordering in the translation files, and anyway this is forbidden to edit manually the translation files.
It is also possible to add empty lines between string resources, and to add XML comments. Please note that the XML comment just above a String resource will also appear on Weblate and be visible to the translators.
Please consider accessibility as an important point. As a minimum requirement, in layout XML files please use attributes such as `android:contentDescription` and `android:importantForAccessibility`, and test with a screen reader if it's working well. You can add new string resources, dedicated to accessibility, in this case, please prefix theirs id with `a11y_`.
For instance, when updating the image `src` of an ImageView, please also consider updating its `contentDescription`. A good example is a play pause button.
Also please check that the colors are ok for all the current themes of Element. Please use `?attr` instead of `@color` to reference colors in the layout. You can check this in the layout editor preview by selecting all the main themes (`AppTheme.Status`, `AppTheme.Dark`, etc.).
