On Nov 29, 2011, at 2:15 PM, Jonathan Pobst wrote: > You simply won't have access to Android APIs added in 2.2 or 2.3. > > If you aren't using them, then nothing is lost. > > If you want to use them when they are available, you will have to > "target" 2.2, set a minimum version of 2.1 in the manifest, and then > ensure you do runtime checks so you only call 2.2+ APIs on 2.2+ devices.
Note that this is potentially brittle. Very brittle. The TargetFrameworkVersion you build against specifies the ABI which is being targeted, and a Java-side change can be source-compatible while breaking ABI, at least the JNI ABI that Mono for Android uses. For example [0], consider android.view.MotionEvent [1]. In API levels 1 through 8, MotionEvent inherited java.lang.Object, and methods such as getDeviceId()[2] were declared on MotionEvent. In API level 9, the new android.view.InputEvent [3] type was added, and the MotionEvent.getDeviceId() method was _moved_ to InputEvent.getDeviceId(). This is a source compatible change (the method is still there), and it's a backward compatible change (apps built against API level 8 still work on API level 9), but it's not a "forward compatible" change, at least not for a Mono for Android app: if you build your MfA app against API level 10 and use the MotionEvent.DeviceId property, the JNI code will be attempting to invoke the InputEvent.getDeviceId() method...which doesn't exist on a target < 9. Result: BOOM. So can you do it? Yes. Do you need to be damn careful and test everything thoroughly? Yes. - Jon [0] This "example" broke our test app, and is the single significant reason that we moved from a single Mono.Android.dll usable for all Android versions to a per-API level Mono.Android.dll. [1] http://developer.android.com/reference/android/view/MotionEvent.html [2] http://developer.android.com/reference/android/view/MotionEvent.html#getDeviceId() [3] http://developer.android.com/reference/android/view/InputEvent.html _______________________________________________ Monodroid mailing list Monodroid@lists.ximian.com UNSUBSCRIBE INFORMATION: http://lists.ximian.com/mailman/listinfo/monodroid
