cordova/phonegap does not make android directory

Question

ant, java, node.js, phonegap, and my adobe account are all setup properly. The getting started guide says I should be able to type:

cordova create hello com.example.hello "HelloWorld"

to create a phonegap project. This does not work but following these instructions and doing:

phonegap build android

does eventually get me a .apk file. But the getting started guide tells me to open eclipse and navigate to the directory of my project and then set the subdirectory as /android. but /android does not get created when you do phonegap build android so I have nothing to work with.

How do I get phonegap to create the android directory? I am trying to finish the getting started guide instead of taking shortcuts.

James Wong James Wong · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-24T01:12:51

It does seem like you are using PhoneGap 3.0 and for this version, eclipse is not required (only if you want to use it for coding - compared to PhoneGap 1.0-2.x where eclipse was used to compiled the app, for the latest version it is no longer a requirement).

To begin, you should use the phonegap command instead of the cordova command: phonegap create hello com.example.hello "HelloWorld"
Then navigate to /HelloWorld/ folder
You should see atleast these two key folders /www and /platforms. Inside /www is where you place your HTML files and codes, and /platforms/android gets generated when you compile the app with the following command: phonegap build android.

Note: Avoid making any direct changes to files inside /platforms except for config and manifest files. The other files are dynamically generated when you run the build command. All coding should take place within /www.

One more thing, use the 3.0.0 Getting Started guide.

---- February 2014 Update ----

With the release of Cordova 3.3.0, it seems the PhoneGap team is trying to address the naming confusion. The documentations have been updated to recommend people using the cordova command instead. Do not use the ~~phonegap~~ command anymore.

Here is a fresh installation guide for a guaranteed trouble free set up:

Install Cordova (forget the name PhoneGap from now on). For PC:
```
C:> npm install -g cordova
```
From command prompt, navigate to the folder you want to create your project using:
```
cordova create hello com.example.hello HelloWorld
cd HelloWorld
```
Define the OS you want to suppport, we'll go with Android for this example:
```
cordova platform add android
```

Install plugins (If needed). For example we want the following:

cordova plugin add org.apache.cordova.device
cordova plugin add org.apache.cordova.camera
cordova plugin add org.apache.cordova.media-capture
cordova plugin add org.apache.cordova.media

Finally, generate the app using:
```
cordova build android
```
or to directly install the app to your connected device:
```
cordova run android
```

Here is a link to the ~~PhoneGap~~Cordova 3.3.0 Documentation http://docs.phonegap.com/en/3.3.0/guide_cli_index.md.html#The%20Command-Line%20Interface

cordova/phonegap does not make android directory

3 Answers