I've come across a backwards compatibility issue when deploying my application on android 1.6. Im getting a VerifyError on this piece of code:
if(android.os.Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= 11) {
getActionBar().setBackgroundDrawable(getResources().getDrawable(R.drawable.actionbar_bg));
}
This is not unexpected since getActionBar() doesn't exist pre API 11, however post-1.6 (API 5 and higher?) builds all semi-gracefully go around this according to the logcat message im getting when deploying for example on a API level 8 device;
06-27 16:47:04.333: INFO/dalvikvm(11529): Could not find method com.me.app.MyActivity.getActionBar, referenced from method com.me.app.MyActivity.init
06-27 16:47:04.333: WARN/dalvikvm(11529): VFY: unable to resolve virtual method 1090: Lcom.me.app.MyActivity;.getActionBar ()Landroid/app/ActionBar;
06-27 16:47:04.333: DEBUG/dalvikvm(11529): VFY: replacing opcode 0x6e at 0x004f
06-27 16:47:04.333: DEBUG/dalvikvm(11529): VFY: dead code 0x0052-005f in Lcom.me.app.MyActivity;.init (Z)V
1.6 and earlier wont do this but instead throw a VerifyError:
06-27 16:23:45.561: ERROR/dalvikvm(427): Could not find method com.me.app.MyActivity.getActionBar, referenced from method com.me.app.MyActivity.init
06-27 16:23:45.561: WARN/dalvikvm(427): VFY: unable to resolve virtual method 1090: Lcom/me/app/MyActivity;.getActionBar ()Landroid/app/ActionBar;
06-27 16:23:45.561: WARN/dalvikvm(427): VFY: rejecting opcode 0x6e at 0x004f
06-27 16:23:45.561: WARN/dalvikvm(427): VFY: rejected Lcom/me/app/MyActivity;.init (Z)V
06-27 16:23:45.561: WARN/dalvikvm(427): Verifier rejected class Lcom/me/app/MyActivity;
06-27 16:23:45.561: WARN/dalvikvm(427): Class init failed in newInstance call (Lcom/me/app/MyActivity;)
06-27 16:26:44.841: ERROR/AndroidRuntime(427): Uncaught handler: thread main exiting due to uncaught exception
06-27 16:26:44.941: ERROR/AndroidRuntime(427): java.lang.VerifyError: com.me.app.MyActivity
06-27 16:26:44.941: ERROR/AndroidRuntime(427): at java.lang.Class.newInstanceImpl(Native Method)
06-27 16:26:44.941: ERROR/AndroidRuntime(427): at java.lang.Class.newInstance(Class.java:1472)
06-27 16:26:44.941: ERROR/AndroidRuntime(427): at android.app.Instrumentation.newActivity(Instrumentation.java:1097)
06-27 16:26:44.941: ERROR/AndroidRuntime(427): at android.app.ActivityThread.performLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2316)
06-27 16:26:44.941: ERROR/AndroidRuntime(427): at android.app.ActivityThread.handleLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2417)
06-27 16:26:44.941: ERROR/AndroidRuntime(427): at android.app.ActivityThread.access$2100(ActivityThread.java:116)
06-27 16:26:44.941: ERROR/AndroidRuntime(427): at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1794)
06-27 16:26:44.941: ERROR/AndroidRuntime(427): at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:99)
06-27 16:26:44.941: ERROR/AndroidRuntime(427): at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:123)
06-27 16:26:44.941: ERROR/AndroidRuntime(427): at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:4203)
06-27 16:26:44.941: ERROR/AndroidRuntime(427): at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method)
06-27 16:26:44.941: ERROR/AndroidRuntime(427): at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:521)
06-27 16:26:44.941: ERROR/AndroidRuntime(427): at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:791)
06-27 16:26:44.941: ERROR/AndroidRuntime(427): at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:549)
06-27 16:26:44.941: ERROR/AndroidRuntime(427): at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method)
Is there a way to fix this elegantly and have backwards compatibility to 1.6?
Edit: So I ended up creating a HoneycombHelper class with static methods:
public class HoneycombHelper {
public static void setActionBarBackgroundDrawable(Activity a, Drawable d) {
a.getActionBar().setBackgroundDrawable(d);
}
...
}
Not sure if this is the most elegant way, but it does seem to work.