Stupid question

[ghost]

I know it's weird but i really want to ask you how you can automate the syncing, the changes , bulding and releasing what are you using ? and how do you use it ?

If the is any sort of script you can give me to see and apply my own please.

I need a little help and i don't have anyone to ask it from, I already tried everything i can get about github actions but i didn't succeed.

Thank you for the amazing app.

[nekorubu]

I'm not sure how JW does it, but I can at least give you an idea of how I do it.

I just have a local branch that has all of my mods in it, and whenever an update comes through, I create a branch from the upstream version (in my case, the one that JW makes), merge my mods branch into that one, resolve any merge conflicts, commit and push the changes, and then build the apk from there.

My way of doing it might not be the best, but this is what works for me.

[ghost]

well what i'm working on now is to make a github actions script that builds and releases the apk everytime a change happen to the main branch, i'm also trying to make a script that change some parts automatically because it's the same work everytime.

if you have anything that we could chat in it will helpful to work on it together. Maybe session messenger if you do not want to share your phone number or your telegram username.

[nekorubu]

That sounds like a good idea. I haven't messed with GitHub Actions before, but looking at it now, it might be something useful for both of us.

As of now, I'm not sure of the next time that I'll be available. Hopefully, we can meet up and work it out. If we don't, JW does seem to use GitHub Actions to automate the building at least, so maybe that could be a good starting point.

[ghost]

no, i don't think he is using it, that was from the original signal branch i verified it, if it was that simple i could just copy and paste but i'm afraid he is doing it on his local machine, that's why i asked.

[nekorubu]

Ohhh, I see. I think it could still be a good starting place, though.

[ghost]

yes you are free to do your own and take a look at mine, i'm still struggling to make it work but you will get some ideas for sure.

[johanw666]

I know it's weird but i really want to ask you how you can automate the syncing, the changes , bulding and releasing what are you using ? and how do you use it ?

I don't depend on Git with merging changes, I do that manually. I download the zipfile with the Signal source changes, and I check for each new Signal release in the commits if any files are changed that I have changed, if so then I reapply my changes. All files I change are in the build-changes zipfile I put in the releases. I copy these over the extracted zipfile, open the project in Android Studio and do a build.

You might notice that I commented out commands in app/build.gradle that require to be run in a Git repository, because I don't build in a Git repository.

[ghost]

alright, so from what i understood the process is not automated ? you do all this manually everytime ?

[johanw666]

Yes. But it is either not much work or a lot of manual work anyway: for example, fixing the plaintext import / export in 6.7 took some time that could not be automated anyway.

[ghost]

alright now i get it, and thank you a lot for the answer it was really helpful

[ghost]

@nekorubu You can see my script, it will do all the work atfer you push the changes to your branche, you just need to change the naming pattern and add your own signature key, it's finally completed.

I talked here since there is no way to contact you.

[nekorubu]

@JohnBetaro Oh wow, alright. Thanks! I'll try to implement it into my own branch

[ghost]

@nekorubu I see you're having some problems, I can offer help, if you need it just open a discussion in my repo and we will talk there.