problem integrating AAR from manufacturer startup-runtime maybe not working (?)

[NecoArc 0]

I have an FMX self-service application designed to run on kiosks/tablets with printers and scanners.

The application already works on various device models by integrating with their respective AAR/JAR libraries provided by the manufacturers (extracting the .jar files and generating the JNI interface using java2op).

This past month, I have been working on integrating two devices sent by a new manufacturer: the Mini Kiosk Model and the Plus Kiosk Model.
According to the manufacturer, the same AAR and method calls are used for both devices.
 

On the Mini Kiosk, I was able to make everything work without any issues. However, on the Plus Kiosk, which should work the same way, Delphi returns the following error:

java.lang.NullPointerException: Attempt to invoke virtual method 'java.util.HashMap android.hardware.usb.UsbManager.getDeviceList()' on a null object reference.
 

So i created a test project in Java that worked fine on both devices, the issue is not with the AAR itself.
 

After talking to the manufacturer’s support, I was advised that the Plus Kiosk requires the startup-runtime-1.1.0 library (Startup Runtime initializes objects and components automatically when the application starts).

I checked the manifest.xml inside the AAR and found the following declaration:

<application>
    <provider
        android:name="androidx.startup.InitializationProvider"
        android:authorities="${applicationId}.androidx-startup"
        android:exported="false"
        tools:node="merge" >
        <meta-data
            android:name="com.e1.Comunicacao.ConUSB"
            android:value="androidx.startup" />
        <meta-data
            android:name="com.e1.Pagamento.Brigde.ConfigFileInitializer"
            android:value="androidx.startup" />
    </provider>
</application>

 

This explains the "null object reference" error, as the UsbManager class is not being initialized properly.

However, as far as I understand, Delphi already includes this library internally.

 

So I am looking for suggestions on how I can try to solve this issue:

Is there a way to check if startup-runtime is correctly interacting with the manufacturer's libraries?

Do I need to regenerate the JNI interface, adding startup-runtime to it? (I’m going to try this now, but I don’t see much sense in doing so.)
 

Can someone please help me? I've already spent several days trying to understand and fix this error.

 

Edited April 3 by NecoArc

[Dave Nottage 606]

7 minutes ago, NecoArc said:

I checked the manifest.xml inside the AAR and found the following declaration:

You would need to add the provider node of that manifest.xml to AndroidManifest.template.xml inside of the application tag, but remove the:

  tools:node="merge"
 

attribute, and replace:

  ${applicationId}

with:

  %package%

Which Delphi should replace with your package identifier in the resulting AndroidManifest.xml

[NecoArc 0]

27 minutes ago, Dave Nottage said:

You would need to add the provider node of that manifest.xml to AndroidManifest.template.xml inside of the application tag, but remove the:

  tools:node="merge"
 

attribute, and replace:

  ${applicationId}

with:

  %package%

Which Delphi should replace with your package identifier in the resulting AndroidManifest.xml

thank you for the sugestion
i need edit this one inside my aplication folder?

 

Edited April 3 by NecoArc

[NecoArc 0]

25 minutes ago, Dave Nottage said:

You would need to add the provider node of that manifest.xml to AndroidManifest.template.xml inside of the application tag, but remove the:

  tools:node="merge"
 

attribute, and replace:

  ${applicationId}

with:

  %package%

Which Delphi should replace with your package identifier in the resulting AndroidManifest.xml

Well now my application crashes instantly when I open it

I think this is the right way

[NecoArc 0]

14 minutes ago, NecoArc said:

 

 

Edited April 3 by NecoArc

[NecoArc 0]

11 minutes ago, NecoArc said:

Well now my application crashes instantly when I open it

I think this is the right way

nah it just crashes bro 😕

even if i only add the provider tag without the meta-data the aplication just close when starting 

[NecoArc 0]

So after a lot of struggle, I finally managed to make this damn thing work. The real issue was the startup-runtime, and I still don’t know how to make it run automatically.

I noticed that in the JNI I had, the classes that needed the startup-runtime were commented out, as if java2op hadn’t created their interfaces.
To fix the problem, I took the startup-runtime-1.1.1.jar from Embarcadero’s folder and created a new JNI along with this .jar.
Right away, I saw that the interfaces using startup-runtime were no longer commented.
 

But that still wasn’t enough to make it work—I had to manually call the methods created by the startup-runtime in Delphi.

In my case:

jConfigInitializer := TJConfigFileInitializer.Create;  
usb := TJConUSB.Create;  
usb.create(TAndroidHelper.Context);  

and after that it worked

[Dave Nottage 606]

6 hours ago, NecoArc said:

Not sure if this may have been affecting it, however you have an extraneous space in the android:authorities attribute, i.e. just before: %package%. 

50 minutes ago, NecoArc said:

and after that it worked

Can you take out the provider tag to see if that really was required?

[NecoArc 0]

1 hour ago, Dave Nottage said:

Not sure if this may have been affecting it, however you have an extraneous space in the android:authorities attribute, i.e. just before: %package%. 

yeah i notice that extra space after the print, i made some test without it and it keeps crashing the aplication

from what i've understood putting any kind of provider tag on the manifest.template.xml just break the application 
so i took it out before finding a solution 
then we can conclude that the tag is not necessary 

but still in some other situation it may be necessary since my solution does not use the native startup runtime (but I don't know if it would be possible because simply adding the provider tag breaks the application)

i tested with other types of tag and they were ok

[Dave Nottage 606]

35 minutes ago, NecoArc said:

from what i've understood putting any kind of provider tag on the manifest.template.xml just break the application 

It shouldn't, since Delphi itself inserts a provider tag in the resulting AndroidManifest.xml for example when using Secure File Sharing (enabled in the Entitlement List in Project Options).