npm package: @playwind/com.google.external-dependency-manager
Description: External Dependency Manager for Unity (EDM4U) can be used by any Unity plugin that requires Android specific libraries (e.g. AARs), iOS CocoaPods, version management of transitive dependencies, and/or management of Unity Package Manager registries.
Author: Google LLC
Latest version: 1.2.171

External Dependency Manager for Unity
========

# Overview

The External Dependency Manager for Unity (EDM4U)
(formerly Play Services Resolver / Jar Resolver) is intended to be used by any
Unity plugin that requires:

   * Android specific libraries (e.g
     [AARs](https://developer.android.com/studio/projects/android-library.html)).
   * iOS [CocoaPods](https://cocoapods.org/).
   * Version management of transitive dependencies.
   * Management of Package Manager (PM) Registries.

Updated releases are available on
[GitHub](https://github.com/googlesamples/unity-jar-resolver)

# Background

Many Unity plugins have dependencies upon Android specific libraries, iOS
CocoaPods, and sometimes have transitive dependencies upon other Unity plugins.
This causes the following problems:

   * Integrating platform specific (e.g Android and iOS) libraries within a
     Unity project can be complex and a burden on a Unity plugin maintainer.
   * The process of resolving conflicting dependencies on platform specific
     libraries is pushed to the developer attempting to use a Unity plugin.
     The developer trying to use your plugin is very likely to give up when
     faced with Android or iOS specific build errors.
   * The process of resolving conflicting Unity plugins (due to shared Unity
     plugin components) is pushed to the developer attempting to use your Unity
     plugin. In an effort to resolve conflicts, the developer will very likely
     attempt to resolve problems by deleting random files in your plugin,
     report bugs when that doesn't work and finally give up.

EDM provides solutions for each of these problems.

## Android Dependency Management

The *Android Resolver* component of this plugin will download and integrate
Android library dependencies and handle any conflicts between plugins that share
the same dependencies.

Without the Android Resolver, typically Unity plugins bundle their AAR and
JAR dependencies, e.g. a Unity plugin `SomePlugin` that requires the Google
Play Games Android library would redistribute the library and its transitive
dependencies in the folder `SomePlugin/Android/`.  When a user imports
`SomeOtherPlugin` that includes the same libraries (potentially at different
versions) in `SomeOtherPlugin/Android/`, the developer using `SomePlugin` and
`SomeOtherPlugin` will see an error when building for Android that can be hard
to interpret.

Using the Android Resolver to manage Android library dependencies:

   * Solves Android library conflicts between plugins.
   * Handles all of the various processing steps required to use Android
     libraries (AARs, JARs) in Unity 4.x and above projects.  Almost all
     versions of Unity have - at best - partial support for AARs.
   * (Experimental) Supports minification of included Java components without
     exporting a project.

## iOS Dependency Management

The *iOS Resolver* component of this plugin integrates with
[CocoaPods](https://cocoapods.org/) to download and integrate iOS libraries
and frameworks into the Xcode project Unity generates when building for iOS.
Using CocoaPods allows multiple plugins to utilize shared components without
forcing developers to fix either duplicate or incompatible versions of
libraries included through multiple Unity plugins in their project.

## Package Manager Registry Setup

The [Package Manager](https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/Packages.html)
(PM) makes use of [NPM](https://www.npmjs.com/) registry servers for package
hosting and provides ways to discover, install, upgrade and uninstall packages.
This makes it easier for developers to manage plugins within their projects.

However, installing additional package registries requires a few manual steps
that can potentially be error prone.  The *Package Manager Resolver*
component of this plugin integrates with
[PM](https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/Packages.html) to provide a way to
auto-install PM package registries when a `.unitypackage` is installed which
allows plugin maintainers to ship a `.unitypackage` that can provide access
to their own PM registry server to make it easier for developers to
manage their plugins.

## Unity Plugin Version Management

Finally, the *Version Handler* component of this plugin simplifies the process
of managing transitive dependencies of Unity plugins and each plugin's upgrade
process.

For example, without the Version Handler plugin, if:

   * Unity plugin `SomePlugin` includes `EDM4U` plugin at
     version 1.1.
   * Unity plugin `SomeOtherPlugin` includes `EDM4U`
     plugin  at version 1.2.

The version of `EDM4U` included in the developer's project depends upon the
order the developer imports `SomePlugin` or `SomeOtherPlugin`.

This results in:

   * `EDM4U` at version 1.2, if `SomePlugin` is imported then `SomeOtherPlugin`
     is imported.
   * `EDM4U` at version 1.1, if `SomeOtherPlugin` is imported then
     `SomePlugin` is imported.

The Version Handler solves the problem of managing transitive dependencies by:

   * Specifying a set of packaging requirements that enable a plugin at
     different versions to be imported into a Unity project.
   * Providing activation logic that selects the latest version of a plugin
     within a project.

When using the Version Handler to manage `EDM4U` included in `SomePlugin` and
`SomeOtherPlugin`, from the prior example, version 1.2 will always be the
version activated in a developer's Unity project.

Plugin creators are encouraged to adopt this library to ease integration for
their customers.  For more information about integrating EDM4U
into your own plugin, see the [Plugin Redistribution](#plugin-redistribution)
section of this document.

# Analytics

The External Dependency Manager for Unity plugin by default logs usage to Google
Analytics. The purpose of the logging is to quantitatively measure the usage of
functionality, to gather reports on integration failures and to inform future
improvements to the developer experience of the External Dependency Manager
plugin. Note that the analytics collected are limited to the scope of the EDM4U
plugin’s usage.

For details of what is logged, please refer to the usage of
`EditorMeasurement.Report()` in the source code.

# Requirements

The *Android Resolver* and *iOS Resolver* components of the plugin only work
with Unity version 4.6.8 or higher.

The *Version Handler* component only works with Unity 5.x or higher as it
depends upon the `PluginImporter` UnityEditor API.

The *Package Manager Resolver* component only works with
Unity 2018.4 or above, when
[scoped registry](https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/upm-scoped.html)
support was added to the Package Manager.

# Getting Started

Before you import EDM4U into your plugin project, you first
need to consider whether you intend to *redistribute* `EDM4U`
along with your own plugin.

## Plugin Redistribution

If you're a plugin maintainer, redistributing `EDM4U` inside your own plugin
will ease the integration process for your users, by resolving dependency
conflicts between your plugin and other plugins in a user's project.

If you wish to redistribute `EDM4U` inside your plugin,
you **must** follow these steps when importing the
`external-dependency-manager-*.unitypackage`, and when exporting your own plugin
package:

   1. Import the `external-dependency-manager-*.unitypackage` into your plugin
      project by
      [running Unity from the command line](https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/CommandLineArguments.html), ensuring that
      you add the `-gvh_disable` option.
   1. Export your plugin by [running Unity from the command line](https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/CommandLineArguments.html), ensuring that
      you:
      - Include the contents of the `Assets/PlayServicesResolver` and
        `Assets/ExternalDependencyManager` directory.
      - Add the `-gvh_disable` option.

You **must** specify the `-gvh_disable` option in order for the Version
Handler to work correctly!

For example, the following command will import the
`external-dependency-manager-1.2.46.0.unitypackage` into the project
`MyPluginProject` and export the entire Assets folder to
`MyPlugin.unitypackage`:

```
Unity -gvh_disable \
      -batchmode \
      -importPackage external-dependency-manager-1.2.46.0.unitypackage \
      -projectPath MyPluginProject \
      -exportPackage Assets MyPlugin.unitypackage \
      -quit
```

### Background

The *Version Handler* component relies upon deferring the load of editor DLLs
so that it can run first and determine the latest version of a plugin component
to activate.  The build of `EDM4U` plugin has Unity asset metadata that is
configured so that the editor components are not initially enabled when it's
imported into a Unity project.  To maintain this configuration when importing
the `external-dependency-manager.unitypackage` into a Unity plugin project, you
*must* specify the command line option `-gvh_disable` which will prevent the
Version Handler component from running and changing the Unity asset metadata.

# Android Resolver Usage

The Android Resolver copies specified dependencies from local or remote Maven
repositories into the Unity project when a user selects Android as the build
target in the Unity editor.

   1. Add the `external-dependency-manager-*.unitypackage` to your plugin
      project (assuming you are developing a plugin). If you are redistributing
      EDM4U with your plugin, you **must** follow the
      import steps in the [Getting Started](#getting-started) section!

   2. Copy and rename the
      [SampleDependencies.xml](https://github.com/googlesamples/unity-jar-resolver/blob/master/sample/Assets/ExternalDependencyManager/Editor/SampleDependencies.xml)
      file into your plugin and add the dependencies your plugin requires.

      The XML file just needs to be under an `Editor` directory and match the
      name `*Dependencies.xml`. For example,
      `MyPlugin/Editor/MyPluginDependencies.xml`.

   3. Follow the steps in the [Getting Started](#getting-started)
      section when you are exporting your plugin package.

For example, to add the Google Play Games library
(`com.google.android.gms:play-services-games` package) at version `9.8.0` to
the set of a plugin's Android dependencies:

```
<dependencies>
  <androidPackages>
    <androidPackage spec="com.google.android.gms:play-services-games:9.8.0">
      <androidSdkPackageIds>
        <androidSdkPackageId>extra-google-m2repository</androidSdkPackageId>
      </androidSdkPackageIds>
    </androidPackage>
  </androidPackages>
</dependencies>
```

The version specification (last component) supports:

   * Specific versions e.g `9.8.0`
   * Partial matches e.g `9.8.+` would match 9.8.0, 9.8.1 etc. choosing the most
     recent version.
   * Latest version using `LATEST` or `+`.  We do *not* recommend using this
     unless you're 100% sure the library you depend upon will not break your
     Unity plugin in future.

The above example specifies the dependency as a component of the Android SDK
manager such that the Android SDK manager will be executed to install the
package if it's not found.  If your Android dependency is located on Maven
central it's possible to specify the package simply using the `androidPackage`
element:

```
<dependencies>
  <androidPackages>
    <androidPackage spec="com.google.api-client:google-api-client-android:1.22.0" />
  </androidPackages>
</dependencies>
```

## Auto-resolution

By default the Android Resolver automatically monitors the dependencies you have
specified and the `Plugins/Android` folder of your Unity project.  The
resolution process runs when the specified dependencies are not present in your
project.

The *auto-resolution* process can be disabled via the
`Assets > External Dependency Manager > Android Resolver > Settings` menu.

Manual resolution can be performed using the following menu options:

   * `Assets > External Dependency Manager > Android Resolver > Resolve`
   * `Assets > External Dependency Manager > Android Resolver > Force Resolve`

## Deleting libraries

Resolved packages are tracked via asset labels by the Android Resolver.
They can easily be deleted using the
`Assets > External Dependency Manager > Android Resolver > Delete Resolved Libraries`
menu item.

## Android Manifest Variable Processing

Some AAR files (for example play-services-measurement) contain variables that
are processed by the Android Gradle plugin.  Unfortunately, Unity does not
perform the same processing when using Unity's Internal Build System, so the
Android Resolver plugin handles known cases of this variable substitution
by exploding the AAR into a folder and replacing `${applicationId}` with the
`bundleID`.

Disabling AAR explosion and therefore Android manifest processing can be done
via the `Assets > External Dependency Manager > Android Resolver > Settings`
menu. You may want to disable explosion of AARs if you're exporting a project
to be built with Gradle / Android Studio.

## ABI Stripping

Some AAR files contain native libraries (.so files) for each ABI supported
by Android.  Unfortunately, when targeting a single ABI (e.g x86), Unity does
not strip native libraries for unused ABIs.  To strip unused ABIs, the Android
Resolver plugin explodes an AAR into a folder and removes unused ABIs to
reduce the built APK size.  Furthermore, if native libraries are not stripped
from an APK (e.g you have a mix of Unity's x86 library and some armeabi-v7a
libraries) Android may attempt to load the wrong library for the current
runtime ABI completely breaking your plugin when targeting some architectures.

AAR explosion and therefore ABI stripping can be disabled via the
`Assets > External Dependency Manager > Android Resolver > Settings` menu.
You may want to disable explosion of AARs if you're exporting a project to be
built with Gradle / Android Studio.

## Resolution Strategies

By default the Android Resolver will use Gradle to download dependencies prior
to integrating them into a Unity project.  This works with Unity's internal
build system and Gradle / Android Studio project export.

It's possible to change the resolution strategy via the
`Assets > External Dependency Manager > Android Resolver > Settings` menu.

### Download Artifacts with Gradle

Using the default resolution strategy, the Android resolver executes the
following operations:

   - Remove the result of previous Android resolutions.
     e.g Delete all files and directories labeled with "gpsr" under
     `Plugins/Android` from the project.
   - Collect the set of Android dependencies (libraries) specified by a
     project's `*Dependencies.xml` files.
   - Run `download_artifacts.gradle` with Gradle to resolve conflicts and,
     if successful, download the set of resolved Android libraries (AARs, JARs).
   - Process each AAR / JAR so that it can be used with the currently selected
     Unity build system (e.g Internal vs. Gradle, Export vs. No Export).
     This involves patching each reference to `applicationId` in the
     AndroidManifest.xml with the project's bundle ID.  This means resolution
     must be run if the bundle ID is changed again.
   - Move the processed AARs to `Plugins/Android` so they will be included when
     Unity invokes the Android build.

### Integrate into mainTemplate.gradle

Unity 5.6 introduced support for customizing the `build.gradle` used to build
Unity projects with Gradle. When the *Patch mainTemplate.gradle* setting is
enabled, rather than downloading artifacts before the build, Android resolution
results in the execution of the following operations:

   - Remove the result of previous Android resolutions.
     e.g Delete all files and directories labeled with "gpsr" under
     `Plugins/Android` from the project and remove sections delimited with
     `// Android Resolver * Start` and `// Android Resolver * End` lines.
   - Collect the set of Android dependencies (libraries) specified by a
     project's `*Dependencies.xml` files.
   - Rename any `.srcaar` files in the build to `.aar` and exclude them from
     being included directly by Unity in the Android build as
     `mainTemplate.gradle` will be patched to include them instead from their
     local maven repositories.
   - Inject the required Gradle repositories into `mainTemplate.gradle` at the
     line matching the pattern
     `.*apply plugin: 'com\.android\.(application|library)'.*` or the section
     starting at the line `// Android Resolver Repos Start`.
     If you want to control the injection point in the file, the section
     delimited by the lines `// Android Resolver Repos Start` and
     `// Android Resolver Repos End` should be placed in the global scope
     before the `dependencies` section.
   - Inject the required Android dependencies (libraries) into
     `mainTemplate.gradle` at the line matching the pattern `***DEPS***` or
     the section starting at the line `// Android Resolver Dependencies Start`.
     If you want to control the injection point in the file, the section
     delimited by the lines `// Android Resolver Dependencies Start` and
     `// Android Resolver Dependencies End` should be placed in the
     `dependencies` section.
   - Inject the packaging options logic, which excludes architecture specific
     libraries based upon the selected build target, into `mainTemplate.gradle`
     at the line matching the pattern `android +{` or the section starting at
     the line `// Android Resolver Exclusions Start`.
     If you want to control the injection point in the file, the section
     delimited by the lines `// Android Resolver Exclusions Start` and
     `// Android Resolver Exclusions End` should be placed in the global
     scope before the `android` section.

## Dependency Tracking

The Android Resolver creates the
`ProjectSettings/AndroidResolverDependencies.xml` to quickly determine the set
of resolved dependencies in a project.  This is used by the auto-resolution
process to only run the expensive resolution process when necessary.

## Displaying Dependencies

It's possible to display the set of dependencies the Android Resolver
would download and process in your project via the
`Assets > External Dependency Manager > Android Resolver > Display Libraries`
menu item.

# iOS Resolver Usage

The iOS resolver component of this plugin manages
[CocoaPods](https://cocoapods.org/).  A CocoaPods `Podfile` is generated and
the `pod` tool is executed as a post build process step to add dependencies
to the Xcode project exported by Unity.

Dependencies for iOS are added by referring to CocoaPods.

   1. Add the `external-dependency-manager-*.unitypackage` to your plugin
      project (assuming you are developing a plugin). If you are redistributing
      EDM4U with your plugin, you **must** follow the
      import steps in the [Getting Started](#getting-started) section!

   2. Copy and rename the
      [SampleDependencies.xml](https://github.com/googlesamples/unity-jar-resolver/blob/master/sample/Assets/ExternalDependencyManager/Editor/SampleDependencies.xml)
      file into your plugin and add the dependencies your plugin requires.

      The XML file just needs to be under an `Editor` directory and match the
      name `*Dependencies.xml`. For example,
      `MyPlugin/Editor/MyPluginDependencies.xml`.

   3. Follow the steps in the [Getting Started](#getting-started)
      section when you are exporting your plugin package.

For example, to add the AdMob pod, version 7.0 or greater with bitcode enabled:

```
<dependencies>
  <iosPods>
    <iosPod name="Google-Mobile-Ads-SDK" version="~> 7.0" bitcodeEnabled="true"
            minTargetSdk="6.0" addToAllTargets="false" />
  </iosPods>
</dependencies>
```

## Integration Strategies

The `CocoaPods` are either:
   * Downloaded and injected into the Xcode project file directly, rather than
     creating a separate xcworkspace.  We call this `Xcode project` integration.
   * If the Unity version supports opening a xcworkspace file, the `pod` tool
     is used as intended to generate a xcworkspace which references the
     CocoaPods.  We call this `Xcode workspace` integration.

The resolution strategy can be changed via the
`Assets > External Dependency Manager > iOS Resolver > Settings` menu.

### Appending text to generated Podfile
In order to modify the generated Podfile you can create a script like this:
```
using System.IO;
public class PostProcessIOS : MonoBehaviour {
[PostProcessBuildAttribute(45)]//must be between 40 and 50 to ensure that it's not overriden by Podfile generation (40) and that it's added before "pod install" (50)
private static void PostProcessBuild_iOS(BuildTarget target, string buildPath)
{
    if (target == BuildTarget.iOS)
    {

        using (StreamWriter sw = File.AppendText(buildPath + "/Podfile"))
        {
            //in this example I'm adding an app extension
            sw.WriteLine("\ntarget 'NSExtension' do\n  pod 'Firebase/Messaging', '6.6.0'\nend");
        }
    }
}
```

# Package Manager Resolver Usage

Adding registries to the
[Package Manager](https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/Packages.html)
(PM) is a manual process. The Package Manager Resolver (PMR) component
of this plugin makes it easy for plugin maintainers to distribute new PM
registry servers and easy for plugin users to manage PM registry servers.

## Adding Registries

   1. Add the `external-dependency-manager-*.unitypackage` to your plugin
      project (assuming you are developing a plugin). If you are redistributing
      EDM4U with your plugin, you **must** follow the
      import steps in the [Getting Started](#getting-started) section!

   2. Copy and rename the
      [SampleRegistries.xml](https://github.com/googlesamples/unity-jar-resolver/blob/master/sample/Assets/ExternalDependencyManager/Editor/sample/Assets/ExternalDependencyManager/Editor/SampleRegistries.xml)
      file into your plugin and add the registries your plugin requires.

      The XML file just needs to be under an `Editor` directory and match the
      name `*Registries.xml` or labeled with `gumpr_registries`. For example,
      `MyPlugin/Editor/MyPluginRegistries.xml`.

   3. Follow the steps in the [Getting Started](#getting-started)
      section when you are exporting your plugin package.

For example, to add a registry for plugins in the scope `com.coolstuff`:

```
<registries>
  <registry name="Cool Stuff"
            url="https://unityregistry.coolstuff.com"
            termsOfService="https://coolstuff.com/unityregistry/terms"
            privacyPolicy="https://coolstuff.com/unityregistry/privacy">
    <scopes>
      <scope>com.coolstuff</scope>
    </scopes>
  </registry>
</registries>
```

When PMR is loaded it will prompt the developer to add the registry to their
project if it isn't already present in the `Packages/manifest.json` file.

For more information, see Unity's documentation on
[scoped package registries](https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/upm-scoped.html).

## Managing Registries

It's possible to add and remove registries that are specified via PMR
XML configuration files via the following menu options:

* `Assets > External Dependency Manager > Package Manager Resolver >
  Add Registries` will prompt the user with a window which allows them to
  add registries discovered in the project to the Package Manager.
* `Assets > External Dependency Manager > Package Manager Resolver >
  Remove Registries` will prompt the user with a window which allows them to
  remove registries discovered in the project from the Package Manager.
* `Assets > External Dependency Manager > Package Manager Resolver >
  Modify Registries` will prompt the user with a window which allows them to
  add or remove registries discovered in the project.

## Migration

PMR can migrate Version Handler packages installed in the `Assets` folder
to PM packages. This requires the plugins to implement the following:

* `.unitypackage` must include a Version Handler manifests that describes
   the components of the plugin. If the plugin has no dependencies
   the manifest would just include the files in the plugin.
* The PM package JSON provided by the registry must include a keyword
  (in the `versions.VERSION.keyword` list) that maps the PM package
  to a Version Handler package using the format
  `vh-name:VERSION_HANDLER_MANIFEST_NAME` where `VERSION_HANDLER_MANIFEST_NAME`
  is the name of the manifest defined in the `.unitypackage`.  For
  more information see the description of the `gvhp_manifestname` asset label
  in the *Version Handler Usage* section.

When using the `Assets > External Dependency Manager >
Package Manager Resolver > Migrate Packages` menu option, PMR then
will:

* List all Version Handler manager packages in the project.
* Search all available packages in the PM registries and fetch keywords
  associated with each package parsing the Version Handler manifest names
  for each package.
* Map each installed Version Handler package to a PM package.
* Prompt the user to migrate the discovered packages.
* Perform package migration for all selected packages if the user clicks
  the `Apply` button.

## Configuration

PMR can be configured via the `Assets > External Dependency Manager >
Package Manager Resolver > Settings` menu option:

* `Add package registries` when enabled, when the plugin loads or registry
  configuration files change, this will prompt the user to add registries
  that are not present in the Package Manager.
* `Prompt to add package registries` will cause a developer to be prompted
  with a window that will ask for confirmation before adding registries.
  When this is disabled registries are added silently to the project.
* `Prompt to migrate packages` will cause a developer to be prompted
  with a window that will ask for confirmation before migrating packages
  installed in the `Assets` directory to PM packages.
* `Enable Analytics Reporting` when enabled, reports the use of the plugin
  to the developers so they can make imrpovements.
* `Verbose logging` when enabled prints debug information to the console
  which can be useful when filing bug reports.

# Version Handler Usage

The Version Handler component of this plugin manages:

* Shared Unity plugin dependencies.
* Upgrading Unity plugins by cleaning up old files from previous versions.
* Uninstallation of plugins that are distributed with manifest files.
* Restoration of plugin assets to their original install locations if assets
  are tagged with the `exportpath` label.

Since the Version Handler needs to modify Unity asset metadata (`.meta` files),
to enable / disable components, rename and delete asset files it does not
work with Package Manager installed packages. It's still possible to
include EDM4U in Package Manager packages, the Version Handler component
simply won't do anything to PM plugins in this case.

## Using Version Handler Managed Plugins

If a plugin is imported at multiple different versions into a project, if
the Version Handler is enabled, it will automatically check all managed
assets to determine the set of assets that are out of date and assets that
should be removed. To disable automatic checking managed assets disable
the `Enable version management` option in the
`Assets > External Dependency Manager > Version Handler > Settings` menu.

If version management is disabled, it's possible to check managed assets
manually using the
`Assets > External Dependency Manager > Version Handler > Update` menu option.

### Listing Managed Plugins

Plugins managed by the Version Handler, those that ship with manifest files,
can displayed using the `Assets > External Dependency Manager >
Version Handler > Display Managed Packages` menu option. The list of plugins
are written to the console window along with the set of files used by each
plugin.

### Uninstalling Managed Plugins

Plugins managed by the Version Handler, those that ship with manifest files,
can be removed using the `Assets > External Dependency Manager >
Version Handler > Uninstall Managed Packages` menu option. This operation
will display a window that allows a developer to select a set of plugins to
remove which will remove all files owned by each plugin excluding those that
are in use by other installed plugins.

Files managed by the Version Handler, those labeled with the `gvh` asset label,
can be checked to see whether anything needs to be upgraded, disabled or
removed using the `Assets > External Dependency Manager >
Version Handler > Update` menu option.

### Restore Install Paths

Some developers move assets around in their project which can make it
harder for plugin maintainers to debug issues if this breaks Unity's
[special folders](https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/SpecialFolders.html) rules.
If assets are labeled with their original install / export path
(see `gvhp_exportpath` below), Version Handler can restore assets to their
original locations when using the `Assets > External Dependency Manager >
Version Handler > Move Files To Install Locations` menu option.

### Settings

Some behavior of the Version Handler can be configured via the
`Assets > External Dependency Manager > Version Handler > Settings` menu
option.

* `Enable version management` controls whether the plugin should automatically
  check asset versions and apply changes. If this is disabled the process
  should be run manually when installing or upgrading managed plugins using
  `Assets > External Dependency Manager > Version Handler > Update`.
* `Rename to canonical filenames` is a legacy option that will rename files to
  remove version numbers and other labels from filenames.
* `Prompt for obsolete file deletion` enables the display of a window when
  obsolete files are deleted allowing the developer to select which files to
  delete and those to keep.
* `Allow disabling files via renaming` controls whether obsolete or disabled
  files should be disabled by renaming them to `myfilename_DISABLED`.
  Renaming to disable files is required in some scenarios where Unity doesn't
  support removing files from the build via the PluginImporter.
* `Enable Analytics Reporting` enables / disables usage reporting to plugin
  developers to improve the product.
* `Verbose logging` enables _very_ noisy log output that is useful for
  debugging while filing a bug report or building a new managed plugin.
* `Use project settings` saves settings for the plugin in the project rather
  than system-wide.

## Redistributing a Managed Plugin

The Version Handler employs a couple of methods for managing version
selection, upgrade and removal of plugins.

* Each plugin can ship with a manifest file that lists the files it includes.
  This makes it possible for Version Handler to calculate the difference
  in assets between the most recent release of a plugin and the previous
  release installed in a project. If a files are removed the Version Handler
  will prompt the user to clean up obsolete files.
* Plugins can ship using assets with unique names, unique GUIDs and version
  number labels. Version numbers can be attached to assets using labels or
  added to the filename (e.g `myfile.txt` would be `myfile_version-x.y.z.txt).
  This allows the Version Handler to determine which set of files are the
  same file at different versions, select the most recent version and prompt
  the developer to clean up old versions.

Unity plugins can be managed by the Version Handler using the following steps:

   1. Add the `gvh` asset label to each asset (file) you want Version Handler
      to manage.
   1. Add the `gvh_version-VERSION` label to each asset where `VERSION` is the
      version of the plugin you're releasing (e.g 1.2.3).
   1. Add the `gvhp_exportpath-PATH` label to each asset where `PATH` is the
      export path of the file when the `.unitypackage` is created.  This is
      used to track files if they're moved around in a project by developers.
   1. Optional: Add `gvh_targets-editor` label to each editor DLL in your
      plugin and disable `editor` as a target platform for the DLL.
      The Version Handler will enable the most recent version of this DLL when
      the plugin is imported.
   1. Optional: If your plugin is included in other Unity plugins, you should
      add the version number to each filename and change the GUID of each asset.
      This allows multiple versions of your plugin to be imported into a Unity
      project, with the Version Handler component activating only the most
      recent version.
   1. Create a manifest text file named `MY_UNIQUE_PLUGIN_NAME_VERSION.txt`
      that lists all the files in your plugin relative to the project root.
      Then add the `gvh_manifest` label to the asset to indicate this file is
      a plugin manifest.
   1. Optional: Add a `gvhp_manifestname-NAME` label to your manifest file
      to provide a human readable name for your package.  If this isn't provided
      the name of the manifest file will be used as the package name.
      NAME can match the pattern `[0-9]+[a-zA-Z -]' where a leading integer
      will set the priority of the name where `0` is the highest priority
      and preferably used as the display name. The lowest value (i.e highest
      priority name) will be used as the display name and all other specified
      names will be aliases of the display name. Aliases can refer to previous
      names of the package allowing renaming across published versions.
   1. Redistribute EDM4U Unity plugin with your plugin.
      See the [Plugin Redistribution](#plugin-redistribution) for the details.

If you follow these steps:

   * When users import a newer version of your plugin, files referenced by the
     older version's manifest are cleaned up.
   * The latest version of the plugin will be selected when users import
     multiple packages that include your plugin, assuming the steps in
     [Plugin Redistribution](#plugin-redistribution) are followed.

# Building from Source

To build this plugin from source you need the following tools installed:
   * Unity (with iOS and Android modules installed)

You can build the plugin by running the following from your shell
(Linux / OSX):

```
./gradlew build
```

or Windows:

```
./gradlew.bat build
```

# Releasing

Each time a new build of this plugin is checked into the source tree you
need to do the following:

   * Bump the plugin version variable `pluginVersion` in `build.gradle`
   * Update `CHANGELOG.md` with the new version number and changes included in
     the release.
   * Build the release using `./gradlew release` which performs the following:
      * Updates `external-dependency-manager-*.unitypackage`
      * Copies the unpacked plugin to the `exploded` directory.
      * Updates template metadata files in the `plugin` directory.
        The GUIDs of all asset metadata is modified due to the version number
        change. Each file within the plugin is versioned to allow multiple
        versions of the plugin to be imported into a Unity project which allows
        the most recent version to be activated by the Version Handler
        component.
   * Create release commit using `./gradlew gitCreateReleaseCommit` which
     performs `git commit -a -m "description from CHANGELOG.md"`
   * Once the release commit is merge, tag the release using
     `./gradlew gitTagRelease` which performs the following:
     * `git tag -a pluginVersion -m "version RELEASE"` to tag the release.
   * Update tags on remote branch using `git push --tag REMOTE HEAD:master`