[Android Software Development] android_owl:
XDA-community!

NEWS: The app is open source: https://github.com/daOwl/build.prop-editor

I want to share my latest application with you: BuildProp Editor

root and busybox required​

What is this tool used for?

This tool allows you to modify your build.prop file easily on your device. It makes editing easy and you don't have to take care about remounting stuff or read/write permissions. It also features descriptions which contain information about the property. A great tool for both: beginners and advanced users. It can be used to test a variety of properties on your device or even tweak it, but be warned: You've to know what you're doing! If the phone doesn't boot after a reboot, the initial backup of your device can be found at: /data/data/de.bwulfert.buildpropedit/build.prop

Why do you call it a community project?

Because I need your help. I want to create a documentation which contains every property and every meaning used by the android ecosystem. This is also my first real android project so instead of yelling the hell out of me, post some constructive feedback :).

Descriptors / the motivation for developing this app / little details

I've created this application because, obviously, I want to edit my build.prop file in a easy, non adb push / maybe remount, way. So I've decided to create this application which does these steps for you (remounting, backup your file, etc.) - you just have to download & install it, getting prompt to create a backup of your current build.prop file (it's just button clicking, nothing else) and you are good to go son! Hint: You actually have to create an initial backup otherwise the application closes it self. I'll add a neat "view" or "read" mode later but for the security of all our phones I think its the best deal for now.

After working on it for a while I noticed the big range of properties a build.prop file could contain - and which my knowledge doesn't. So I decided to create these descriptors which consists of:

description - meaning of the property, what is it used for

recommended values - alpha numerical values - e.g.: 0,1 or 180, 190, 200, 210 or dd-mm-yyyy, mm-dd-yyyy

keyboard layouts - textual values - e.g.: NumBlock, CharacterInput or FileDialog (the FileDialog isn't implementet yet)

An example of an existing descriptor:

<PropertyDescription>
<KeyName>ro.com.android.dataroaming</KeyName>
<Description>Enables data-roaming by default in the build.</Description>
<KeyboardLayout>CharacterInput</KeyboardLayout>
<Values>
<Default>true</Default>
<Value>false</Value>
<Value>true</Value>
</Values>
</PropertyDescription>

Of course I'm not able to describe all the properties by myself so I've spend some time searching on the net and came up with an amount of 24 descriptions. This isn't that much but a good start. Thats the point where I need help from anybody who's interested: If you want to contribute to this little project, you can contact me and sending me your descriptors (which are just plain-text xml files) - I'll merge them into the project. You can also help by translate this application into your language (english is still welcome, I am german) or donate a small amount.

Contact

For questions or chats, here are my contacts. You're also welcome to follow me on twitter.

E-Mail: dataframes@googlemail.com

E-Mail: benjamin.wulfert@cstx.de

Twitter: https://twitter.com/android_owl

TODO

This project isn't finished in detail. Everything should work exquisit and fine but this are the steps I'm still thinking about:

Batchmode - adding little text snippets which consists of properties to your build.prop file. (Great for lazy people like me)

A (web) application to make it easier to contribute descriptions

Preferences - I got a lot of feedback for these, I'll add these in the next update

Screenshots

Download

You can download the application from Google play via link or qr-code

BuildProp Editor

Update

Here is my bundle of descriptions. If you want to add a description you can take a look into the file. You can also look at the scheme.

description_bundle.xml