How do I add a configuration file to an Axmol project?

[FHBlah]

Hi folks, I've successfully migrated my Cocos2d-x project to Axmol and it works beautifully. Next, I'd like to create a free version of the app that will be monetized with ads. As Axmol is a C++ engine, I've decided to use the Firebase Google Mobile Ads C++ SDK (This is my first time incorporating ads in a project so if there is a better way, please let me know). I'm following the instructions in the readme.md file of the provided test app. The instructions had me register my iOS app with Firebase. As a result of these steps, I've downloaded a configuration file called GoogleService-Info.plist which I am instructed to "move into the root of my Xcode project". This is where things get blurry.

Podfile installations have turned my Xcode project into an Xcode workspace. Is the "root of my project" the root of the Axmol project, is it the build_ios_arm64 folder, or some other folder like proj.ios_mac? My Podfile is in the Axmol root but its first line is project './build_ios_arm64/AdmobTest2.xcodeproj' which tells CocoaPods where to find the actual Xcode project.

Also, dragging and dropping GoogleService-Info.plist into my project next to Info.plist won't work (I know, I've tried). The sample Firebase code compiles and runs but I can tell it can't find the config file because, in the output window, I get messages like the following:

2024-04-17 21:03:10.333927-0400 AdmobTest2[29247:100339287] 8.10.0 - [Firebase/Core][I-COR000005] No app has been configured yet.
2024-04-17 21:03:10.334078-0400 AdmobTest2[29247:100339287] 8.10.0 - [Firebase/Core][I-COR000003] The default Firebase app has not yet been configured. Add `FirebaseApp.configure()` to your application initialization. This can be done in in the App Delegate's application(_:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:)` (or the `@main` struct's initializer in SwiftUI). Read more: https://goo.gl/ctyzm8.
2024-04-17 21:03:10.383505-0400 AdmobTest2[29247:100339304] 8.10.0 - [Firebase/Analytics][I-ACS025028] AdMob and Firebase are in use in this app, but are not linked. For analytics data consistency and integrity, it is highly recommended that you link your AdMob app to the corresponding Firebase app and re-download the GoogleServices-Info.plist file. See https://support.google.com/admob/answer/6383165 for more information.

In CMakeLists.txt, Info.plist is handled by specific instructions like:

       set(APP_UI_RES
            proj.ios_mac/mac/Icon.icns
            proj.ios_mac/mac/Info.plist
            )

and

set_target_properties(${APP_NAME} PROPERTIES MACOSX_BUNDLE_INFO_PLIST "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/proj.ios_mac/ios/targets/ios/Info.plist")

Should I be doing something similar for GoogleServices-Info.plist? Any insight on how to proceed would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[rh101]

Have you tried adding the GoogleService-Info.plist into the <project>/Contents folder? Once you do that, re-generate the project (via axmol build ... -c -f or whatever cmake command you used to generate it etc.). For the axmol build command, make sure you pass -f to it in order to force it to regenerate the project, since cmake may not automatically detect changes in the Contents folder.

The file will then be treated as a resource that is copied across to the output bundle. When Firebase runs, it'll find the file. I know this works because I'm using it too, and there should be nothing else required to get it working.

After this re-run pod install, then open up the workspace.

To verify that it the file is referenced by the project correctly, go to Build Phases for AdmobTest2 project. and you should find an entry for copying GoogleServices-Info.plist somewhere in there.

[rh101]

Again, there are only Objective-C and Swift examples provided but when rh101 makes a suggestion, one should pay attention.

That made me laugh! Now, on a more serious note, any Objective-C snippets simply means you need to add the calls in a .m or .mm file, which are already supported in your Axmol project.

Also, you are correct, #import "filename.h" is what you use in Objective-C files.

Now, with regards to the firebase::gma namespace, I'm not entirely sure what is going on there. For my project, I only make use of Crashlytics and Analytics, so this is working for me:

#include "firebase/analytics.h"
#include "firebase/app.h"

#if defined(__ANDROID__)
#include "platform/android/jni/JniHelper.h"
#endif

namespace myapp::firebase {
void initialize()
{
#if defined(__ANDROID__)
    auto appInstance = ::firebase::App::Create(ax::JniHelper::getEnv(), ax::JniHelper::getActivity());
#else
    auto appInstance = ::firebase::App::Create();
#endif
    if (appInstance)
        ::firebase::analytics::Initialize(*appInstance);
}

void terminate()
{
    ::firebase::analytics::Terminate();
}
}

I call the initialize() method from AppDelegate, for example:

bool AppDelegate::applicationDidFinishLaunching() 
{
    myapp::firebase::initialize();
...
}

In the test app gma example, https://github.com/firebase/quickstart-cpp/blob/main/gma/testapp/src/common_main.cc, this is the code they use:

extern "C" int common_main(int argc, const char *argv[]) {
  firebase::App *app;
  LogMessage("Initializing Firebase App.");

  app = ::firebase::App::Create();

  LogMessage("Created the Firebase App %x.",
             static_cast<int>(reinterpret_cast<intptr_t>(app)));

  LogMessage("Initializing the GMA with Firebase API.");
  firebase::gma::Initialize(*app);

  WaitForFutureCompletion(firebase::gma::InitializeLastResult());
  if (firebase::gma::InitializeLastResult().error() !=
      firebase::gma::kAdErrorCodeNone) {
    // Initialization Failure. The error was already logged in
    // WaitForFutureCompletion, so simply exit here.
    return -1;
  }
...
}

So, perhaps you shouldn't use a while loop, and instead use an if condition, and actually check what error is being returned by firebase::gma::InitializeLastResult().error(); that should point you in the right direction. When you do find out which error it is, please post an update in this thread, because I'm genuinely curious to know what is causing the problem for you.

[FHBlah]

Well, I got Firebase to initialize successfully. As I was retracing my steps, I found that modifications I had made to Info.plist were missing. The TestApp readme.md file has a link to instructions on adding the GADApplicationIdentifier and SKAdNetworkItems keys. I had completed the steps but when I double-checked my work, the entries were gone.

In the end, I found that modifying Info.plist from within my project doesn't seem to work. It was only once I'd double-clicked the file in Finder, modified it, and saved it that the changes persisted after an Axmol build. I can modify my source files from within my project but not Info.plist? Strange. RH, Maybe you have some insights on this?

So, perhaps you shouldn't use a while loop, and instead use an if condition...

I'm aware that my code renders my app completely unresponsive while it attempts to initialize Firebase. This was just brute force polling to find out if I could get Firebase working. Now that I have, I can write something more UI friendly. Thanks again, RH.

[rh101]

In the end, I found that modifying Info.plist from within my project doesn't seem to work. It was only once I'd double-clicked the file in Finder, modified it, and saved it that the changes persisted after an Axmol build. I can modify my source files from within my project but not Info.plist? Strange. RH, Maybe you have some insights on this?

At a guess, when generating the xcode project via cmake (or axmol build etc.), the Info.plist file that is in the proj.ios_mac\ios\targets\ios is copied across to the build folder. So, when the project is opened in Xcode, it's actually using the Info.plist that is in the build folder, and not the one that is in the original proj.ios_mac\ios\targets\ios folder.

Once again, this is a complete guess, but you can always check if there is a Info.plist file in the build folder too, which would be the temporary copy of the original.

If that isn't the case, and the Info.plist that is opened up in Xcode is in fact the original, then at the moment I do not know would be causing it not to save the updates.

Anyhow, to ensure everything works, all edits need to be done to the original proj.ios_mac\ios\targets\ios\Info.plist, or via entries in CMakeLists.txt.

EDIT: Just verified it, so yes, the Info.plist is being copied across to the build folder, and that is the one you see inside Xcode. For example:

./build_arm64/bin/myapp/Debug/myapp.app/Contents/Info.plist

If you edit the Info.plist file that you see within Xcode, then you will see the changes reflected in the Info.plist within the path listed above.

[FHBlah]

Remember when I said that I had gotten Firebase to initialize successfully? I had actually accidentally modified my code to exit the loop even though the initialization status was still kFutureStatusPending. Embarrassed, I kept searching for a solution but haven't found one as of yet. As this isn't really an Axmol issue, i've posted a question on Stack Overflow. I'll let you know if I ever get it figured out. Cheers!

[FHBlah]

Update: The folks at Stack Overflow suggested I try using callback functions rather than polling the initialization status. This is a good workaround. I've revised my code to use callbacks and was able to load test ads from Admob. Thanks All.