Add/Replace/delete class files in Dex

[dazzleworth]

Is is possible say if I have a class file or jar (without source code) file to replace the classes in the target dex file with my class or group of classes in package in a jar file? Either in the Android Studio Plugin version (the normal way of adding library to project) or standalone version. If the class files are already present as dalvik bytecode in the dex file (determined by same package/class names) they can be automatically replaced or manually deleted in the dex then replaced with the source class/jar before being recompiled/APK'ed for final packaging

[Lanchon]

dexpatcher operates on dex files only (dalvik bytecode). jars are java bytecode. add the jar to your patch project as a dependency. the jar contents will be added to the java bytecode output of the patch project. next the patch is converted to dex (using dx or d8). next the patch is applied.

the patch needs to have "package annotations" requesting to DexRemove the original packages you are replacing (maybe recursively). see the dxp-tool sample/test/doc file for details.

this compile/jar2dex/patch process is automated in the dxp-gradle plugins. see the demos. an alternative workflow (not depending on the android gradle plugin) is exemplified in the "patched-dex" sample.