Merge "Update RenderScript docs to include Support Library APIs" into jb-mr2-docs

    <ol>

      <li><a href="#writing-an-rs-kernel">Writing a RenderScript Kernel</a></li>

      <li><a href="#access-rs-apis">Accessing RenderScript Java APIs</a>

        <ol>

          <li><a href="#ide-setup">Setting Up Your Development Environment</a></li>

        </ol>

      </li>

      <li><a href="#using-rs-from-java">Using RenderScript from Java Code</a></li>

    </ol>

beneficial on some architectures due to additional optimizations only available with relaxed

precision (such as SIMD CPU instructions).</p>

<h2 id="access-rs-apis">Accessing RenderScript Java APIs</h2>

<p>When developing an Android application that uses RenderScript, you can access its Java API in

  one of two ways. The APIs are available in the {@link android.renderscript} package

  on devices running Android 3.0 (API level 11) and higher. These are the original APIs for

  RenderScript. The APIs are also available as a Support Library in the

  {@link android.support.v8.renderscript} package, which allow you to use them on devices running

  Android 2.2 (API level 8) and higher.</p>

<p>We strongly recommend using the Support Library APIs for accessing RenderScript because they

  include the latest improvements to the RenderScript compute framework and provide a wider range

  of device compatibility. Using the RenderScript APIs in the Support Library requires specific

  setup procedures for your development environment, which is described in the next section.</p>

<h3 id="ide-setup">Using the RenderScript Support Library APIs</h3>

<p>In order to use the Support Library RenderScript APIs, you must configure your development

  environment to be able to access them. The following Android SDK tools are required for using

  these APIs:</p>

<ul>

  <li>Android SDK Tools revision 22.2 or higher</li>

  <li>Android SDK Build-tools revision 18.1.0 or higher</li>

</ul>

<p>You can check and update the installed version of these tools in the

  <a href="{@docRoot}tools/help/sdk-manager.html">Android SDK Manager</a>.</p>

<p class="note">

  <strong>Note:</strong> Use of Support Library RenderScript APIs is not currently supported with

  Android Studio or Gradle-based builds.

</p>

<p>To use the Support Library RenderScript APIs in Eclipse:</p>

<ol>

  <li>Make sure you have the required Android SDK version and Build Tools version installed.</li>

  <li>Open the {@code project.properties} file in the root folder of your application project.</li>

  <li>Add the following lines to the file:

<pre>

renderscript.target=18

renderscript.support.mode=true

sdk.buildtools=18.1.0

</pre>

  </li>

  <li>In your application classes that use RenderScript, add an import for the Support Library

    classes:

<pre>

import android.support.v8.renderscript.*;

</pre>

  </li>

</ol>

<p>The {@code project.properties} settings listed above control specific behavior in the Android

  build process:</p>

<ul>

  <li>{@code renderscript.target} - Specifies the bytecode version to be generated. We

    recommend you set this value the highest available API level and set {@code

    renderscript.support.mode} to {@code true}. Valid values for this setting are any integer value

    from 11 to the most recently released API level. If your minimum SDK version specified in your

    application manifest is set to a higher value, this value is ignored and the target value is set

    to the minimum SDK version.</li>

  <li>{@code renderscript.support.mode} - Specifies that the generated bytecode should fall

    back to a compatible version if the device it is running on does not support the target version.

    </li>

  <li>{@code sdk.buildtools} - The version of the Android SDK build tools to use. This value

    should be set to 18.1.0 or higher. If this option is not specified, the highest installed build

    tools version is used. You should always set this value to ensure the consistency of builds

    across development machines with different configurations.</li>

</ul>

<h2 id="using-rs-from-java">Using RenderScript from Java Code</h2>

<p>Using RenderScript from Java code relies on the {@link android.renderscript} APIs. Most

<p>Using RenderScript from Java code relies on the API classes located in the

{@link android.renderscript} or the {@link android.support.v8.renderscript} package. Most

applications follow the same basic usage patterns:</p>

<ol>