SDK doc updates

  <p>However, you may choose to develop with another IDE or a simple text editor and invoke the

  tools on the command line or with scripts. This is a less streamlined way to develop because you

  will sometimes have to call command line tools manually, but you will have access to the same

  amount of features that you would have in Eclipse.</p>

  number of features that you would have in Eclipse.</p>

  <p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> Before you begin developing Android applications, make

    sure you have gone through all of the steps outlined in <a

href="{@docRoot}sdk/installing.html">Installing the SDK</a>.</p>

  <p>The basic steps for developing applications with or without Eclipse are the same:</p>

  <ol>

    <li>Install Eclipse or your own IDE.

      <p>Install Eclipse along with <a href="{@docRoot}sdk/eclipse-adt.html#installing">the ADT

      Plugin</a>, or install an editor of your choice if you want to use the command line SDK tools.

      If you are already developing applications, be sure to <a href= 

      "{@docRoot}sdk/eclipse-adt.html#updating">update Your ADT Plugin</a> to the latest version

      before continuing.</p>

    </li>

    <li>Set up Android Virtual Devices or hardware devices.

<img src="{@docRoot}assets/images/android_wrench.png" alt="" align="right">

<p>The Android SDK includes a variety of custom tools that help you develop mobile

applications on the Android platform. The most important of these are the Android

Emulator and the Android Development Tools plugin for Eclipse, but the SDK also

includes a variety of other tools for debugging, packaging, and installing your

applications on the emulator. </p>

<p>The Android SDK includes a variety of tools that help you develop mobile

applications for the Android platform. The tools are classified into two groups: SDK tools

and platform tools. SDK tools are platform independent and are required no matter which

Android platform you are developing on. Platform tools are customized to support the features of the

latest Android platform.</p>

<h2 id="tools-sdk">SDK Tools</h2>

<p>The SDK tools are installed with the SDK starter package and are periodically updated.

The SDK tools are required if you are developing Android applications. The most important SDK tools

include the Android SDK and AVD Manager (<code>android</code>), the emulator

(<code>emulator</code>), and the Dalvik Debug Monitor Server

(<code>ddms</code>). A short summary of some frequently-used SDK tools is provided below.</p>

<dl>

  <dt><a href="adb.html">Android Debug Bridge</a></dt>

    <dd>A versatile tool lets you manage the state of an emulator instance

    or Android-powered device.</dd>    

  <dt><a href="android.html">android</a></dt>

     <dd>Lets you manage AVDs, projects, and the installed components of the SDK.

     </dd>

  <dt><a href="bmgr.html">bmgr</a></dt>

    <dd>Lets you interact with the Backup Manager on Android devices

    supporting API Level 8 or greater. It provides commands to invoke backup and restore operations

    so that you don't need to repeatedly wipe data or take similar intrusive steps in order to test

    your application's backup agent. These commands are accessed via the adb shell.

    </dd>

    <dd>Lets you manage AVDs, projects, and the installed components of the SDK.</dd>

  <dt><a href="{@docRoot}guide/developing/debugging/ddms.html">Dalvik Debug Monitor

Server (ddms)</a></dt>

    <dd>Lets you debug Android applications.</dd>

  <dt><a href="dmtracedump.html">dmtracedump</a></dt>

    <dd>Generates graphical call-stack diagrams from trace log files.

    The tool uses the Graphviz Dot utility to create the graphical output, so you need to install

    Graphviz before running <code>dmtracedump</code>. For more information on using <code>dmtracedump</code>, see

    <a href="{@docRoot}guide/developing/debugging/debugging-tracing.html#dmtracedump">Profiling with

    Traceview and dmtracedump</a>

    </dd>

    <dd>Generates graphical call-stack diagrams from trace log files. The tool uses the

Graphviz Dot utility to create the graphical output, so you need to install Graphviz before

running <code>dmtracedump</code>. For more information on using <code>dmtracedump</code>, see <a

href="{@docRoot}guide/developing/debugging/debugging-tracing.html#dmtracedump">Profiling

with Traceview and dmtracedump</a></dd>

  <dt><a href="draw9patch.html">Draw 9-patch</a></dt>

	    <dd>Allows you to easily create a {@link android.graphics.NinePatch} graphic using a WYSIWYG editor.

	    It also previews stretched versions of the image, and highlights the area in which content is allowed.

	    </dd>

  <dt><a href="emulator.html">Android Emulator</a></dt>

    <dd>A QEMU-based device-emulation tool that you can use to design,

    debug, and test your applications in an actual Android run-time environment. </dd>

    <dd>Allows you to easily create a {@link android.graphics.NinePatch} graphic using a

WYSIWYG editor. It also previews stretched versions of the image, and highlights the area in which

content is allowed.</dd>

  <dt><a href="emulator.html">Android Emulator (emulator)</a></dt>

    <dd>A QEMU-based device-emulation tool that you can use to design, debug, and test

your applications in an actual Android run-time environment.</dd>

  <dt><a href="hierarchy-viewer.html">Hierarchy Viewer (hierarchyviewer)</a></dt>

    <dd>Lets you debug and optimize an Android application's user interface.</dd>

  <dt><a href="hprof-conv.html">hprof-conv</a></dt>

    <dd>Converts the HPROF file that is generated by the Android SDK tools to a

    standard format so you can view the file in a profiling tool of your choice.</dd>

    <dd>Converts the HPROF file that is generated by the Android SDK tools to a standard format so

you can view the file in a profiling tool of your choice.</dd>

  <dt><a href="layoutopt.html">layoutopt</a></dt>

    <dd>Lets you quickly analyze your application's layouts in order to

    optimize them for efficiency.

    </dd>

  <dt><a href="mksdcard.html">logcat</a></dt>

      <dd>Lets you read system log messages that are output on an Android device or emulator.</dd>

    <dd>Lets you quickly analyze your application's layouts in order to optimize them for

efficiency.</dd>

  <dt><a href="mksdcard.html">mksdcard</a></dt>

      <dd>Helps you create a disk image that you can use with the emulator, 

      to simulate the presence of an external storage card (such as an SD card).</dd>

    <dd>Helps you create a disk image that you can use with the emulator, to simulate the presence

of an external storage card (such as an SD card).</dd>

  <dt><a href="monkey.html">Monkey</a></dt>

      <dd>Runs on your emulator or device and generates pseudo-random

      streams of user events such as clicks, touches, or gestures, as well as a number of system-level events.

      You can use the Monkey to stress-test applications that you are developing, in a random yet repeatable manner.</dd>

    <dd>Runs on your emulator or device and generates pseudo-random streams of user events such

as clicks, touches, or gestures, as well as a number of  system-level events. You can use the Monkey

to stress-test applications that you are developing, in a random yet repeatable manner.</dd>

  <dt><a href="monkeyrunner_concepts.html">monkeyrunner</a></dt>

      <dd>Provides an API for writing programs that control an Android device

      or emulator from outside of Android code.</dd>

    <dd>Provides an API for writing programs that control an Android device or emulator from

outside of Android code.</dd>

  <dt><a href="proguard.html">ProGuard</a></dt>

      <dd>Shrinks, optimizes, and obfuscates your code by removing unused code and renaming classes,

      fields, and methods with semantically obscure names.</dd>

    <dd>Shrinks, optimizes, and obfuscates your code by removing unused code and renaming

classes, fields, and methods with semantically obscure names.</dd>

  <dt><a href="sqlite3.html">sqlite3</a></dt>

    <dd>Lets you access the SQLite data files created and used by Android applications.</dd>

  <dt><a href="traceview.html">traceview</a></dt>

    <dd>Provides a graphical viewer for execution logs saved by your application.</dd>

  <dt><a href="zipalign.html">zipalign</a></dt>

            <dd>Optimizes <code>.apk</code> files by ensuring that all uncompressed data starts

            with a particular alignment relative to the start of the file. This should always be used

            to align .apk files after they have been signed.</dd>

    <dd>Optimizes <code>.apk</code> files by ensuring that all uncompressed data starts with a

particular alignment relative to the start of the file. This should always be used to align .apk

files after they have been signed.</dd>

 </dl>

<h2 id="tools-platform">Platform Tools</h2>

<p>The platform tools are typically updated every time you install a new SDK platform. Each update

of the platform tools is backward compatible with older platforms. Usually, you directly use only

one of the platform tools&mdash;the <a href="adb.html">Android Debug Bridge (<code>adb</code>)</a>.

Android Debug Bridge is a versatile tool that lets you manage the state of an emulator instance or

Android-powered device. You can also use it to install an Android application (.apk) file on a

device.</p>

<p>The other platform tools, such as <a href="{@docRoot}guide/developing/tools/aidl.html">aidl</a>,

<code>aapt</code>, <code>dexdump</code>, and <code>dx</code>, are typically called by the Android

build tools or Android Development Tools (ADT), so you rarely need to invoke these tools directly.

As a general rule, you should rely on the build tools or the ADT plugin to call them as needed.</p>

<p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> The Android SDK provides additional shell tools that can

be accessed through <code>adb</code>, such as <a href="bmgr.html">bmgr</a> and

<a href="logcat.html">logcat</a>.</p>

 No newline at end of file

<h3 id="downloading">Downloading the ADT Plugin</h3>

<p>Use the Update Manager feature of your Eclipse installation to install the latest

revision of ADT on your development computer.<p>

revision of ADT on your development computer.<>

<p>Assuming that you have a compatible version of the Eclipse IDE installed, as

described in <a href="#preparing">Preparing for Installation</a>, above, follow

    <li>In the Add Repository dialog that appears, enter "ADT Plugin" for the <em>Name</em> and the

following URL for the <em>Location</em>:

      <pre>https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/</pre>

    </li>

    <li>Click <strong>OK</strong>

      <p>Note: If you have trouble acquiring the plugin, try using "http" in the Location URL,

        instead of "https" (https is preferred for security reasons).</p>

      <p>Click <strong>OK</strong>.</p></li>

    <li>In the Available Software dialog, select

the checkbox next to Developer Tools and click <strong>Next</strong>.</li>

instead of "https" (https is preferred for security reasons).</p></li>

    <li>In the Available Software dialog, select the checkbox next to Developer Tools and click

<strong>Next</strong>.</li>

    <li>In the next window, you'll see a list of the tools to be downloaded. Click

<strong>Next</strong>. </li>

    <li>Read and accept the license agreements, then click <strong>Finish</strong>.</li>

    <li>Read and accept the license agreements, then click <strong>Finish</strong>.

      <p>Note: If you get a security warning saying that the authenticity or validity of

the software can't be established, click <strong>OK</strong>.</p></li>

    <li>When the installation completes, restart Eclipse. </li>

</ol>

<h3 id="configuring">Configuring the ADT Plugin</h3>

<p>Once you've successfully downloaded ADT as described above, the next step

<p>After you've successfully downloaded the ADT as described above, the next step

is to modify your ADT preferences in Eclipse to point to the Android SDK directory:</p>

<ol>

    <li>Select <strong>Window</strong> &gt; <strong>Preferences...</strong> to open the Preferences

        panel (Mac OS X: <strong>Eclipse</strong> &gt; <strong>Preferences</strong>).</li>

    <li>Select <strong>Android</strong> from the left panel.</li>

      <p>You may see a dialog asking whether you want to send usage statistics to Google. If so,

make your choice and click <strong>Proceed</strong>. You cannot continue with this procedure until

you click <strong>Proceed</strong>.</p>

    <li>For the <em>SDK Location</em> in the main panel, click <strong>Browse...</strong> and

        locate your downloaded SDK directory. </li>

    <li>Click <strong>Apply</strong>, then <strong>OK</strong>.</li>