Exclude specific build variants

I have the two default build types: debug / release and a couple of flavors: prod / dev.

Now I want to exclude the build variant dev-release, but keep all other possible combinations. Is there a way to achieve this?

Solution 1:

Variant filter

Use the variantFilter of the gradle android plugin to mark certain combinations as ignored. Here is an example from the official documentation that works with flavor dimensions and shows how it can be used:

android {
  ...
  buildTypes {...}

  flavorDimensions "api", "mode"
  productFlavors {
    demo {...}
    full {...}
    minApi24 {...}
    minApi23 {...}
    minApi21 {...}
  }

  variantFilter { variant ->
      def names = variant.flavors*.name
      // To check for a certain build type, use variant.buildType.name == "<buildType>"
      if (names.contains("minApi21") && names.contains("demo")) {
          // Gradle ignores any variants that satisfy the conditions above.
          setIgnore(true)
      }
  }
}

As the comment says, you can also check the buildType like so:

android {
    variantFilter { variant ->
        def names = variant.flavors*.name
        if(variant.buildType.name == 'release' && names.contains("myforbiddenflavor")) {
            setIgnore(true)
        }
    }
}

Solution 2:

When working with flavor dimensions try this one

variantFilter { variant ->
    def dim = variant.flavors.collectEntries {
        [(it.productFlavor.dimension): it.productFlavor.name]
    }

    if (dim.dimensionOne == 'paid' && dim.dimensionSecond == 'someVal') {
        variant.setIgnore(true);
    }
}

Solution 3:

Using variant filters like others I found it was easiest to do this by comparing the variant name against a list of variants that I want to keep.

So in my app/build.gradle file I have something like:

android {
    variantFilter { variant ->
        def needed = variant.name in [
                'stagingQuickDebug',       // for development
                'stagingFullDebug',        // for debugging all configurations
                'stagingFullCandidate',    // for local builds before beta release
                'stagingFullRelease',      // for beta releases
                'productionFullCandidate', // for local builds before going public
                'productionFullRelease'    // for public releases
        ]
        variant.setIgnore(!needed)
    }
    buildTypes {
        debug {
        }
        release {
        }
        candidate.initWith(release)
    }
    flavorDimensions "server", "build"
    productFlavors {
        staging {
            dimension "server"
            buildConfigField "String", "API_URL", '"https://example-preprod.com/"'
        }
        production {
            dimension "server"
            buildConfigField "String", "API_URL", '"https://example.com/"'
        }
        quick {
            dimension "build"
            minSdkVersion 21
            resConfigs("en", "xxhdpi")
        }
        full {
            dimension "build"
        }
    }
}