refreshVersions provides read-to-use organized constants for select popular dependencies of the following ecosystems: - Kotlin Multiplatform - Kotlin/JVM - Android
You can use them in any build.gradle or build.gradle.kts file.
That doesn’t prevent you from using refreshVersions in a Gradle project that is not using Kotlin or is not an Android project.
Here’s an example of how it looks like in the IDE:
No imports needed.
Autocomplete in IDE for easy discoverability.
You can see all the dependency objects in this directory.
All these dependency constants specify their version as the
version placeholder (_), so refreshVersions can replace it
seamlessly with the value defined in the versions.properties file.
After adding a dependency that doesn’t have its version specified
in the versions.properties file yet, refreshVersions will
edit it and put the most stable recent version in it on the next
Gradle sync (or any other Gradle run).
It will also put any less stable versions as comments, allowing you to quickly upgrade if needed.
This section doesn’t apply to plugins that are configured in a buildscript block
(since these have their versions configured like regular dependencies),
but only to those that are configured solely with a plugin id.
To add such a plugin, do as usual, but do not specify the version in the build.gradle or
build.gradle.kts file. Instead, set it up like so in the versions.properties file:
plugin.the-id-of-the-plugin=1.0where the-id-of-the-plugin is the actual id of the plugin, and 1.0 is replaced by
the actual version you want to use.
For dependencies that are not included in the provided constants,
all you need to have them work with refreshVersions is to replace the
version with the version placeholder (_),
After adding a dependency that doesn’t have its version specified
in the versions.properties file yet, refreshVersions will
edit it and put the most stable recent version in it on the next
Gradle sync (or any other Gradle run).
It will also put any less stable versions as comments, allowing you to quickly upgrade if needed.
Day-to-day usage of refreshVersions is done in two steps.
First, you discover the available updates. Second, you apply the updates you want.
(scroll down to see an example below)
Run the refreshVersions gradle task on the root project:
./gradlew refreshVersions
(It usually takes less than 10 seconds to execute on relatively big projects.)
Open the versions.properties file and see the available updates added as comments.
Applying updates can be done in the versions.properties file with just the keyboard:
-
Put the caret before or after the
=symbol on the available update line. -
While holding shift (for text selection), press the up arrow key until the version key.
-
Press the backspace/delete key.
-
If you’re in an IDE, sync Gradle changes to see the updated dependencies.
Note that checking for compatibility, regressions, and performing any required changes or migrations cannot be done by refreshVersions. This is your responsibility (shared with your tests and QA).
Because images speak better than thousands of words, here’s an example with screenshots.
Note: kotlinx.coroutines latest releases at the time of that example are 1.3.7 and 1.3.7-1.4-M2.
Step 0: Initially used version
Step 1: Run the refreshVersions task to find updates
Step 2: Replace the previous version with the update
Tip: You can upgrade easily with just the keyboard.
To so do, place the caret next to the equals sign (=) of the
version you want to use, hold shift and press the up arrow key,
and press the delete key to complete the upgrade.
Final step: Usual post-upgrade actions (check, migrate, commit, push, CI…)