Version UIAutomator test package - android-gradle-plugin

Question

I have a UIAutomator test that interacts with the OS to automate some tasks that I can't do from ADB or another app. Sometimes I release a new version of the tests. I planned on using adb shell dumpsys package my.package.test | grep versionName to parse the version from the test app, and update it if necessary.
However, it appears that dumpsys package returns versionName=null for my UIAutomator test (built using a gradle script near-identical to the sample).
Right now I'm just overwriting the test every time I need it. Is there some way to embed version information in a UIAutomator test APK?

Answer 1

There's no version information in the default manifest generated for the test APK, then you have to introduce it.
1.
add this to your build.gradle:
defaultConfig {
manifestPlaceholders = [ versionName:versionName, versionCode:versionCode]
}
2.
copy your main AndroidManifest.xml to src/androidTest
3.
edit the test manifest
<!--suppress AndroidDomInspection -->
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
package="your.package.name"
android:versionCode="${versionCode}"
android:versionName="${versionName}"
>
<application
tools:node="remove"
... >
</application>
</manifest>
4.
Once rebuilt, your test APK will include version information.