Java version check does not print detected version to console

[fabiante]

Hi!

Disclaimer: I am unsure if this is the correct repository, feel free to guide me to the correct spot if I am lost 😉

So, When using Cordova and having Java 11 and Java 8 installed on my Windows machine, running cordova emulate android will output this error many people know:

ANDROID_HOME=C:\Users\fabit\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk
JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_202
Requirements check failed for JDK 1.8

I then thought "hmm, but my JAVA_HOME is pointing to the correct JDK, version 8.
Running the command with --verbose showed my that in fact Cordova checks not the ENV variable but some other. This happens in this function:

This can be found here:

cordova-android/bin/templates/cordova/lib/check_reqs.js

Lines 355 to 369 in d9c08f1

	// Returns a promise.
	module.exports.run = function () {
	return Q.all([this.check_java(), this.check_android()]).then(function (values) {
	console.log('ANDROID_HOME=' + process.env['ANDROID_HOME']);
	console.log('JAVA_HOME=' + process.env['JAVA_HOME']);
	if (!String(values[0]).startsWith('1.8.')) {
	throw new CordovaError(`Requirements check failed for JDK 8 ('1.8.*')`);
	}
	if (!values[1]) {
	throw new CordovaError('Requirements check failed for Android SDK');
	}
	});
	};

As you can see, the check is happening on values[0], not the JAVA_HOME ENV variable.

This is misleading and caused me (and propably others) to uninstall the correct Java version and still getting the error since I didn't suspect Cordova picking up Java 11.

[fabiante]

I added a console.log command in the linked PR.

[janpio]

Ugh, why does it output that ENV var there then at all? Do you have a suggestion for better output here that would actually help users to understand what is going on? (besides just outputting the compared value like in your PR?)

[fabiante]

Well, I could rewrite it to display "Checking your Java and Android SDK version". Printing the ENV variable isn't correct.

Looks like in my case, there was more to it, i fixed my error:

As mentioned above I have Java 11 and 8 installed. What I just now found was, that I hat a PATH ENV entry pointing to my Java 11 installation. In some way this ended up in the called function, not my JAVA_HOME ENV variable. Figuring this out will take a while, but isn't related to this issue.

[brodycj]

I think it is good to log both the JAVA_HOME setting and the result of javac -version to help the user figure out what is going wrong.

[fabiante]

@brodybits Theoretically it is. But what I have discovered is that these may not correspond to what Cordova checks. Both my ENV variables and the javac --version showed the 1.8 installation. Yet somehow Cordova used my OpenJDK 11 installation.

[brodycj]

Both my ENV variables and the javac --version showed the 1.8 installation. Yet somehow Cordova used my OpenJDK 11 installation.

Got it now. I think that comment belongs on PR #624 where we are reviewing the actual changes.

[fabiante]

Thank you for your feedback!
I'd be happy to clean up the check_req.js once Cordova 9 is out. But that should be another issue & PR I think 😉