Android Tutorial - Android res Folder








Resource files are stored in various subdirectories based on their type under /res folder.

Folder

Here are some important subdirectories in the /res folder and the types of resources they host:

  • anim: Compiled animation files
  • drawable: Bitmaps
  • layout: UI and view definitions
  • values: Arrays, colors, dimensions, strings, and styles
  • xml: Compiled arbitrary XML files
  • raw: Noncompiled raw files




Note

The resource compiler in the Android Asset Packaging Tool (AAPT) compiles all the resources except the raw resources and places them into the final .apk file.
apk stands for Android package.

This .apk file, which contains the Android application's code and resources, correlates to Java's .jar file.

The .apk file is what gets installed onto the device.

XML resource parser allows resource names such as hello-string, but you will see a compile-time error in R.java. You can fix this by renaming your resource hello_string.

Resources Directory Structure

The following code offers a quick look at the overall resources directory structure. 

/res/values/strings.xml
/res/values/colors.xml
/res/values/dimens.xml
/res/values/attrs.xml
/res/values/styles.xml
/res/drawable/*.png *.jpg *.gif *.9.png
/res/anim/*.xml
/res/layout/*.xml
/res/raw/*.*
/res/xml/*.xml
/assets/*.*/*.*

Only the /assets directory can contain an arbitrary list of subdirectories. Every other directory can only have files at the level of that directory.