I’m trying to get `@Preview` working in a multi module project. Has anyone had trouble doing this?

# compose

[Chris Fillmore]

I’m trying to get @Preview working in a multi module project. Has anyone had trouble doing this?

[Chris Fillmore]

I’m using compose version 1.3.0-beta02, compiler version 1.3.1, Kotlin version 1.7.10.

[Chris Fillmore]

I have a :core module with a few reusable `@Composable`s. My :app module depends on :core and uses these composables.

[Chris Fillmore]

I have a “Settings” screen in :app which uses several composables from :core. The @Preview for this screen works well.

[Chris Fillmore]

I want to create previews for the individual composables in :core. But I always get the error:

The project needs to be compiled for the preview to be displayed

[Chris Fillmore]

If I copy-paste the exact @Preview function from :core into :app, the preview renders fine. I can’t figure out what the difference is between these two modules. Versions are all the same.

[Alex Vanyo]

You might be missing the preview-related dependencies in your :core library modules? You could also look at https://github.com/android/nowinandroid as a reference for a multi-module setup. There was at least one weird preview-related dependency issue IIRC

[Chris Fillmore]

Thanks for the link, I’ll take a look and report back if I figure anything out

[Chris Fillmore]

Fwiw both modules have the same Compose deps, except :app also has navigation and material icons

[Alex Vanyo]

Yep here were the lines I was remembering:
https://github.com/android/nowinandroid/blob/9d8914693a5b066572d97cdd88e3f986bdb271d4/core/designsystem/build.gradle.kts#L45-L49

navigation might be the culprit, if it pulls in viewmodel-related deps

[Chris Fillmore]

ooooh thanks for the tip

[Chris Fillmore]

Perhaps I’ll just update to Dolphin for now

[Chris Fillmore]

Btw I updated to Dolphin and all works well now

[Alex Vanyo]

Nice to hear! We should probably remove those workarounds in Now in Android