Android skins layout file syntax

Question

I'm teaching myself how to make custom AVD skins by editing the layout file and associated .png files in the android-sdk-windows\platforms\android-nnn\skins\ folders. The syntax of the layout file is simple and pretty self-explanatory but I'm curious about it ...

1. Is it meant to be hand-edited or is it generated from some tool or utility I should be using?

2. Any idea why they used this curly-brace syntax instead of something standard like XML? (or is this a standard syntax I just haven't seen as a Java/Android noob?)

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

1.Is it meant to be hand-edited or is it generated from some tool or utility I should be using?

Yes, it's that simple that nobody has written a tool in order to create skins.

2.Any idea why they used this curly-brace syntax instead of something standard like XML? (or is this a standard syntax I just haven't seen as a Java/Android noob?)

That's up to the Android engineers. I think it was a good choice, since that format is easier to read than a strict XML.