Android Studio and Gradle - build fails

Question

I am building a small library project along wit a sample project to illustrate the use. I can't manage to run the sample in Android Studio. I have created the project from scratch. I am experienced with Eclipse but it's my first try at Android Studio & Gradle.

The error given:

Gradle: Execution failed for task ':demo:dexDebug'.

Running C:\DevTools\Android\android-studio\sdk\build-tools\android-4.2.2\dx.bat failed. See output

I have the following folder structure:

- demo
  - build
  - libs
    - android-support-v4.jar
  - src
    - main
      - java
      - res
  - build.gradle
- library
  - build
  - libs
    - android-support-v4.jar
  - src
    - main
      - java
      - res
  - build.gradle
- build.gradle
- settings.gradle

Build.gradle at project root:

// Top-level build file where you can add configuration options common to all sub-projects/modules.

Settings.gradle at project root:

include ':library', ':demo'

Build.gradle for the library module:

buildscript {
    repositories {
        mavenCentral()
    }
    dependencies {
        classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:0.4'
    }
}
apply plugin: 'android-library'

dependencies {
    compile files('libs/android-support-v4.jar')
}

android {
    compileSdkVersion 17
    buildToolsVersion "17.0.0"

    defaultConfig {
        minSdkVersion 7
        targetSdkVersion 16
    }
}

Build.gradle for the sample module:

buildscript {
    repositories {
        mavenCentral() 
    }
    dependencies {
        classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:0.4'
    }
}
apply plugin: 'android'

dependencies {
    compile project(':library')
    compile files('libs/android-support-v4.jar')
}

android {
    compileSdkVersion 17
    buildToolsVersion "17.0.0"

    defaultConfig {
        minSdkVersion 7
        targetSdkVersion 16
    }
}

score 25 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 18 '13 at 16:05

25

Specifying compile files('libs/android-support-v4.jar') means that every library includes support v4. What you want to do is just specify that every library depends on it:

dependencies {
    compile 'com.android.support:support-v4:13.0.0'
}

This will allow gradle to detect all dependencies and include this only once.

Note: You have to first use the SDK Manager and download and install two Maven repositories: "Android Support Repository" and "Google Repository".

answered Jun 18 '13 at 16:05

Siva Velusamy

2,471
17
9

2

worked for me - took longer than necessary though because I ignored the Google Repository! – James Gupta Jul 18 '13 at 16:04
Did you have to reimport the project in Android Studio for it to take effect? – dannyroa Jul 29 '13 at 19:24
what if, we'll use another library ? For example if we use myLibrary, what to type into dependencies ? – alicanbatur Nov 13 '13 at 14:11

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 17 '13 at 09:11

1

I found the problem:

I removed that line from the sample gradle file.

compile files('libs/android-support-v4.jar')

However, I have no idea why this does not work (if I have 2 or 3 external libraries that all depend on the support library, how are we supposed to do, without touching their gradle files?

answered Jun 17 '13 at 09:11

Vincent Mimoun-Prat

28,208
16
81
124

But this would also happen if you have the support library included both in your lib and in your main project, gradle or no gradle you have to have it in 1 place only. – Alexander Kulyakhtin Jun 17 '13 at 09:14
In Eclipse I never had any problem as far as the jar files were the same for each (library) project. – Vincent Mimoun-Prat Jun 17 '13 at 09:34

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:24

You should navigate to your libs folder in the IDE, right click on the jar and select to add the library to the project, it still needs to establish the dependency even though the jar appears to be there. Also look at your gradle built script to make sure the dependency appears there. If that still doesnt work just run a gradle clean on the project. Intellij documentation will give you more details on what clean does. see:

stackoverflow gradle build

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 09 '21 at 17:53

This error could be encountered while migrating from Groovy to kotlin DSL as well and here are the steps to get rid of it:

If you are still in the process of migrating please complete the migration of gradle files first, use kts syntax and then sync gradle files.
Use this dependency inside your build.gradle(app level):

implementation("androidx.legacy:legacy-support-v4:1.0.0")
Remove id("kotlin-android-extensions") from plugins block inside build.gradle.kts (app level).

That's it! 3rd Point solved the issue for me but trying all the points should definitely fix the issue.

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Sep 13 '21 at 17:05

0

In my Case replace this line classpath "com.android.tools.build:gradle:7.0.2"

answered Sep 13 '21 at 17:05

Aqif

326
3
5

Android Studio and Gradle - build fails

5 Answers5