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Why am I having such a hard time getting into the swing of Android development? I've been developing in various languages over the years and, for some reason, just can't seem to get beyond that "jeez-i-still-feel-a-total-noob" stage with Android.

So I'm trying to add an Action Bar to my Android 2.3.3 project. No problem, right? The Android developers website has a nice and clear article explaining exactly how to do it. Of course it involves adding the appcompat v7 support library. No problem, even this is documented step-by-step on this page. But, as with just about every such exercise in Android, I find that you can do exactly what the page tells you to do, it still won't work without significant amount of Googling to fix the errors that you encounter afterwards.

So I've followed the steps under "Using Eclipse" in the section "Adding libraries with resources" in the above link. The first error I get is Unable to resolve target 'android-16'. No problem, this one I could figure out for myself but I'm curious, is there anything in the documents I've been following that would have suggested to me that I need Android 4.1.2 (API16) installed? Did I just read right over it or should I have known by myself that, to do what I'm trying to do, I would need API16?

Never mind, at least I can fix that but then I get a new problem. As soon as I add the android-support-v7-compat library to my project and click the OK button, the console output lights up with errors, the first one being:

C:...\android-support-v7-appcompat\res\values-v14\styles_base.xml:24: error: Error retrieving parent for item: No resource found that matches the given name 'android:Widget.Holo.ActionBar'.

and the other 60 odd errors are similar but for different given names.

I would really appreciate if anyone could help me out here. Obviously I'd like to know how to solve this particular problem but if anyone could give me some tips on how to get past this very frustrating stage of learning this new development environment, I would be ever so thankful. What is it that I should have done differently not to run into these kinds of errors, other than following the instructions on the Android Developers website step by step?

Dewald Swanepoel
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9 Answers9

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OK, I guess I should post an answer as I've eventually managed to solve my own problem.

It turns out I have to use a build target of Android 4.2.2, regardless of the fact that I'm specifically developing for Android 2.3.3 - I mean, that's why I'm using support libraries after all. I imagine it might be possible that some other lower target (but higher than 2.3.3) would still work I just used the highest one I have installed and it solved the problem.

How I was supposed to know this from following the step-by-step instructions on the Android Developers website is a mystery to me. The reason I decided to try changing the targetSdkVersion was because of the final section in the page referenced in the question. It reads "If you are increasing the backward compatibility of your existing application to an earlier version of the Android API with the Support Library, make sure to update your application's manifest." Now I'm not increasing the backward compatibility of my existing application. I'm changing an existing application that targets 2.3.3 to be able to include an Action Bar (seems more like "forward compatibility"). I tried upgrading the targekSdkVersion though as I was out of ideas and lo and behold, it worked.

Dewald Swanepoel
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    Just in case it helps someone... I was creating the appcompat library project in a new workspace for a new project and I've got this "Unable to resolve target 'android-16'" error when I imported the code. The solution I've found was to change the android:targetSdkVersion to what I need for my main project (18 with Google APIs). Then I just closed and open the library project once again and everything was OK. – Marina.Eariel Oct 09 '13 at 15:03
  • Not only did I have to target my latest SDK, I had to make sure I had the latest APK from Google installed – Chicowitz Nov 05 '14 at 04:00
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Don't know if it helps you at all, but I've been struggling with a similar issue for several hours and finally managed to resolve it. In my case, inside my own project's styles.xml file, I was referencing the AppCompat style in the wrong way in the parent attribute.

I was using:

<style name="AppBaseTheme" parent="android:Theme.AppCompat">

where I should have used:

<style name="AppBaseTheme" parent="@style/Theme.AppCompat">

My mistake was in the reference to the theme.

Matej
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    LOL. This is not the solution either but as it happens, no sooner had I fixed my problem (I'll post the solution as an answer) when another problem reared its head, for which this was the solution :-) – Dewald Swanepoel Aug 18 '13 at 07:01
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I found that setting the Android target to 2.3.3 for the library project android-support-v7-appcompat solves this issue. You don't need to set your project's target higher, but the library's target lower.

Jacek Kopecky
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You have pinpointed the all important document and the relevant section "adding libraries with resources":

http://developer.android.com/tools/support-library/setup.html

The error suggests that your project is not able to find these resources. Please double check the following :

  1. You have checked "is library" on the library project

  2. You have exported the jars IN THE LIBRARY PROJECT as described in that section

  3. You have added the library project as a reference to your app project

  4. You have added the android-support-v4.jar to your libs folder in your app project

If this is all definitely correct, check eclipse for any error messages - is it the library project or the app project that lights up like the proverbial Christmas Tree ?

IanB
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  • Thanks but no, it's none of those. I've checked and double checked that all those are correct. It is the app project that lights up with errors, as soon as I've added the library project to it. – Dewald Swanepoel Aug 18 '13 at 06:57
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First of all check if you have done all the described steps as explained on the developers site. Then, for the errors :

Unable to resolve target 'android-16'

Make sure that you have installed API16, this errors occurs if you have mentioned your targetsdk to 16 in your Manifest while the sdk for API16 is not installed. You can either install the API or edit the targetApi of your project to the minimum required version, for the support library you are using I think API 11 is the minimum required android version.

android:Widget.Holo.ActionBar

This error should also be fixed once the targetsdk is fixed in your project. Since to use Holo.ActionBar you'l need to target your project to minimum supported api level ie. 11 or higher.

lil'ms
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  • This error occurs even if we are targetting API level 18 directly and do not have API Level 16 installed. – kpsfoo Oct 25 '13 at 19:57
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I met similar problems. Using API 18, ADT.

To solve the "Unable to resolve target 'android-16' problem", I remove the import lib project and repeat what the tutorial says.

Then I found I couldn't really "add" the library to my project. (The instruction "In the Library pane, click Add." there is not that detail. 1. In your project -> properties -> Java build path -> Libraries -> Add Library... -> Android Classpath Container -> Select the lib project 2. In your project -> properties -> Android -> add... -> choose the lib -> apply

cheers

vancexu
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Here is how I avoided the error, " Unable to resolve target 'android-16'", when adding v7.

First, I followed the instructions for adding support libraries with resources in eclipse. Following step 4, I clicked Finish. That's when I saw the error message, android-support-v7-appcompat] Unable to resolve target 'android-16'.

Second, I read this post. I also opened the download manager, but did not need anything updated. In order to make sure that I followed the steps exactly as correctly as I could, I deleted the android-support-v7-appcompat project and started over.

This second time I didn't check any different boxes, after all. But, I also got no errors at step 4. Who can say why?

Thanks, Dewald, you expressed in this question the same frustration I have. Is experience the only way out?

Harry
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If some of your resource xml files cannot find their respective AppCompat references, make sure you also add the support libraries to your project properties. You do this by:

1.) right clicking on your project in the project

2.) Select properties. (Bottom of the menu)

3.) click Android on the left hand side menu of the new pop up window

4.) In the libraries section, click the "add button"

5.) Select the respective libraries. (If none show up, check to see if they are already displayed in the "libraries" window of the pop up menu. If there is a red x by the desired library, try and resolve that issue first.)

6.) Once there is a green checkmark next to the desired libraries, make sure the "Is Library" option in the libraries section IS NOT selected.

7.) Click apply.

8.) Close the pop up menu.

If this doesn't work, let me know and I can help you out. I spent three hours on the problem so I know pretty much all the possible things that can go wrong with the set up.

Adam Ruhl
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Go to Project -> uncheck Build Automatically

Go to Project -> Clean... , clean both the library project and your app project

Export your app as a signed APK while Build Automatically is still disabled

KAUSHAL J. SATHWARA
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