No resource found – Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar

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The question:

I used ActionBar Style Generator, and now trying to use into my app, but getting :

error: Error retrieving parent for item: No resource found that matches the given name ‘@style/
Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar’.

i am using android-support-v7-appcompat.jar lib inside libs folder

my target is to make my app compatible 2.3 or above

The Solutions:

Below are the methods you can try. The first solution is probably the best. Try others if the first one doesn’t work. Senior developers aren’t just copying/pasting – they read the methods carefully & apply them wisely to each case.

Method 1

AppCompat is a library project. You need to reference the library project in your android project.

Check the topic Adding libraries with resources.

Update

Adding material theme should be the way. Check https://material.io/develop/android/docs/getting-started for more details.

Method 2

If you’re using Eclipse, then add the reference library into your project as the following steps:

  1. Right-click your project in the Project Explorer View.
  2. Click Properties.
  3. Click Android in the Properties window.
  4. In the Library group, click Add...
    • See the image below.
  5. Select the library. Click OK.
  6. Click the OK button again in the Properties window.

The "Add" button in the project Properties window, Android section, Library group.

Method 3

If you are using Android Studio then just add the dependency 

dependencies {
     implementation 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:25.0.1'
}

to app/build.gradle. And that will work

Method 4

For anyone out there using VS2015, I was getting this error too, and it turns out I hadn’t added the library to the project…

Install-Package Xamarin.Android.Support.v7.AppCompat

Method 5

If you are using Eclipse just copying android-support-v7-appcompat.jar to libs folder will not work if you are going to use resources.

Follow steps from here for “Adding libraries with resources“.

Method 6

A simple solution – replace contents this file (/res/values/styles.xml) to this is text:

<resources>

<!-- Base application theme. -->
<style name="AppTheme" parent="android:Theme.Holo.Light.DarkActionBar">
    <!-- Customize your theme here. -->
</style>

Method 7

dependencies {
    implementation 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:28.0.0'
}

compile has been replaced by implementation, don’t know why.

Method 8

dependencies {

    compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:23.0.0'

}

This worked for me… in Android Studio…

Method 9

In my case, I took an android project from one computer to another and had this problem. What worked for me was a combination of some of the answers I’ve seen:

  • Remove the copy of the appcompat library that was in the libs folder
    of the workspace
  • Install sdk 21
  • Change the project properties to use that sdk build
    enter image description here
  • Set up and start an emulator compatible with sdks 21
  • Update the Run Configuration to prompt for device to run on & choose
    Run

Mine ran fine after these steps.

Method 10

Using Visual Studio 2015 (Windows7) + Xamarin had this error and after trying multiple things (installing packages, download android_m2repository_r10.zip…) ended removing the full Xamarin folder inside

C:Users<my user>AppDataLocal

After that, Rebuild the application in VS and errors disappeared.

Method 11

make sure there is a v7 directory in your sdk, I thought having the ‘Android Support Library’ (in Extras) was sufficient. Turns out I was missing the ‘Local Maven repository for Support Libraries (extras;android;m2repository)’ Studio found that actually and fixed the gradle dependencies. using gradle to build then worked.
$ cat app/build.gradle

apply plugin: 'com.android.application'

android {
    compileSdkVersion 23
    buildToolsVersion "23.0.2"

    defaultConfig {
        applicationId "pat.example.com.gdbdemo"
        minSdkVersion 15
        targetSdkVersion 23
        versionCode 1
        versionName "1.0"
    }
    buildTypes {
        release {
            minifyEnabled false
            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), 'proguard-rules.pro'
        }
    }
}

dependencies {
     compile fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])
    compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:23.2.1'
}

Method 12

If you are using the Android.mk to build then use the USE_AAPT2, which link in the built resource from the AAR.

Add below line in Android.mk file:

LOCAL_USE_AAPT2 := true

Method 13

  1. Update your SDK in the manager and be sure to include Android
    support library     in extra’s
  2. Go to SDK in file explorer (Finder on mac) track down the extra’s
    folder (..sdkextrasandroidsupportv7appcompatresvalues on
    Windows). Somewhere in there is a themes.xml and
    themes_base.xml. Copy both of these files.
  3. In your project paste the files into ‘values’ directory

Method 14

If you are using Visual Studio for MAC, fix the problem clicking on Project > Restoring Nutget packages

Method 15

In Eclipse: When importing a support library as a project library following the instructions at Adding Support Libraries, don’t forget to check the option “Copy proyects into workspace”!

Method 16

I had this same problem. None of the solutions listed here helped my situation. As it turns out, I was importing the parent folder for a project into Android Studio 1.5, rather than the project folder itself. This threw Gradel into a tizzy. Solution was to import the project folder instead.

Method 17

In xamarin if you face this issue when you add any new sdk.
The simple solution is Open your styles file and add
this line.

<style name="AppTheme" parent="android:Theme.Holo.Light.DarkActionBar"></style>

It’s better solution rather than adding appcompat.


All methods was sourced from stackoverflow.com or stackexchange.com, is licensed under cc by-sa 2.5, cc by-sa 3.0 and cc by-sa 4.0

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