Error cannot find symbol android studio

I’m having major problems with building my project.

My project is getting built in Android Studio, and the directory is like so:

root
-project
--build
--libs
--src
---java
----com
-----company.project
------<All this projects source>
-projectutils
--build
--src
---main
----java
-----com.company.utils
------<All this projects source>

«project» is the main app, and it includes projectutils as a dependency. It uses Gradle to build, and I’ve added the correct includes to the root settings.gradle, and the correct dependencies to project.

Here is my settings.gradle in the root of my project:

include ':project', ':projectutils'

Here is my build.gradle for my project:

apply plugin: 'android'

android {
    compileSdkVersion 19
    buildToolsVersion '20.0.0'
    defaultConfig {
        applicationId 'com.company.project'
        minSdkVersion 15
        targetSdkVersion 17
    }
    buildTypes {
        release {
            runProguard false
            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), 'proguard-rules.txt'
        }
    }
    productFlavors {
    }
}

dependencies {
    compile 'com.actionbarsherlock:actionbarsherlock:4.4.0@aar'
    compile files('libs/android-support-v4.jar')
    compile files('libs/commons-validator-1.4.0.jar')
    compile 'com.viewpagerindicator:library:2.4.1@aar'
    compile 'joda-time:joda-time:2.3'
    compile project(':projectutils')
}

No matter what I do, it always gives the error Error:(4, 34) error: package com.company.utils.database does not exist, even though I’ve added the correct dependency and the Android auto-complete can see and parse the import command, so obviously Android studio is able to see it correctly. There are a ton more errors, but they are all fundamentally the same: It can’t seem to find com.company.utils and I have no idea what else I need to do.

I’ve spent all day trying to get this thing set up just to get it running and this is the biggest brick wall so far. I have literally no idea what I could be missing to cause these errors. I’ve fixed a bunch of similar errors with Facebook and Kumulos but this one won’t work no matter what I try. Could anyone give me some pointers?

Symbols and Symbol Table

Before diving into the details of the “cannot find a symbol” error, here is a brief introduction to symbols and symbol tables in Java.  A symbol refers to an identifier in the compilation process in Java. All the identifiers used in the source code are collected into a symbol table in the lexical analysis stage. The symbol table is a very significant data structure created and maintained by the compilers to store all the identifiers and their information.

This information is entered into the symbol tables during lexical and syntax analysis which is then used in multiple phases of compilation.

From classes, variables, interfaces to methods, all of them require an identifier for declaration. During the code generation process, when these identifiers are encountered in the source code, the compiler checks for them in the symbol tables and the stored information is then used to verify the declarations, the scope of a variable, and verifying that the expression is semantically correct or not.

The compilation process usually does not go as smooth as you would think. Errors are inevitable in any development stage and one of the very commonly occurring errors during the compilation process is Java “cannot Find Symbol” Error. In this article, we will be discussing the reasons behind the occurrence of Java cannot find symbol errors and how you can resolve them.

As the name suggests, the Java cannot find symbol error occurs when a required symbol cannot be found in the symbol table. Although there can be various reasons behind this, it points to one fact the Java compiler was unable to find the symbol and its details associated with a given identifier.

As there are a variety of Java compilers available, many of them use slightly different terminologies, because of that, you can also find the “cannot find symbol” error termed as the “symbol not found” or “cannot resolve symbol” error. Besides the name, there is simply no difference between these errors.

Structure of Java Cannot Find Symbol Error

The compiler output a specific error message with the cannot find symbol error.

It contains the following two fields that indicate the missing symbol and its location:

1. Symbol: The name and type of the identifier you are looking for.
2. Location: The particular class in which that identifier has been referenced.

Causes of Java Cannot Find Symbol Error

We will be discussing the following most common causes of the cannot find symbol error during compilation,

• misspelt identifiers
• Undeclared variables
• Out of scope references to variables and methods
• The unintentional omission of import statements

Misspelt identifier names

This is the most common and most occurring reason behind the Java cannot find symbol error. Misspelling an existing variable, class, interface, package name or a method causes the “cannot find symbol error” as the compiler cannot recognize the symbol and identifies it as an undeclared variable. Java identifiers are also case-sensitive, so even a slight variation of an existing variable will result in this error.

See code example below:

1. public class MisspelledMethodNameExample {
2.    static int findLarger(int n1, int n2) {
3.      if (n1 > n2) return n1;
4.      if (n2 > n11) return n2;
5.      if (n2 == n11) return -1;
6.    }
7. 
8.    public static void main(String... args) {
9.       int value = findlarger(20, 4); // findlarger ≠ findLarger
10.      System.out.println(value);
11.   }
12. }

MisspelledMethodNameExample.java:9: error: cannot find symbol   
 int value = Fibonacci(20);
              ^
 symbol:   method findLarger(int, int)
  location: class MisspelledMethodNameExample

It can be easily resolved by correcting the spelling of the function in line 9.

Undeclared variables

When the Java compiler come across an identifier used in the code but it cannot be found in the symbol table, the “cannot find symbol” error is shown. The only reason behind the absence of a variable from the symbol table is that it is not declared in the code. Some new programming languages do not require explicit declaration of variables but it is mandatory in Java to always declare a variable before it is used or referenced in the source code.

The code snippet below demonstrates an undeclared variable in the code. In this case, the identifier sum on line 7, causes the Java “cannot find symbol error”.

See code example below:

1. public class UndeclaredVariableExample
2. {
3.     public static void main(String... args) {
4.        int num1 = 5;
5.        int num2 = 10;
6.        int num3 = 43;
7.        sum = (num1 + num2 + num3) // sum is not declared
8.        System.out.println(sum);
9.      }
10. }

UndeclaredVariableExample.java:7: error: cannot find symbol
    sum = (num1 + num2 + num3);
    ^
  symbol:   variable sum
  location: class UndeclaredVariableExample

UndeclaredVariableExample.java:8: error: cannot find symbol
    System.out.println(sum);
                       ^
  symbol:   variable sum
  location: class UndeclaredVariableExample
2 errors

Declaring this variable by specifying the appropriate data type can easily resolve the error.

See this corrected code below,

1. public class UndeclaredVariableExample
2. {
3.    public static void main(String args) {
4.      int num1 = 5;
5.      int num2 = 10;
6.      int num3 = 43;
7. 
8.      int sum = (num1 + num2 + num3);
9.      System.out.println(sum);
10.     }
11. }

Out of scope variable

When a Java code attempts to access a variable declared out of scope such as in a non-inherited scope the compiler will result in issuing the “cannot find symbol” error. This commonly happens when you attempt to access a variable declared inside a method or a loop, from outside of the method.

See this code example below where the “cannot find symbol” error has occurred when the counter variable which is declared inside a for loop is attempted to be accessed from out of the loop.

See code below:

1. public class OutOfScopeExample 
2. {
3.      public static void main(String args) {
4. 
5.             for (int counter = 0; counter < 100; counter++) 
6.             { … }
7. 
8. System.out.println(“Even numbers from 0 to 100”)
9.       if (counter mod 2 == 0) 
10.       {
11.            System.out.println(counter);
12.       }
13.    }
14. }

OutOfScopeVariableExample.java:9: error: cannot find symbol
    if (counter mod 2 == 0)
        ^
  symbol:   variable counter
  location: class OutOfScopeVariableExample

OutOfScopeVariableExample.java:12: error: cannot find symbol
      System.out.println(counter);
                         ^
 symbol:   variable counter
  location: class OutOfScopeVariableExample
2 errors

I can be easily resolved by just moving the if block inside the for loop (local scope).

See this code example,

1. public class OutOfScopeExample 
2. {
3.     public static void main(String... args) {
4. 
5.        for (int counter = 0; counter < 100; counter++) 
6.        { 
7.         System.out.println(“Even numbers from 0 to 100”)
8.         if (counter mod 2 == 0) 
9.        {
10.           System.out.println(counter);
11.        }
12.     }
13.   }
14. }

Missing import statement

Java allows you to use built-in classes or any imported libraries in your code to save your time by reusing the code but it requires importing them properly using the import statements at the start. Missing the import statement in your code will result in the cannot find symbol error.

java.util.Math class is utilized in the code given below but it is not declared with the “import” keyword, resulting in the “cannot find symbol error”.

See code below:

1. public class MissingImportExample {
2. 
3.     public static void main(String args) 
4.     {
5.         double sqrt19 = Math.sqrt(19);
6. System.out.println("sqrt19 = " + sqrt19);
7.    }
8. }

MissingImportExample.java:6: error: cannot find symbol
  double sqrt19 = Math.sqrt(19);
                  ^
  symbol:   class Math
  location: class MissingImportExample

Adding the missing import statement can easily solve the issue, see code below:

1. import java.util.Math;
2. 
3.    public class MissingImporExample {
4. 
5.     public static void main(String args) 
6.    {
7.       double sqrt19 = Math.sqrt(19);
8.  System.out.println("sqrt19 = " + sqrt19);
9.    }
10. }

Miscellaneous reasons

We have covered some of the main causes of the “cannot find symbol” Java error but occasionally it can also result due to some unexpected reasons. One such case is when attempting to create an object without the new keyword or an accidental semicolon at the wrong place that would terminate the statement at an unexpected point.

Also Read: Functional Interfaces In Java

Some other causes for the cannot find symbol error may include when you forget to recompile the code or you end up using the dependencies with an incompatible version of Java. Building a project with a very old JDK version can also be a reason as well as mistakenly redefining platform or library classes with the same identifier.

Conclusion

We have discussed that the “cannot find symbol Java” error is a Java compile-time error which is encountered whenever an identifier in the source code is not identified by the compiler. Similar to any other compilation error, it is very significant to understand the causes of this error, so that you can easily pinpoint the issue and address it properly.

Once you can discover the reason behind the error, it can be easily resolved as demonstrated by various examples in this article.

You must have encountered the error “Cannot resolve symbol R” many times while building android projects. When you first create a new activity or new class, The R is red and Android Studio says it can’t recognize the symbol R. So you may hover over the R symbol, press Alt + Enter to import missing appropriate files. But doing so doesn’t fix this error. The letter R stands for the Resource. This error occurs because of the incapability of the build process to Sync Resource files with your projects. Usually, this happens because of the improper build of the project. 

Why There is a Need to fix “cannot resolve symbol R” in Android Studio?

The error “Cannot resolve symbol R”  in Android studio has faced mostly, when you shift your code to another Computer or send the code to another person. The “R” turns red and can’t run the Application and throw the error in “Logcat”. Most often “R cannot be resolved” error appears if there is an issue with some of your resource files. Due to this error, you are unable to build your application. That’s why we need to solve this error as it not getting away by just doing a simple restart or hitting Alt+Enter.

Now the point that comes here is how we can fix “cannot resolve symbol R” in Android Studio. So in this article, we are going to discuss six different methods to fix “cannot resolve symbol R” in Android Studio. 

Method 1

Try the sync Gradle. Just follow this path: File > Sync project with Gradle Files.

Method 2

Change Gradle version: Open your build.gradle file, search for gradle version and change the version. Say suppose you are using minSdkVersion 8 then change it to 9 and then build your project and also try to change buildToolsVersion. To change it follow this path: File > Project Structure > Modules.

After selecting the appropriate version click “OK“.

Method 3

Make sure your package name is correct in AndroidManifest.xml. Because sometimes, the R file is not generated because of package name in AndroidManifest does not match with the package module that you have. You might need to check  XML Files specifically if you have followed the correct syntax for ids. Then clean the project.

Method 4

Step 1: Clean the Project

To clean project: Click on Build > Clean project   

Step 2: Rebuild Project

Click on “Build” and click on “Rebuild Project”

Method 5

You may import com.example.your_project.R file in all your activities, do note that this file is not Android.R but your project R file. All you have to do is add this line to your activities import com.example.your_project.R.

Method 6

Try Invalidate caches and restart. Just click on Files from the top left and choose the “Invalidate Caches / Restart” option.