Android ActionBarCompat library

Question

I'm having trouble using ActionBarCompat support library which was released yesterday. I have updated support repository and included path to appcompat-v7 repository in build.gradle as Chris Banes pointing out in DevBytes - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TGgYqfJnyc .

dependencies {
compile ('com.android.support:support-v4:18.0.+')
compile ('com.android.support:appcompat-v7:18.0.+')}

Build goes well and I can use classes such as ActionBarActivity from this library but I cannot use styles and any resources so I cannot use following themes - @style/Theme.AppCompat etc. I was thinking that I'll find source files in .../sdk/extras/android/.../"supportrepo" so I would reference it like ActionBarSherlock by gradle but that didn't seems to be the correct answer.

What am I doing wrong? Thank you.

Answer 1

I'm using Android Studio and I have the same res-resolving issue in the my values/styles.xml.

It says it cannot resolve @style/Theme.AppCompat.Light, but at compile-time (gradle) and runtime everything works fine (Android 2.3.3 & 4.3).

I'd like to get rid of the warning that the res cannot be resolved.

How can I tell Android Studio that this res can be found in the appcompat-v7 repo?
(This question was related to a bug in Android Studio that has already been fixed.)

---

Below you see what I did. I hope this will help. Suggestions appreciated.
The source for the appcompat library can found on github.

Gradle integration:

dependencies {
    ...
    compile group:'com.android.support', name:'appcompat-v7', version:'18.0.+'
    ...
}

Style-files:

values/styles.xml:

<resources>

    <!--
        Base application theme, dependent on API level. This theme is replaced
        by AppBaseTheme from res/values-vXX/styles.xml on newer devices.
    -->
    <style name="AppBaseTheme" parent="android:Theme.Holo.Light">
        <!--
            Theme customizations available in newer API levels can go in
            res/values-vXX/styles.xml, while customizations related to
            backward-compatibility can go here.
        -->
    </style>

    <!-- Application theme. -->
    <style name="AppTheme" parent="@style/Theme.AppCompat.Light">
        <item name="actionBarStyle">@style/ActionBar.Solid.Custom</item>
    </style>

    <style name="ActionBar.Solid.Custom" parent="@style/Widget.AppCompat.Light.ActionBar.Solid">
        <item name="background">@drawable/ab_solid_custom</item>
        <item name="displayOptions">homeAsUp|showHome|showCustom</item>
    </style>

</resources>

values-v14/styles.xml:

<resources>

    <!--
        Base application theme for API 14+. This theme completely replaces
        AppBaseTheme from BOTH res/values/styles.xml and
        res/values-v11/styles.xml on API 14+ devices.
    -->
    <style name="AppBaseTheme" parent="android:Theme.Holo.Light">
        <!-- API 14 theme customizations can go here. -->
    </style>

    <!-- Application theme. -->
    <style name="AppTheme" parent="@style/Theme.AppCompat.Light">
        <item name="android:actionBarStyle">@style/ActionBar.Solid.Custom</item>
    </style>

    <style name="ActionBar.Solid.Custom" parent="@android:style/Widget.Holo.Light.ActionBar.Solid">
        <item name="android:background">@drawable/ab_solid_custom</item>
        <item name="android:displayOptions">homeAsUp|showHome|showCustom</item>
    </style>

</resources>

MainActivity (only the extend is mandatory):

public class MainActivity extends ActionBarActivity {

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
        Views.inject(this);

        setupNavigationDrawer();
    }
}

AndroidManifest.xml (setting android:theme is mandatory):

    <activity
            android:name="com.example.app.MainActivity"
            android:theme="@style/AppTheme"
            android:label="@string/app_name" >
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />

            <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
        </intent-filter>
    </activity>