Android App Compile Not Generating Package Resources

Question

When attempting to compile my Xamarin.Android app I get the compile error:

Error 3 The file "obj\Debug\android\bin\packaged_resources" does not exist. MyApp.UI.Droid

This error occurred after I made some changes (added some new classes - cannot remember what it was). But I didn't change any project settings, nor go delete actual files in the obj folder.

What is the cause of this error and how can I fix this?

Some information that may be useful:

• The project is a Cross-Platform PCL project - Core, Android, and iOS Projects
• The project uses MVVM Cross

Answer 1

I encountered the same issue. Ensure that your resource files do not include any special characters

The actual error you may be encountering is:

Invalid file name: must contain only [a-z0-9_.]

Change your build output verbosity in visual studio to see better log output.

Answer 2

I´ve had the same issue.

Then i´ve reviewed my resource file names.

Solution:

One file was using "-" in it´s name. (invalid character)

Then i replaced for "_" (underline).

PS:

=> file name: must contain only [a-z0-9_.]

Answer 3

You will need to grub down by switching on Verbose output. What is stopping the generation of packaged_resources?

In VS2013 choose Tools --> Options --> Build and execute, choose verbosity Diagnostic.

In VS2015, the same option is in Tools --> Options --> Projects and Solutions --> Build and Run.

In my case, it was a hyphen character in the name of the action property of an Intent filter, but choosing verbose output will point you to the line that has the problem.