Android Studio - UNEXPECTED TOP-LEVEL EXCEPTION:

Question

I have built a new project in Android Studio using the new project templates provided as part of the tool. All of the code has been generated by Studio I have not made any amendments yet.

I am attempting to run the code but the app fails with the following errors, not sure what the problem is so any help appreciated.

UNEXPECTED TOP-LEVEL EXCEPTION:
com.android.dex.DexException: Multiple dex files define Landroid/support/v7/app/ActionBar$Callback;
    at com.android.dx.merge.DexMerger.readSortableTypes(DexMerger.java:594)
    at com.android.dx.merge.DexMerger.getSortedTypes(DexMerger.java:552)
    at com.android.dx.merge.DexMerger.mergeClassDefs(DexMerger.java:533)
    at com.android.dx.merge.DexMerger.mergeDexes(DexMerger.java:170)
    at com.android.dx.merge.DexMerger.merge(DexMerger.java:188)
    at com.android.dx.command.dexer.Main.mergeLibraryDexBuffers(Main.java:439)
    at com.android.dx.command.dexer.Main.runMonoDex(Main.java:287)
    at com.android.dx.command.dexer.Main.run(Main.java:230)
    at com.android.dx.command.dexer.Main.main(Main.java:199)
    at com.android.dx.command.Main.main(Main.java:103)

 FAILED

FAILURE: Build failed with an exception.

* What went wrong:
Execution failed for task ':app:dexDebug'.
> com.android.ide.common.internal.LoggedErrorException: Failed to run command:
    C:\Users\RichardKavanagh\AppData\Local\Android\android-sdk\build-tools\19.0.1\dx.bat --dex --output D:\Android\Projects\MyHealthRecord\app\build\libs\app-debug.dex D:\Android\Projects\MyHealthRecord\app\build\classes\debug D:\Android\Projects\MyHealthRecord\app\build\dependency-cache\debug D:\Android\Projects\MyHealthRecord\app\build\pre-dexed\debug\android-support-v7-appcompat-5a78dab7e2789bbe64f4bc80d106ca75c04dcf6f.jar D:\Android\Projects\MyHealthRecord\app\build\pre-dexed\debug\classes-f9b947272e9f33ba50355b52d82755584f9c0c58.jar D:\Android\Projects\MyHealthRecord\app\build\pre-dexed\debug\support-v4-19.0.0-31a2c13df80d37d62ca50fec3bde6da0ca706223.jar
Error Code:
    2
Output:

    UNEXPECTED TOP-LEVEL EXCEPTION:
    com.android.dex.DexException: Multiple dex files define Landroid/support/v7/app/ActionBar$Callback;
        at com.android.dx.merge.DexMerger.readSortableTypes(DexMerger.java:594)
        at com.android.dx.merge.DexMerger.getSortedTypes(DexMerger.java:552)
        at com.android.dx.merge.DexMerger.mergeClassDefs(DexMerger.java:533)
        at com.android.dx.merge.DexMerger.mergeDexes(DexMerger.java:170)
        at com.android.dx.merge.DexMerger.merge(DexMerger.java:188)
        at com.android.dx.command.dexer.Main.mergeLibraryDexBuffers(Main.java:439)
        at com.android.dx.command.dexer.Main.runMonoDex(Main.java:287)
        at com.android.dx.command.dexer.Main.run(Main.java:230)
        at com.android.dx.command.dexer.Main.main(Main.java:199)
        at com.android.dx.command.Main.main(Main.java:103)



* Try:
Run with --stacktrace option to get the stack trace. Run with --info or --debug option to get more log output.

BUILD FAILED

Total time: 12.948 secs

Seidule

Post your build.gradle. – Exigent

Try this Solution, It worked for me, I tried what pyus13 said but this worked. – Whitaker

This might also happens when you have duplicate dependencies in your libraries, to resolve this see https://mcmap.net/q/112850/-gradle-library-duplicates-in-dependencies – Lucais

i solved the same problem by removing the according libs, because we forgot that added before new by gradle dependencies – Pagan

Answer 1

Like everyone else said here, the support library (com.android.support) is being included more than once in your project. Try adding this in your build.gradle at the root level and it should exclude the support library from being exported via other project dependencies.

configurations {
    all*.exclude group: 'com.android.support', module: 'support-v4'
}

If you have more then one support libs included in the dependencies like this, you may want to remove one of them:

Twosided

this is exactly what fixed this issue – Outline

@Twosided : I need add to which build.gradle file? file in Module or Project (have this line classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:0.9.+')? Please tell me, I can not fix this. – Humus

You'd want to add it in your module gradle file. This would be the file where you're adding all your dependencies. – Twosided

@Twosided If my eclipse project do not have a build.gradle, what can I do so solve this? – Jacquelinejacquelyn

This just doesn't work for me I have the same issue. When I add the code mentioned I then cannot import android.support.v4.app.ActionBarDrawerToggle; – Scabby

@Scabby please add your full gradle console error message. "Unexpected top level exception" happens because of repeated code, which ends up confusing dex-merger. The code that is repeated in your project might not be coming from support-4 module. – Twosided

This seems like a sledge hammer approach, right now I have facebook, the maps utils library and my main project all requiring links to the support library and I'm not sure how to set that up. If I use this line, then my main project cannot see the support library I think – Tolbert

@DanielWilson, this line is specific to the library projects, and any dependencies that you add to your own project would not be affected by this. It IS a sledge hammer approach, because you DON'T want any of the support libraries from dependencies. This might not work where you need libraries exported from dependencies, but that use case isn't in the question here. – Twosided

Add the smilliar for all*.exclude group: 'com.android.support', module: 'support-annotations' – Teeming

I tried and it broke one of the library project AccountInfoFragment.java:53: error: cannot access FragmentActivity public class AccountInfoFragment extends SherlockFragment implements DataLoadedCallback<AccountPO>,DialogInterface.OnClickListener{ ^ class file for android.support.v4.app.FragmentActivity not found @Twosided – Estep

@fullMoon, "all" means do the exclusion from ALL the configurations(variants, flavors) of the project. – Twosided

@IvanV the exception raised here isn't about the method limit. It's a duplicate dex exception. Why are we talking about 65k method limit exception. I think it's misleading. – Twosided

Answer 2

dependencies {
    compile 'com.android.support:support-v4:19.1.+'
    compile fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])
}

This gets conflicted if you have the support jar in your libs folder. If you have the support jar in your project libs folder and you have the module dependency added to compile 'com.android.support:support-v4:13.0.+' the UNEXPECTED_TOPLEVEL_DEPENDANCY exception will be thrown.

Cumuliform

Great post, thank you. What did it for me was the compile fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar']) part in your screenshot. Commented out all of the individual dependencies and plugged that in and it fixed my problem. – Osteotome

Answer 3

Because you may include two same libs in your project. check your build.gradle file.

dependencies {
    compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:+'
    compile files('libs/android-support-v4.jar') 
 }

if your file includes compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:+' and compile files('libs/android-support-v4.jar'), it will have this problems. delete this sentence: compile files('libs/android-support-v4.jar')

That's how I fix this problem.

Evonneevonymus

Answer 4

The error occurs when you have the same library/directory included more than once in your build.gradle's dependencies. Ok, let’s say you have an App structure that looks like this:

So you have the main “app” and then you have a bunch of sub-apps/modules/libraries. The libraries are: 1) gene_test_library, 2) genes_nine_old_androids_library, & 3) swipe_list_view_library.

My name is Gene, so that’s why there are all these “gene” libraries.

Inside the build.gradle for “app”, I have:

dependencies {
    compile fileTree(include: ['*.jar'], dir: 'libs')
    compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:21.0.0'

    compile project(':libraries:gene_test_library')
    //compile project(':libraries:genes_nine_old_androids_library')
    compile project(':libraries:swipe_list_view_library')
}

Inside the build.gradle for gene_test_library, I have nothing:

dependencies {
}

Inside build.gradle for gene_nine_old_androids_library, I have:

dependencies {
    compile fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])
    compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:21.0.0'
}

Inside build.gradle for swipe_list_view_library, I have:

dependencies {
    compile 'com.nineoldandroids:library:2.4.0+'
    compile fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])
    compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:21.0.0'
}

This line of code “compile fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])” just means “hey, look inside the ‘libs’ folder inside this module for any jar files. I do not have anything in the libs folder of any of the modules so you can ignore that line of code.

So let’s say I uncomment out //compile project(':libraries:genes_nine_old_androids_library') In the build.gradle for the “app” module. Then I would get the “UNEXPECTED TOP-LEVEL EXCEPTION:” error. Why is that?

Well, writing //compile project(':libraries:genes_nine_old_androids_library') inside the build.gradle for “app”, is the same as taking the build dependencies of “genes_nine_old_androids_library” module and putting it there. So uncommenting the //compile project(':libraries:genes_nine_old_androids_library') statement, the build.gradle for “app” module becomes:

dependencies {
    compile fileTree(include: ['*.jar'], dir: 'libs')
    compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:21.0.0'

    compile project(':libraries:gene_test_library')
    ***compile fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])***
    ***compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:21.0.0'***
    compile project(':libraries:swipe_list_view_library')
}

Notice how now “compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:21.0.0'” shows up 2x. That’s where the error is coming from.

Saloon

"The error occurs when you have the same library/directory included more than once." This saved my day. – Stinnett

@Gene, in app you compile project(':libraries:swipe_list_view_library'), and swipe_list_view_library also includes appcompat-v7. So, you end up having 2 appcompat-v7 compiled in app. Why doesn't this one throw error? – Desiraedesire

Um... I wrote this years ago... I think the error it throws is UNEXPECTED TOP-LEVEL EXCEPTION. – Saloon

Answer 5

I found 2 reason for this issue:

1. Sometimes its because of multiple included libraries. For example you add

   compile 'com.nineoldandroids:library:2.4.0'

in your gradle and add another library that it also use "nineoldandroids" in it's gradle!

1. As Android Developer Official website said:

If you have built an Android app and received this error, then congratulations, you have a lot of code!

So, why?

The Dalvik Executable specification limits the total number of methods that can be referenced within a single DEX file to 65,536, including Android framework methods, library methods, and methods in your own code. Getting past this limit requires that you configure your app build process to generate more than one DEX file, known as a multidex configuration.

Then what should you do?

• Avoiding the 65K Limit - How?

  1. Review your app's direct and transitive dependencies - Ensure any large library dependency you include in your app is used in a manner that outweighs the amount of code being added to the application. A common anti-pattern is to include a very large library because a few utility methods were useful. Reducing your app code dependencies can often help you avoid the dex reference limit.
  2. Remove unused code with ProGuard - Configure the ProGuard settings for your app to run ProGuard and ensure you have shrinking enabled for release builds. Enabling shrinking ensures you are not shipping unused code with your APKs.
• Configuring Your App for Multidex with Gradle - How? 1.Change your Gradle build configuration to enable multidex.

put

multiDexEnabled true

in the defaultConfig, buildType, or productFlavor sections of your Gradle build file.

2.In your manifest add the MultiDexApplication class from the multidex support library to the application element.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="com.example.android.multidex.myapplication">
<application
    ...
    android:name="android.support.multidex.MultiDexApplication">
    ...
</application>
</manifest>

Note: If your app uses extends the Application class, you can override the attachBaseContext() method and call MultiDex.install(this) to enable multidex. For more information, see the MultiDexApplication reference documentation.

---

Also this code may help you:

dexOptions {
    javaMaxHeapSize "4g"
}

Put in your gradle(android{ ... } ).

Cohligan

What is the reason to use javaMaxHeapSize? – Biopsy

Answer 6

Hi all I had the same issue that was being caused by a duplicate support version 4 file that I had included while trying to get parse integrated. Deleted the extra inclusion from the libs directory and it works fine now!

Hysteria

using Maven repository, I had to remove both "compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:23.0.1'" and "compile 'com.android.support:support-v4:23.+'" from dependencies block. – Es

Answer 7

This happens when a library is getting compiled twice (i.e it is added two time). It can be support library or any other, it doesn't matter.
The common case is that you have added a compile statement of a library which is already in your libs/ directory. All the *.jar files are compiled automatically. Thus, adding a compile statement is causing the error. Removing that statement might fix this issue. If this is not applicable then we already have some awesome answers.

Ariel

Answer 8

This might be the dumbest answer, but this worked for me :

• I removed and added all the libraries on my project manually.(One after the other) And voila, it worked.
• Build -> Rebuild project

Note: No library of mine was compiled twice.

Peripeteia

Answer 9

Make sure you have downloaded Support Repository to use support library dependency in build.gradle.

If these all are there already installed sync your project with gradle once using the button available.

Celeriac

Answer 10

In my case TOP LEVEL EXCEPTION was throw because of a special char in project path. Just closed the project, changed "á" to "a" and reopened the project. Works!

Apollo

Answer 11

Suddenly, without any major change in my project, I too got this error.

All the above did not work for me, since I needed both the support libs V4 and V7.

At the end, because 2 hours ago the project compiled with no problems, I simply told Android Studio to REBUILD the project, and the error was gone.

Vivienviviene

Answer 12

I had similar problem when I tried to build a signed apk for my app.

Strange, it happened only when I wanted to build a release apk, while on debug apk everything worked OK.

Finally, looking on this thread, I checked for support library duplications in build.gradle and removed any duplications but this wasn't enough..

I had to do clean project and only then finally I've got it to work.

Robinrobina

Answer 13

I know that the problem was answered, but this could happen again and my solution was a little different from the ones that I found. In my case the solution wasn't related to include two different libraries in my project. See code below:

compileOptions {
    sourceCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
    targetCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
}

This code was giving that error "Unexpected Top-Level Exception". I fix the code making the following changes:

compileOptions {
    sourceCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_7
    targetCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_7
}

Groundsill

What does Java version have to do with DexMerger? – Biopsy

Answer 14

I solved my problem with adding these in build gradle:

   defaultConfig {
   multiDexEnabled true


 dependencies {
 compile 'com.android.support:multidex:1.0.0'

another solution can be removing unnecessary libraries

Leverage

Why did you enable multidex? – Biopsy

@Biopsy its because to solve the issues like above of multiple included libraries. In android studio : the Dalvik Executable specification limits the total number of methods that can be referenced within a single DEX file to 65,536, including Android framework methods, library methods, and methods in your own code. Getting past this limit requires that you configure your app build process to generate more than one DEX file, known as a multidex configuration. – Leverage