Expected a name but was STRING at line 1 column 99

Question

I upgraded to gradle to 3.1.1 but now i want to change again to 3.0.1 but after changing to 3.0.1 i am getting this error

Expected a name but was STRING at line 1 column 99 path $[0].apkInfo.versionName

I was using 3.0.1 before and it was working perfectly but i changed after android studio update.

The error is only coming when generating signed apk.

Project Gradle

buildscript {

repositories {
    google()
    jcenter()
}
dependencies {
    classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:3.0.1'


    // NOTE: Do not place your application dependencies here; they belong
    // in the individual module build.gradle files
}
}

 allprojects {
repositories {
    google()
    jcenter()
    maven { url "https://jitpack.io" }
}
}

task clean(type: Delete) {
delete rootProject.buildDir
}

App gradle

apply plugin: 'com.android.application'

android {
compileSdkVersion 27
defaultConfig {
    applicationId "com.smiles.smartstuddy"
    minSdkVersion 16
    targetSdkVersion 27
    versionCode 4
    versionName "1.1"
    testInstrumentationRunner "android.support.test.runner.AndroidJUnitRunner"
    vectorDrawables.useSupportLibrary = true
}
packagingOptions {
    exclude 'META-INF/DEPENDENCIES'
    exclude 'META-INF/LICENSE'
    exclude 'META-INF/LICENSE.txt'
    exclude 'META-INF/license.txt'
    exclude 'META-INF/NOTICE'
    exclude 'META-INF/NOTICE.txt'
    exclude 'META-INF/notice.txt'
    exclude 'META-INF/ASL2.0'
}
buildTypes {
    release {
        minifyEnabled false
        proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), 'proguard-rules.pro'
    }
}
}

dependencies {
implementation fileTree(include: ['*.jar'], dir: 'libs')
implementation 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:27.1.1'
implementation 'com.android.support.constraint:constraint-layout:1.0.2'
implementation 'com.android.support:support-v4:27.1.1'
implementation 'com.android.support:support-vector-drawable:27.1.1'
implementation 'com.android.support:recyclerview-v7:27.1.1'
testImplementation 'junit:junit:4.12'
androidTestImplementation 'com.android.support.test:runner:1.0.1'
androidTestImplementation 'com.android.support.test.espresso:espresso-core:3.0.1'
implementation 'com.android.support:design:27.1.1'
implementation 'com.android.support:support-v13:27.1.1'
compile 'com.github.lzyzsd:circleprogress:1.2.1'
compile 'dev.dworks.libs:volleyplus:+'
implementation files('libs/YouTubeAndroidPlayerApi.jar')
compile 'de.hdodenhof:circleimageview:2.1.0'
compile 'commons-io:commons-io:2.4'
compile 'com.github.bumptech.glide:glide:4.6.1'
compile 'es.voghdev.pdfviewpager:library:1.0.3'
 }

Answer 1

I was getting the same error in the same use case and what fixed it for me was to clean and rebuild the project.

Answer 2

Check the release folder where the .apk is going to be generated. If there is any existing .apk or .json files, then delete or move them to another location. Try generating your signed apk again and you should be successful.

Answer 3

Add the following code into the app build.gradle file.

lintOptions {
        checkReleaseBuilds false
        abortOnError false
    }

Answer 4

Tried all previous suggestion with no success. After using "File/Invalidate Caches/restart" the problem was solved.