Gradle project does not build when I add RoboBlend

Question

I have added RoboGuice 3 dependency into my gradle build file it compiles and runs, however the application crashes because of NoClassDefFoundError: AnnotationDatabaseImpl. Did some research that suggested that RoboBlender was necessary to generate the definition (I'm familiar with RoboGuice 2 which does not require RoboBlender) but when I add RoboBlender the project no longer builds.

dependencies {
compile fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])
compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:21.0.3'
compile 'com.android.support:cardview-v7:21.0.+'
compile 'com.android.support:recyclerview-v7:21.0.+'
compile 'com.koushikdutta.urlimageviewhelper:urlimageviewhelper:1.0.4'
compile 'de.hdodenhof:circleimageview:1.2.1'
compile 'com.getbase:floatingactionbutton:1.4.0'
compile 'de.hdodenhof:circleimageview:1.2.1'
compile 'org.twitter4j:twitter4j-core:4.0.2'
compile files('libs/json-me.jar')
compile files('libs/twitter_api_me-1.9.jar')
compile('ch.acra:acra:4.5.0') {
    exclude group: 'org.json'
}
compile 'org.roboguice:roboguice:3.0.1'
provided 'org.roboguice:roboblender:3.0.1'

}

Build Error:

 Error:Execution failed for task ':app:compileDebugJava'.

java.lang.ClassCastException: com.sun.tools.javac.code.Type cannot be cast to javax.lang.model.type.DeclaredType l>

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Whats causing this and how can I fix it?

Answer 1

I had the same issue and in my case, having a class with 2 constructors:

@Inject
public PaymentSelectionDialog(Context context) {
    this.context = context;
}

@Inject
public PaymentSelectionDialog(Context context, PaymentSelectable paymentSelectable) {
        this.context = context;
        this.paymentSelectable = paymentSelectable;

I had no problems using first constructor, but when I was instantiating my object using second constructor i have that problem. So the problem is that Roboguice is trying to inject an object that implements PaymentSelectable interface but this object is not defined in any module.

Maybe you are using a constructor with a reference that you are not defining in any of your modules.

Hope it helps!

Answer 2

Well I found a workaround, I just disabled AnnotationDatabase processing and removed RoboBlender dependency and that fix my problem. I would still like to know why I'm having this problem in the first place.

Answer 3

This kind of error can be caused by using @Inject incorrectly as in the following example:

public class Foo {

    @Inject
    public Foo(Context context, int code) { 
        //this won't work because of the primitive in the constructor 
        //and the @Inject annotation are being used together
    }

}

RoboBlender will not be able construct the database because of being unable to cast the primitive as a declared type.

Hence, your error message

java.lang.ClassCastException: com.sun.tools.javac.code.Type cannot be cast to javax.lang.model.type.DeclaredType

means that the primitive (com.sun.tools.javac.code.Type) cannot be cast into a reference type javax.lang.model.type.DeclaredType

Instead, you need to write a Provider:

public class FooProvider implements Provider<Foo> {

    Context context;
    private static int CODE = 1;

    @Inject
    public FooProvider(Context context) {
        this.context = context;
    }

    @Override
    public Foo get() {
        return new Foo(context, CODE);
    } 
}

and bind Foo to that provider in the module

binder.bind(Foo.class).toProvider(FooProvider.class);

and remove the @Inject from the constructor of Foo.

I suggest you traverse your object graph and look for @Inject annotations on constructors with primitives in them. Delete the annotations and write providers for them as above. RoboBlender will correctly build the AnnotationsDatabaseImpl and your project will compile.