Error: ':' is not a valid resource name character

Question

I have imported my eclipse project to android studio.I googled but not getting right answer. These errors are occurred-

D:\***\app\src\main\res\values\strings.xml
Error:Error: ':' is not a valid resource name character
:app:mergeDebugResources FAILED
Error:Execution failed for task ':app:mergeDebugResources'.
> D:\****\app\src\main\res\values\strings.xml: Error: ':' is not a valid resource name character

My bulid gradle app code is

apply plugin: 'com.android.application'

android {
    compileSdkVersion 23
    buildToolsVersion "23.0.2"

    defaultConfig {
        applicationId "com.******.***"
        minSdkVersion 21
        targetSdkVersion 22
        multiDexEnabled true     }

    buildTypes {
        release {
            minifyEnabled false
            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), 'proguard-rules.pro'
        }
    }
}

repositories { mavenCentral() }

dependencies {
    compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:23.1.1'
    compile 'com.android.support:design:23.1.1'
    compile 'com.android.support:support-v4:23.1.1'
    compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services:+'
    compile files('libs/httpmime-4.1.1.jar')
    compile files('libs/ormlite-android-4.43.jar')
    compile files('libs/ormlite-core-4.43.jar')
}

Please resolve my issue. Thank you

yes Vivek ,I can read and also change the specific notation.Still error occurred. — DUKE, Feb 06 '16 at 12:28
Those error types may occur when you try to run project without sync gradle. — oguzhan, Jul 31 '18 at 15:22

appersiano · Answer 1 · 2016-02-07T16:07:45.293

12

Error: ':' is not a valid resource name character

means that you have a resource name like

<string name="not:valid">Foobar</string>

but colon are not allowed.

Try this:

Open your string.xml
Type Ctrl + F (on Win/Linux)
Check Regex and search by "[A-Za-z_]*:[A-Za-z_]*"
Remove colon and if necessary replace with an underscore _
Compile your apk

edited Feb 07 '16 at 16:07

answered Feb 06 '16 at 13:39

appersiano

2,466
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score 7 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 02 '19 at 17:32

7

In my case there were a few layout unfortunately using ids of the form "@id/android:foo". Turning them into "@+id/foo" solved the issue.

This happened when upgrading to AGP 3.3.

You can search for the regexp ="@\+[^"]*:[^"]*" in your layout folder.

answered Feb 02 '19 at 17:32

Snicolas

36,854
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2

Yep, upgrading to AS 3.3 brought this one – Noa Drach Feb 05 '19 at 11:00

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 29 '17 at 10:00

1

Actually you can't even have name like break because you will get similar error from compiler:

Error: break is not a valid resource name (reserved Java keyword)

answered Jul 29 '17 at 10:00

LLL

1,510
1
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score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 04 '17 at 05:10

0

compile 'com.android.support:design:23.1.1' I think you should try "-" instead of colon after design

answered Apr 04 '17 at 05:10

user7812113

1

Error: ':' is not a valid resource name character

4 Answers4

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