Using NetBeans (version 7.0.1) to develop Android applications and for no apparent reason, a project that worked yesterday won’t run any more. It compiles without error but refuses to run - whether or not the emulator is running - and doesn’t produce an error. Hmmm.  In the source code for the main Java class (yes, I said Java - anyone who knows me will be having a fit right now!) the very first line is flagged with a red (ok, pink!) dot. The line itself simply says:

package uk.co.dunbarit.myprojectname;

Rolling the mouse over the line pops up a helpful hint which states that the system cannot find java.lang in classpath or bootclasspath.

Now, as my work colleagues will tell you, I’m not a Java developer by any means. But this was working yesterday, so why not today?

Right-click the project name in the project tab, and select the option - near the bottom - to rebuild broken project. This pops up with a dialogue box upon which appears the message that I should “update the project using SDK tools”. Easy? What does that mean?

What it means is this. I have to:

• Close the project in NetBeans and open a terminal session.
• Navigate to the Android SDK’s tools  directory. In there you’ll find the android utility.
• ./android update project --name MyProjectName --path full_path_to_project

Job done! Reopen the project in NetBeans and run it. Yippee! By the way, the --path parameter is set to the location where the AndroidManifest.xml file can be found.

It appears that the Android SDK updated itself thus rendering something that was legal as no longer legal. Nice one - thanks. I’m having enough trouble with Java without having silent updates bollox me as well! ;-)

Cheers.