Android Gradle Apache HttpClient does not exist?

Question

I am trying to convert an IntelliJ project to the Gradle system of Android Studio but I am running into errors with Apache HttpClient? Am I missing something, the errors I am getting are as follows:

Error:(10, 30) error: package org.apache.http.client does not exist
Error:(11, 30) error: package org.apache.http.client does not exist
Error:(12, 37) error: package org.apache.http.client.entity does not exist
Error:(13, 38) error: package org.apache.http.client.methods does not exist
Error:(14, 38) error: package org.apache.http.client.methods does not exist
Error:(15, 38) error: package org.apache.http.client.methods does not exist
Error:(16, 35) error: package org.apache.http.impl.client does not exist
Error:(134, 33) error: cannot find symbol class HttpUriRequest
Error:(164, 39) error: cannot find symbol class HttpUriRequest
Error:(106, 17) error: cannot find symbol class HttpGet
Error:(106, 39) error: cannot find symbol class HttpGet
Error:(117, 17) error: cannot find symbol class HttpPost
Error:(117, 40) error: cannot find symbol class HttpPost
Error:(125, 43) error: cannot find symbol class UrlEncodedFormEntity
Error:(135, 9) error: cannot find symbol class HttpClient
Error:(135, 33) error: cannot find symbol class DefaultHttpClient
Error:(155, 18) error: cannot find symbol class ClientProtocolException
Error:(165, 9) error: cannot find symbol class HttpClient
Error:(165, 33) error: cannot find symbol class DefaultHttpClient
Error:(185, 18) error: cannot find symbol class ClientProtocolException

My build.gradle file has the following dependencies:

dependencies {
    compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services:+'
    compile 'org.apache.httpcomponents:httpclient:4.2.6'
    compile 'org.apache.httpcomponents:httpmime:4.2.6'
    compile files('libs/core.jar')
}

It seems a lot of people are getting a similar problem but neither SO or Google have a solution so I am hoping this question will help future searchers.

Solution 1

I suggest you replace the deprecated apache HttpClient with the new HttpURLConnection.

That's a cleaner solution, it's quite easy to migrate, and generally it's better to stick to the latest SDK changes than trying to hack/patch/workaround: you usually regret it later :)

Step 1

HttpGet httpGet = new HttpGet(url);

becomes:

URL urlObj = new URL(url);

Step 2

HttpClient httpClient = new DefaultHttpClient();
HttpContext localContext = new BasicHttpContext();
HttpResponse response = httpClient.execute(httpGet, localContext);
InputStream is = response.getEntity().getContent();

becomes:

HttpURLConnection urlConnection = (HttpURLConnection) urlObj.openConnection();
InputStream is = urlConnection.getInputStream();

Step 2 bis

int status = response.getStatusLine().getStatusCode();

becomes:

int status = urlConnection.getResponseCode();

Solution 2

if you are using target sdk as 23 add below code in your build.gradle

android{
    compileSdkVersion 23
    buildToolsVersion '23.0.1'
    useLibrary  'org.apache.http.legacy'
}

and change your buildscript to

classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:1.3.0' 

for more info follow this link

Solution 3

I had this problem and then found these pages: Here you can see that apache library is deprecated, but it's not removed, so it should work. It doesn't.

See.

And here you can see how to include apache library to your project

See.

I resolved problem by adding following to my build.gradle file as recommended in second link.

android {
    useLibrary 'org.apache.http.legacy'
}

However this only works if you are using gradle 1.3.0-beta2 or greater, so you will have to add this to buildscript dependencies if you are on a lower version:

classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:1.3.0-beta2'

Hope this helps.

Solution 4

Add this library into build.gradle

 android {
      useLibrary 'org.apache.http.legacy'
 }

Solution 5

copy org.apache.http.legacy.jar which is in Android/Sdk/platforms/android-23/optional folder to to app/libs

and also added this line to app.gradle file

compile files('libs/org.apache.http.legacy.jar')

But if you're using more jar libraries, you can use this way

compile fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])

View more solutions

Comments

[Apqu]

Thanks for your answer, im afraid neither worked for me though :(

[Daniel Nugent]

@tur that's strange, the second option worked for me. Make sure that your old jar files are deleted for the second option.

[ssuukk]

For me it failed with: Error:Execution failed for task ':xenoAmp:mergeDebugJavaResources'. > Cannot determine expansion folder for L:\Projekty\xenoampgit\xenoAmp\build\intermediates\packagedJ‌​arsJavaResources\deb‌​ug\httpclient-androi‌​d-4.3.5.1.jar1037172‌​435\META-INF\LICENSE with folders L:\Projekty\xenoampgit\xenoAmp\build\intermediates\sourceFol‌​derJavaResources\deb‌​ug,L:\Projekty\xenoa‌​mpgit\xenoAmp\build\‌​intermediates\packag‌​edJarsJavaResources\‌​debug

[Henrique de Sousa]

Supplied String module notation 'org.apache.http.legacy' is invalid.

[Jinu]

change your buildscript to classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:1.3.0'

[Henrique de Sousa]

Already had 1.3.1. Still cannot resolve classes inside Android Studio: Error:(14, 23) error: package org.apache.http does not exist

[Jinu]

is your targetSdkVersion 23 and build tools 23.0.0

[Henrique de Sousa]

Yes, of course. Do your imports work fine? What Android Studio version are you using?

[Jinu]

android studio 1.4 beta 2

[CeccoCQ]

@ssuukk Hi, did you find a solution for this error?

[ssuukk]

Unfortunately the solution was to change target to current highest API, and that broke A LOT of things! Then I've had to add "useLibrary", "classpath" PLUS reference legacy apache lib, as described elsewhere in this question. And after it was compilable again I just decided to ditch Apache code altogether and replace it all with URLConnection, which was easier than I thought.

[Silviu St]

Life saver response. Thanks!

[IgorGanapolsky]

What is libs/core.jar for?

[russellhoff]

And what if you want to use the latest version of apache http components?

[Jinu]

@Silviu you can find dependency from here gradleplease.appspot.com/#httpmime

[John81]

Agree with ssuukk. None of these answers worked for me so I ended up getting rid of the Apache libraries as well. I am pretty new to Android development but it was straightforward.

[mithil1501]

Thanx Jinu, updating Android Studio from 1.3 to above version is must. Got it working

[Apqu]

In another of my projects this proved to be the only answer that worked so +1 and thanks.

[Alexiscanny]

I had the same issue and I fixed with useLibrary 'org.apache.http.legacy' how Milos said... however for @ssuukk with your issue you can try adding this always: android { packagingOptions { exclude 'META-INF/LICENSE' exclude 'META-INF/DEPENDENCIES' exclude 'META-INF/NOTICE' exclude 'META-INF/NOTICE.txt' exclude 'META-INF/MANIFEST' }}

[dibble]

why isnt this the answer?

[Ivan Fazaniuk]

Same for me. Someone should accept this answer instead the one accepted now.

[Ed Manners]

This is the least path of resistance, not sure I want to down-grade gradle. It compile fine for me.

[monkey0506]

Thanks! This works with the gradle-experimental 0.6.0-alpha5 plugin. "useLibrary" doesn't seem to exist in the experimental plugin.

[RoFF]

it failed to resolve with error "Failed to resolve: org.jbundle.util.osgi.wrapped:org.jbundle.util.osgi.wrapped.‌​org.apache.http.cli‌‌​​‌​ent:4.1.2". I am using experimental gradle 0.6.0-beta. can you figure it out ?

[user961524]

helped without disturbing the other settings. thanks

[Bhushan Shirsath]

i used this tutorial blazin.in/2016/03/http-connection-for-android-marshmallow.ht‌​ml it worked for me using HttpOpenUrlConnection clases

[Naveed Ahmad]

Working, Thanks. 'org.apache.http.legacy' helped me, gradle was updated previously

[mfaisalhyder]

helped in June 2016 :D (y) Eclipse still FTW :p

[natsuki_2002]

Yea buddy! Thanks! great answer

[maimoona]

Great answer! Tried alot of other answers but changing one things broke other. This solution worked for me without change any existing configuration

[Amrut Bidri]

Worked for me .. Thanks a lot.

[Dharma Sai Seerapu]

Hey @Benjamin, how to send URL with PUT method?

[Benjamin Piette]

@TrickySolutions Sorry no idea, haven't used the PUT method yet.

[Dan]

can someone explain this? Why does this make it work? Why do we need to add this line, aside from adding the dependencies?

[Abhi]

Thanks . Adding - useLibrary 'org.apache.http.legacy' did the trick.

[eltiare]

@Dan it's because the org.apache.http library was removed with version 23.

[Scott Kohlert]

You're a lifesaver.

[hamx0r]

To clarify, this doesn't go into the root build.gradle, but rather within the module folder you're building (ie "app")

[doctorram]

This is not a real solution! Look below for @Jinu's answer.