Develop Reference

Two java files. Getting IllegalAccessError when running class with main method trying to access a method from the other file

Learning Java. I have two files, each containing one java class. When I run the file with the main method, I get the following error:
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.IllegalAccessError: failed to access class TapeDeck from class TapeDeckTestDrive (TapeDeck is in unnamed module of loader 'app'; TapeDeckTestDrive is in unnamed module of loader com.sun.tools.javac.launcher.Main$MemoryClassLoader #18bf3d14)
at TapeDeckTestDrive.main(TapeDeckTestDrive.java:3)
class TapeDeckTestDrive{
public static void main(String[] args){
TapeDeck t = new TapeDeck();
t.canRecord = true;
t.playTape();
if (t.canRecord == true) {
t.recordTape();
}
}
}
class TapeDeck {
boolean canRecord = false;
void playTape(){
System.out.println("tape playing");
}
void recordTape(){
System.out.println("tape recording");
}
}
Any help please?

Actual Issue
I got this exact same error* doing something very silly:
I tried to run the file as java {main-class}.java. That simple!
Instead, be sure to run it simply as java {main-class}.
*Specifically, the error format I had, like yours:
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.IllegalAccessError: failed to access class {pack.other-class} from class {pack.main-class} ({pack.other-class} is in unnamed module of loader 'app'; {pack.main-class} is in unnamed module of loader com.sun.tools.javac.launcher.Main$MemoryClassLoader #29f69090)
  at {pack.main-class}.{who-cares-where}
  at {pack.main-class}.{who-cares-why}
             . . .
Extra Advice
You can get a similarly annoying error on the same issue, namely inability to access packages in the same directory, if you only compile your {main-class}.
So instead of javac {directory}/{main-class}.java
Be sure to compile all of them at the same time, so there's no issue in cross-referencing:   javac {directory}/*.java
OP Specific
This would just be a silly command-line mistake. If it's occurring in IntelliJ as well, as you say, this isn't your issue. However, I hope it's at least helpful to the others who come across your question with this error!

Make sure each class is in the same folder, since the error is saying TapeDeckTestDrive can not find TapeDeck. I would recommend starting out with an IDE like Eclipse since it will help you focus more on coding and less with folder problems.
I know your code is all good (in java 8 at least) since when I copied it in eclipse it works no problem, meaning it has to be a folder problem, a problem with the installed version of java, or the way you are running the code is not working for some reason. If both files are in the exact same folder then I would make sure your java version says 1.8 something in the system files (Program Files(x86) most likely in windows), if it does not say that version then it could be another problem with the code and syntax for that version.
Another thing that might help is to put public behind the "class" on the first line of each class and make the Boolean public. This might be a syntax requirement on other versions of java or something that is needed when running off command prompt.

Quick possible fix, try making the classes and methods "Public".
Under normal circumstances this shouldn't be necessary but you may be hitting a specific case where it might be (It's an edge case so I don't know if it's a problem or not off the top of my head):
Java is really uncomfortable with stuff being in the "Default" package--code from other packages can't access objects in the default package (Meaning no package statement). Although this shouldn't cause problems in your case, maybe your "package" level security settings are also not working in the default package.
If this is actually the problem, the two fixes would be to make the packages and methods public (as I said above) or move both classes into a package.

What worked for me was to add the key word 'public' in both methods (playTape and recordPlay) and variables (canRecord).

GoogleApiAvailability.getErrorDialog() can't find string resource

I have this code:
GoogleApiAvailability googleAPI = GoogleApiAvailability.getInstance();
String msg = getString(R.string.common_google_play_services_update_text);
Log.e(TAG, msg);
Dialog errDlg = googleAPI.getErrorDialog(MyActivity.this, result, 1111, listener);
When this runs, the String common_google_play_services_update_text is correctly written to LogCat, but getErrorDialog() throws this Exception:
java.lang.NoSuchFieldError: No static field
common_google_play_services_update_text of type I in class
Lcom/google/android/gms/R$string; or its superclasses (declaration of
'com.google.android.gms.R$string' appears in
/data/app/com.mygame-1/base.apk)
How can I fix this?

The error NoSuchFieldError means that the class doesn't have a field of a specified name. It is thrown if an application tries to access or modify a specified field of an object, and that object no longer has that field. Normally, this error is caught by the compiler and can only occur at run time if the definition of a class has incompatibly changed.
Also, maybe you've got old code that is referencing a field that no longer exists in the recompiled class files. You may check it here.
The solution is to clean out all the class files and compile everything from fresh.
Update: If you still get the same error after recompiling everything, then you're probably compiling against one version of an external library and using another at runtime.
What you need to do now is first identify the class that is causing the problem (it looks like you have done this already) and then run your application with the -verbose:class command line option. It will dump a lot of class loading information on your standard out and you'll be able to find out where the problematic class is exactly loaded from.
Hope this helps!

java.lang.NoSuchMethodError related with a class constructor

I have the following class signature:
public BlockstemRequester(RateLimiter throttler,
String url, List<String> payloadsToBeRequested, List<String> objRef) {
.
.
.
}
And I'm using that constructor at this following code:
threads.add(new BlockstemRequester(RateLimiter.create(1.0),
String.format("url...", apiKey),
chunks.get(index),
chunksObjRef.get(index)))
where:
RateLimiter is from import com.google.common.util.concurrent.RateLimiter
chunks is defined as val chunks:util.List[util.List[String]] = new util.Vector[util.List[String]]
chunksObjRef is defined as val chunksObjRef:util.List[util.List[String]] = new util.Vector[util.List[String]]
But, unfortunately I'm getting an error telling me that class constructor was not found or defined:
java.lang.NoSuchMethodError: BlockstemRequester.<init>(Lcom/google/common/util/concurrent/RateLimiter;Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/List;Ljava/util/List;)
Basically, I'm using this class defined in Scala at my java code project, and I did defined the scala class to use List from java to avoid any problem of incompatible types between the languages.
At runtime I'm getting this following types according to my debug process:
chunks is a Vector[Collections$SynchronizedRandomAccessList]
chunksObjRef is a Vector[Collections$SynchronizedRandomAccessList]
I appreciate any kind of help towards this problem. Thank you!

As per Java docs:
Thrown if an application tries to call a specified method of a class
(either static or instance), and that class no longer has a definition
of that method. Normally, this error is caught by the compiler; this
error can only occur at run time if the definition of a class has
incompatibly changed.
From you question it is not clear if you are getting this at compile time or run time but looks like you are having issue at run time. So, use a Java decompiler and check the .class of this class whether this method is present or not.
Most probable root cause of this issue is that library used at compile time have such a method but library used at runtime doesn't have it, and hence NoSuchMethodError.
Use decompiler and check .class file of the class.

Just solved the problem. So this was the scenario: I have a project X and using a library Y. So both X and Y have different definition of the class BlockstemRequester, both with different constructor signatures. I had to change that class name of my project and refactor my code. So, at runtime the constructor pointed out it was that one from my project X and not from that one defined in the library Y
I appreciate any advise if there is any way to approach this problem better than just renaming/refactoring my local classes

I think that the problem is with your 'typed' list.
If you change the signature to
public BlockstemRequester(RateLimiter throttler,
String url, List payloadsToBeRequested, List objRef)
Or
public BlockstemRequester(RateLimiter throttler,
String url, List<?> payloadsToBeRequested, List<?> objRef)
This will work.

Java Adding External Library failed when Self-defined Package Exists

Recently I have encountered some problem which seems a little strange to me.
In order to use some predefined class, I imported two .jar files say foo.jar and bar.jar(Both were written by others)
And my source code is like the following:
package jerry.deque
public class Deque {
.....
.....
Foo item = new Foo(); //Already defined in the foo.jar
.....
}
I added the external library exactly as what How to Import a Jar in Eclipse
did. But when I tried to use the class defined in foo.jar Eclipse shows me that "Foo can't be resolved to a type".
I spent a lot of time to fix this problem and finally succeeded after I removed
the clause: "package jerry.deque" at the beginning of my class file.
I think this is weird because just a few days ago when I was doing some Android development, I followed the same way to add a Twitter API library. And it works fine even when I declared "package jerry.search_twittes" at the beginning of my .java
file. I'm confused by this problem and couldn't figure out what's going wrong. Could someone help me to explain it in detail? Thanks very much.

Check that Foo is same package as Deque class. If they are not same
package, you need to import Foo class in Deque class.
For example,
package jerry.deque;
import packagename.foo; // packagename.foo
public class Deque {
.....
.....
Foo item = new Foo(); //Already defined in the foo.jar
.....
}
Added Explanation
I want you to check access modifier of Foo class carefully.
There are 2 access level for top level(class) access control . These
are public, or package-private (no explicit modifier).
Your Foo class is under default package(not specified package)and may be no explicit access modifier. Hope so! Then, all classes under default package can access to Foo class. That's why when you remove package jerry.deque clause, it works.
Similarly, I want you to check Android development java code in which it works fine even when you declared "package jerry.search_twittes". In that case, classes inside Twitter API library's access modifier is public.So you can access it from anywhere.
For more information you can read this.Is this information helpful???

Foo is in default package. Classes from default package cannot be imported directly.
So when you remove the package declaration in your code, you don't get the error.
You can look for reflection api or write a proxy in the default package for that class.

NoClassDefFoundError on JFace FontRegistry

When I launch an SWT application (via an Eclipse launch profile), I receive the following stack trace:
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: org/eclipse/jface/resource/FontRegistry
at org.eclipse.jface.resource.JFaceResources.getFontRegistry(JFaceResources.java:338)
at org.eclipse.jface.window.Window.close(Window.java:313)
at org.eclipse.jface.dialogs.Dialog.close(Dialog.java:971)
at org.eclipse.jface.dialogs.ProgressMonitorDialog.close(ProgressMonitorDialog.java:348)
at org.eclipse.jface.dialogs.ProgressMonitorDialog.finishedRun(ProgressMonitorDialog.java:582)
at org.eclipse.jface.dialogs.ProgressMonitorDialog.run(ProgressMonitorDialog.java:498)
at com.blah.si.workflow.SWTApplication.main(SWTApplication.java:135)
Now, the things that make this odd:
When I change the project build path and replace jface.jar with the source project (same version - 3.3.1), the error goes away.
Other applications I have that use the same jar, and a copy of the same launch profile and project, all works fine.
This is NOT a ClassNotFoundException. The class is on the classpath. If I attach source to the jar, I can debug into the getFontRegistry method. The method will execute successfully several times before eventually throwing a NoClassDefFoundError on line 338. Line 337 is a "if variable == null" statement checking to see if a static variable has been initialized. Line 338 is initializing it if it is not already initialized. The first time through, the null check fails, and the initialization is performed. On subsequent passes through the method, the null check passes, and thus the already-initialized static value is returned. On the final pass (the one that fails,) the null check fails again (even though the static variable has already been initialized) and when it tries to re-initialize the static variable, the NoClassDefFoundError is thrown. Here is the relevant source (starting with line 336, note that fontRegistry is a private static variable that is set in no other place):
.
public static FontRegistry getFontRegistry() {
if (fontRegistry == null) {
fontRegistry = new FontRegistry(
"org.eclipse.jface.resource.jfacefonts");
}
return fontRegistry;
}
.
I have already gotten a fresh copy of the jar (to ensure it isn't corrupted,) deleted my .classpath and .project files and started a fresh project, and recreated the launch profile. No change.
Because of the peculiarities in #3 above, I'm suspecting some kind of wierd classloader behavior - it seems as if that final pass through the method is in another classloader?
Ideas?
Update: The answer provided by Pourquoi Litytestdata prompted me to pay attention to what happens in the try block just above line 458 of ProgressMonitorDialog. Indeed, that code was throwing an exception, which was being gobbled by the finally block. The root cause was ANOTHER missing class (the missing class was not JFontRegistry or any of its directly related classes, but another that was spider-web dependencied in an edge case.) I'm upvoting all answers pointing me to pay attention to the classpath, and accepting Pourquoi's, because it was the breakthrough. Thanks to all.

It sounds like you are missing a JAR file that holds a dependency, as mentioned in this blog entry from July 2006, written by Sanjiv JIVAN:
Difference between ClassNotFoundException and NoClassDefFoundError
A ClassNotFoundException is thrown when the reported class is not found by the ClassLoader.
This typically means that the class is missing from the CLASSPATH.
It could also mean that the class in question is trying to be loaded from another class which was loaded in a parent ClassLoader and hence the class from the child ClassLoader is not visible.
This is sometimes the case when working in more complex environments like an App Server (WebSphere is infamous for such ClassLoader issues).
People often tend to confuse java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError with java.lang.ClassNotFoundException. However there's an important distinction.
For example an exception (an error really since java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError is a subclass of java.lang.Error) like
java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError:
org/apache/activemq/ActiveMQConnectionFactory
does not mean that the ActiveMQConnectionFactory class is not in the CLASSPATH.
In fact, its quite the opposite.
It means that the class ActiveMQConnectionFactory was found by the ClassLoader however when trying to load the class, it ran into an error reading the class definition.
This typically happens when the class in question has static blocks or members which use a Class that's not found by the ClassLoader.
So to find the culprit, view the source of the class in question (ActiveMQConnectionFactory in this case) and look for code using static blocks or static members.
If you don't have access the the source, then simply decompile it using JAD.
On examining the code, say you find a line of code like below, make sure that the class SomeClass in in your CLASSPATH.
private static SomeClass foo = new SomeClass();
Tip : To find out which jar a class belongs to, you can use the web site jarFinder. This allows you to specify a class name using wildcards and it searches for the class in its database of jars.
jarhoo allows you to do the same thing but its no longer free to use.
If you would like to locate the which jar a class belongs to in a local path, you can use a utility like jarscan. You just specify the class you'd like to locate and the root directory path where you'd like it to start searching for the class in jars and zip files.

I think the stacktrace presented above is concealing the real problem here. Below is the code in the method run within
org.eclipse.jface.dialogs.ProgressMonitorDialog (with a comment added by me):
public void run(boolean fork, boolean cancelable,
IRunnableWithProgress runnable) throws InvocationTargetException,
InterruptedException {
setCancelable(cancelable);
try {
aboutToRun();
// Let the progress monitor know if they need to update in UI Thread
progressMonitor.forked = fork;
ModalContext.run(runnable, fork, getProgressMonitor(), getShell()
.getDisplay());
} finally {
finishedRun(); // this is line 498
}
}
The second-from-bottom line in Jared's stacktrace is line 498 of this class, which is the call to finishedRun() within the finally block. I suspect that the real cause is an exception being thrown in the try block. Since the code in the finally block also throws an exception, the original exception is lost.

To get a better handle on if it is a class loader issue go through the code where it works and add:
try
{
final Class clazz;
final ClassLoader loader;
clazz = Class.forName("org/eclipse/jface/resource/FontRegistry");
loader = clazz.getClassLoader();
System.out.println("The classloader at step 1 is: " + loader);
}
catch(final Throwable ex)
{
ex.printStackTrace();
}
And then do the same thing where you are getting the NoClassDefFoundError and see if the class loaders are different.
Then you will be able to ensure that it is the ClassLoader that is different. Can you report back with what happens with this? Depending on what the result is I might have more ideas.

To add to the excellent TofuBeer's answer, since NoClassDefFoundError indicates that:
class org.eclipse.jface.resource.FontRegistry was found by the ClassLoader,
but can not been loaded without triggering an error, like having static blocks or members which use a Class that's not found by the ClassLoader.
Let's look at org.eclipse.jface.resource.FontRegistry source code:
It does not have any static variable initialization (nor does its superclasses).
Let's look at org.eclipse.jface.resource.JFaceResources source code
The getFontRegistry() function in which the Error is triggered is using the static variable fontRegistry:
/**
* The JFace font registry; <code>null</code> until lazily initialized or
* explicitly set.
*/
private static FontRegistry fontRegistry = null;
Thus, it begs raises the question: why a static initialized variable would suddenly be considered null again ?
Because somehow FontRegistry or JFaceResources get unloaded by the gc ?!
If a field is declared static, there exists exactly one incarnation of the field, no matter how many instances (possibly zero) of the class may eventually be created. A static field, sometimes called a class variable, is incarnated when the class is initialized (§12.4).
So it doesn't matter whether instances of the class exist at any time, the field will exist as long as the Class itself has been loaded.
If this were a eclipse Plugin, this could have been related to this FAQ entry
Here is a typical scenario for a new user:
You are writing a plug-in that extends plug-in XYZ.
To get it to compile, you add a reference to the JAR file for plug-in XYZ to your project’s build path either from the Java Build Path property page or by editing the .classpath file.
When you launch a runtime workbench, the following surprising error is reported: java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: XYZ.SomeClass.
Do not start looking in the Plug-ins and Fragments tab in the launch configuration for the runtime workbench.
That tab influences only which plug-ins are used for your runtime workbench and whether they are loaded from the workspace or from the Eclipse install directory.
Instead, start looking in the plug-in manifest.
Edit the plugin.xml file and ensure that XYZ is mentioned as a required plug-in.
Then, save the plugin.xml file.
This will update the project’s build path automatically.
Never manually edit the .classpath file when you are writing a plug-in.
The plug-in Manifest Editor simply overwrites any changes you make to it. Not very civilized, but that is the way it works.

If you try to load the class FontRegistry on your own (like TofoBeer described), you will find out that classes of the following JAR are dependent classes if using FontRegistry.
org.eclipse.core.commands_xxxxx.jar
You must add this JAR to your build path.