Error during click on settings button

Question

I'm new to Android Development and was trying to get a Settings menu to show up on my app.

The XML file for Preferences is here:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<PreferenceScreen xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:title="@string/settings">
<SwitchPreference
    android:title="Switch Preference"
    android:key="switchpref"
    android:switchTextOn="ON"
    android:switchTextOff="OFF"
    android:summary="Night Mode"
    android:defaultValue="false"
    android:disableDependentsState="false"
    />

 </PreferenceScreen>

The Main Class file is here, where I try to switch to the Settings Activity

package com.example.notepad;

import java.util.zip.Inflater;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.MenuItem;

public class HomeScreen extends Activity {

@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.activity_home_screen);
}


@Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
    // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
    getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.activity_home_screen, menu);
    return true;
}

public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
    switch(item.getItemId())
    {
    case R.id.menu_settings:
         Intent intent = new Intent(HomeScreen.this,      PreferencesFragment.class);
            startActivity(intent);
            return true;

            default:
                return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
    }

}
}

The Preferences Java file that displays the Settings menu is here

package com.example.notepad;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.os.Bundle;

public class PreferencesFragment extends Activity {

@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    // TODO Auto-generated method stub
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.xml.preferences);
}

}

I can't figure out why an error occurs. It only displays the generic "Unfortunately, the application has stopped" when I click on the Settings button

The Log file is here

01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756): FATAL EXCEPTION: main
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756): java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to start    activity ComponentInfo{com.example.notepad/com.example.notepad.PreferencesFragment}:  android.view.InflateException: Binary XML file line #2: Error inflating class  PreferenceScreen
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):  at android.app.ActivityThread.performLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2059)
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):  at android.app.ActivityThread.handleLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2084)
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):  at android.app.ActivityThread.access$600(ActivityThread.java:130)
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):  at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1195)
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):  at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:99)
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):  at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:137)
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):  at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:4745)
 01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):     at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method)
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):  at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:511)
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):  at      com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:786)
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):  at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:553)
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):  at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method)
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756): Caused by: android.view.InflateException: Binary XML file line #2: Error inflating class PreferenceScreen
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):  at android.view.LayoutInflater.createViewFromTag(LayoutInflater.java:698)
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):  at android.view.LayoutInflater.inflate(LayoutInflater.java:466)
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):  at android.view.LayoutInflater.inflate(LayoutInflater.java:396)
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):  at android.view.LayoutInflater.inflate(LayoutInflater.java:352)
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):  at com.android.internal.policy.impl.PhoneWindow.setContentView(PhoneWindow.java:256)
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):  at android.app.Activity.setContentView(Activity.java:1867)
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):  at com.example.notepad.PreferencesFragment.onCreate(PreferencesFragment.java:12)
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):  at android.app.Activity.performCreate(Activity.java:5008)
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):  at android.app.Instrumentation.callActivityOnCreate(Instrumentation.java:1079)
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):  at android.app.ActivityThread.performLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2023)
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):  ... 11 more
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756): Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: android.view.PreferenceScreen
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):  at dalvik.system.BaseDexClassLoader.findClass(BaseDexClassLoader.java:61)
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):  at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:501)
 01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):     at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:461)
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):  at android.view.LayoutInflater.createView(LayoutInflater.java:552)
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):  at android.view.LayoutInflater.onCreateView(LayoutInflater.java:643)
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):  at com.android.internal.policy.impl.PhoneLayoutInflater.onCreateView(PhoneLayoutInflater.java:66)
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):  at android.view.LayoutInflater.onCreateView(LayoutInflater.java:660)
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):  at          android.view.LayoutInflater.createViewFromTag(LayoutInflater.java:685)
01-17 19:49:28.795: E/AndroidRuntime(756):  ... 20 more

EDIT - My AndroidManifest.xml file :

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
package="com.example.notepad"
android:versionCode="1"
android:versionName="1.0"
  >

<uses-sdk
    android:minSdkVersion="14"
    android:targetSdkVersion="16" />

<application
    android:allowBackup="true"
    android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"
    android:label="@string/app_name"
    android:theme="@style/AppTheme" >
    <activity
        android:name="com.example.notepad.HomeScreen"
        android:label="@string/app_name" >
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />

            <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
        </intent-filter>
    </activity>
     <activity
        android:name=".PreferencesFragment" />
</application>

Answer 1

You cant use PreferenceScreen inside Activity (PreferencesFragment extends Activity). Read doc and use it right way.

PreferenceScreen can appear in two places:

When a PreferenceActivity points to this, it is used as the root and is not shown (only the contained preferences are shown).

When it appears inside another preference hierarchy, it is shown and serves as the gateway to another screen of preferences (either by showing another screen of preferences as a Dialog or via a startActivity(android.content.Intent) from the getIntent()). The children of this PreferenceScreen are NOT shown in the screen that this PreferenceScreen is shown in. Instead, a separate screen will be shown when this preference is clicked.