Why .out.xml file is created?

Question

I was working on an android project, and while designing i noticed something strange and i was unable to understand why it was so....

What happened was, i created an xml file let's say named my_main_view.xml and i started working on it, while my design was in progress, for test purpose i ran my application and the app did not run and a file named my_main_view.out.xml is created. Which does not allow the application to run anymore until this newly created file deleted.

Deleting the file works fine but it's a temporary solution. It may be created anytime, when you run the application in eclipse.

Another solution which i found was to load the previously launched application which is far better than deleting the file..... it is...

In Eclipse ADT Goto:

Windows > Preferences > Launching > Launch Operation > Select Always launch previously launched application

But still the reason for this file creation is unknown to me. if anyone knows why this file is created and what is the purpose of this file please let all of us know....any help is appreciated...!!!

Answer 1

It happened with me too. I tried all the above methods. But it still got created and prevented the code from executing. I figured out that I was trying to run my .xml file, but I should be running the .java file. It may be that you are doing the same. So make sure that you are running the .java file and not the .xml file.

Answer 2

This occurs when you install some of the xml-plugins in eclipse. The xml plugins are not needed to developed android apps since the ADT comes with its own set of tools to work with xml files (i.e. Layout editor, etc). If you do not need those xml plugins for other projects you can remove them. Eclipse recognizes the xml files as part of your android project and directly starts the android project (instead of the xml-parser which checks the xml file).

Answer 3

I think the answer to your question can be found in this other question: Error starting an Android program

Delete all main.xml.out files in your project. Then, do NOT attempt to run the project with an XML file as the active tab in the editor in Eclipse -- switch to a Java file. It is the attempt to run the project with an XML file as the active tab that creates those .out files and messes up the system.

There's probably a more sophisticated workaround, but I am not an Eclipse user, so I do not know what it is.