AndroidX: [Bug] [Android] System.IO.FileNotFoundException when True

Here is another repro project: TestAndroidX.zip

In debug mode, an image will be displayed on the main page. In release mode, the image is not displayed, because of the exception.

The exception is only happening with <BundleAssemblies>True</BundleAssemblies>. It makes no difference whether R8 or Linker are enabled or not. I’m using XF 4.5.0. This exception can be easily reproduced on the emulator.

Stack trace of the exception (no crash, it’s silent): ImageElementManager: Error loading image: System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not load file or assembly 'Xamarin.AndroidX.AppCompat.Resources, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null' or one of its dependencies. File name: 'Xamarin.AndroidX.AppCompat.Resources, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null' at Xamarin.Forms.Platform.Android.FileImageSourceHandler.LoadImageAsync (Xamarin.Forms.ImageSource imagesource, Android.Widget.ImageView imageView, System.Threading.CancellationToken cancellationToken) at Xamarin.Forms.Platform.Android.ImageViewExtensions.UpdateBitmap (Android.Widget.ImageView imageView, Xamarin.Forms.IImageElement newView, Xamarin.Forms.IImageElement previousView, Xamarin.Forms.ImageSource newImageSource, Xamarin.Forms.ImageSource previousImageSource) at Xamarin.Forms.Platform.Android.FastRenderers.ImageElementManager.TryUpdateBitmap (Xamarin.Forms.Platform.Android.IImageRendererController rendererController, Android.Widget.ImageView Control, Xamarin.Forms.IImageElement newImage, Xamarin.Forms.IImageElement previous)

@15mgm15 asked:

Do we have some sort of work around?

The workaround is to not set $(BundleAssemblies)=True.

After internal discussion, we are strongly considering removing support for $(BundleAssemblies) in .NET 5, as it increases on-device memory use and slows down app startup times.

@EDMIStephen

No it is not. Check this RR/branch and activity:

#106

You will notice that it is worked on that bug. Together with 3-4 other bugs and preparations for .NET 5. The comment is mine and it still applies. MkBundle was not meant for obfuscation and size reduction. MkBundle was supposed to be removed in .NET 5. in favor of other tools.

My comment is around the unprofessional message on the PR. It is fine to mention that is shouldn’t be used for obfuscation and that the documentation has been changed to further reflect this in another PR. But insinuating users are idiots is not appropriate especially when they are using a feature as documented and you have messages like this in visual studio.

The word obfuscation should also be completely removed from the Bundle assemblies section on this page because it has become clear that it provides no obfuscation. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/xamarin/android/deploy-test/release-prep/

Guys, do you really need 3 months to fix this? And week to test it?

Many users can’t upgrade to XF 4.5 and later because of this issue. And it looks like nobody cares.

@moljac rebuilt app with new nugets- no issues

@moljac , I might not agree on your attitudes on some of your replies, BUT BUT, as a technical person to another, I still like to thank you for your hard work.

You are the assignee to most of the issues. It seems like you are like a sweatshop child labor in a very very 3rd world country. It’s like Xamarin.Auth disappointment all over again. But, Cheer up. I’m not sure what’s your position or how high up you are, but it’s still better being a technical person and having these discussions than having to deal with the office/project politics. If you can’t handle the workload, let your boss know. This is not a hobbyist repository (is this?) where you can ask customer/user to “take it or leave it” (you didn’t explicitly, but your frustrated-attitude did). You never know which “big customer” Microsoft is trying to attract, but only to come here and get disheartened replies.

@simon10says

is the fixed only thru the link you provided above?

At this moment - yes. There are ready to press the button packages on CI, but it is not public, so I simply pushed those nugets to that repo, so external users could test.

Or will it be pushed thru the main, official channel (XF release)?

XF team is already testing those nugets. OK. There were some improvements/fixes this morning, but they will be able to use them in few minutes. Then XF will publish XF nugets. When? I don’t know. Xamarin.Android ecosystem (AndroidX and Google.Play.Services with Firebase) has different cadence from Xamarin.Android core and Xamarin.Forms. I did some tests of XF apps this morning, to save time for XF team and it looks good, but they will test for sure.

I cannot promise anything for forms. Android parts will be released as soon as they confirm it.

@brminnick Thank you but this is off topic. We’re taking about the size of assemblies folder vs bundle.so file. The difference will be the same whether building an apk or an aab.

@mduchev

Your issue

java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: Didn't find class "androidx.appcompat.widget.FitWindowsFrameLayout" on path: DexPathList[[zip file 

looks like Xamarin.Forms one (it is in Essentials, but it is Forms one): https://github.com/xamarin/Essentials/issues/1198

So add proguard rule:

-keep public class androidx.appcompat.widget.FitWindowsFrameLayout

@moljac May I remind you that BundleAssemblies option used to be a Visual Studio Enterprise only feature, which means we paid for it !! So it’s not absurd for us to except a hot fix for this kind regression. Maybe the right thing to do would have been to release a hot fix first, and only after that, engage the discussion about the pros/cons of removing this feature, and the alternatives we would have.

This bug was opened more than one month ago, and it’s quite a serious regression. It’s also very easy to reproduce. Anybody please help. Thank you. @moljac @jsuarezruiz @mattleibow

I had/have the same problem and it is only in Release mode. Tried disabling Xamarin.AndroidX.AppCompat for the linker but I still got the problem.

Another problem with AndroidX (the stable versions) and XF 4.5 pre-release is that you cannot enable r8 (code shrinker) in release.

In the end I rolled back to the old support libraries and everything works.