Unable to instantiate activity componentinfo RunTimeException

Question

Update below:

I have this maps activity started when I click a button. I receive the below in the logcat. I have the activity added to the manifest. I have the setContentView inside the onCreate. I also have the permissions declared in the manifest. The layout xml is just a map fragment. Anyone see anything that might be the cause of this problem?

logcat:

10-09 23:16:10.516: W/dalvikvm(27281): threadid=1: thread exiting with uncaught exception (group=0x41955700)
10-09 23:16:10.516: E/AndroidRuntime(27281): FATAL EXCEPTION: main
10-09 23:16:10.516: E/AndroidRuntime(27281): java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to instantiate activity ComponentInfo{com.indeeditis/com.indeeditis.FinderActivity}: java.lang.NullPointerException
10-09 23:16:10.516: E/AndroidRuntime(27281):    at android.app.ActivityThread.performLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2137)
10-09 23:16:10.516: E/AndroidRuntime(27281):    at android.app.ActivityThread.handleLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2261)
10-09 23:16:10.516: E/AndroidRuntime(27281):    at android.app.ActivityThread.access$600(ActivityThread.java:141)
10-09 23:16:10.516: E/AndroidRuntime(27281):    at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1256)
10-09 23:16:10.516: E/AndroidRuntime(27281):    at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:99)
10-09 23:16:10.516: E/AndroidRuntime(27281):    at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:137)
10-09 23:16:10.516: E/AndroidRuntime(27281):    at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5103)
10-09 23:16:10.516: E/AndroidRuntime(27281):    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method)
10-09 23:16:10.516: E/AndroidRuntime(27281):    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:525)
10-09 23:16:10.516: E/AndroidRuntime(27281):    at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:737)
10-09 23:16:10.516: E/AndroidRuntime(27281):    at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:553)
10-09 23:16:10.516: E/AndroidRuntime(27281):    at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method)
10-09 23:16:10.516: E/AndroidRuntime(27281): Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException
10-09 23:16:10.516: E/AndroidRuntime(27281):    at android.content.ContextWrapper.getPackageName(ContextWrapper.java:135)
10-09 23:16:10.516: E/AndroidRuntime(27281):    at android.location.GeocoderParams.<init>(GeocoderParams.java:50)
10-09 23:16:10.516: E/AndroidRuntime(27281):    at android.location.Geocoder.<init>(Geocoder.java:83)
10-09 23:16:10.516: E/AndroidRuntime(27281):    at android.location.Geocoder.<init>(Geocoder.java:95)
10-09 23:16:10.516: E/AndroidRuntime(27281):    at com.indeeditis.FinderActivity.<init>(FinderActivity.java:63)
10-09 23:16:10.516: E/AndroidRuntime(27281):    at java.lang.Class.newInstanceImpl(Native Method)
10-09 23:16:10.516: E/AndroidRuntime(27281):    at java.lang.Class.newInstance(Class.java:1130)
10-09 23:16:10.516: E/AndroidRuntime(27281):    at android.app.Instrumentation.newActivity(Instrumentation.java:1061)
10-09 23:16:10.516: E/AndroidRuntime(27281):    at android.app.ActivityThread.performLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2128)
10-09 23:16:10.516: E/AndroidRuntime(27281):    ... 11 more

Activity:

public class FinderActivity extends Activity implements LocationListener  {

GoogleMap mMap;
Location myLocation;
EditText length;
String lengthString;
LocationManager locationmanager;
double lati;
double longi;
String nameFirst1;

   List<Address> address;
   Geocoder coder = new Geocoder(this);
private static final String TAG_ID = "id";
private static final String TAG_FIRSTNAME = "nameFirst";
private static final String TAG_LASTNAME = "nameLast";
private static final String TAG_EMAIL = "emailAddress";
private static final String TAG_ADDRESS = "streetAddress";
private static final String TAG_STATE = "state";
private static final String TAG_ZIPCODE ="zipCode";
private static final String TAG_COMPANY ="company";
private static final String TAG_OTHERCOMPANY ="companyTwo";

private static final String TAG_PHONE = "phone";
JSONArray contacts = null;

private static class LocationData {
     private double lat;
     private double longitude;
     private String name;
     private String other;

     public LocationData(double lat, double longitude, String name, String other) {
         this.lat = lat;
         this.longitude = longitude;
         this.name = name;
         this.other = other;
     }

     public void setLat(double lat) {
         this.lat = lat;
     }
     public void setLongitude(double longitude) {
         this.longitude = longitude;
     }
     public double getLat() {
         return lat;
     }
     public double getLongitude() {
         return longitude;
     }
     public void setName(String name) {
           this.name = name;
        }
      public String getName() {
         return name;
         }
      public String getOther() {
         return other;
          }
     }

@SuppressLint("NewApi")
@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.maps);
    mMap = ((MapFragment) getFragmentManager().findFragmentById(R.id.map)).getMap();
    if (mMap!= null) {

        mMap.setMapType(GoogleMap.MAP_TYPE_NORMAL);
        mMap.setMyLocationEnabled(true);
        mMap.animateCamera(CameraUpdateFactory.zoomBy(17));

        }

    LocationManager locationmanager = (LocationManager) getSystemService(LOCATION_SERVICE);
    Criteria cr = new Criteria();
    String provider = locationmanager.getBestProvider(cr, true);
    Location location = locationmanager.getLastKnownLocation(provider);
    locationmanager.requestLocationUpdates(provider, 20, 0, (LocationListener) this);

    mMap.moveCamera(CameraUpdateFactory.newLatLng((new LatLng(location.getLatitude(), location.getLongitude()))));

    new EndpointsTask().execute(FinderActivity.this);

}

public class EndpointsTask extends AsyncTask<Context, LocationData, Long> {

    private List<LocationData> locationList = new ArrayList<LocationData>();

    public Long doInBackground(Context... contexts) {

      Contactinfoendpoint.Builder endpointBuilder = new Contactinfoendpoint.Builder(
          AndroidHttp.newCompatibleTransport(),
          new JacksonFactory(),
          new HttpRequestInitializer() {
          public void initialize(HttpRequest httpRequest) { }
          });
  Contactinfoendpoint endpoint = CloudEndpointUtils.updateBuilder(
  endpointBuilder).build();

  try {

    String apples = endpoint.listContactInfo().execute().toString();

    JSONObject jObject = new JSONObject(apples);

    JSONArray jsonArr = jObject.getJSONArray("items");

     for(int i =0 ; i<jsonArr.length() ;i++ ){
         JSONObject jsonObj1 = jsonArr.getJSONObject(i);


                    // Storing each json item in variable
                    String id = jsonObj1.getString(TAG_ID);
                    String nameFirst1 = jsonObj1.getString(TAG_FIRSTNAME);
                    String nameLast1 = jsonObj1.getString(TAG_LASTNAME);
                    String emailAddress1 = jsonObj1.getString(TAG_EMAIL);
                    String streetAddress1 = jsonObj1.getString(TAG_ADDRESS);
                    String state1 = jsonObj1.getString(TAG_STATE);
                    String zip1 = jsonObj1.getString(TAG_ZIPCODE);
                    String phone1 = jsonObj1.getString(TAG_PHONE);
                    String company1 = jsonObj1.getString(TAG_COMPANY);
                  //  String othercompany1 = jsonObj1.getString(TAG_OTHERCOMPANY);
                    String othercompany1 = String.valueOf(jsonObj1.optString(TAG_OTHERCOMPANY));

                    //test to see if made it to string
                    Log.d("YOUR_TAG", "First Name: " + nameFirst1 + " Last Name: " + nameLast1);

                    Log.d("nlltag", apples);

                    String whereDeyAt = streetAddress1 + " " + zip1;

                       address = coder.getFromLocationName(whereDeyAt,5);

                        Address location1 = address.get(0);

                        // SET LAT LNG VALUES FOR MARKER POINT

                    double lati = location1.getLatitude();
                        double longi = location1.getLongitude();

                        String otherinfo;
                        if (othercompany1==null) { otherinfo = company1 + ", " + " " + phone1;
                        }
                        else {otherinfo = company1 + ", "+ othercompany1 + " " + phone1; }

                         Log.d("Location", "Location:" + lati + " " +  longi);
                         LocationData data = new LocationData(lati, longi, nameFirst1 + " " + nameLast1,otherinfo );

                         locationList.add(data);
                         publishProgress(data);

     }

    } catch (IOException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
  } catch (JSONException e) {
    // TODO Auto-generated catch block
    e.printStackTrace();
}
      return (long) 0;

    }

    public   LocationData onProgressUpdate(LocationData data) {


        return data;
   }

    protected void onPostExecute(Long result) {
        for(LocationData data : locationList){
            mMap.addMarker(new MarkerOptions()
             .position(new LatLng(data.getLat(), data.getLongitude()))
             .title(data.getName())
             .snippet(data.getOther()));
        }

    }

    }

Manifest:

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="no"?><manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" android:versionCode="1" android:versionName="1.0" package="com.indeeditis">

<uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="8" android:targetSdkVersion="18"/>

 <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET"/>
 <permission android:name="com.indeeditis.permission.C2D_MESSAGE" android:protectionLevel="signature"/>

<uses-permission android:name="com.indeeditis.permission.C2D_MESSAGE"/>
<uses-permission android:name="com.google.android.c2dm.permission.RECEIVE"/>
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WAKE_LOCK"/>
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.GET_ACCOUNTS"/>
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.USE_CREDENTIALS"/>

<permission
    android:name="com.indeeditis.MAPS_RECEIVE"
    android:protectionLevel="signature"/>

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET"/>
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE"/>
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE"/>
<uses-permission android:name="com.google.android.providers.gsf.permission.READ_GSERVICES"/>

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION"/>
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION"/>

<uses-feature
    android:glEsVersion="0x00020000"
    android:required="true"/>

<!-- for card.io card scanning -->
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CAMERA" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.VIBRATE" />

<!-- for most things, including card.io and paypal -->
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_WIFI_STATE" />


<!-- Camera features -->
<uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.camera" android:required="false" />
<uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.camera.autofocus" android:required="false" />
<uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.camera.flash" android:required="false" />

<application android:allowBackup="true" android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher" android:label="@string/app_name" android:theme="@style/AppTheme">

    <activity android:name="StartScreen"><intent-filter>
            <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />

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

    </activity>

    <activity android:label="@string/app_name" android:name=".MainActivity">
        </activity>
    <!-- 
    <receiver android:name="com.google.android.gcm.GCMBroadcastReceiver" android:permission="com.google.android.c2dm.permission.SEND">
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="com.google.android.c2dm.intent.RECEIVE"/>
            <category android:name="com.indeeditis"/>
        </intent-filter>
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="com.google.android.c2dm.intent.REGISTRATION"/>
            <category android:name="com.indeeditis"/>
        </intent-filter>
    </receiver>

  -->


    <activity android:label="@string/app_name" android:name=".FinderActivity">  </activity>

    <service android:name="com.paypal.android.sdk.payments.PayPalService" android:exported="false"/>

    <!--  paypal stuff -->

<activity android:name="com.paypal.android.sdk.payments.PaymentActivity" />
<activity android:name="com.paypal.android.sdk.payments.LoginActivity" />
<activity android:name="com.paypal.android.sdk.payments.PaymentMethodActivity" />
<activity android:name="com.paypal.android.sdk.payments.PaymentConfirmActivity" />
<activity android:name="com.paypal.android.sdk.payments.PaymentCompletedActivity" />

<activity
android:name="io.card.payment.CardIOActivity"
android:configChanges="keyboardHidden|orientation" />
<activity android:name="io.card.payment.DataEntryActivity" />

<activity android:name="Maps"></activity>

<meta-data
android:name="com.google.android.maps.v2.API_KEY"
android:value="AIzaSyBqLKpJk50JUSkm_LYO_p079oqUr3qwert"/>

</application>

</manifest>

*********UPDATE**************

As per @JonSkeet I have changed the Geocoder coder = new Geocoder(this);

to Geocoder coder = new Geocoder(getApplicationContext());

the logcat now reads:

10-15 22:45:50.895: E/AndroidRuntime(2798): FATAL EXCEPTION: main
10-15 22:45:50.895: E/AndroidRuntime(2798): java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to instantiate activity ComponentInfo{com.indeeditis/com.indeeditis.FinderActivity}: java.lang.NullPointerException
10-15 22:45:50.895: E/AndroidRuntime(2798):     at android.app.ActivityThread.performLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2137)
10-15 22:45:50.895: E/AndroidRuntime(2798):     at android.app.ActivityThread.handleLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2261)
10-15 22:45:50.895: E/AndroidRuntime(2798):     at android.app.ActivityThread.access$600(ActivityThread.java:141)
10-15 22:45:50.895: E/AndroidRuntime(2798):     at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1256)
10-15 22:45:50.895: E/AndroidRuntime(2798):     at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:99)
10-15 22:45:50.895: E/AndroidRuntime(2798):     at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:137)
10-15 22:45:50.895: E/AndroidRuntime(2798):     at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5103)
10-15 22:45:50.895: E/AndroidRuntime(2798):     at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method)
10-15 22:45:50.895: E/AndroidRuntime(2798):     at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:525)
10-15 22:45:50.895: E/AndroidRuntime(2798):     at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:737)
10-15 22:45:50.895: E/AndroidRuntime(2798):     at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:553)
10-15 22:45:50.895: E/AndroidRuntime(2798):     at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method)
10-15 22:45:50.895: E/AndroidRuntime(2798): Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException
10-15 22:45:50.895: E/AndroidRuntime(2798):     at android.content.ContextWrapper.getApplicationContext(ContextWrapper.java:109)
10-15 22:45:50.895: E/AndroidRuntime(2798):     at com.indeeditis.FinderActivity.<init>(FinderActivity.java:65)
10-15 22:45:50.895: E/AndroidRuntime(2798):     at java.lang.Class.newInstanceImpl(Native Method)
10-15 22:45:50.895: E/AndroidRuntime(2798):     at java.lang.Class.newInstance(Class.java:1130)
10-15 22:45:50.895: E/AndroidRuntime(2798):     at android.app.Instrumentation.newActivity(Instrumentation.java:1061)
10-15 22:45:50.895: E/AndroidRuntime(2798):     at android.app.ActivityThread.performLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2128)
10-15 22:45:50.895: E/AndroidRuntime(2798):     ... 11 more

I'm still getting a nullpointer but its not for the geocoder now.

Answer 1

Well I can work out the problem - but not a pleasant solution.

Your activity indirectly subclasses ContextWrapper, which overrides getPackageName. The Geocoder creates a GeocoderParams with the given context (this in your case) and that in turn asks the context for its package name.

Unfortunately, ContextWrapper.getPackageName is implemented by calling getPackageName on the context that it's wrapping - which is null in your case. As far as I can tell, That's why you're getting the NullPointerException.

You could override getPackageName yourself (in your activity). That would remove that particular exception, but it feels like an ugly solution. This looks like something that would always be a problem using this approach - is it the recommended approach in tutorials?

Looking at some other sample code, I think you may want to just change this:

Geocoder coder = new Geocoder(this);

to:

private final Geocoder coder = new Geocoder(getApplicationContext());

(The private final part is just a matter of good practice, and isn't part of the fix here.)

EDIT: It now looks like getApplicationContext() is failing for the same reason. It's possible (I'm not an Android dev) that anything context-specific is only available after the application has started. You might want to use this instead:

private Geocoder coder;

@Override public void onStart() {
    coder = new Geocoder(this);
}

Basically, you can only create a Geocoder when you've got a properly initialized context - so that's the thing to investigate.

Answer 2

Package name looks suspicious com.indeeditis/com.indeeditis.FinderActivity. You can't have slashes in package name. Check your AndroidManifest.xml again.