app:transformDexArchiveWithExternalLibsDexMergerForDebug in Android studio 3.0.1

Question

Messages Gradle build:

Error:Execution failed for task ':app:transformDexArchiveWithExternalLibsDexMergerForDebug'.

java.lang.RuntimeException: com.android.builder.dexing.DexArchiveMergerException: Unable to merge dex

Here is the gradle build files:

apply plugin: 'com.android.application'

    android {

        compileSdkVersion 26
        defaultConfig {

            minSdkVersion 26
            targetSdkVersion 26
            versionCode 1
            versionName "1.0"
            testInstrumentationRunner "android.support.test.runner.AndroidJUnitRunner"
            multiDexEnabled true

        }
        buildTypes {
            release {
                minifyEnabled false
                proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), 'proguard-rules.pro'
            }
        }
    }

    dependencies {

        implementation fileTree(include: ['*.jar'], dir: 'libs')
        implementation 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:26.1.0'
        implementation 'com.android.support.constraint:constraint-layout:1.0.2'
        testImplementation 'junit:junit:4.12'
        androidTestImplementation 'com.android.support.test:runner:1.0.1'
        androidTestImplementation 'com.android.support.test.espresso:espresso 
        core:3.0.1'
        implementation files('libs/bsh-core-2.0b4.jar')
        implementation files('libs/selenium-java-2.3.0.jar')
        implementation files('libs/selenium-remote-driver-3.0.0.jar')
        // https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/io.appium/java-client
        implementation  group: 'io.appium', name: 'java-client', version: '5.0.4'

    }

Answer 1

This error is generic, can be caused by many things

java.lang.RuntimeException: com.android.builder.dexing.DexArchiveMergerException: Unable to merge dex

First, you need to know what error you have. So, you have two choices:

• CMD: go to android workspaces and put gradlew installDebug --stacktrace (optional --info --debug)
• Run or build project: go to File > Settings > Build, Execution, Deployment > Compiler and write in Command-line Options: --stacktrace --debug

Next, you need to go in the part where says Cause by (Last of then because u can have more than one error).

If you have:

Caused by: com.android.dex.DexIndexOverflowException: method ID not in [0, 0xffff]: 65536

Then you need to put this, like comments before said but if your mindSdkVersion >= 21

android {
    defaultConfig 
    {
        multiDexEnabled true
    }
}

If your minSdkVersion < 21 you need put also this

compile 'com.android.support:multidex:1.0.3'

More info here