Getting error: "An internal build error has occurred... " when compiling

[Guest]

I am getting this error after upgrading to Flash Builder 4.5 from Flex 3. This error was not occurring under Flex 3.

I do not have an empty Case statement. If I remove a particular module from the Flex Modules list in the project propertues, the error does not occur, but of course no swf is generated so the module cannot be loaded at run time.
I have gone through the module in question with a fine toothed comb but cannot find any syntax errors

An internal build error has occurred. See the error log for more information.    Culinaria        Unknown    Flex Problem

null
Error
Mon Jun 20 10:41:22 CEST 2011
Uncaught exception in compiler

!ENTRY com.adobe.flexbuilder.project 4 43 2011-06-20 10:41:22.623
!MESSAGE Uncaught exception in compiler
!STACK 0
java.lang.NullPointerException
    at flex2.tools.PreLink.lookupStyleName(PreLink.java:719)
    at flex2.tools.PreLink.lookupBackgroundColor(PreLink.java:518)
    at flex2.tools.PreLink.postRun(PreLink.java:181)
    at flex2.compiler.CompilerAPI.compile(CompilerAPI.java:1592)
    at flex2.tools.oem.Application.compile(Application.java:1349)
    at flex2.tools.oem.Application.recompile(Application.java:1287)
    at flex2.tools.oem.Application.compile(Application.java:886)
    at flex2.tools.flexbuilder.BuilderApplication.compile(BuilderApplication.java:359)
    at com.adobe.flexbuilder.multisdk.compiler.internal.ASApplicationBuilder$MyBuilder.mybuild(ASApplicationBuilder.java:319)
    at com.adobe.flexbuilder.multisdk.compiler.internal.ModuleBuilder.build(ModuleBuilder.java:137)
    at com.adobe.flexbuilder.multisdk.compiler.internal.ASBuilder.build(ASBuilder.java:198)
    at com.adobe.flexbuilder.multisdk.compiler.internal.ASItemBuilder.build(ASItemBuilder.java:70)
    at com.adobe.flexbuilder.project.compiler.internal.FlexProjectBuilder.buildItem(FlexProjectBuilder.java:575)
    at com.adobe.flexbuilder.project.compiler.internal.FlexProjectBuilder.buildModules(FlexProjectBuilder.java:474)
    at com.adobe.flexbuilder.project.compiler.internal.FlexProjectBuilder.build(FlexProjectBuilder.java:363)
    at com.adobe.flexbuilder.project.compiler.internal.FlexIncrementalBuilder.build(FlexIncrementalBuilder.java:187)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.events.BuildManager$2.run(BuildManager.java:629)
    at org.eclipse.core.runtime.SafeRunner.run(SafeRunner.java:42)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.events.BuildManager.basicBuild(BuildManager.java:172)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.events.BuildManager.basicBuild(BuildManager.java:203)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.events.BuildManager$1.run(BuildManager.java:255)
    at org.eclipse.core.runtime.SafeRunner.run(SafeRunner.java:42)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.events.BuildManager.basicBuild(BuildManager.java:258)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.events.BuildManager.basicBuildLoop(BuildManager.java:311)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.events.BuildManager.build(BuildManager.java:343)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.events.AutoBuildJob.doBuild(AutoBuildJob.java:144)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.events.AutoBuildJob.run(AutoBuildJob.java:242)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.jobs.Worker.run(Worker.java:54)

[BadgerJeff]

I am also getting an "internal compiler error" with FB 4.5.  Log file listing is below.  Before I was getting this error, I was upgrading my project from 4.0 to 4.5.  In 4.0 it built and ran fine.  In 4.5, I got 109 compiler errors.

!ENTRY com.adobe.flexbuilder.project 4 43 2011-06-20 10:15:36.645
!MESSAGE Uncaught exception in compiler
!STACK 0
java.lang.NullPointerException
    at macromedia.asc.parser.MetaDataEvaluator.evaluate(MetaDataEvaluator.java:156)
    at macromedia.asc.parser.MetaDataNode.evaluate(MetaDataNode.java:39)
    at flex2.compiler.as3.SyntaxTreeEvaluator.evaluate(SyntaxTreeEvaluator.java:186)
    at macromedia.asc.parser.MetaDataNode.evaluate(MetaDataNode.java:39)
    at flash.swf.tools.as3.EvaluatorAdapter.evaluate(EvaluatorAdapter.java:351)
    at macromedia.asc.parser.StatementListNode.evaluate(StatementListNode.java:60)
    at flash.swf.tools.as3.EvaluatorAdapter.evaluate(EvaluatorAdapter.java:936)
    at macromedia.asc.parser.ProgramNode.evaluate(ProgramNode.java:80)
    at flex2.compiler.as3.As3Compiler.parse1(As3Compiler.java:383)
    at flex2.compiler.mxml.InterfaceCompiler.compileInterface(InterfaceCompiler.java:982)
    at flex2.compiler.mxml.InterfaceCompiler.parse2(InterfaceCompiler.java:336)
    at flex2.compiler.mxml.MxmlCompiler.parse2(MxmlCompiler.java:207)
    at flex2.compiler.CompilerAPI.parse2(CompilerAPI.java:2948)
    at flex2.compiler.CompilerAPI.parse2(CompilerAPI.java:2905)
    at flex2.compiler.CompilerAPI.batch2(CompilerAPI.java:471)
    at flex2.compiler.CompilerAPI.batch(CompilerAPI.java:1291)
    at flex2.compiler.CompilerAPI.compile(CompilerAPI.java:1522)
    at flex2.tools.oem.Application.compile(Application.java:1349)
    at flex2.tools.oem.Application.recompile(Application.java:1287)
    at flex2.tools.oem.Application.compile(Application.java:886)
    at flex2.tools.flexbuilder.BuilderApplication.compile(BuilderApplication.java:359)
    at com.adobe.flexbuilder.multisdk.compiler.internal.ASApplicationBuilder$MyBuilder.mybuild(ASApplicationBuilder.java:319)
    at com.adobe.flexbuilder.multisdk.compiler.internal.ASApplicationBuilder.build(ASApplicationBuilder.java:129)
    at com.adobe.flexbuilder.multisdk.compiler.internal.ASBuilder.build(ASBuilder.java:198)
    at com.adobe.flexbuilder.multisdk.compiler.internal.ASItemBuilder.build(ASItemBuilder.java:70)
    at com.adobe.flexbuilder.project.compiler.internal.FlexProjectBuilder.buildItem(FlexProjectBuilder.java:575)
    at com.adobe.flexbuilder.project.compiler.internal.FlexProjectBuilder.build(FlexProjectBuilder.java:350)
    at com.adobe.flexbuilder.project.compiler.internal.FlexIncrementalBuilder.build(FlexIncrementalBuilder.java:187)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.events.BuildManager$2.run(BuildManager.java:629)
    at org.eclipse.core.runtime.SafeRunner.run(SafeRunner.java:42)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.events.BuildManager.basicBuild(BuildManager.java:172)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.events.BuildManager.basicBuild(BuildManager.java:203)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.events.BuildManager$1.run(BuildManager.java:255)
    at org.eclipse.core.runtime.SafeRunner.run(SafeRunner.java:42)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.events.BuildManager.basicBuild(BuildManager.java:258)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.events.BuildManager.basicBuildLoop(BuildManager.java:311)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.events.BuildManager.build(BuildManager.java:343)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.resources.Workspace.build(Workspace.java:344)
    at org.eclipse.ui.actions.GlobalBuildAction$1.run(GlobalBuildAction.java:179)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.jobs.Worker.run(Worker.java:54)

[Guest]

Based on what I've read so far this type of error is pretty esoteric and most people have solved it by stumbling around in the dark until they trip over the cause.

Maybe the best solution would be to simply rebuild the module and hope that whatever compiler idiosyncrasy was being triggered in the original code is not repeated in the new module.

[Anirudh Sasikumar]

I've seen this error once before in a project where [ was being used incorrectly.

If you've narrowed it down to a module, then you could try removing components from the module and adding them one by one to see where the error is. Then take a closer look at that file.

I understand that might not be ideal, but like you said, this is an error seen rarely.

-Anirudh

[Anirudh Sasikumar]

The last post only applies to BadgerJeff.

Scott, your error is related to CSS styles - style name related to background color? Can you post the CSS pieces in that module?

[BadgerJeff]

Unfortunately, I have over 300 modules.  I don't have the time to hunt down an incorrect '['.  Also, what if it's not a bad '['...this search could take nearly forever.  In my opinion, this should be the job of the compiler, like all of the other compilers that I have used!  When there is incorrect syntax, the compiler should find and mark it, not die.

[Anirudh Sasikumar]

> the compiler should find and mark it, not di

Yes, this is a compiler bug for sure. No disagreements there. My suggestion was only a workaround - till you get a fix.

-Anirudh

[Guest]

Well, I finally bit the bullet and re-wrote the Module in question as a custom component and although the code, except for the header is essentially identical, the compile completes with no errors.

[John_Hall]

Out of curiosity, were you able to simply cut and paste and change the header structure? Did you do a dif comparison between the two files to see if there was anything different outside the header? Sounds like one I would not want to run into!

[Anirudh Sasikumar]

Scott,

In your case, does re-introducing the backgroundColor attribute re-create the problem?

Thanks,

Anirudh

[Guest]

Yes, I created a custom component of type Canvas and then cut and pasted everything after the <Module> header and before the </Module> tag into the

Canvas container and was off to the races with no problems.

The new components header looks like this:

<mx:Canvas xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml" width="718" height="1046" backgroundColor="#FCF9EC">

... so I'm not sure whart you mean by adding or removing the backgroundColor style.

Scott

[Plamen_L__Prodanov]

Hi guys,

     Recently I had "An internal build error has occurred"  too. However it has different stack strace than Scott showed. The stack trace was very similar to the one described in this discussion - http://forums.adobe.com/message/2331334 (flex2.compiler.mxml.lang.StandardDefs.isIUIComponent) . However for some reason I am not able to reply to that discussion so I decided to post my findings here. I hope they may be useful to somebody . So the problem in my case was that I had some Event tags declared in Metadata section of an mxml. However these events were not referenced anywhere in the mxml. This resulted in failing every second eclipse clean of a project that has the project, where mxml file was defined, as dependency.