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Eclipse ADT appcompat... what is it?

I've spent all afternoon getting absolutely nowhere with this.
I've downloaded Eclipse, downloaded the SDK, installed the updates, but every new Android project I create something's wrong.
Firstly, it would not generate the R.java file, at all, now it does but there's a separate project it's created automatically called appcompat_v7. I don't know what this is, but it's causing problems with any other new project.
This is the error a normal project produces:
The container 'Android Dependencies' references non existing library '/home/omar/workspace/appcompat_v7/bin/appcompat_v7.jar'
I have absolutely no idea how to fix this. What is causing this?
EDIT
It appear this is only with KitKat, every other API platform doesn't produce ANY source files at all.... any idea how to combat this?

It's a support library which presumably your project refers to. You will need to build it as a library project in your workspace. This process is described here Support Library Setup under Adding libraries with resources.
You will find the project you need to copy in your SDK in the folder:
\yourSDKlocation\tools\android-sdk-windows4.4\extras\android\support\v7\appcompat
(It's no use just copying a jar, you must build it as a library project.)

I had this problem when I moved a project to a different laptop. I solved it like this:
If appcompat_v7 is not available in Eclipse:
From the File menu, choose New then Project.
Next, choose Android and Android Project from existing Code, then click next
Browse to find your appcompat_v7 project folder
Make sure there’s a check mark next it in the ‘Projects to Import’ list
If the appcompat_v7 project folder is not currently in your workspace, select ‘Copy projects into workspace’, then click Finish
Now that the library project is available in your workspace, it can be added to a project:
Choose your project from the Project Explorer and open the project properties (on a mac it’s in the Project menu)
Click on Android in the left list
Next to the Library list, click the Add button
Choose appcompat_v7 from the list
You should be good to go now.

Adding external library in Android studio 0.3.6

So I am fairly new to Java, and I am trying to add this library to my project. The problem is that Android studio 0.3.6 doesn't have a simple way of doing that and all the answers I searched either reference an older version of Android Studio, or describe how to import an external project (source code, not jar file).
After reading a little, I got to the conclusion that manually adding the jar file would be the best way (manual copy/paste and gradle edits) but as I said, I'm fairly new to this technology and don't know where to place the file nor what lines I need to add to the gradle files.
Can someone help me?
UPDATE 1:
I finally made the IDE recognize the .jar file (I get autocomplete and class recognition). The new problem is that I get the following error when compiling: Gradle: package com.google.gson does not exist. Here are the steps I took to import the library:
Creat a folder called libs in the main directory (src/main/libs should be the result)
Copy the .jar file in that directory
add the following line to the dependencies section in the build.gradle file in your project: compile files('libs/gson-2.2.4.jar'). It should look something like this now:
dependencies {
compile 'com.android.support:support-v13:+'
compile files('libs/gson-2.2.4.jar')
}
Recompile the project (not sure if necessary, but I did it)
Right click on the libs folder and select "Add as Library"

Since the GSON library is available in MavenCentral, there's an easy way to add it that avoids having to download an archive file and save it in your project.
Go to Project Structure > Modules > Your module name > Dependencies and click on the + button to add a new dependency. Choose Maven dependency from the list:
You'll get a dialog box where you can enter search terms or the fully-qualified Maven coordinate string. Since GSON is a common library for Android developers to use, it's actually given in this dialog as an example, with the fully-qualified name. You can type it in:
Hit OK on both dialogs and you should be good to go.
With these Maven dependencies, the build system will automatically download the library and cache it if hasn't done so already; it takes care of that for you.
If you had a library that wasn't available on MavenCentral, you could save the archive in a libs folder in your project, and from that module dependencies dialog, add a File dependency instead of a Maven dependency to take care of it.
If you edit your build.gradle file by hand, you need to click on the "Sync Project with Gradle Files" button in the toolbar to force Android Studio to pick up the changes and update your project. If you go through the Project Structure dialog, that's unnecessary.
There are lots of conflicting answers to this issue in Stack Overflow because the functionality for this is in flux as the necessary features are implemented; it has been really broken before. These instructions should work properly for 0.3.6, and things will get a little easier in 0.3.7 and later.

I had the same issue. The new version of Android Studio (0.3.6) removed some necessary features to add an existing library to a project using the IDE. So you have to do this manually.
Adding the library into the build folder "<project>\App\build\libs\" will break the project on "menu > build > clear project / rebuild project".
Updated solution
My solution is to generate a new folder inside "<project>\<app name>\src\main\libs\" and add the library here. Now you have to change your "<project>\<app name>\build.gradle" by adding the following (my example shows the value for android-support library:
dependencies {
compile 'com.android.support:support-v4:13.0.0'
compile 'com.android.support:support-v13:13.0.0'
compile files('libs/gson-2.2.4.jar')
}
Now select the library in "project View" by right click and select "Add as library... > level > Global library". This will fix an import com.google.gson.Gson; issue.
Maybe you still cannot build. In this case you shall check you project module settings and see if there is an error for Gson dependency. I let Android Studio fix this issue by hitting a "small red bulb icon > add dependency" in the lower right corner of module settings dialog. Now it does not show me no errors anymore on build.
Now we have only one remaining problem: The project does lose the library reference on project close. So we have to add the library on open again. Maybe this is an issue of Android Studio 0.3.6. Mario filed a bug report.
BTW: I upvoted this question because I searched without success for a working solution in the internet. I think beginners will always fail to work with the Android developer tutorials of Google when they are forced to deal with the support library.
Update / Recommendation
Unfortunately I did not get AS 0.3.6 working properly. There are to many issues - at least when adding another module with different namespace. So I switched to the origin IDE: IntelliJ IDEA 12 community Edition. It's free and works for me. I did all the stuff in 2 hours which need days using broken Android Studio. I have no idea what forces Google to build its own IDE based on IntelliJ IDEA without additional benefits / noticeable features when the latter works like a charm.

Running Android Studio 0.4.0
Solved the problem of importing jar by
Project Structure > Modules > Dependencies > Add Files
Browse to the location of jar file and select it
For those like manual editing
Open app/build.gradle
dependencies {
compile files('src/main/libs/xxx.jar')
}
I posted the same to
importing jar libraries into android-studio
putting a duplicate here just in case you stumble into this post instead

Click on ProjectName->Libs folder.Paste that jar file into that folder.
Just refresh the project.You are done.

Using Android Studio 0.8.2, I had to do the following (supposing the library you're trying to add is called MyExternalLib):
In the "app/libs" folder on the hard disk, create a sub-folder "MyExternalLib", and copy the external library into that folder.
In the file "app/build.gradle", inside the block named "dependencies", add the line compile project('libs:MyExternalLib')
In the file "settings.gradle", add the line include ':app:libs:MyExternalLib'
Click the button "Sync Project with Gradle Files"

Create a new library module
It is good development practice to group functionality that you may reuse in other apps inside a library module. To create a library module inside the BuildSystemExample project:
Click File and select New Module.
On the window that appears, select Android Library and click Next.
Leave the default module name (lib) unchanged and click Next.
Select Blank Activity and click Next.
Type "LibActivity1" on the Activity Name field and click Finish.
The project now contains two modules, app and lib, with one activity in each module.
https://developer.android.com/sdk/installing/studio-build.html

jfeinsteins slide menu implementation java/ adding a library as a dependency

So I'm trying to implement jfeinsteins slide menu into my application, but before I do that I want to get a good demo, so I know how to implement it. Problem is that I'm stuck.
this is where I'm getting the library.
https://github.com/jfeinstein10/SlidingMenu
This is the project I'm trying to implement it in.
https://github.com/baruckis/Android-SlidingMenuImplementation
I did this part for the set up.
In Eclipse, just import the library as an Android library project. Project > Clean to generate the binaries you need, like R.java, etc.
,but I'm not sure I'm completely understanding this part.
Then, just add SlidingMenu as a dependency to your existing project and you're good to go!
how do I add slidingMenu as a dependency. Also, the error I'm receiving is SlidingMenu cannot be resolved to a variable, SlidingMenu cannot be resolved to a type.
Please can someone help me answer this!? Am I close?

To add a dependancy to an existing project, select the project containing your code (the one you want the dependancy to attach to), right click the project in the Package Explorer and select Properties.
In the Properties window, select Android and ensure that the library projects are added in the Library section. Click add to add an existing project in the workspace to the project as a dependancy.
It may also be worth checking dependancies in the Java Build Path too. Here you can ensure the correct .jar files are correctly assigned to your projects.

I was stuck at this place too. Please follow the below steps.
After downloading the library. In eclipse, go to New->project->android existing project
After downloading SlidingMenuImplementation, add this to eclipse similar to the way above.
I hope till here you have done. Next, right click on the SlidingMenuImplementation project --> properties --> Android --> Below the target window, you'll find references.
Add the Slidemenu library there. Once done clean the project. The errors are gone.
Please note, this supports only Android 4 and above. For lower versions use ActionBarSherlock.

Running Android Support v4 Library Demo Programs

I'm interested in running the Android Support library demo projects for the v4 library.
Using the Android SDK manager I've installed the Eclipse plugins, and APIs from 2.2 to 4.0.1. There are several issues involved, and the sample project as provided is far from running on my configuration, as downloaded.
To reproduce this error:
Install SDK and Eclipse Juno
Import the sample v4 compatibility project using File --> New --> New Project and choose "from existing code", targeting, for example, the Support4Demos folder in <Android-sdk-path>/extras/android/support
Open the file AccessibilityManagerSupportActivity.java. The following errors appear.
Open res/values-v11/styles.xml. The following errors occur.
How do I get rid of these errors? I'd also like to understand why they are appearing so I can fix them in the future.
Thanks!

Clean solution is to:
Right-click your project.
Choose "Android Tools"
Choose "Add support library".
Install the appropriate support library (the newest)
I can't really answer you on the why this problem happens, but I'm guessing the Android team doesn't supply the Android support library, because it's changing all the time, so not to get stuck on some older version, they want us to supply it on our own.
If errors still persists or new errors come up, right-click the project again and choose "Android tool" -> "Fix project properties"
Update: In conjuction to my answer, the way to remove the rest of the errors is to import the project another way than you did.
Select File -> New -> Other
Click Next
Write Android Sample
Select Android sample Project and click Next
Now add the Android support librarys as described above.
You will get errors still however. To fix these, do the following:
Right-click your project and select "Properties"
Select Android
Select an SDK version equal to 3.0 or above
Select Ok and clean the project from the project menu.
All done ;-)
Now you won't be able to run the sample project on devices lower than Android 3.0.
The reason is because of some dependencies on some themes and settings, that wasn't added before Android 3.0 apparently.
It doesn't make sense why Google did this, but they did. You could try to remove the SDK +11 (Android 3.0) specific dependencies, but it will take some time - there are more errors than you actually see - especially in the XML files.

You have to add the v4 support library.
In order to do that , please follow these steps :
Select your project.
Click on Project from the menu.
Select Properties.
Click on Java Build Path.
Select the Libraries tab.
Click on Add External JARs.
Select the main directory of the Android SDK that you installed, then go to extras -> android -> support -> v4 , and then select android-support-v4.jar and click on Open.
Click OK.
This should remove the errors.

Please check your libs folder has android-support-v4.jar is present or not. if not add this jar file in libs folder.Just copy the android-support-v4.jar from any project and paste it to the libs folder of your project

I spent a whole night on this but can not solve this problem.
I finally solved the by accident: change some file in the demo and save, then change it back, this cleared all the errors. I think when you change some file and save, eclipse build the project and generate the R.java.

"could not find com_facebook_android.apk error" when running Android project

I've installed the Facebook API for Android in Eclipse, and imported the project into my Android project. My program builds perfectly fine, but when I try to run it I get
Could not find com_facebook_android.apk!
in the build window, and when the program actually tries to import any of the Facebook API classes it blows up with a java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: com.facebook.android.Facebook

Probably you added the reference to the Java project in the "Java Build Path" but it's the wrong place.
From the Android guide:
To add a reference to a library project, follow these steps:
In the Package Explorer, right-click the dependent project and select Properties.
In the Properties window, select the "Android" properties group at left and locate the Library properties at right.
Click Add to open the Project Selection dialog.
From the list of available library projects, select a project and click OK.
When the dialog closes, click Apply in the Properties window.
Click OK to close the Properties window
This resolved my problem.

Check out referencing libraries instructions here:
http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/projects/projects-eclipse.html
Make sure you have the latest versions of ADT.
Try to clean your project in eclipse.
Hope this helps

In my case helped, not to have in the referenced projects checked Is Library
(Project Properties > Android)

I am also having issues with this error and have noted that if I run eclipse as root then the error disappears. This makes me think it is a permissions issue
So to help:
On the com Facebook android project right click > android tool > build and export
Then simply build the project into the bin folder of the Facebook project.
Problem solved

I had a similar problem. This was my resolution. I had to add android.jar as a reference.
Android samples error

If nothing works, try deleting the Facebook application for Android (if you have one installed on your phone). This worked for me.