Xamarin - Error retrieving parent for item: No resource found that matches the given name 'Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar'

Question

I want to create an app with Material Design using Xamarin and Visual Studio. I want to achieve this using the v7 AppCompat library, so my app runs well on older devices.

I followed this tutorial:

https://blog.xamarin.com/android-tips-hello-material-design-v7-appcompat/

and did exact the same. When I go to the Main.axml file(in the Resources/layout folder) there's a dropdown menu where you can select a theme(picture below). However, when I open the dropdown menu, my theme doesn't appear. So I thought it was a good idea to clean and rebuild my project. But when I cleaned the project, I got this error:

Error retrieving parent for item: No resource found that matches the given
name 'Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar'.

No resource found that matches the given name: attr 'colorAccent'.
No resource found that matches the given name: attr 'colorPrimary'.
No resource found that matches the given name: attr 'colorPrimaryDark'.
No resource found that matches the given name: attr 'windowActionBar'.
No resource found that matches the given name: attr 'windowNoTitle'.

How can I fix it and make my theme appear in the dropdown menu?

EDIT:

Here's the code:

Main.axml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent">
<Button
    android:id="@+id/MyButton"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:text="@string/Hello" />
</LinearLayout>

values/styles.xml

<resources>
  <style name="MyTheme" parent="MyTheme.Base">
  </style>
  <style name="MyTheme.Base" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar">
    <item name="windowNoTitle">true</item>
    <item name="windowActionBar">false</item>
    <item name="colorPrimary">#2196F3</item>
    <item name="colorPrimaryDark">#1976D2</item>
    <item name="colorAccent">#FF4081</item>
  </style>
</resources>

values-v21

<resources>
  <style name="MyTheme" parent="MyTheme.Base">
    <item name="android:windowContentTransitions">true</item>
    <item name="android:windowAllowEnterTransitionOverlap">true</item>
    <item name="android:windowAllowReturnTransitionOverlap">true</item>
    <item name="android:windowSharedElementEnterTransition">@android:transition/move</item>
    <item name="android:windowSharedElementExitTransition">@android:transition/move</item>
  </style>
</resources>

MainActivity.cs

using System;
using Android.App;
using Android.Content;
using Android.Runtime;
using Android.Views;
using Android.Widget;
using Android.OS;

namespace MaterialDesign
{
    [Activity(Label = "MaterialDesign", MainLauncher = true, Icon = "@drawable/icon")]
    public class MainActivity : Activity
    {
        int count = 1;

        protected override void OnCreate(Bundle bundle)
        {
            base.OnCreate(bundle);
            SetContentView(Resource.Layout.Main);

            Button button = FindViewById<Button>(Resource.Id.MyButton);
            button.Click += delegate { button.Text = string.Format("{0} clicks!", count++); };
        }
    }
}

NOTE:

Also when I am using the android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar element, I got the following error: android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar element is not declared .

EDIT(2):

I tried downloading it with the component manager, with a NuGet command(Package Manager Console) and manually download the dll's and reference them, but it still didn't work. I also removed the \\AppData\\Local\\Xamarin\\Android.Support.v7.AppCompat\\23.0.1.3 folder and removed the cache, but without succes.

And at the Main.axml file in the designer tab, appears a warning:

This project contains resources that were not compiled successfully,
rendering might be affected

I found out that the problem is with Visual Studio Designer, as it runs properly on my phone. So I asked a new question: Xamarin.Android, Visual Studio - Designer doesn't work with v7 AppCompat library

Here you can download my project:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxiDy9-wQHvzNFRhaTMzelg1WlU/view?usp=sharing

(Sorry for bad English, feel free to correct me)

Answer 1

It had nothing to do with the code. It's just that Visual Studio at moment of writing doesn't support Custom Views.

Just use Xamarin Studio or this plugin https://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/9f5a516a-f4d0-4228-9d25-d0273abebf33 So you can edit your applications in Android Studio.

See Xamarin.Android, Visual Studio - Designer doesn't work with v7 AppCompat library for more detailed answers.