"Server error: could not save one or more files. Please try again later"

[Sĩ Ẩn Long Cư]

Hi everyone.

I can't build my app. When I click "Build App (save .apk to my computer)", the notification "Server error: could not save one or more files. Please try again later" appears. I try to save from Jan 8th, 2015 to now but not succeeded.

My app has only 1 screen, but has about 1200 Vertical Arrangement.

Please help me.

[SteveJG]

This could be the problem " has about 1200 Vertical Arrangement."       App Inventor might have become unstable with that many controls.   Here are some other possible causes (look at #7 and 14):

One of the following  possibly applies to your code (all may not apply to your code):

1)  You have coding errors in your blocks.  In the Blocks editor, look in the lower 

left corner of the window for the yellow and red triangle icons. If the red icon has a value larger than 0, 

you have a serious coding error.  Find the block in your code that has a red triangle and 

fix it.   Red triangles always inhibit creating an apk or running a project in the 

emulator or possibly creating an aia file.     Yellow triangles are more forgiving, 

however, sometimes, these need to be fixed because they trip an internal warning and not filling puzzle piece sockets that are left un-filled can sometimes cause issues if the app needs a value that is not filled.

2) Your source file (the aia file) is larger than the 5Mb limit allowed in AI2 (the aia can not be larger than 5Mb). You may have put images or other resources in your Media (resources) that you do not use in the app. 

 All the images and sounds in resources count toward the 5Mb limit along with the source code.    You can program 

apps larger than 5Mb in the browser, but the apps will not compile and might not run in the 

emulator or the project may not save as an aia. If this is the case you need to reduce 

the size of your image and/or sound files.   Most image files can be made quite small 

by resizing them using a photo manipulation program on your PC to less than 50Kb each.

3)  You might have more than 10 Screens in your app.  AI2 becomes unstable when more 

than ten screens are used.  Projects CAN be built with slightly more screen but then you should expect your app to occasionally behave erratically.

4) You might have set a Screen icon in the Designer Properties for your project that is too large. Use an image 

sizeof 48x48 px  instead and only use jpg or png images.  *.ico files are not 

supported.  The 'icon' (actually an image) Google Play requires when posting needs to be 520x520 for their display.  The smaller 'icons' work for the app's icon (the one shown on the device's screen that is pressed to activate the app.

5) You did not code the entire project using App Inventor 2.   If you used one of the 

third-party AI2 clones,you might not be able to load a Project into the AI2 compiler or 

create an apk with the standard AI2.

6) If you incorrectly modified the project's Manifest files using a third-party tool, you may have issues.

7)  Sometimes, if you have LOTS of Layouts on a single screen,  the apk might not 

compile. How many is a lot?  I do not know, keep adding layouts and buttons, compile and try again...when the server crashes, you got a lot.

8)  The network you are using may be overloaded (possibly a school network), or you have other applications running in the background on your computer, or your virus checker is doing a scan.  Sometimes, just trying to access the MIT server a few minutes later will give you a more favorable response.

9)  If you have BlueStacks on your home PC (BlueStacks is a special emulator that allows Android apps to run on a PC).  The Google emulator on AI2 cannot run unless BlueStacks is disabled and all of the BlueStacks processes are shut down.  On a Windows PC, you use the Task Manager to 'kill' running processes.

10)  Are you using Sensor controls (except for the clock)?   Most Sensor controls or controls related to sms or the phone do not work in the emulators.  They need to be tested on a device.

11) If this is an issue about the Project loading slowly on your device or on the emulator:  Be aware, the more images, layouts, components you have on a screen, the longer it takes for the emulator and Companion to render the graphical screen.  How fast the emulator renders is partially a function of your hardware...how much ram you have, your cpu clock speed etc. Sometimes, with lots of graphics, the emulator will just give up.   Can you develop live using WIFI or using USB? These options almost always render faster than the emulator but will not be at lightning speed if you have lots of graphics.  Be patient.

12)  This happens too:   We have seen instances where it is probable the Google Cloud messed up; other instances where an older PC has had memory issues and caused file corruption of the Project and instances where a user is using a very slow Internet connection (like dial-up) and it is just too slow.

13)  Do you have an AVG, Eset or AVAST virus checker.  Some versions of these products have been reported inhibit running the emulator unless (in the case of AVG) the Advanced Link settings on the software are set to allow AI2 communication.

14) Get the error:  The blocks area did not load properly. Changes to the blocks for screen xxxxxxx_Screen1 will not be saved.

One users had this error, he had too many comment boxes exposed at once for the browser to handle.  Try minimizing all blocks,

and opening in another browser,like Chrome or Firefox.

16)  Having issues getting AI to run at all, perhaps your firewall is blocking.  Don't turn your firewall off, just allow AI2.

17)  If you get a build server busy ... In some cases the buildservers were just well, busy! If you get this message, just try the build again.  MIT currently runs 3 buildservers all the time. They occasionally add a 4th or even a 5th. There is a load balancer which distributes work to the buildservers. If you get the "busy" message, either the load balancer could not find a buildserver with available resources or the the buildserver it assigned the request to decided it was too busy.  The solution is to just try again, either immediately or in a few minutes.  If this message persists, then something might be broken and you can report it on the forum.   If something IS broken, MIT will find out about it soon enough!

19)  The problem could be something else, like running an old version of Companion ...in this instance the cure might be:   Projects > Hard Reset.  If there are Companion issues a pop up will appear (if no issues, nothing will happen...just smile).  When the pop up appears, follow the instructions very carefully, then reboot your PC and try again.

If the layouts is the issue, you could MAKE A COPY of your project and experiment with it.   Reduce the layouts or the images until the app runs; then make appropriate programming changes.

Did this help?

Regards,

Steve

[Sĩ Ẩn Long Cư]

Thanks Steve.

When I reduce layout from 1200 to 500, it runs successfully.

I want to make an app for my favourite book (vietnamese tarot book). When I click a button (a picture), the mean of picture will apperance.

If I reduce layouts, it will not look good. Will you have ideas for me?

Thanks

[SteveJG]

Thank you for letting us know that reducing the Layouts works.   Do you know you can re-use components.   I doubt you need even 500 Layouts.

Here is a tutorial about making an eBook and reusing components:  https://appinventorforfun.wordpress.com/2014/09/29/treasure-island-the-app-an-e-reader-tutorial/   It shows two ways to do it, one using html files, which you might be able to use in your app instead of labels (I assume you are using labels to describe the pictures)  and it shows a way to continually reuse labels filled with text.

Perhaps it will give you some more ideas.

Congratulations on getting your app to work again.  It is disappointing when an app crashes but rejoice in finding the problem.

Regards,

Steve

[Sĩ Ẩn Long Cư]

Yes, I used labels, so it is difficult to format text.

Thanks so much. It is all I need.