Java – Robolectric @config throws a null pointer exception when specifying a list path

My first attempt at using Robolectric.
I read all the documentation on the internet and prepared the following test code to get started. When preparing the code, I took advantage of these resources =>

https://github.com/codepath/android_guides/wiki/Robolectric-Installation-for-Unit-Testing

https://github.com/codepath/android_guides/wiki/Android-Unit-and-Integration-testing

http://www.vogella.com/tutorials/Robolectric/article.html

@RunWith( RobolectricTestRunner.class )
@Config( constants = BuildConfig.class, sdk = 21, manifest = "src/main/AndroidManifest.xml" )
public class RemovePeriodTest {

@Before
    public void setUp() throws Exception {

}

@Test
    public void testCheckRemoveButtonControl() throws Exception {
        daySettingsActivity = Robolectric.buildActivity(     DaySettingsActivity.class ).create().get();
        ListView l = ( ListView ) daySettingsActivity.findViewById( R.id.settings_page );
        assertNotNull( "test", l );
    }

@After
    public void tearDown() throws Exception {

}
}

It throws the following error.

java.lang.NullPointerException
    at org.robolectric.manifest.MetaData.init(MetaData.java:55)
    at org.robolectric.manifest.AndroidManifest.initMetaData(AndroidManifest.java:343)
    at org.robolectric.res.builder.DefaultPackageManager.addManifest(DefaultPackageManager.java:417)
    at org.robolectric.internal.ParallelUniverse.setUpApplicationState(ParallelUniverse.java:74)
    at org.robolectric.RobolectricTestRunner.setUpApplicationState(RobolectricTestRunner.java:433)
    at org.robolectric.RobolectricTestRunner$2.evaluate(RobolectricTestRunner.java:240)
    at org.robolectric.RobolectricTestRunner.runChild(RobolectricTestRunner.java:188)
    at org.robolectric.RobolectricTestRunner.runChild(RobolectricTestRunner.java:54)
    at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$3.run(ParentRunner.java:193)
    at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$1.schedule(ParentRunner.java:52)
    at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.runChildren(ParentRunner.java:191)
    at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.access$000(ParentRunner.java:42)
    at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$2.evaluate(ParentRunner.java:184)
    at org.robolectric.RobolectricTestRunner$1.evaluate(RobolectricTestRunner.java:152)
    at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.run(ParentRunner.java:236)
    at org.junit.runner.JUnitCore.run(JUnitCore.java:157)
    at com.intellij.junit4.JUnit4IdeaTestRunner.startRunnerWithArgs(JUnit4IdeaTestRunner.java:78)
    at com.intellij.rt.execution.junit.JUnitStarter.prepareStreamsAndStart(JUnitStarter.java:212)
    at com.intellij.rt.execution.junit.JUnitStarter.main(JUnitStarter.java:68)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62)
    at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:497)
    at com.intellij.rt.execution.application.AppMain.main(AppMain.java:140)

java.lang.RuntimeException: java.lang.NullPointerException
    at org.robolectric.RobolectricTestRunner$2.evaluate(RobolectricTestRunner.java:244)
    at org.robolectric.RobolectricTestRunner.runChild(RobolectricTestRunner.java:188)
    at org.robolectric.RobolectricTestRunner.runChild(RobolectricTestRunner.java:54)
    at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$3.run(ParentRunner.java:193)
    at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$1.schedule(ParentRunner.java:52)
    at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.runChildren(ParentRunner.java:191)
    at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.access$000(ParentRunner.java:42)
    at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$2.evaluate(ParentRunner.java:184)
    at org.robolectric.RobolectricTestRunner$1.evaluate(RobolectricTestRunner.java:152)
    at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.run(ParentRunner.java:236)
    at org.junit.runner.JUnitCore.run(JUnitCore.java:157)
    at com.intellij.junit4.JUnit4IdeaTestRunner.startRunnerWithArgs(JUnit4IdeaTestRunner.java:78)
    at com.intellij.rt.execution.junit.JUnitStarter.prepareStreamsAndStart(JUnitStarter.java:212)
    at com.intellij.rt.execution.junit.JUnitStarter.main(JUnitStarter.java:68)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62)
    at com.intellij.rt.execution.application.AppMain.main(AppMain.java:140)
Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException
    at org.robolectric.manifest.MetaData.init(MetaData.java:55)
    at org.robolectric.manifest.AndroidManifest.initMetaData(AndroidManifest.java:343)
    at org.robolectric.res.builder.DefaultPackageManager.addManifest(DefaultPackageManager.java:417)
    at org.robolectric.internal.ParallelUniverse.setUpApplicationState(ParallelUniverse.java:74)
    at org.robolectric.RobolectricTestRunner.setUpApplicationState(RobolectricTestRunner.java:433)
    at org.robolectric.RobolectricTestRunner$2.evaluate(RobolectricTestRunner.java:240)
    ... 18 more

Because I can’t specify a list file as shown below, it throws this error =>

java.lang.IllegalStateException: You need to use a Theme.AppCompat theme (or descendant) with this activity.

is the code that appears when the Manifest path is not specified

@RunWith( RobolectricTestRunner.class )
@Config( constants = BuildConfig.class, sdk = 18, manifest = Config.NONE )
public class RemovePeriodTest {

Here is where we set up our test:

@RunWith(RobolectricGradleTestRunner.class)
@Config(constants = BuildConfig.class, sdk = 21)
public class TrackerFragmentViewTest {
}

Note the different runners, and there is no list specification