Develop Reference

Proper way to update LiveData from the Model?

The "proper" way to update views with Android seems to be LiveData. But I can't determine the "proper" way to connect that to a model. Most of the documentation I have seen shows connecting to Room which returns a LiveData object. But (assuming I am not using Room), returning a LiveData object (which is "lifecycle aware", so specific to the activity/view framework of Android) in my model seems to me to violate the separation of concerns?
Here is an example with Activity...
class MainActivity: AppCompatActivity() {
override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main_activity);
val viewModel = ViewModelProvider(this).get(UserViewModel::class.java)
val nameText = findViewById<TextView>(R.id.nameTextBox)
viewModel.getName().observe(this, { name ->
nameText.value = name
})
}
}
And ViewModel...
class UserViewModel(): ViewModel() {
private val name: MutableLiveData<String> = MutableLiveData()
fun getName() : LiveData<String> {
return name
}
}
But how do I then connect that to my Model without putting a "lifecycle aware" object that is designed for a specific framework in my model (LiveData)...
class UserModel {
val uid
var name
fun queryUserInfo() {
/* API query here ... */
val request = JSONObjectRequest( ...
{ response ->
if( response.name != this.name ) {
this.name = response.name
/* Trigger LiveData update here somehow??? */
}
}
)
}
}
I am thinking I can maybe put an Observable object in my model and then use that to trigger the update of the LiveData in my ViewModel. But don't find any places where anyone else says that is the "right" way of doing it. Or, can I instantiate the LiveData object in the ViewModel from an Observable object in my model?
Or am I just thinking about this wrong or am I missing something?

This is from official documentation. Check comments in code...
UserModel should remain clean
class UserModel {
private val name: String,
private val lastName: String
}
Create repository to catch data from network
class UserRepository {
private val webservice: Webservice = TODO()
fun getUser(userId: String): LiveData<UserModel > {
val data = MutableLiveData<UserModel>() //Livedata that you observe
//you can get the data from api as you want, but it is important that you
//update the LiveDate that you will observe from the ViewModel
//and the same principle is in the relation ViewModel <=> Fragment
webservice.getUser(userId).enqueue(object : Callback<UserModel > {
override fun onResponse(call: Call<User>, response: Response<UserModel >) {
data.value = response.body()
}
// Error case is left out for brevity.
override fun onFailure(call: Call<UserModel >, t: Throwable) {
TODO()
}
})
return data //you will observe this from ViewModel
}
}
The following picture should explain to you what everything looks like
For more details check this:
https://developer.android.com/jetpack/guide
viewmodels-and-livedata-patterns-antipatterns

Clear retrofit result with MVVM when fragment back

In my ViewModel I have two MutableLiveData for the response of my webservice :
val getFindByCategorySuccess: MutableLiveData<List<DigitalService>> by lazy {
MutableLiveData<List<DigitalService>>()
}
val getFindByCategoryError: MutableLiveData<String> by lazy {
MutableLiveData<String>()
}
and this method for the request :
fun requestFindByCategory(categoryId: String){
viewModelScope.launch {
when (val retrofitPost = digitalServicesRemoteRepository.getFindByCategoryRequest(categoryId)) {
is ApiResult.Success -> getFindByCategorySuccess.postValue(retrofitPost.data)
is ApiResult.Error -> getFindByCategoryError.postValue(retrofitPost.exception)
}
}
}
It's working fine using it in my Fragment class :
viewModel.getFindByCategorySuccess.observe(viewLifecycleOwner, { digitalServices ->
logD("I have a good response from the webservice; luanch an other fragment now!")
})
The problem is if I go to an other fragment in my observable (using findNavController().navigate(action)). If I go back to the previous fragment, I go automatically to the nextFragment because the observable is called again.
So I'm looking for solutions...
Maybe clearing all my viewmodel when I go back to my fragment ?
Maybe clearing only getFindByCategorySuccess and getFindByCategoryError ?
Maybe an other solution? I think my architecture is not good. What do you think about it ?

By default, a livedata will emit to its current state (the value that exist on it) for any new observer that subscribes to it.
Answering your question, you might try the operator distincUntilChanged transformation, which, according to the documentation:
Creates a new LiveData object that does not emit a value until the source LiveData value has been changed. The value is considered changed if equals() yields false.
But, this showcases a problem with your snippet, and a bad practice that is common when using livedata, you shouldn't expose mutable live data to your observers. Instead, you should expose a non-mutable version of them.
In your case, in my opinion, your view model should look like the following:
private val getFindByCategorySuccess by lazy {
MutableLiveData<List<DigitalService>>()
}
private val getFindByCategoryError by lazy {
MutableLiveData<String>()
}
val onFindByCategorySuccess: LiveData<List<DigitalService>
get() = getFindByCategorySuccess.distincUntilChanged()
val onFindCategoryError: LiveData<List<String>
get() = getFindByCategoryrRror.distincUntilChanged()
And your observers would subscribe as follows:
ExampleFragment
fun setupObservers() {
viewModel.onFindByCategorySuccess.observe(viewLifecycleOwner) { // Do stuff }
}
I hope it helps

I found a solution to my problem using this class :
class SingleLiveEvent<T> : MutableLiveData<T>() {
private val mPending = AtomicBoolean(false)
override fun observe(owner: LifecycleOwner, observer: Observer<in T>) {
super.observe(owner, { t ->
if (mPending.compareAndSet(true, false))
observer.onChanged(t)
})
}
override fun setValue(t: T?) {
mPending.set(true)
super.setValue(t)
}
}
Like this :
var getFindByCategorySuccess: SingleLiveEvent<List<DigitalService>> = SingleLiveEvent()
var getFindByCategoryError: SingleLiveEvent<String> = SingleLiveEvent()

LiveData does not update

class RequestViewModel(private val repository: RequestRepository) : ViewModel() {
// request currency type
private val currencySearchType = MutableLiveData<String>()
val requests: LiveData<PagedList<Request>> = repository.getRequests(currencySearchType.value!!)
fun updateSearchType(type: String) {
currencySearchType.postValue(type)
}}
above is the code in my viewModel.
private fun initAdapter() {
recyclerView.adapter = adapter
viewModel.requests.observe(viewLifecycleOwner, Observer {
adapter.submitList(it)
})
}
and this is the code in fragment. So basically, what i'm doing is I observe "requests" in viewModel, and in fragment, I will also call updateSearchType to update the currencySearchType. I was hoping that once currencySearchType changed, then the viewmodel.requests will change too. But it turns out the requests never gotta called again. Does anyone know where it went wrong? Appreciate for the help!

Changing the value of currencySearchType does not triggers live data you just using it as function parameter. You have to use Transformation for this.
https://developer.android.com/reference/android/arch/lifecycle/Transformations
class RequestViewModel(private val repository: RequestRepository) : ViewModel() {
// request currency type
lateinit var currencySearchType:String
val requests: LiveData<PagedList<Request>> = Transformations.switchMap(currencySearchType) { repository.getRequests(it) }
fun updateSearchType(type: String) {
currencySearchType = type
}}

is observeForever lifecycle aware?

I'm working with MVVM, and I have made different implementations of it, but one thing that is still making me doubt is how do I get data from a Repository (Firebase) from my ViewModel without attaching any lifecycle to the ViewModel.
I have implemented observeForever() from the ViewModel, but I don't think that is a good idea because I think I should communicate from my repository to my ViewModel either with a callback or a Transformation.
I leave here an example where I fetch a device from Firebase and update my UI, if we can see here, I'm observing the data coming from the repo from the UI, but from the ViewModel I'm also observing data from the repo, and here is where I really doubt if I'm using the right approach, since I don't know if observeForever() will be cleared on onCleared() if my view is destroyed, so it won't keep the observer alive if the view dies.
UI
override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)
button.setOnClickListener {
val deviceId = editText.text.toString().trim()
observeData(deviceId)
}
}
fun observeData(deviceId:String){
viewModel.fetchDeviceData(deviceId).observe(this, Observer {
textView.text = "Tipo: ${it.devType}"
})
ViewModel
class MainViewmodel: ViewModel() {
private val repo = Repo()
fun fetchDeviceData(deviceId:String):LiveData<Device>{
val mutableData = MutableLiveData<Device>()
repo.getDeviceData(deviceId).observeForever {
mutableData.value = it
}
return mutableData
}
}
Repository
class Repo {
private val db = FirebaseDatabase.getInstance().reference
fun getDeviceData(deviceId:String):LiveData<Device>{
val mutableData = MutableLiveData<Device>()
db.child(deviceId).child("config/device").addListenerForSingleValueEvent(object: ValueEventListener{
override fun onDataChange(dataSnapshot: DataSnapshot) {
val device = dataSnapshot.getValue(Device::class.java)
mutableData.value = device
}
override fun onCancelled(dataError: DatabaseError) {
Log.e("Error","handle error callback")
}
})
return mutableData
}
}
This example just shows how to fetch the device from Firebase, it works, but from my ViewModel, it keeps making me think that observeForever() is not what I'm looking for to communicate data between the repository to the ViewModel.
I have seen Transformations, but I, in this case, I just need to deliver the entire Device object to my UI, so I don't need to transform the Object I'm retrieving to another Object
What should be here the right approach to communicate the repository and the ViewModel properly?

is observeForever lifecycle aware?
No, that's why it's called observeForever.
I have implemented observeForever() from the ViewModel, but I don't think that is a good idea
No, it's not, you should be using Transformations.switchMap {.
since I don't know if observeForever() will be cleared on onCleared() if my view is destroyed, so it won't keep the observer alive if the view dies.
Well if you're not clearing it in onCleared() using removeObserver(observer), then it won't clear itself, because it observes forever.
here is where I really doubt if I'm using the right approach,
No, you can do much better than this following a reactive approach.
override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)
button.setOnClickListener {
val deviceId = editText.text.toString().trim()
viewModel.onSelectedDeviceChanged(deviceId)
}
viewModel.selectedDevice.observe(this, Observer { device ->
textView.text = "Tipo: ${device.devType}"
})
}
And
class MainViewModel(
private val savedStateHandle: SavedStateHandle,
): ViewModel() {
private val repo = Repo() // TODO: move to Constructor Argument with ViewModelProvider.Factory
private val selectedDeviceId: MutableLiveData<String> = savedStateHandle.getLiveData<String>("selectedDeviceId")
fun onSelectedDeviceChanged(deviceId: String) {
selectedDeviceId.value = deviceId
}
val selectedDevice = Transformations.switchMap(selectedDeviceId) { deviceId ->
repo.getDeviceData(deviceId)
}
}
And
class Repo {
private val db = FirebaseDatabase.getInstance().reference // TODO: move to constructor arg? Probably
fun getDeviceData(deviceId:String) : LiveData<Device> {
return object: MutableLiveData<Device>() {
private val mutableLiveData = this
private var query: Query? = null
private val listener: ValueEventListener = object: ValueEventListener {
override fun onDataChange(dataSnapshot: DataSnapshot) {
val device = dataSnapshot.getValue(Device::class.java)
mutableLiveData.value = device
}
override fun onCancelled(dataError: DatabaseError) {
Log.e("Error","handle error callback")
}
}
override fun onActive() {
query?.removeEventListener(listener)
val query = db.child(deviceId).child("config/device")
this.query = query
query.addValueEventListener(listener)
}
override fun onInactive() {
query?.removeEventListener(listener)
query = null
}
}
}
}
This way, you can observe for changes made in Firebase (and therefore be notified of future changes made to your values) using LiveData, rather than only execute a single fetch and then not be aware of changes made elsewhere to the same data.

To use ObserveForever, you need to remove the observer inside onClear in the ViewModel.
In this case, I would suggest to use Transformation even though you just need a direct mapping without any processing of the data, which is actually the same as what you are doing with the observer for observerForever.

observeForever() is not Lifecycle aware and will continue to run until removeObserver() is called.
In your ViewModel do this instead,
class MainViewmodel: ViewModel() {
private val repo = Repo()
private var deviceData : LiveData<Device>? = null
fun fetchDeviceData(deviceId:String):LiveData<Device>{
deviceData = repo.getDeviceData(deviceId)
return deviceData!!
}
}

LiveData is observed multiple times inside onClickListener in Android

I have a repository setup like this
class ServerTimeRepo #Inject constructor(private val retrofit: Retrofit){
var liveDataTime = MutableLiveData<TimeResponse>()
fun getServerTime(): LiveData<TimeResponse> {
val serverTimeService:ServerTimeService = retrofit.create(ServerTimeService::class.java)
val obs = serverTimeService.getServerTime()
obs.subscribeOn(Schedulers.io()).observeOn(AndroidSchedulers.mainThread()).unsubscribeOn(Schedulers.io())
.subscribe(object : Observer<Response<TimeResponse>> {
override fun onComplete() {
}
override fun onSubscribe(d: Disposable) {
}
override fun onNext(t: Response<TimeResponse>) {
val gson = Gson()
val json: String?
val code = t.code()
val cs = code.toString()
if (!cs.equals("200")) {
json = t.errorBody()!!.string()
val userError = gson.fromJson(json, Error::class.java)
} else {
liveDataTime.value = t.body()
}
}
override fun onError(e: Throwable) {
}
})
return liveDataTime
}
}
Then I have a viewmodel calling this repo like this
class ServerTimeViewModel #Inject constructor(private val serverTimeRepo: ServerTimeRepo):ViewModel() {
fun getServerTime(): LiveData<TimeResponse> {
return serverTimeRepo.getServerTime()
}
}
Then I have an activity where I have an onClickListener where I am observing the livedata, like this
tvPWStart.setOnClickListener {
val stlv= serverTimeViewModel.getServerTime()
stlv.observe(this#HomeScreenActivity, Observer {
//this is getting called multiple times??
})
}
I don't know what's wrong in this. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks.

Issue is that every time your ClickListener gets fired, you observe LiveData again and again. So, you can solve that problem by following solution :
Take a MutableLiveData object inside your ViewModel privately & Observe it as LiveData.
class ServerTimeViewModel #Inject constructor(private val serverTimeRepo: ServerTimeRepo):ViewModel() {
private val serverTimeData = MutableLiveData<TimeResponse>() // We make private variable so that UI/View can't modify directly
fun getServerTime() {
serverTimeData.value = serverTimeRepo.getServerTime().value // Rather than returning LiveData, we set value to our local MutableLiveData
}
fun observeServerTime(): LiveData<TimeResponse> {
return serverTimeData //Here we expose our MutableLiveData as LiveData to avoid modification from UI/View
}
}
Now, we observe this LiveData directly outside of ClickListener and we just call API method from button click like below :
//Assuming that this code is inside onCreate() of your Activity/Fragment
//first we observe our LiveData
serverTimeViewModel.observeServerTime().observe(this#HomeScreenActivity, Observer {
//In such case, we won't observe multiple LiveData but one
})
//Then during our ClickListener, we just do API method call without any callback.
tvPWStart.setOnClickListener {
serverTimeViewModel.getServerTime()
}