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How to write Android ViewModel properly and move logic out of it?

I'm trying to use MVVM with ViewModel, ViewBinding, Retrofit2 in Android/Kotlin.
I don't know how to move application logic from ViewModel. I can't just move methods with logic because they run on viewModelScope and put results into observable objects in my ViewModel.
Or maybe I can?
For example I have some ArrayList (to show on some ListView).
// items ArrayList
private val _stocktakings =
MutableLiveData<ArrayList<InventoryStocktakingWithCountsDto?>>(ArrayList())
val stocktakings : LiveData<ArrayList<InventoryStocktakingWithCountsDto?>> get() =
_stocktakings
// selected item
private val _selected_stocktaking = MutableLiveData<Int>>
val selected_stocktaking : LiveData<Int> get() = _selected_stocktaking
And a function that is called from my fragment:
public fun loadStocktakings() {
viewModelScope.launch {
Log.d(TAG, "Load stocktakings requested")
clearError()
try {
with(ApiResponse(ApiAdapter.apiClient.findAllStocktakings())){
if (isSuccessful && body != null){
Log.d(TAG, "Load Stocktakings done")
setStocktakings(body)
} else {
val e = "Can't load stocktakings, API error: {${errorMessage}}"
Log.e(TAG, e)
HandleError("Can't load stocktakings, API error: {${e}}") // puts error message into val lastError MutableLiveData...
}
}
} catch (t : Throwable) {
Log.e(TAG, "Can't load stocktakings, connectivity error: ${t.message}")
HandleError("Can't load stocktakings, API error: {${e}}") // puts error message into val lastError MutableLiveData...
}
}
}
Now I want to add another function that changes some field in one of stocktakings. Maybe something like:
public fun setSelectedStocktakingComplete() {
stocktakings.value[selected_stocktaking.value].isComplete = true;
// call some API function... another 15 lines of code?
}
How to do it properly?
I feel I have read wrong tutorials... This will end with fat viewmodel cluttered with viewModelScope.launch, error handling and I can't imagine what will happen when I start adding data/form validation...

Here, some tip for that
Make sure the ViewModel is only responsible for holding and managing
UI-related data.
Avoid putting business logic in the ViewModel. Instead, encapsulate
it in separate classes, such as Repository or Interactor classes.
Use LiveData to observe data changes in the ViewModel and update the
UI accordingly.
Avoid making network or database calls in the ViewModel. Instead,
use the Repository pattern to manage data operations and provide the
data to the ViewModel through a LiveData or other observable object.
Make sure the ViewModel does not hold context references, such as
Activity or Fragment.
Use a ViewModel factory to provide dependencies to the ViewModel, if
necessary.
you can ensure that your ViewModel is simple, easy to test,
and scalable. It also makes it easier to maintain your codebase, as
the business logic is separated from the UI logic.
hope you understand

ViewModel + Room test coverage in UnitTest

I have an unit test like this:
...
subj.mintToken(to, value, uri)
advanceUntilIdle()
...
val pendingTxFinalState = subj.uiState.value.pendingTx.count()
assertThat("Model should have a single pending tx, but has $pendingTxFinalState", pendingTxFinalState == 1)
...
The model field in ViewModel is populated by the request to cache in the init {} block. Each change in table would trigger this coroutine flow. This piece of unit test checks correctness of this functionality.
The current issue is this Flow in init {} block is triggered only on the test start when ViewModel instance is created. It does not respond on update in table.
It is important to note I don't use in test a room database neither test database, but FakeCacheRepository where behaviour of methods are emulated by flow with mocked data. However the behaviour of flow should be the same as there is still in change in underlying data.
val txPool = ConcurrentLinkedQueue<ITransaction>()
override fun createChainTx(tx: ITransaction): Flow<ITransaction> {
return flow {
txPool.add(tx)
emit(tx)
}
}
override fun getAllChainTransactions(): Flow<List<ITransaction>> {
return flow {
emit(txPool.toList())
}
}
Do you see the issue here or better way to test this?

My guess is you’re writing you’re own FakeCacheRepo and in the update function you are calling createChainTx. The value of the flow isn’t updating though because the create function doesn’t just update the value it creates a new flow instead of updating the old one. You can modify the set up to emit continuously in a loop (with some buffer delay) based on a variable. Then when you change the variable it will change what the current flow is emiting as expected.
The code example here is roughly doing that: https://developer.android.com/kotlin/flow#create
override fun createChainTx(): Flow<ITransaction> {
return flow {
while(true) {
val tx = getLatestTxValue() // Get the latest updated value from an outside source
txPool.add(tx)
emit(tx)
delay(refreshIntervalMs) // Suspends the coroutine for some time
}
}
}

How to clear repository cache when the user logs out?

I have an repository that contains an in-memory cache list inside a StateFlow. The problem is that whenever the user logs out and logs into another account, the old data from the previous user is still there.
object Repository {
private lateinit var remoteDataSource: RemoteDataSource
operator fun invoke(remoteDataSource: remoteDataSource) {
this.remoteDataSource = remoteDataSource
return this
}
private val myList = MutableStateFlow(listOf<myData>())
suspend fun getData(): Flow<List<myData>> =
withContext(Dispatchers.IO) {
if (myList.value.isEmpty()) {
val response = remoteDataSource.getData()
if (response != null) {
myList.value = response.map { it.toMyData() }
}
}
myList
}
suspend fun addData(newData: MyData) =
withContext(Dispatchers.IO) {
myList.value = myList.value.plus(newData)
remoteDataSource.addData(myData.toMyDataRequest())
}
}
This repository is used by multiple ViewModels. The list itself is only observed by one screen (let's call it myFragment), but other screens can add new elements to it. I've tried to clear the repository on myFragment's onDestroyView, but it clears the list whenever the user navigates away from myFragment (even when it's not a logout).
We could observe whenever the user logs out in an userRepository, but i don't know how to observe data in one repository from another repository (there's nothing like viewModelScope.launch to collect flows or something like that).
What approach can be used to solve this? And how would it clear the list?

i don't know how to observe data in one repository from another repository
I'd argue you shouldn't in this case.
You have a use-case: Logout.
When you invoke this use-case, you should perform al the necessary operations that your app requires. In this case, you should call your repository to let it know.
suspend fun clearData() =
withContext(Dispatchers.IO) {
// clear your data
}
I'd argue that you shouldn't hardcode the Dispatcher, since you'll likely test this at some point; in your tests you're going to use TestDispatcher or similar, and if you hardcode it, it will be harder to test. You write tests, right?
So now your use case..
class LogoutUseCase(repo: YourRepo) {
operator fun invoke() {
repo.clearData()
//do the logout
}
}
That's how I would think about this.
Your scope for all this is the UI that initiated the logout...

How to combine livedata and kotlin flow

Is this good to put the collect latest inside observe?
viewModel.fetchUserProfileLocal(PreferencesManager(requireContext()).userName!!)
.observe(viewLifecycleOwner) {
if (it != null) {
viewLifecycleOwner.lifecycleScope.launch {
viewLifecycleOwner.repeatOnLifecycle(Lifecycle.State.STARTED) {
launch {
viewModel.referralDetailsResponse.collect { referralResponseState ->
when (referralResponseState) {
State.Empty -> {
}
is State.Failed -> {
Timber.e("${referralResponseState.message}")
}
State.Loading -> {
Timber.i("LOADING")
}
is State.Success<*> -> {
// ACCESS LIVEDATA RESULT HERE??
}}}}
I'm sure it isn't, my API is called thrice too as the local DB changes, what is the right way to do this?
My ViewModel looks like this where I'm getting user information from local Room DB and referral details response is the API response
private val _referralDetailsResponse = Channel<State>(Channel.BUFFERED)
val referralDetailsResponse = _referralDetailsResponse.receiveAsFlow()
init {
val inviteSlug: String? = savedStateHandle["inviteSlug"]
// Fire invite link
if (inviteSlug != null) {
referralDetail(inviteSlug)
}
}
fun referralDetail(referral: String?) = viewModelScope.launch {
_referralDetailsResponse.send(State.Loading)
when (
val response =
groupsRepositoryImpl.referralDetails(referral)
) {
is ResultWrapper.GenericError -> {
_referralDetailsResponse.send(State.Failed(response.error?.error))
}
ResultWrapper.NetworkError -> {
_referralDetailsResponse.send(State.Failed("Network Error"))
}
is ResultWrapper.Success<*> -> {
_referralDetailsResponse.send(State.Success(response.value))
}
}
}
fun fetchUserProfileLocal(username: String) =
userRepository.getUserLocal(username).asLiveData()

You can combine both streams of data into one stream and use their results. For example we can convert LiveData to Flow, using LiveData.asFlow() extension function, and combine both flows:
combine(
viewModel.fetchUserProfileLocal(PreferencesManager(requireContext()).userName!!).asFlow(),
viewModel.referralDetailsResponse
) { userProfile, referralResponseState ->
...
}.launchIn(viewLifecycleOwner.lifecycleScope)
But it is better to move combining logic to ViewModel class and observe the overall result.
Dependency to use LiveData.asFlow() extension function:
implementation "androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-livedata-ktx:2.4.0"

it certainly is not a good practice to put a collect inside the observe.
I think what you should do is collect your livedata/flows inside your viewmodel and expose the 'state' of your UI from it with different values or a combined state object using either Flows or Livedata
for example in your first code block I would change it like this
get rid of "userProfile" from your viewmodel
create and expose from your viewmodel to your activity three LiveData/StateFlow objects for your communityFeedPageData, errorMessage, refreshingState
then in your viewmodel, where you would update the "userProfile" update the three new state objects instead
this way you will take the business logic of "what to do in each state" outside from your activity and inside your viewmodel, and your Activity's job will become to only update your UI based on values from your viewmodel
For the specific case of your errorMessage and because you want to show it only once and not re-show it on Activity rotation, consider exposing a hot flow like this:
private val errorMessageChannel = Channel<CharSequence>()
val errorMessageFlow = errorMessageChannel.receiveAsFlow()
What "receiveAsFlow()" does really nicely, is that something emitted to the channel will be collected by one collector only, so a new collector (eg if your activity recreates on a rotation) will not receive the message and your user will not see it again

How to use Firestore databse : addSnapshotListener using await() in Kotlin?

I have a DAO class where I have fetchHubList method which fetches a collection of documents from cloud Firestore asynchronously using await(). This implementation used the "get()" method which I got to know later on does not fetch real-time updates. On trying to implement the code similarly using onSnapshotListener gives an error (which was quite expected to be honest, because get() and this methods return quite different things). Does anyone have any idea how to implement this?
How the code is currently:
suspend fun fetchHubList(): ArrayList<HubModel>? = try {
val hubList = ArrayList<HubModel>()
hubsListCollection.get().await().map { document ->
if (document != null) {
Log.d(TAG, "Data fetch successful!")
Log.d(TAG, "the document id is ${document.id}")
val temp = HubModel(document.get("hubName").toString(),
document.id.toString(),
document.get("isAdmin") as Boolean)
hubList.add(temp)
// hubList.add(document.toObject(HubModel::class.java))
} else {
Log.d(TAG, "No such document")
}
}
And what I want to implement here (and which is totally erroneous):
suspend fun fetchHubList(): ArrayList<HubModel>? = try {
val hubList = ArrayList<HubModel>()
hubsListCollection.addSnapshotListener().await().map { document ->
if (document != null) {
Log.d(TAG, "Data fetch successful!")
Log.d(TAG, "the document id is ${document.id}")
val temp = HubModel(document.get("hubName").toString(),
document.id.toString(),
document.get("isAdmin") as Boolean)
hubList.add(temp)
// hubList.add(document.toObject(HubModel::class.java))
} else {
Log.d(TAG, "No such document")
}
}
I use this function in my ViewModel class to create a LiveData wrapped ArrayList:
val hubList = MutableLiveData<ArrayList<HubModel>>()
private val hubListDao = HubListDao()
init {
viewModelScope.launch {
hubList.value = hubListDao.fetchHubList()
}
}
Thanks in advance!

You don't need addSnapshotListener, just use get:
hubsListCollection.get().await()
In order to observe changes in your collection you can extend LiveData:
class CafeLiveData(
private val documentReference: DocumentReference
) : LiveData<Cafe>(), EventListener<DocumentSnapshot> {
private var snapshotListener: ListenerRegistration? = null
override fun onActive() {
super.onActive()
snapshotListener = documentReference.addSnapshotListener(this)
}
override fun onInactive() {
super.onInactive()
snapshotListener?.remove()
}
override fun onEvent(result: DocumentSnapshot?, error: FirebaseFirestoreException?) {
val item = result?.let { document ->
document.toObject(Cafe::class.java)
}
value = item!!
}
}
And expose it from your view model:
fun getCafe(id: String): LiveData<Cafe> {
val query = Firebase.firestore.document("cafe/$id")
return CafeLiveData(query)
}

As #FrankvanPuffelen already mentioned in his comment, there is no way you can use ".await()" along with "addSnapshotListener()", as both are two totally different concepts. One is used to get data only once, while the second one is used to listen to real-time updates. This means that you can receive a continuous flow of data from the reference you are listening to.
Please notice that ".await()" is used in Kotlin with suspend functions. This means that when you call ".await()", you start a separate coroutine, which is a different thread that can work in parallel with other coroutines if needed. This is called async programming because ".await()" starts the coroutine execution and waits for its finish. In other words, you can use ".await()" on a deferred value to get its eventual result, if no Exception is thrown. Unfortunately, this mechanism doesn't work with real-time updates.
When it comes to Firestore, you can call ".await()" on a DocumentReference object, on a Query object, or on a CollectionReference object, which is actually a Query without filters. This means that you are waiting for the result/results to be available. So you can get a document or multiple documents from such calls. However, the following call:
hubsListCollection.addSnapshotListener().await()
Won't work, as "addSnapshotListener()" method returns a ListenerRegistration object.
I want to use a snapshot listener to listen to changes that might occur in my database to update my RecyclerView
In this case, you should consider using a library called Firebase-UI for Android. In this case, all the heavy work will be done behind the scenes. So there is no need for any coroutine or ".await()" calls, everything is synched in real-time.
If you don't want to use either Kotlin Coroutines, nor Firebase-UI Library, you can use LiveData. A concrete example can be seen in my following repo:
https://github.com/alexmamo/FirestoreRealtimePagination/blob/master/app/src/main/java/ro/alexmamo/firestorerealtimepagination/ProductListLiveData.java
Where you can subclass LiveData class and implement EventListener the interface.