Develop Reference

Android should you really use by Lazy in ViewModel as per Docs?

This Android doc shows following code:
class MyViewModel : ViewModel() {
private val users: MutableLiveData<List<User>> by lazy {
MutableLiveData<List<User>>().also {
loadUsers()
}
}
fun getUsers(): LiveData<List<User>> {
return users
}
private fun loadUsers() {
// Do an asynchronous operation to fetch users.
}
}
and I'm wondering if it is really correct to use by lazy or really needed since I can not encounter any projects using this. If you do use it and you for example do following:
private fun loadUsers() {
// Do an asynchronous operation to fetch users.
users.value = ...
}
the code access "users" again and since it is not initialized yet loadUsers() is called again! Considering you observe users in an activity or fragment for example.

MVVM architecture with Interactors/UseCases

Context
So, I've been working with the MVVM architecture just for a couple of projects. I'm still trying to figure out and improve how the architecture works. I always worked with the MVP architecture, using the usual toolset, Dagger for DI, usually multi-module projects, the Presenter layer being injected with a bunch of Interactors/UseCases, and each Interactor being injected with different Repositories to perform the backend API calls.
Now that I've moved into MVVM I changed the Presenter layer by the ViewModel, the communication from the ViewModel to the UI layer is being done through LiveData instead of using a View callback interface, and so on.
Looks like this:
class ProductDetailViewModel #inject constructor(
private val getProductsUseCase: GetProductsUseCase,
private val getUserInfoUseCase: GetUserInfoUseCase,
) : ViewModel(), GetProductsUseCase.Callback, GetUserInfoUseCase.Callback {
// Sealed class used to represent the state of the ViewModel
sealed class ProductDetailViewState {
data class UserInfoFetched(
val userInfo: UserInfo
) : ProductDetailViewState(),
data class ProductListFetched(
val products: List<Product>
) : ProductDetailViewState(),
object ErrorFetchingInfo : ProductDetailViewState()
object LoadingInfo : ProductDetailViewState()
}
...
// Live data to communicate back with the UI layer
val state = MutableLiveData<ProductDetailViewState>()
...
// region Implementation of the UseCases callbacks
override fun onSuccessfullyFetchedProducts(products: List<Product>) {
state.value = ProductDetailViewState.ProductListFetched(products)
}
override fun onErrorFetchingProducts(e: Exception) {
state.value = ProductDetailViewState.ErrorFetchingInfo
}
override fun onSuccessfullyFetchedUserInfo(userInfo: UserInfo) {
state.value = ProductDetailViewState.UserInfoFetched(userInfo)
}
override fun onErrorFetchingUserInfo(e: Exception) {
state.value = ProductDetailViewState.ErrorFetchingInfo
}
// Functions to call the UseCases from the UI layer
fun fetchUserProductInfo() {
state.value = ProductDetailViewState.LoadingInfo
getProductsUseCase.execute(this)
getUserInfoUseCase.execute(this)
}
}
There's no rocket science here, sometimes I change the implementation to use more than one LiveData property to keep track of the changes. By the way, this is just an example that I wrote on the fly, so don't expect it to compile. But It's just this, the ViewModel is injected with a bunch of UseCases, it implements the UseCases callback interfaces and when I get the results from the UseCases I communicate that to the UI layer through LiveData.
My UseCases usually look like this:
// UseCase interface
interface GetProductsUseCase {
interface Callback {
fun onSuccessfullyFetchedProducts(products: List<Product>)
fun onErrorFetchingProducts(e: Exception)
}
fun execute(callback: Callback)
}
// Actual implementation
class GetProductsUseCaseImpl(
private val productRepository: ApiProductRepostory
) : GetProductsUseCase {
override fun execute(callback: Callback) {
productRepository.fetchProducts() // Fetches the products from the backend through Retrofit
.subscribe(
{
// onNext()
callback.onSuccessfullyFetchedProducts(it)
},
{
// onError()
callback.onErrorFetchingProducts(it)
}
)
}
}
My Repository classes are usually wrappers for the Retrofit instance and they take care of setting the proper Scheduler so everything runs on the proper thread and mapping the backend responses into model classes. By backend responses I mean classes mapped with Gson (for example
a list of ApiProductResponse) and they get mapped into model classes (for example a List of Product which I use across the App)
Question
My question here is that since I started working with the MVVM architecture all the articles and all the examples, people is either injecting the Repositories right into the ViewModel (duplicating code to handle errors and mapping the responses) or either using the Single Source of Truth pattern (getting the information from Room using Room's Flowables). But I haven't seen anyone use UseCases with a ViewModel layer. I mean it's pretty handy, I get to keep things separated, I do the mapping of the backend responses within the UseCases, I handle any error there. But still, feels odds that I don't see anyone doing this, is there some way to improve the UseCases to make them more friendly to the ViewModels in terms of API? Perform the communication between the UseCases and the ViewModels with something else than a callback interface?
Please let me know if you need any more info about this. Sorry for the examples, I know that these are not the best, I just came out with something simple for sake of explaining it better.
Thanks,
Edit #1
This is how my Repository classes look like:
// ApiProductRepository interface
interface ApiProductRepository {
fun fetchProducts(): Single<NetworkResponse<List<ApiProductResponse>>>
}
// Actual implementation
class ApiProductRepositoryImpl(
private val retrofitApi: ApiProducts, // This is a Retrofit API interface
private val uiScheduler: Scheduler, // AndroidSchedulers.mainThread()
private val backgroundScheduler: Scheduler, // Schedulers.io()
) : GetProductsUseCase {
override fun fetchProducts(): Single<NetworkResponse<List<ApiProductResponse>>> {
return retrofitApi.fetchProducts() // Does the API call using the Retrofit interface. I've the RxAdapter set.
.wrapOnNetworkResponse() // Extended function that converts the Retrofit's Response object into a NetworkResponse class
.observeOn(uiScheduler)
.subscribeOn(backgroundScheduler)
}
}
// The network response class is a class that just carries the Retrofit's Response class status code

Update your use case so that it returns Single<List<Product>>:
class GetProducts #Inject constructor(private val repository: ApiProductRepository) {
operator fun invoke(): Single<List<Product>> {
return repository.fetchProducts()
}
}
Then, update your ViewModel so that it subscribes to the products stream:
class ProductDetailViewModel #Inject constructor(
private val getProducts: GetProducts
): ViewModel() {
val state: LiveData<ProductDetailViewState> get() = _state
private val _state = MutableLiveData<ProductDetailViewState>()
private val compositeDisposable = CompositeDisposable()
init {
subscribeToProducts()
}
override fun onCleared() {
super.onCleared()
compositeDisposable.clear()
}
private fun subscribeToProducts() {
getProducts()
.subscribeOn(Schedulers.io())
.observeOn(AndroidSchedulers.main())
.subscribe(
{
// onNext()
_state.value = ProductListFetched(products = it)
},
{
// onError()
_state.value = ErrorFetchingInfo
}
).addTo(compositeDisposable)
}
}
sealed class ProductDetailViewState {
data class ProductListFetched(
val products: List<Product>
): ProductDetailViewState()
object ErrorFetchingInfo : ProductDetailViewState()
}
One thing I'm leaving out it is the adaptation of List<ApiProductResponse>> to List<Product> but that can be handled by mapping the list with a helper function.

I have just started using MVVM for the last 2 of my projects. I can share with you my process of dealing with REST APIs in ViewModel. Hope it will help you and others.
Make a Generic Retrofit Executer Class with their callbacks. which will take a retrofit call object and gives you data.
Make a repository for Your particular package or module where you can handle all API request. in my case, I am getting one user by its id from API.
Here is User Repository.
class UserRepository {
#Inject
lateinit var mRetrofit: Retrofit
init {
MainApplication.appComponent!!.inject(this)
}
private val userApi = mRetrofit.create(UserApi::class.java)
fun getUserbyId(id: Int): Single<NetworkResponse<User>> {
return Single.create<NetworkResponse<User>>{
emitter ->
val callbyId = userApi.getUserbyId(id)
GenericReqExecutor(callbyId).executeCallRequest(object : ExecutionListener<User>{
override fun onSuccess(response: User) {
emitter.onSuccess(NetworkResponse(success = true,
response = response
))
}
override fun onApiError(error: NetworkError) {
emitter.onSuccess(NetworkResponse(success = false,
response = User(),
networkError = error
))
}
override fun onFailure(error: Throwable) {
emitter.onError(error)
}
})
}
}
}
Then Use this Repository in your ViewModel. In my case here is my LoginViewModel code.
class LoginViewModel : ViewModel() {
var userRepo = UserRepository()
fun getUserById(id :Int){
var diposable = userRepo.getUserbyId(id).subscribe({
//OnNext
},{
//onError
})
}
}
I hope this approach can help you to reduce some of your boilerplate code.
Thanks

I had the same question when I started using MVVM a while ago. I came up with the following solution, based on Kotlin suspend functions and coroutines:
Change ApiProductRepositoryImpl.fetchProducts() to run synchronously. To do this, change your retrofit interface to return Call<...> and then change the repository implementation to
// error handling omitted for brevity
override fun fetchProducts() = retrofitApi.fetchProducts().execute().body()
Make your use cases implement the following interface:
interface UseCase<InputType, OutputType> {
suspend fun execute(input: InputType): OutputType
}
so your GetProductsUseCase would look like this:
class GetProductsUseCase: UseCase<Unit, List<Product>> {
suspend fun execute(input: Unit): List<Product> = withContext(Dispatchers.IO){
// withContext causes this block to run on a background thread
return#withContext productRepository.fetchProducts()
}
Execute the use case in your ViewModel
launch {
state.value = ProductDetailViewState.ProductListFetched(getProductsUseCase.execute())
}
See https://github.com/snellen/umvvm for more info and examples.

How to observe ViewModel that makes a request for a call back

I am trying to make a request to a library that gives me a call back.
Manager.getInstance().request(new CallBack())
I want to put this in a ViewModel so that I can observe it from the Activity.
class RequestViewModel : ViewModel, CallBack {
fun request() {
Manager.getInstance().request(this)
}
override fun onFinished(result : List<String>?) {
}
override fun onFailed() {
}
}
How can I make it so that I can observe when this has finished? I know I could make my Activity implement this CallBack, but I don't want to couple Activity to this.
Ideally this would be a LiveData or Observable.

If I understand the question correctly, you can submit the data acquired in onFinished method to the LiveData instance that should be observed by a view component, e.g.
class RequestViewModel : ViewModel, CallBack {
private val _liveData = MutableLiveData<SomeResult<List<String>>>
val liveData: LiveData<SomeResult<List<String>>> get() = _liveData
fun request() {
Manager.getInstance().request(this)
}
override fun onFinished(result : List<String>?) {
if (result != null) {
_liveData.postValue(SomeResult.success(result))
} else {
_liveData.postValue(SomeResult.failure())
}
}
override fun onFailed() {
_liveData.postValue(SomeResult.failure())
}
}
And somewhere in your object that corresponds to a view component:
viewModel.liveData.observe(lifecycleOwner, Observer<List<String>> {
handleResponse(it)
})
whereas lifecycleOwner typically is your AppCompatActivity or android.support.v4.Fragment inheritor.

I would advise you to decouple requesting from ViewModel and create a class called Repository to handle all the requests. In this class you could have a MutableLiveData object which can be observed and whenever new requested data is retrieved, use mutableLiveData.postValue(retrievedData) for MutableLiveData which notifies the observes about the new changes.
To read more about repository, you can follow these links:
Google's Guide to App Architecture
Codelab tutorial with Repository pattern

Good practice to implement viewmodel

Does anyone know good practice to implement viewmodel logic? Event based or action based?
class EventBasedVM : ViewModel() {
fun onResume() {
fetchInformation1()
fetchInformation2()
}
}
class ActionBasedVM : ViewModel() {
fun fetchInformation1() {
}
fun fetchInformation2() {
}
}

Although both approaches you mentioned make sense for specific use cases, I would add another one to the list:
class InitialisationBasedVM : ViewModel() {
val informationLiveData = MutableLiveData<String>()
init {
fetchInformation()
}
private fun fetchInformation() {
// call you async code and eventually post the value to the observers
informationLiveData.postValue("whatever")
}
}
The approach of fetching data in the ViewModel constructor make sure data are not fetched again in case of configuration changes. You could also make the fetchInformation() method public and invoke from the View upon certain actions that require reloading the data (i.e pull to refresh).

Clean Architecture: ViewModel with multiple UseCases on Android

This is more of an Architecture question than a bug fixing one.
Let's assume this app lets users mark a Bus and/or Bus Stations as a favourite. My question is, should I have a ViewModel with both UseCases or should I build a UseCase that encapsulates the current logic?
Also for the question part, I'm not entirely sure the way I should expose the combined data to the UI layer (see favouritesExposedLiveData)
Thanks in advance any feedback is welcome, here's my ViewModel you can assume each UseCase is passing the correct data from the data source(s).
open class FavouritesViewModel #Inject internal constructor(
private val getFavouriteStationsUseCase: GetFavouriteStationsUseCase,
private val getFavouriteBusesUseCase: GetFavouriteBusesUseCase,
private val favouriteMapper: FavouriteMapper,
private val busMapper: BusMapper,
private val stationMapper: StationMapper) : ViewModel() {
private val favouriteBusesLiveData: MutableLiveData<Resource<List<BusView>>> = MutableLiveData()
private val favouriteStationsLiveData: MutableLiveData<Resource<List<StationView>>> = MutableLiveData()
private lateinit var favouritesMediatorLiveData: MediatorLiveData<List<FavouriteView>>
private lateinit var favouritesExposedLiveData: LiveData<Resource<List<FavouriteView>>>
init {
fetchFavourites()
}
override fun onCleared() {
getFavouriteStationsUseCase.dispose()
getFavouriteBusesUseCase.dispose()
super.onCleared()
}
fun getFavourites(): LiveData<Resource<List<FavouriteView>>> {
return favouritesExposedLiveData
}
private fun fetchFavourites() {
favouritesMediatorLiveData.addSource(favouriteStationsLiveData, { favouriteStationListResource ->
if (favouriteStationListResource?.status == ResourceState.SUCCESS) {
favouriteStationListResource.data?.map {
favouriteMapper.mapFromView(it)
}
}
})
favouritesMediatorLiveData.addSource(favouriteBusesLiveData, { favouriteBusesListResource ->
if (favouriteBusesListResource?.status == ResourceState.SUCCESS) {
favouriteBusesListResource.data?.map {
favouriteMapper.mapFromView(it)
}
}
})
getFavouriteStationsUseCase.execute(FavouriteStationsSubscriber())
getFavouriteBusesUseCase.execute(FavouriteBusesSubscriber())
}
inner class FavouriteStationsSubscriber : DisposableSubscriber<List<Station>>() {
override fun onComplete() {}
override fun onNext(t: List<Station>) {
favouriteStationsLiveData.postValue(Resource(ResourceState.SUCCESS, t.map { stationMapper.mapToView(it) }, null))
}
override fun onError(exception: Throwable) {
favouriteStationsLiveData.postValue(Resource(ResourceState.ERROR, null, exception.message))
}
}
inner class FavouriteBusesSubscriber : DisposableSubscriber<List<Bus>>() {
override fun onComplete() {}
override fun onNext(t: List<Bus>) {
favouriteBusesLiveData.postValue(Resource(ResourceState.SUCCESS, t.map { busMapper.mapToView(it) }, null))
}
override fun onError(exception: Throwable) {
favouriteBusesLiveData.postValue(Resource(ResourceState.ERROR, null, exception.message))
}
}
}
Note: Currently the MediatorLiveData (favouritesMediatorLiveData)is not binding the data back to the favouritesExposedLiveData since at this time, I'm not sure this is the correct way to go ;).

Ideally a ViewModel would only have the view state for its view. By using the MediatorLiveData you could aggregate all sources of state into one that represents the view state over time.
What you can have is a data class that represents your ViewState that you construct on your view model and is your exposed LiveData
data class FavouritesViewState(val favoriteStations: List<Station>, val favoritBuses: List<Bus>)
However you know depend on the ViewModel to construct the final ViewState which kinda breaks the single responsibility principle and also makes you dependent of an Android framework.
I would approach it using a composite UseCase that had both station and bus use cases and returns the composed data that you can then easily expose from the ViewModel.

The whole point of a ViewModel is that it is a model of what the view is using. It should be as close to that as possible.. Unless you are presenting stations and buses in the same view list (seems ugly), otherwise, they are separate views, and should get separate models.