Develop Reference

Setting the result from Room LiveData to a textview

I have a two queries which return two long values. I am setting these two long values to be displayed in individual text views. Finally I have a third text view which displays the combined value of both longs. I am having a problem getting the combined total to show as its setting the value before the livedata is returned.
Below is a snippet of the code
private void getData() {
mViewModelReframing.totalWorkouts(pkUserId).observe(getViewLifecycleOwner(), new Observer<List<ModelStatsTotalWorkouts>>() {
#Override
public void onChanged(List<ModelStatsTotalWorkouts> modelStatsTotalWorkouts) {
for (ModelStatsTotalWorkouts list : modelStatsTotalWorkouts) {
totalReframeWorkouts = list.getTotalWorkouts();
}
if (totalReframeWorkouts == 0) {
tvTotalReframes.setText(0 + getString(R.string.workouts_empty));
} else {
tvTotalReframes.setText("" + totalReframeWorkouts);
}
}
});
mViewModelCheckIn.totalWorkouts(pkUserId).observe(getViewLifecycleOwner(), new Observer<List<ModelStatsTotalWorkouts>>() {
#Override
public void onChanged(List<ModelStatsTotalWorkouts> tableCheckIns) {
for (ModelStatsTotalWorkouts list : tableCheckIns) {
totalCheckInWorkouts = list.getTotalWorkouts();
}
tvTotalCheckIns.setText("" + totalCheckInWorkouts);
// Combine both longs together for a combined total.
totalWorkouts = totalReframeWorkouts + totalCheckInWorkouts;
tvTotalWorkouts.setText("" + totalWorkouts);
}
});
}
Is there a better way to write the logic to achieve the desired result without the issue of the livedata not being returned fast enough?

Whenever you use independent Reactive streams like this (LiveData, RxJava, etc) you are going to have race conditions. You need to make explicit the dependencies for an action to happen - in this case your ability to update the UI in the way that you want had dependencies on BOTH APIs returning. This is the RxJava equivalent of zip. A few tips:
Consider using only a single Viewmodel for a view. The viewmodel should really be preparing data for your view specificially. In this case, it should really be that singular ViewModel that handles combining this data before passing it to your vew at all.
Barring that, since you've chosen LiveData here, you can do what you want by using a MediatorLiveData. Essentially, it acts as a composite stream source that depends on whichever other LiveData streams you add to it as described by that article. In this way, you can explicitly wait for all the needed values to arrive before you try to update the UI.

I solved the question by using this method:
public LiveData<List<ModelStatsTotalWorkouts>> totalWorkoutsCombined(long userId) {
LiveData liveData1 = database.getUsersDao().totalReframeWorkouts(userId);
LiveData liveData2 = database.getUsersDao().totalCheckInWorkouts(userId);
MediatorLiveData liveDataMerger = new MediatorLiveData<>();
liveDataMerger.addSource(liveData1, value -> liveDataMerger.setValue(value));
liveDataMerger.addSource(liveData2, value -> liveDataMerger.setValue(value));
return liveDataMerger;
}

Dao method returns List<String> while I need a Map<String,Integer>

In an Android app using Architecture Components I have the following view model:
public class MainViewModel extends AndroidViewModel {
private final MutableLiveData<List<String>> mUnchecked = new MutableLiveData<>();
private LiveData<List<String>> mChecked;
public void setUnchecked(List<String> list) {
mUnchecked.setValue(list);
}
public LiveData<List<String>> getChecked() { // OBSERVED BY A FRAGMENT
return mChecked;
}
public MainViewModel(Application app) {
super(app);
mChecked = Transformations.switchMap(mUnchecked,
list-> myDao().checkWords(list));
}
The purpose of the above switchMap is to check, which of the words passed as a list of strings, do exist in a Room table:
#Dao
public interface MyDao {
#Query("SELECT word FROM dictionary WHERE word IN (:words)")
LiveData<List<String>> checkWords(List<String> words);
The above code works well for me!
However I am stuck with wanting something slightly different -
Instead of the list of strings, I would prefer to pass a map of strings (words) -> integers (scores):
public void setUnchecked(Map<String,Integer> map) {
mUnchecked.setValue(map);
}
The integers would be word scores in my game. And once the checkWords() has returned the results, I would like to set the scores to null for the words not found in the Room table and leave the other scores as they are.
The programming code would be easy (iterate through mChecked.getValue() and set to null for the words not found in the list returned by the DAO method) - but how to "marry" it with my LiveData members?
TL;DR
I would like to change my view model to hold maps instead of the lists:
public class MainViewModel extends AndroidViewModel {
private final MutableLiveData<Map<String,Integer>> mUnchecked = new MutableLiveData<>();
private final MutableLiveData<Map<String,Integer>> mChecked = new MutableLiveData<>();
public void setUnchecked(Map<String,Integer> map) {
mUnchecked.setValue(map);
}
public LiveData<Map<String,Integer>> getChecked() { // OBSERVED BY A FRAGMENT
return mChecked;
}
public MainViewModel(Application app) {
super(app);
// HOW TO OBSERVE mUnchecked
// AND RUN myDao().checkWords(new ArrayList<>(mUnchecked.getValue().keys()))
// WRAPPED IN Executors.newSingleThreadScheduledExecutor().execute( ... )
// AND THEN CALL mChecked.postValue() ?
}
How to achieve that please? Should I extend MutableLiveData or maybe use MediatorLiveData or maybe use Transformations.switchMap()?
UPDATE:
I will try the following tomorrow (today is too late in the evening) -
The Dao method I will change to return a list instead of LiveData:
#Query("SELECT word FROM dictionary WHERE word IN (:words)")
List<String> checkWords(List<String> words);
And then I will try to extend the MutableLiveData:
private final MutableLiveData<Map<String,Integer>> mChecked = new MutableLiveData<>();
private final MutableLiveData<Map<String,Integer>> mUnchecked = new MutableLiveData<Map<String,Integer>>() {
#Override
public void setValue(Map<String,Integer> uncheckedMap) {
super.setValue(uncheckedMap);
Executors.newSingleThreadScheduledExecutor().execute(() -> {
List<String> uncheckedList = new ArrayList<>(uncheckedMap.keySet());
List<String> checkedList = WordsDatabase.getInstance(mApp).wordsDao().checkWords(uncheckedList);
Map<String,Integer> checkedMap = new HashMap<>();
for (String word: uncheckedList) {
Integer score = (checkedList.contains(word) ? uncheckedMap.get(word) : null);
checkedMap.put(word, score);
}
mChecked.postValue(checkedMap);
});
}
};

Well, what you have there in the update probably works, though I wouldn't create a new Executor for every setValue() call — create just one and hold onto it in your MutableLiveData subclass. Also, depending on your minSdkVersion, you might use some of the Java 8 stuff on HashMap (e.g., replaceAll()) to simplify the code a bit.
You could use MediatorLiveData, though in the end I think it would result in more code, not less. So, while from a purity standpoint MediatorLiveData is a better answer, that may not be a good reason for you to use it.
Frankly, this sort of thing isn't what LiveData is really set up for, IMHO. If this were my code that I were working on right now, I'd be using RxJava for the bulk of it, converting to LiveData in the end. And, I'd have as much of this as possible in a repository, rather than in a viewmodel. While your unchecked-to-checked stuff would be a tricky RxJava chain to work out, I'd still prefer it to the MutableLiveData subclass.
What EpicPandaForce suggests is an ideal sort of LiveData-only approach, though I don't think he is implementing your algorithm quite correctly, and I am skeptical that it can be adapted easily to your desired algorithm.
In the end, though, the decision kinda comes down to: who is going to see this code?
If this code is for your eyes only, or will live in a dusty GitHub repo that few are likely to look at, then if you feel that you can maintain the MutableLiveData subclass, we can't really complain.
If this code is going to be reviewed by co-workers, ask your co-workers what they think.
If this code is going to be reviewed by prospective employers... consider RxJava. Yes, it has a learning curve, but for the purposes of getting interest from employers, they will be more impressed by you knowing how to use RxJava than by you knowing how to hack LiveData to get what you want.

Tricky question!
If we check the source code for Transformations.switchMap, we see that:
1.) it wraps the provided live data with a MediatorLiveData
2.) if the wrapped live data emits an event, then it invokes a function that receives the new value of wrapped live data, and returns a "new" live data of a different type
3.) if the "new" live data of a different type differs from the previous one, then the observer of the previous one is removed, and it's added to the new one instead (so that you only observe the newest LiveData and don't accidentally end up observing an old one)
With that in mind, I think we can chain your switchMap calls and create a new LiveData whenever myDao().checkWords(words) changes.
LiveData<List<String>> foundInDb = Transformations.switchMap(mWords, words -> myDao().checkWords(words));
LiveData<Map<String, Integer>> found = Transformations.switchMap(foundInDb, (words) -> {
MutableLiveData<Map<String, Integer>> scoreMap = new MutableLiveData<>();
// calculate the score map from `words` list
scoreMap.setValue(map);
return scoreMap;
});
this.mFound = found;
Please verify if what I'm telling you is correct, though.
Also if there are a bunch of words, consider using some async mechanism and scoreMap.postValue(map).

What is the best practice to chain realm queries in Android?

So, I have an Android app that uses realm.io. I have to run queries asynchronously like this :
public static void getProductsByCategoryId(Realm realm,
String categoryId,
OrderedRealmCollectionChangeListener<RealmResults<Product>> callback) {
RealmResults<Product> result = realm.where(Product.class)
.equalTo(CATEGORY, categoryId)
.findAllAsync();
result.addChangeListener(callback);
}
The callback will process this response, but then I need to run another query in sequence. So, you'll have queryA => process response => queryB => process response. So, the callback may have code like this
.....
getProductsByCategoryId(app.getRealmInstance(), "ABC123", firstCallback);
.....
private OrderedRealmCollectionChangeListener<RealmResults<Product>> firstCallback = new OrderedRealmCollectionChangeListener<RealmResults<Product>>() {
#Override
public void onChange(RealmResults<Product> realmProducts, OrderedCollectionChangeSet changeSet) {
mProdList.addAll(mRealm.copyFromRealm(realmProducts));
// get more product info (2nd call)
MainApplication.getMoreProductInfo(mRealm, mCatId, false, secondCallback);
}
};
Currently, my understanding is that you would run queryB in the callback of queryA ? Looking at the requirements for the app, I will end up with chains of 3 or 4 queries. Is this an appropriate approach, or is there a specific pattern I should be using ? I haven't found any guidance yet in the Realm documentation.

It's generally an indication of bad schema design if you need to do multiple queries in order to retrieve your result set, because the way Realm works is that if you can define your query results with one query (and you don't use realm.copyFromRealm() which you generally don't need to use anyways), then its elements and the results itself are all lazy-loaded.
If you cannot accomplish that, then even then, generally you probably shouldn't chain find*Async calls, because any RealmResults that you don't store as a field variable has a chance of being consumed by GC, and its change listener won't be called when isLoaded() is true (because said RealmResults no longer exists).
So what you really seem to want to do is just execute multiple queries on a background thread then return copied results to the main thread, in which case it'd just look like this
Executor executor = Executors.newSingleThreadedPool(); // or some other pool
Handler handler = new Handler(Looper.getMainLooper());
public void getQueryResults(DataLoadedCallback callback) {
executor.execute(() -> {
try(Realm realm = Realm.getDefaultInstance()) {
realm.refresh(); // <-- might not be necessary
RealmResults<XYZ> results1 = realm.where(XYZ.class)./*...*/.findAll();
RealmResults<ZXY> results2 = realm.where(ZXY.class)./*...*/.findAll();
RealmResults<YZX> results3 = realm.where(YZX.class)./*...*/.findAll();
List<Something> someList = new LinkedList<>();
for/*do magic transform things*/
someList.add(blah /* blah is not a managed RealmObject */);
}
handler.post(() -> {
callback.onDataLoaded(Collections.unmodifiableList(new ArrayList<>(someList)));
});
}
});
}

Chaining queries in the callbacks are fine and "should just work", but it would be far more efficient if you can express what you want is as few queries as possible.
Ideally, we should have a query language that is powerful enough to express everything you want in one query. We are not fully there yet, but we would be very interested to hear more about what specific requirements you have.
Also, it isn't clear why you are using copyFromRealm in the method you posted, but in an ideal situation that shouldn't be necessary.

When realmResults.asObservable is called?

I'm implementing a chat client.
Everytime user clicks Send message button - I perform a Realm insert of this message.
I have a service 'waiting' for this change to send this message via socket.
Like this:
Observable<RealmResults<RealmMessage>> observable = getUnsentMessages();
subscribeUnsendMessages = observable
...
.subscribe(message -> {
launchMessageSending(message);
});
and method for getting this observable looks like this:
public Observable<RealmResults<RealmMessage>> getUnsentMessages() {
final Realm instance = getRealmInstance();
return instance.where(RealmMessage.class)
...
.findAllAsync()
.asObservable()
.filter(o -> ... )
.doOnUnsubscribe(instance::close);
}
And here is the problem - there is a corner case, when I perform two operations roughly at the same time.
The second one looks like this:
public boolean shouldTrack(#NonNull RealmChat chat) {
getRealmInstance().executeTransactionAsync(realm ->{
RealmTrackedState trackedStates = realm.where(RealmTrackedState.class).findFirst();
trackedStates.getRealmChats().add(chat);
});
return true;
}
The above method is a tracking cache for remembering if I tracked given chat or not.
(This is a bit more complicated than this, bear with me).
This PROBABLY causes the observer to react on the second database change.
Because these two operations happen almost at the same time - the second notification is still "valid" because there is an unsent message.
So, questions:
Am I right?
If so - how should I handle this?
I don't really want to 'delay' the shouldTrack(); method because I'm afraid that the same problem will occur in a different way.
Maybe create a flag for this message being 'handled', so the second will be ignored - but this is a bit nasty I guess. The second 'send' shouldn't happen.
EDIT:
Here is my TrackedState object
public class RealmATrackedState extends RealmObject {
#PrimaryKey
private int id = 1;
private RealmList<RealmChat> realmChats;
private boolean isSomething;
}
Is updating such object (as posted above) causing RealmMessage table be notified?

Combining API calls with RX Java

I'm new to RXJava and i'm having trouble understanding how to chain together the result of API calls.
I'm making two API calls using retrofit, A and B, which both return an observable List of objects. Both API calls are independent so I want to make both at the same time, but to achieve my final result, I need to first take the result of A, do some work, then combine that with the result of B to populate my list adapter.
Make API Call A
Make API Call B
Take A's result and create result X
Take Result of B + X and populate adapter
#GET("/{object_id}/object_a")
Observable<List<Object_A>> getObjectAList(
#Path("object_id") long object_id);
#GET("/{object_id}/object_b")
Observable<List<Object_B>> getObjectBList(
#Path("object_id") long object_id);
This is where I get lost trying to use RX java. I can take the result of api call A and do my work
but I'm not sure how to take the result I just generated and combine it with API Call B.
aService. getObjectAList(object_a.getID())
.subscribeOn(AndroidSchedulers.mainThread())
.observeOn(AndroidSchedulers.main)
.subscribe(new Action1<List<Object_A>>() {
#Override
public void call(List<Section> sections) {
// Do Stuff Here...
// Now i need to take this result and combine it with API Call B...
}
});
I want to make both API calls at the same time, but i'm not sure how to chain together and combine API calls. Any help is appreciative.

Something like this?
Observable
// make api call for A list and B list
.combineLatest(getObjectAList(), getObjectBList(), new Func2<List<Object_A>, List<Object_B>, Object>() {
#Override
public Object call(List<Object_A> o, List<Object_B> o2) {
// Do what you need to do in the background thread
List x = createX(o);
List y = createY(x, o2);
return y;
}
})
.subscribeOn(Schedulers.io())
.observeOn(AndroidSchedulers.mainThread())
.subscribe(new Observer<Object>() {
#Override
public void onCompleted() {
}
#Override
public void onError(Throwable e) {
}
#Override
public void onNext(Object y) {
// UI thread, do what you need e.g. renders the list
mAdapter.setList(y);
}
});
Taking care of replacing the proper types should bring you quite close to the solution.

The question is : how would you combine results ?
Building a new result from List and List ? Combine A objects with B objects ?
Answer to this question help to find the right operator for your problem.
A simple example of combining results can be this :
getObjectAList().zipWith(getObjectBList(), (aList, bList) -> // combine both list to build a new result)).subscribe()
You can combine elements of the list too with another operator (combineLatest for example)
aObs = getObjectAList().flatMap(Observable::from);
bObs = getObjectBList().flatMap(Observable::from);
Observable.combineLatest(aObs, bObs, (a,b) -> // combine a object with b object).subscribe();
For all of this examples above, requests will be done in parallel by retrofit.

I'd probably do something like the following
Observable convertedObservable = getObjectAList
.map(object_as -> convertAToX(object_as));
Observable.combineLatest(convertedObservable, getObjectBList, (listx, listb) -> {
return listx.addAll(listb);
}).subscribeOn(AndroidSchedulers.mainThread())
.observeOn(AndroidSchedulers.main)
.subscribe(r -> {
setAdapterWith(r);
});
Keep in mind this is using lambdas instead of anonymous classes but you should get the gist. Map is a great way of converting one object type to another (results of A to Results of X). So you can decide how convertAToX method works for you. Then you can use combineLastest on the converted A-X and B to return the list of R which updates your adapter
Ideally this is all in a ViewModel of some kind where getObjectAList and getObjectBList can me mocked on with Mock observables and you can test all the logic easily :)