Develop Reference

How to Maintain Scroll position of recyclerView on Screen Rotation

I'm populating the recyclerView with gridlayoutManager. Now I want to save the scroll position on Screen Rotation.
I've tried to do so using onSaveInstanceState and onRestoreInstanceState() as shown in this post :
How to save RecyclerView's scroll position using RecyclerView.State?
Below is my code:
#Override
protected void onSaveInstanceState(Bundle outState) {
Log.e(TAG, "onSaveInstanceState");
super.onSaveInstanceState(outState);
outState.putParcelable(KEY_INSTANCE_STATE_RV_POSITION,
gridLayoutManager.onSaveInstanceState());
}
#Override
protected void onRestoreInstanceState(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
Log.e(TAG, "onRestoreInstanceState");
super.onRestoreInstanceState(savedInstanceState);
if (savedInstanceState!= null){
Parcelable savedState =
savedInstanceState.getParcelable(KEY_INSTANCE_STATE_RV_POSITION);
movieAdapter.addAll(movieItemList);
if (savedState!= null){
gridLayoutManager.onRestoreInstanceState(savedState);
}
}
}
//this is my movieAdapter.addAll() method
public void addAll(List<MovieItem>items){
movieItems = items;
}
//This is the method to get lists of movies from ViewModel Class
private void loadFavMovies() {
FavViewModel favViewModel =
ViewModelProviders.of(MainActivity.this).get(FavViewModel.class);
favViewModel.getFavListLiveData().observe(MainActivity.this, new
Observer<List<FavlistItem>>() {
#Override
public void onChanged(List<FavlistItem> favlistItems) {
if (!favlistItems.isEmpty()) {
loadingIndicator.setVisibility(View.GONE);
movieRecycler.setVisibility(View.GONE);
favRecycler.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
favAdapter.setFavlistItems(favlistItems);
Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "Swipe Left Or
Right To remove Item",Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
}else {
loadingIndicator.setVisibility(View.GONE);
Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "No Favorite
Movies",Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
}
}
});
}
This is the link to GitHub for this project https://github.com/harshabhadra/Movies-Mela

Now,It has simple solution.use this dependency
implementation "androidx.recyclerview:recyclerview:1.2.0-alpha05"
And just set the stateRestorationPolicy like below
myAdapter.stateRestorationPolicy=RecyclerView.Adapter.StateRestorationPolicy.PREVENT_WHEN_EMPTY

I know i am late but still if it helps!!
Storing the recycler view position is lot simpler than what other answers have made it look like
Here's how you can do it
First create a member variable
Parcelable state;
Now,
#Override
protected void onPause() {
super.onPause();
state = recyclerView.getLayoutManager().onSaveInstanceState();
}
#Override
protected void onResume() {
super.onResume();
recyclerView.getLayoutManager().onRestoreInstanceState(state);
}
overide on pause and on resume methods with the above code and you are good to go!!

One way to do that would be to stop re-creation of activity on orientation change. You can add that to the activity in the manifest to do so.
android:configChanges="orientation|screenSize"
But that isn't always a good practice, so another alternative would be to save the adapter position before exiting in onSaveInstanceState and then scroll to that position in onCreate using scrollToPosition. So, for example, you'd do something along the following lines.
#Override
public void onSaveInstanceState(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
savedInstanceState.putInt("position", mRecyclerView.getAdapterPosition()); // get current recycle view position here.
//your other code
super.onSaveInstanceState(savedInstanceState);
}
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
//your other code
if(savedInstanceState != null){
// scroll to existing position which exist before rotation.
mRecyclerView.scrollToPosition(savedInstanceState.getInt("position"));
}
}

Scroll position should already be automatically saved if you are using GridLayoutManager, which subclasses LinearLayoutManager. You can take a look at SavedState inside LinearLayoutManager:
public static class SavedState implements Parcelable {
int mAnchorPosition;
int mAnchorOffset;
boolean mAnchorLayoutFromEnd;
That mAnchorPosition is effectively your scrolling position and it's saved during rotations. If that's not working for you, something else is likely wrong : you might be reloading / reapplying data incorrectly for example. That is probably the real question you need to be asking. You might need to cache that data somewhere so that you can automatically reapply it immediately after the configuration change.
I can also confirm for what its worth that on every project I've used LinearLayoutManager and GridLayoutManager on, scroll position is correctly maintained during rotations with no additional work on my part.

You should check out this SO post.
Basically, you want to create a new class extending RecyclerView (remember you will have to use your new class instead of RecyclerView) and override onSaveInstanceState() and onRestoreInstanceState(). In onSaveInstanceState() you will save the index of the first visible element and scroll to that element in onRestoreInstanceState().
The way they did it in the accepted answer of the linked post is different, but used LinearLayoutManager instead so I will tailor the code to use GridLayoutManager:
public class CustomRecyclerView extends RecyclerView {
private int mScrollPosition;
public VacationsRecyclerView(#NonNull Context context) {
super(context);
}
#Override
protected void onRestoreInstanceState(Parcelable state) {
super.onRestoreInstanceState(state);
if(state != null && state instanceof SavedState){
mScrollPosition = ((SavedState) state).mScrollPosition;
LayoutManager layoutManager = getLayoutManager();
if(layoutManager != null){
int count = layoutManager.getItemCount();
if(mScrollPosition != RecyclerView.NO_POSITION && mScrollPosition < count){
layoutManager.scrollToPosition(mScrollPosition);
}
}
}
}
#Override
protected Parcelable onSaveInstanceState() {
Parcelable superState = super.onSaveInstanceState();
LayoutManager layoutManager = getLayoutManager();
if(layoutManager != null && layoutManager instanceof LinearLayoutManager){
mScrollPosition = ((GridLayoutManager) layoutManager).findFirstVisibleItemPosition();
}
SavedState newState = new SavedState(superState);
newState.mScrollPosition = mScrollPosition;
return newState;
}
static class SavedState extends android.view.View.BaseSavedState {
public int mScrollPosition;
SavedState(Parcel in) {
super(in);
mScrollPosition = in.readInt();
}
SavedState(Parcelable superState) {
super(superState);
}
#Override
public void writeToParcel(Parcel dest, int flags) {
super.writeToParcel(dest, flags);
dest.writeInt(mScrollPosition);
}
public static final Parcelable.Creator<SavedState> CREATOR
= new Parcelable.Creator<SavedState>() {
#Override
public SavedState createFromParcel(Parcel in) {
return new SavedState(in);
}
#Override
public SavedState[] newArray(int size) {
return new SavedState[size];
}
};
}
}

The easiest way to achieve what you're trying to get would be to use the RecyclerView within a Fragment instead of directly within an Activity.
Unlike activities, fragments by default don't get re-created on rotation, but preserve their state. This way, the recyclerview will always remain at the same scroll position.
I am using a RecyclerView this way in one of my apps, which displays lists with > 200 elements.

I've tried everything suggested by everyone but finally, this gist work for me
https://gist.github.com/FrantisekGazo/a9cc4e18cee42199a287
I just import this in my project and replace the recyclerView provided by default with this
"StateFulRecyclerView" and it solved my problem and handle the scroll position automatically during screen rotation or any configuration change. No need to use onSaveInstanceState to maintain scroll positon.

very simple. save the position on pause and restore is onresume.
ON pause
lastVisitPosition = ((LinearLayoutManager)recycleView.getLayoutManager()).findFirstCompletelyVisibleItemPosition();
onResume
((LinearLayoutManager) recycleView.getLayoutManager()).scrollToPosition(lastVisitPosition);
or
((LinearLayoutManager) recycleView.getLayoutManager()).scrollToPositionWithOffset(lastVisitPosition,0)

One solution is by saving scroll positions of recycleview
in onSaveInstanceState() method of fragment you can save the scroll position of RecycleView
#Override
public void onSaveInstanceState(Bundle outState) {
super.onSaveInstanceState(outState);
LinearLayoutManager layoutManager = (LinearLayoutManager)
recyclerView.getLayoutManager();
outState.putInt("scrolled_position",
layoutManager.findFirstCompletelyVisibleItemPosition());
}
then you can retrieve saved scroll position in onViewStateRestored() method
#Override
public void onViewStateRestored(#Nullable Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onViewStateRestored(savedInstanceState);
if (savedInstanceState != null) {
int scrollPosition = savedInstanceState.getInt("scrolled_position");
recyclerView.scrollToPosition(scrollPosition);
}
}

cannot restore view pager fragment state

i have a view pager with 3 fragments. i use retrofit rest api to populate each of my fragments for the first time. What i would like to achieve is when the user swipes back either in first or third fragment(those 2 fragment are being being destroyed by the view pager) to restore the data(saved in an array list) and not make a rest api call again. What i have done is to save the array list of downloaded data in onSaveInstanceState() and successfully retrieve it when the user swipes back to one of the 2 above fragments only FOR THE 1 FIRST TIME. The problem is when i navigate back to either one of the 2 fragments the specific bundle key where the array list was saved contains null value.
CompletedSurveysFragment(the third fragment):
public class CompletedSurveysFragment extends Fragment implements SAMVCView {
private static final String debugTag = CompletedSurveysFragment.class.getSimpleName();
private View view;
private RecyclerView completedSurveysRcV;
private SAMVCPresenterImpl SAMVCpresenterImpl;
private SurveysRcvAdapter surveysRcvAdapter;
private List<SurveyData> data;
public CompletedSurveysFragment() {}
public static CompletedSurveysFragment newInstance() {
return new CompletedSurveysFragment();
}
#Override
public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container, Bundle savedInstanceState) {
Log.e(debugTag, "onCreateView");
if ( view == null ) view = inflater.inflate(R.layout.fragment_completedsurveys, container, false);
completedSurveysRcV = (RecyclerView) view.findViewById(R.id.completedSurveysRcV);
return view;
}
// TODO: 21/6/2016 configure Limit and offset values
#Override
public void onActivityCreated(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onActivityCreated(savedInstanceState);
Log.e(debugTag, "onActivityCreated " + savedInstanceState);
LinearLayoutManager linearLayoutManager = new LinearLayoutManager(getActivity());
completedSurveysRcV.setHasFixedSize(true);
completedSurveysRcV.setLayoutManager(linearLayoutManager);
completedSurveysRcV.addItemDecoration(new DividerItemDecoration(ContextCompat.getDrawable(getActivity(), R.drawable.divider)));
if (savedInstanceState == null) {
SAMVCpresenterImpl = new SAMVCPresenterImpl(this);
SAMVCpresenterImpl.getSurveysBasedOnSpecificFirmId(new AllSurveysBody(getResources().getString(R.string.list_surveys), LoginActivity.getSessionPrefs(getActivity()).getInt(getResources().getString(R.string.firm_id), 0), getResources().getString(R.string.completed), 8, 0));
surveysRcvAdapter = new SurveysRcvAdapter(null, completedSurveysRcV);
completedSurveysRcV.setAdapter(surveysRcvAdapter);
} else {
//Log.e(debugTag, savedInstanceState.+"");
if (savedInstanceState.getParcelableArrayList("data") != null) {
Log.e(debugTag, "here "+ savedInstanceState);
surveysRcvAdapter = new SurveysRcvAdapter(savedInstanceState.<SurveyData>getParcelableArrayList("data"), completedSurveysRcV);
completedSurveysRcV.setAdapter(surveysRcvAdapter);
surveysRcvAdapter.notifyDataSetChanged();
}
//Log.e(debugTag, getArguments().getParcelableArrayList("data")+"");
}
}
#Override
public void onSaveInstanceState(Bundle outState) {
super.onSaveInstanceState(outState);
outState.putParcelableArrayList("data", (ArrayList<? extends Parcelable>) this.data);
Log.e(debugTag, "CompletedFragment onSaveInstanceState "+ outState);
}
#Override
public void onSuccessSurveysFetched(List<SurveyData> data) {
this.data = data;
surveysRcvAdapter = new SurveysRcvAdapter(data, completedSurveysRcV);
completedSurveysRcV.setAdapter(surveysRcvAdapter);
surveysRcvAdapter.notifyDataSetChanged();
}
#Override
public void onFailure() {
}
}
View pager adapter:
public class SurveysPagerAdapter extends FragmentStatePagerAdapter {
private static final String debugTag = SurveysPagerAdapter.class.getSimpleName();
private List<SurveyData> data;
String[] tabText;
public SurveysPagerAdapter(FragmentManager fragmentManager, String[] tabText) {
super(fragmentManager);
this.tabText = tabText;
}
#Override
public Fragment getItem(int position) {
Log.e("SurveysPagerAdapter", position+"");
switch (position) {
case 0:
return CompletedSurveysFragment.newInstance();
case 1:
return OngoingSurveysFragment.newInstance();
case 2:
return PendingSurveysFragment.newInstance();
default:
return null;
}
}
#Override
public CharSequence getPageTitle(int position) {
return tabText[position];
}
#Override
public int getCount() {
return 3;
}
}

Your issue is that you're always returning a new instance of your fragment. Instead of calling CompletedSurveysFragment.newInstance(); (and your other Fragments) every time user swipes, create an array of fragments and retrieve it this way:
...
Fragment [] pages = new Fragment[getCount()];
...
#Override
public Fragment getItem(int position) {
Log.e("SurveysPagerAdapter", position+"");
switch (position) {
case 0:
if(pages[position] == null)
pages[position] = CompletedSurveysFragment.newInstance();
return pages[position];
...
}
Then, you can fetch and cache your data in onCreate() and retrieve it later in onResume() in your respective fragments.

I think onPause() and onResume() won't work. Fragments are tied to their parent activity so since you browse through fragments parent activity is on an onResume() status. What I suggest you to do is to use singleton objects to fetch and store your data. Each fragment can keep a reference to the respective object and have instant access to the data you need. There is plenty of info about singleton pattern and how it works.

The reason this is happening is because onSaveInstanceState only occurs when the parent activity is closed. Since the parent activity of your viewpager is still active when you switch between your fragments, onSaveInstanceState will not be called.
To get the data to save like you are intending, what I would likely do instead is save the data in onPause() and retrieve the data in onResume().
EDIT
According to the docs you need to put the call to super.onSaveInstanceState(savedInstanceState); after you modify the Bundle.
#Override
public void onSaveInstanceState(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
// Save the user's current game state
savedInstanceState.putInt(STATE_SCORE, mCurrentScore);
savedInstanceState.putInt(STATE_LEVEL, mCurrentLevel);
// Always call the superclass so it can save the view hierarchy state
super.onSaveInstanceState(savedInstanceState);
}

How to save custom ListFragment state with orientation change

I am being more thorough with hope the question will actually be easier to understand.
Activity purpose: allow users to select images from gallery; display thumbnail of image in ListFragment along with title user gave the image; when user is finished save each image's uri and title, and the name user gave this collection of images.
Problem: When device is rotated the FragmentList is losing all the images and titles the user already chose, ie, all the rows of the list are missing.
Attempted problem solving:
Implemented the RetainedFragment to save the List collection on device rotation. Previously I had not done this and figured "Ah, the adapter is fed a blank List collection on creation. I'll save the state of the List and then when Activity's onCreate is called I can feed the retained List to the Adapter constructor and it'll work." But it didn't.
Then I thought, "Of course it is not working, you haven't notified the adapter of the change!" So I put the adapter.notifyDataSetChanged() in the onCreate. This didn't work.
Then I moved the adapter.notifyDataSetChanged() to onStart thinking I might need to notify the adapter later in the activity's lifecycle. Didn't work.
Note: I have another activity in this same app that use this same custom ListViewFragment and the state of the ListFragment is being preserved with device orientation changes. That activity has two principle differences: the fragment is hard coded into the .xml (I don't think that would make a difference, other than perhaps maybe Android's native saving of .xml fragments is different than programmatically added ones); and that activity uses a Loader and LoaderManager and gets its data from a Provider that I built (which gathers data from my SQLite database). Looking at the differences between these two activities is what caused me to think "you're not handling the data feeding the adapter appropriately somehow" and inspired me to use the RetainedFragment to save the List collection when the device is rotated.
...which is prompting me to think about figuring out how to, as Android says on their Loader page about LoaderManager:
"An abstract class associated with an Activity or Fragment for managing one or more Loader instances. This helps an application manage longer-running operations in conjunction with the Activity or Fragment lifecycle; the most common use of this is with a CursorLoader, however applications are free to write their own loaders for loading other types of data."
It is the "loading other types of data" part that has me thinking "Could I use a LoaderManager to load the List data? Two reasons I shy from this: 1) what I have already, at least conceptually, ought to work; 2) what I'm doing currently isn't really a "longer-running operation" at all, I don't think.
Research:
StackOverflow Fool proof way to handle Fragment on orientation change
save state of a fragment.
I think the RetainedFragment I am using saves what needs to be saved.(?)
Once for all, how to correctly save instance state of Fragments in back stack?
Save backstack fragments.
Not shown in my code pasted below, but my activity dynamically creates three other fragments and I use the following if savedInstanceState !=null and those fragments' states are saved without doing any work in onSaveInstanceState() (this is partly why it feels like my problem isn't with doing something in onSaveInstanceState because Android handles the saving my other fragments state so shouldn't it do it, too, with the ListFragment? Seems like it should).
if(savedInstanceState.containsKey(AddActivity_Frag1.F1_TAG)){
frag1 = (AddActivity_Frag1)getFragmentManager().getFragment(savedInstanceState, AddActivity_Frag1.F1_TAG);
}
Understanding Fragment's setRetainInstance(boolean)
Many of the StackOverflow questions surrounding my query seem to be mostly about how to save the scroll position of the ListFragment with orientation change but I don't need to do that (though I did read them looking for tips that might help).
Android Fragments
Android Loaders
Android Caching Bitmaps (RetainFragment stuff)
Activity - with many, hopefully unrelated things, removed:
public class AddActivity extends Activity{
// data collection
List<ImageBean> beanList;
// adapter
AddCollectionAdapter adapter;
// ListViewFragment tag
private static final String LVF_TAG = "list fragment tag";
// fragment handles
ListViewFragment listFrag;
// Handles images; LruCache for bitmapes
ImageHandler imageHandler;
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_add2);
// Create ImageHandler that holds LruCache
imageHandler = new ImageHandler(this, getFragmentManager());
// Obtain retained List<ImageBean> or create new List<ImageBean>.
RetainedFragment retainFragment = RetainedFragment.findOrCreateRetainFragment(getFragmentManager());
beanList = retainFragment.list;
if(beanList == null){
beanList = new ArrayList<ImageBean>();
retainFragment.list = beanList;
}
// create fragments
if(savedInstanceState == null){
listFrag = new ListViewFragment();
FragmentTransaction ft = getFragmentManager().beginTransaction();
ft.add(R.id.add_fragFrame, listFrag, LVF_TAG);
ft.commit();
}else{
listFrag = (ListViewFragment)getFragmentManager().findFragmentByTag(LVF_TAG);
}
// create adapter
adapter = new AddCollectionAdapter(this, beanList);
// set list fragment adapter
listFrag.setListAdapter(adapter);
}
#Override
protected void onStart() {
// TESTING: If device orientation has changed List<ImageBean> was saved
// with a RetainedFragment. Seed the adapter with the retained
// List.
adapter.notifyDataSetChanged();
super.onStart();
}
#Override
protected void onSaveInstanceState(Bundle outState) {
// Android automatically saves visible fragments here. (?)
super.onSaveInstanceState(outState);
}
/*
* ImageBean.
*/
public static class ImageBean{
private String collectionName; // Title of image collection
private String imageUri; // Image URI as a string
private String imageTitle; // Title given to image
public ImageBean(String name, String uri, String title){
collectionName = name;
imageUri = uri;
imageTitle = title;
}
public String getCollectionName() {
return collectionName;
}
public String getImageUri() {
return imageUri;
}
public String getImageTitle() {
return imageTitle;
}
}
/*
* Called when user is finished selecting images.
*
* Performs a bulk insert to the Provider.
*/
private void saveToDatabase() {
int arraySize = beanList.size();
final ContentValues[] valuesArray = new ContentValues[arraySize];
ContentValues values;
String imageuri;
String title;
int counter = 0;
for(ImageBean image : beanList){
imageuri = image.getImageUri();
title = image.getImageTitle();
values = new ContentValues();
values.put(CollectionsTable.COL_NAME, nameOfCollection);
values.put(CollectionsTable.COL_IMAGEURI, imageuri);
values.put(CollectionsTable.COL_TITLE, title);
values.put(CollectionsTable.COL_SEQ, counter +1);
valuesArray[counter] = values;
counter++;
}
AsyncTask<Void, Void, Void> task = new AsyncTask<Void, Void, Void>() {
#Override
protected Void doInBackground(Void... arg0) {
getContentResolver().bulkInsert(CollectionsContentProvider.COLLECTIONS_URI, valuesArray);
return null;
}
#Override
protected void onPostExecute(Void result) {
// End this activity.
finish();
}
};
task.execute();
}
public ImageHandler getImageHandler(){
return imageHandler;
}
}
class RetainedFragment extends Fragment{
private static final String TAG = "RetainedFragment";
// data to retain
public List<AddActivity.ImageBean> list;
public static RetainedFragment findOrCreateRetainFragment(FragmentManager fm){
RetainedFragment fragment = (RetainedFragment)fm.findFragmentByTag(TAG);
if(fragment == null){
fragment = new RetainedFragment();
fm.beginTransaction().add(fragment, TAG);
}
return fragment;
}
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setRetainInstance(true);
}
}
ListFragment:
public class ListViewFragment extends ListFragment {
ListFragListener listener;
public interface ListFragListener{
public void listFragListener(Cursor cursor);
}
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
// Retain this fragment across configuration change
setRetainInstance(true);
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
}
#Override
public void onAttach(Activity activity) {
super.onAttach(activity);
// Set listener
if(activity instanceof ListFragListener){
listener = (ListFragListener)activity;
}else{
//Instantiating activity does not implement ListFragListener.
}
}
#Override
public void onListItemClick(ListView listView, View v, int position, long id) {
// no action necessary
}
}
Adapter:
public class AddCollectionAdapter extends BaseAdapter {
// data collection
List<ImageBean> beanList;
// layout inflator
private LayoutInflater inflater;
// context
Context context;
public AddCollectionAdapter(Context context, List<ImageBean> beanList){
this.context = context;
this.beanList = beanList;
inflater = (LayoutInflater)context.getSystemService(Context.LAYOUT_INFLATER_SERVICE);
}
#Override
public int getCount() {
return beanList.size();
}
#Override
public Object getItem(int position) {
return beanList.get(position);
}
#Override
public long getItemId(int arg0) {
// collection not from database nor is going directly to database; this is useless.
return 0;
}
// holder pattern
private class ViewHolder{
ImageView imageView;
TextView titleView;
}
#Override
public View getView(int position, View convertView, ViewGroup parent) {
ViewHolder holder;
View xmlTemplate = convertView;
if(xmlTemplate == null){
//inflate xml
xmlTemplate = inflater.inflate(R.layout.frag_listview_row, null);
// initilaize ViewHolder
holder = new ViewHolder();
// get views that are inside the xml
holder.imageView = (ImageView)xmlTemplate.findViewById(R.id.add_lvrow_image);
holder.titleView = (TextView)xmlTemplate.findViewById(R.id.add_lvrow_title);
// set tag
xmlTemplate.setTag(holder);
}else{
holder = (ViewHolder)xmlTemplate.getTag();
}
// Get image details from List<ImageBean>
ImageBean bean = beanList.get(position);
String imageUri = bean.getImageUri();
String title = bean.getImageTitle();
// Set Holder ImageView bitmap; Use parent activity's ImageHandler to load image into Holder's ImageView.
((AddActivity)context).getImageHandler().loadBitmap(imageUri, holder.imageView, Constants.LISTVIEW_XML_WIDTH, Constants.LISTVIEW_XML_HEIGHT);
// Set Holder's TextView.
holder.titleView.setText(title);
// return view
return xmlTemplate;
}
}

Solved. After putting log statements in strategic places I discovered the RetainedFragment's list was always null. After some head scratching noticed this in RetainedFragment:
fm.beginTransaction().add(fragment, TAG);
I'm missing the commit()!
After I added that the state is being preserved now with configuration changes.
More information related to saving ListFragment state that I discovered during my trials and tribulations:
If you add a fragment via:
if(savedInstanceState == null){
listFrag = new ListViewFragment();
// programmatically add fragment to ViewGroup
FragmentTransaction ft = getFragmentManager().beginTransaction();
ft.add(R.id.add_fragFrame, listFrag, LVF_TAG);
}
Then either of these will work in the else:
1) This one works because Android takes care of saving the Fragment:
listFrag = (ListViewFragment)getFragmentManager().findFragmentByTag(LVF_TAG);
2) This one works because the fragment was specifically saved into bundle in
onSaveInstanceState:
listFrag = (ListViewFragment)getFragmentManager().getFragment(savedInstanceState, LVF_TAG);
For number 2 to work, this happens in onSaveInstanceState():
#Override
protected void onSaveInstanceState(Bundle outState) {
super.onSaveInstanceState(outState);
getFragmentManager().putFragment(outState, LVF_TAG, listFrag);
}

ViewPager and Activity recreation / persisting data in fragments after activity onDestroy-onCreate

I wrote an activity with ViewPager, which gets populated after an AsyncTask is executed. Each TestDataObject is tied to the relevant TestFragment. When the screen is rotated the application crushes due to a NullPointerException inside onCreateView method. I believe this is because of ViewPager/Adapter onSaveInstanceState methods, onCreateView tries to restore data prior to the AsyncTask data load when data isn't available yet.
I could just if onCreateView code but it doesn't feel to me like a right solution, because amount of fragments inside ViewPager might vary so it might end up doing unnecessary job: restore altered viewpager content and then replace with initial. In this case onSaveInstanceState seems to be excessively harmful. Presumably, I could extend ViewPager or Adapter to cancel save procedure - I find it weird as well.
Do you have any better suggestions to offer?
public class MainActivity extends LoggerActivity {
private ArrayList<TestDataObject> mDataObjects = new ArrayList<MainActivity.TestDataObject>();
private ViewPager mViewPager;
private TestFragmentAdapter mViewPagerAdapter;
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
mViewPager = (ViewPager) findViewById(R.id.pager);
mViewPagerAdapter = new TestFragmentAdapter(
getSupportFragmentManager(), mDataObjects);
mViewPager.setAdapter(mViewPagerAdapter);
new TestAsyncTask().execute();
}
private class TestAsyncTask extends AsyncTask<Void, Void, Void> {
#Override
protected Void doInBackground(Void... params) {
try {
TimeUnit.SECONDS.sleep(3);
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
// TODO Auto-generated catch block
e.printStackTrace();
}
return null;
}
#Override
protected void onPostExecute(Void result) {
super.onPostExecute(result);
mDataObjects.add(new TestDataObject());
mDataObjects.add(new TestDataObject());
mDataObjects.add(new TestDataObject());
mViewPagerAdapter.notifyDataSetChanged();
}
}
public static class TestFragment extends Fragment {
private TestDataObject mDataObject;
public static TestFragment getInstance(TestDataObject obj) {
TestFragment f = new TestFragment();
f.mDataObject = obj;
return f;
}
#Override
public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container,
Bundle savedInstanceState) {
// layout.find...
mDataObject.toString();
return inflater.inflate(R.layout.fragment_test, null, false);
}
}
public static class TestFragmentAdapter extends FragmentStatePagerAdapter {
private List<TestDataObject> mDataObjects;
public TestFragmentAdapter(FragmentManager fm, List<TestDataObject> objs) {
super(fm);
mDataObjects = objs;
}
#Override
public Fragment getItem(int position) {
return TestFragment.getInstance(mDataObjects.get(position));
}
#Override
public int getCount() {
return mDataObjects == null ? 0 : mDataObjects.size();
}
}
public static class TestDataObject {
}
}

I believe this is because of ViewPager/Adapter onSaveInstanceState
methods. onCreateView tries to restore data prior to the asynctask
dataload when data isn't available yet.
That is not what is happening(I'm assuming you get the exception at mDataObject.toString();), even if the AsyncTask would finish its job instantaneously the exception will still be thrown. After the first run of the app the ViewPager will have three fragments in it. When you'll turn the phone the Activity will be destroyed an recreated again. The ViewPager will try to recreate the fragments in it, but this time it will do it by using the default empty constructor(that is why you shouldn't use a non empty constructor to pass data). As you can see, the first time the Fragment is created by the adapter it will be created by the getInstance method(that is also the only point where you initialize mDataObject) to which you pass a TestDataObject object. When the ViewPager reinitializes its fragments that field will not be initialized as well.
If TestDataObject can be put in a Bundle then you could simply adapt your getInstance method to pass some arguments to your fragments(so the data field will be initialized when the ViewPager will recreate them). I'm sure you've seen:
public static TestFragment getInstance(TestDataObject obj) {
TestFragment f = new TestFragment();
// f.mDataObject = obj; <- don't do this
// if possible
Bundle args = new Bundle();
args.put("data", obj); // only if obj can be put in a Bundle
f.setArguments(args);
return f;
}
private TestDataObject mDataObject;
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstance) {
mDataObject = getArguments().get("data"); // again, depends on your TestDataObject
}
Another approach would be to pass the smallest amount of data to the Fragment(like above) so it has enough information to recreate it's data whenever it's recreated.

Android. Fragment getActivity() sometimes returns null

In developer console error reports sometimes I see reports with NPE issue. I do not understand what is wrong with my code. On emulator and my device application works good without forcecloses, however some users get NullPointerException in fragment class when the getActivity() method is called.
Activity
pulic class MyActivity extends FragmentActivity{
private ViewPager pager;
private TitlePageIndicator indicator;
private TabsAdapter adapter;
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
pager = (ViewPager) findViewById(R.id.pager);
indicator = (TitlePageIndicator) findViewById(R.id.indicator);
adapter = new TabsAdapter(getSupportFragmentManager(), false);
adapter.addFragment(new FirstFragment());
adapter.addFragment(new SecondFragment());
indicator.notifyDataSetChanged();
adapter.notifyDataSetChanged();
// push first task
FirstTask firstTask = new FirstTask(MyActivity.this);
// set first fragment as listener
firstTask.setTaskListener((TaskListener) adapter.getItem(0));
firstTask.execute();
}
indicator.setOnPageChangeListener(new ViewPager.OnPageChangeListener() {
#Override
public void onPageSelected(int position) {
Fragment currentFragment = adapter.getItem(position);
((Taskable) currentFragment).executeTask();
}
#Override
public void onPageScrolled(int i, float v, int i1) {}
#Override
public void onPageScrollStateChanged(int i) {}
});
}
AsyncTask class
public class FirstTask extends AsyncTask{
private TaskListener taskListener;
...
#Override
protected void onPostExecute(T result) {
...
taskListener.onTaskComplete(result);
}
}
Fragment class
public class FirstFragment extends Fragment immplements Taskable, TaskListener{
public FirstFragment() {
}
#Override
public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container, Bundle savedInstanceState) {
return inflater.inflate(R.layout.first_view, container, false);
}
#Override
public void executeTask() {
FirstTask firstTask = new FirstTask(MyActivity.this);
firstTask.setTaskListener(this);
firstTask.execute();
}
#Override
public void onTaskComplete(T result) {
// NPE is here
Resources res = getActivity().getResources();
...
}
}
Maybe this error happens when applications resumed from background. In this case how I should handle this situation properly?

It seems that I found a solution to my problem.
Very good explanations are given here and here.
Here is my example:
pulic class MyActivity extends FragmentActivity{
private ViewPager pager;
private TitlePageIndicator indicator;
private TabsAdapter adapter;
private Bundle savedInstanceState;
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
....
this.savedInstanceState = savedInstanceState;
pager = (ViewPager) findViewById(R.id.pager);;
indicator = (TitlePageIndicator) findViewById(R.id.indicator);
adapter = new TabsAdapter(getSupportFragmentManager(), false);
if (savedInstanceState == null){
adapter.addFragment(new FirstFragment());
adapter.addFragment(new SecondFragment());
}else{
Integer count = savedInstanceState.getInt("tabsCount");
String[] titles = savedInstanceState.getStringArray("titles");
for (int i = 0; i < count; i++){
adapter.addFragment(getFragment(i), titles[i]);
}
}
indicator.notifyDataSetChanged();
adapter.notifyDataSetChanged();
// push first task
FirstTask firstTask = new FirstTask(MyActivity.this);
// set first fragment as listener
firstTask.setTaskListener((TaskListener) getFragment(0));
firstTask.execute();
}
private Fragment getFragment(int position){
return savedInstanceState == null ? adapter.getItem(position) : getSupportFragmentManager().findFragmentByTag(getFragmentTag(position));
}
private String getFragmentTag(int position) {
return "android:switcher:" + R.id.pager + ":" + position;
}
#Override
protected void onSaveInstanceState(Bundle outState) {
super.onSaveInstanceState(outState);
outState.putInt("tabsCount", adapter.getCount());
outState.putStringArray("titles", adapter.getTitles().toArray(new String[0]));
}
indicator.setOnPageChangeListener(new ViewPager.OnPageChangeListener() {
#Override
public void onPageSelected(int position) {
Fragment currentFragment = adapter.getItem(position);
((Taskable) currentFragment).executeTask();
}
#Override
public void onPageScrolled(int i, float v, int i1) {}
#Override
public void onPageScrollStateChanged(int i) {}
});
The main idea in this code is that, while running your application normally, you create new fragments and pass them to the adapter. When you are resuming your application fragment manager already has this fragment's instance and you need to get it from fragment manager and pass it to the adapter.
UPDATE
Also, it is a good practice when using fragments to check isAdded before getActivity() is called. This helps avoid a null pointer exception when the fragment is detached from the activity. For example, an activity could contain a fragment that pushes an async task. When the task is finished, the onTaskComplete listener is called.
#Override
public void onTaskComplete(List<Feed> result) {
progress.setVisibility(View.GONE);
progress.setIndeterminate(false);
list.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
if (isAdded()) {
adapter = new FeedAdapter(getActivity(), R.layout.feed_item, result);
list.setAdapter(adapter);
adapter.notifyDataSetChanged();
}
}
If we open the fragment, push a task, and then quickly press back to return to a previous activity, when the task is finished, it will try to access the activity in onPostExecute() by calling the getActivity() method. If the activity is already detached and this check is not there:
if (isAdded())
then the application crashes.

Ok, I know that this question is actually solved but I decided to share my solution for this. I've created abstract parent class for my Fragment:
public abstract class ABaseFragment extends Fragment{
protected IActivityEnabledListener aeListener;
protected interface IActivityEnabledListener{
void onActivityEnabled(FragmentActivity activity);
}
protected void getAvailableActivity(IActivityEnabledListener listener){
if (getActivity() == null){
aeListener = listener;
} else {
listener.onActivityEnabled(getActivity());
}
}
#Override
public void onAttach(Activity activity) {
super.onAttach(activity);
if (aeListener != null){
aeListener.onActivityEnabled((FragmentActivity) activity);
aeListener = null;
}
}
#Override
public void onAttach(Context context) {
super.onAttach(context);
if (aeListener != null){
aeListener.onActivityEnabled((FragmentActivity) context);
aeListener = null;
}
}
}
As you can see, I've added a listener so, whenever I'll need to get Fragments Activity instead of standard getActivity(), I'll need to call
getAvailableActivity(new IActivityEnabledListener() {
#Override
public void onActivityEnabled(FragmentActivity activity) {
// Do manipulations with your activity
}
});

The best to get rid of this is to keep activity reference when onAttach is called and use the activity reference wherever needed, for e.g.
#Override
public void onAttach(Context context) {
super.onAttach(context);
mContext = context;
}
#Override
public void onDetach() {
super.onDetach();
mContext = null;
}
Edited, since onAttach(Activity) is depreciated & now onAttach(Context) is being used

Don't call methods within the Fragment that require getActivity() until onStart in the parent Activity.
private MyFragment myFragment;
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState)
{
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
FragmentTransaction ft = getSupportFragmentManager().beginTransaction();
myFragment = new MyFragment();
ft.add(android.R.id.content, youtubeListFragment).commit();
//Other init calls
//...
}
#Override
public void onStart()
{
super.onStart();
//Call your Fragment functions that uses getActivity()
myFragment.onPageSelected();
}

I've been battling this kind of problem for a while, and I think I've come up with a reliable solution.
It's pretty difficult to know for sure that this.getActivity() isn't going to return null for a Fragment, especially if you're dealing with any kind of network behaviour which gives your code ample time to withdraw Activity references.
In the solution below, I declare a small management class called the ActivityBuffer. Essentially, this class deals with maintaining a reliable reference to an owning Activity, and promising to execute Runnables within a valid Activity context whenever there's a valid reference available. The Runnables are scheduled for execution on the UI Thread immediately if the Context is available, otherwise execution is deferred until that Context is ready.
/** A class which maintains a list of transactions to occur when Context becomes available. */
public final class ActivityBuffer {
/** A class which defines operations to execute once there's an available Context. */
public interface IRunnable {
/** Executes when there's an available Context. Ideally, will it operate immediately. */
void run(final Activity pActivity);
}
/* Member Variables. */
private Activity mActivity;
private final List<IRunnable> mRunnables;
/** Constructor. */
public ActivityBuffer() {
// Initialize Member Variables.
this.mActivity = null;
this.mRunnables = new ArrayList<IRunnable>();
}
/** Executes the Runnable if there's an available Context. Otherwise, defers execution until it becomes available. */
public final void safely(final IRunnable pRunnable) {
// Synchronize along the current instance.
synchronized(this) {
// Do we have a context available?
if(this.isContextAvailable()) {
// Fetch the Activity.
final Activity lActivity = this.getActivity();
// Execute the Runnable along the Activity.
lActivity.runOnUiThread(new Runnable() { #Override public final void run() { pRunnable.run(lActivity); } });
}
else {
// Buffer the Runnable so that it's ready to receive a valid reference.
this.getRunnables().add(pRunnable);
}
}
}
/** Called to inform the ActivityBuffer that there's an available Activity reference. */
public final void onContextGained(final Activity pActivity) {
// Synchronize along ourself.
synchronized(this) {
// Update the Activity reference.
this.setActivity(pActivity);
// Are there any Runnables awaiting execution?
if(!this.getRunnables().isEmpty()) {
// Iterate the Runnables.
for(final IRunnable lRunnable : this.getRunnables()) {
// Execute the Runnable on the UI Thread.
pActivity.runOnUiThread(new Runnable() { #Override public final void run() {
// Execute the Runnable.
lRunnable.run(pActivity);
} });
}
// Empty the Runnables.
this.getRunnables().clear();
}
}
}
/** Called to inform the ActivityBuffer that the Context has been lost. */
public final void onContextLost() {
// Synchronize along ourself.
synchronized(this) {
// Remove the Context reference.
this.setActivity(null);
}
}
/** Defines whether there's a safe Context available for the ActivityBuffer. */
public final boolean isContextAvailable() {
// Synchronize upon ourself.
synchronized(this) {
// Return the state of the Activity reference.
return (this.getActivity() != null);
}
}
/* Getters and Setters. */
private final void setActivity(final Activity pActivity) {
this.mActivity = pActivity;
}
private final Activity getActivity() {
return this.mActivity;
}
private final List<IRunnable> getRunnables() {
return this.mRunnables;
}
}
In terms of its implementation, we must take care to apply the life cycle methods to coincide with the behaviour described above by Pawan M:
public class BaseFragment extends Fragment {
/* Member Variables. */
private ActivityBuffer mActivityBuffer;
public BaseFragment() {
// Implement the Parent.
super();
// Allocate the ActivityBuffer.
this.mActivityBuffer = new ActivityBuffer();
}
#Override
public final void onAttach(final Context pContext) {
// Handle as usual.
super.onAttach(pContext);
// Is the Context an Activity?
if(pContext instanceof Activity) {
// Cast Accordingly.
final Activity lActivity = (Activity)pContext;
// Inform the ActivityBuffer.
this.getActivityBuffer().onContextGained(lActivity);
}
}
#Deprecated #Override
public final void onAttach(final Activity pActivity) {
// Handle as usual.
super.onAttach(pActivity);
// Inform the ActivityBuffer.
this.getActivityBuffer().onContextGained(pActivity);
}
#Override
public final void onDetach() {
// Handle as usual.
super.onDetach();
// Inform the ActivityBuffer.
this.getActivityBuffer().onContextLost();
}
/* Getters. */
public final ActivityBuffer getActivityBuffer() {
return this.mActivityBuffer;
}
}
Finally, in any areas within your Fragment that extends BaseFragment that you're untrustworthy about a call to getActivity(), simply make a call to this.getActivityBuffer().safely(...) and declare an ActivityBuffer.IRunnable for the task!
The contents of your void run(final Activity pActivity) are then guaranteed to execute along the UI Thread.
The ActivityBuffer can then be used as follows:
this.getActivityBuffer().safely(
new ActivityBuffer.IRunnable() {
#Override public final void run(final Activity pActivity) {
// Do something with guaranteed Context.
}
}
);

#Override
public void onActivityCreated(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onActivityCreated(savedInstanceState);
// run the code making use of getActivity() from here
}

I know this is a old question but i think i must provide my answer to it because my problem was not solved by others.
first of all : i was dynamically adding fragments using fragmentTransactions.
Second: my fragments were modified using AsyncTasks (DB queries on a server).
Third: my fragment was not instantiated at activity start
Fourth: i used a custom fragment instantiation "create or load it" in order to get the fragment variable.
Fourth: activity was recreated because of orientation change
The problem was that i wanted to "remove" the fragment because of the query answer, but the fragment was incorrectly created just before. I don't know why, probably because of the "commit" be done later, the fragment was not added yet when it was time to remove it. Therefore getActivity() was returning null.
Solution :
1)I had to check that i was correctly trying to find the first instance of the fragment before creating a new one
2)I had to put serRetainInstance(true) on that fragment in order to keep it through orientation change (no backstack needed therefore no problem)
3)Instead of "recreating or getting old fragment" just before "remove it", I directly put the fragment at activity start.
Instantiating it at activity start instead of "loading" (or instantiating) the fragment variable before removing it prevented getActivity problems.

In Kotlin you can try this way to handle getActivity() null condition.
activity?.let { // activity == getActivity() in java
//your code here
}
It will check activity is null or not and if not null then execute inner code.