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Editing data in repository pattern using RxJava

I'm refactoring the implementation of my repositories using RxJava so i want to know some ways to edit, for example, a user.
My getUser(email: String), with email as id, is returning an observable and in the repository implementation i either get the data from database or server, all good by now.
What i want to achieve is editing a user. For that i would have and update(user: User) function, and the naive way to use it would be
userRepository.getUser(email)
.subscribeOn(Schedulers.io())
.subscribe { user ->
user.name = "antoher name"
userRepository.update(user)
.subscribeOn(Schedulers.io())
.subscribe {
//handle response
}
}
Is there a way to avoid this type of call of an observer inside an observer? It is not very readable for me and i guess there's a better way but i'm not getting it.
NOTE: I'm using clean architecture, so i think an update for every field, making me get user in data module is not correct as i would have subscribe to an observer in data, and that difficult the dispose when activity destroys
For me is not the same question as When do you use map vs flatMap in RxJava? because, despite of flatMap being the thing that answer the question, it is not the same question, so anyone who has the same problem/question but don't know that flatmap is the answer, will never reach to use flatmap.

One strength of using RxJava is that you can chain as many async operations (method that would return Observable or Single, repository methods in your case) as you want without falling into callback hells. You see in your code that there are nested subscribe blocks. What if you had to chain more async network operations? You fall into callback hells and the code will become harder to follow and maintain.
Removing nested callbacks and making code more functional, compositional, and readable is one thing RxJava is really good at. In the intro part of ReactiveX website , they mention about this in the intro part of ReactiveX website (http://reactivex.io/intro.html).
Callbacks solve the problem of premature blocking on Future.get() by
not allowing anything to block. They are naturally efficient because
they execute when the response is ready.
But as with Futures, while callbacks are easy to use with a single
level of asynchronous execution, with nested composition they become
unwieldy.
Flatmap operator is to the rescue here. You can look into the definition of flatMap operator in the link below.
http://reactivex.io/documentation/operators/flatmap.html
Below is the code I would use in your case.
userRepository.getUser(email)
.subscribeOn(Schedulers.io())
.map { user -> user.name = "another name"; return user; }
.flatMap { user -> userRepository.update(user) }
.doOnSuccess { /* handle response here */ } // doOnNext if you are using observable
.subscribe({ /* or handle response here */ }, { /* must handle error here */})
Flatmap operator flattens Single of update response which will be returned by your repository's update method and pass just the response downstream. Above code is not only easier to read but also makes your code reusable because update logic is now part of the chain.
Distinguishing between map and flatMap is really important in exploiting the full benefit of RxJava so it will be really beneficial to get used to it!

RxJava: Merge an observable with a completable based on the result of the first emission of the observable

I have an observable that continually emits but I need to run a completable on a condition based on the first emission of the observable. The observable will continue to emit even when the completable has completed. I have tried looking around for an operator that does this, but I can't find one. How can I possibly achieve this?

Something like that -
observable
.flatMap(value -> {
return (value == something ? completableThatDoesSomething : Completable.complete())
.andThen(Observable.just(value));
})

Starting an asynchronous operation using RxJava without subscribing to an observable?

Let's say your DAO has this method that updates user records in the DB:
#Update
fun update(user: User): Single<Int>
Recently I started learning RxJava and so far I have seen lots examples like following:
// Example 1
disposable.add(dao.updateUser(user)
.subscribeOn(Schedulers.io())
.observeOn(AndroidSchedulers.mainThread())
.subscribe {
Log.d(TAG, "response received")
}
In the above example, I understand that as soon as the subscription starts, updateUser() will be executed on a worker thread and the subscriber will be notified and run in the main thread once the execution completes.
But what if you are not interested in the result of updateUser(), and all you want is just to execute updateUser() on a worker thread?
So far I have tried doing:
// Example 2
dao.updateUser(user)
or
// Example 3
dao.updateUser(user).subscribeOn(Schedulers.io())
But they didn't work. It seems the update requests are never executed, nothing was logged and records didn't change. I am guessing that's because there isn't any subscriber attached to it.
For now I am forcing it to work by attaching a random subscriber that doesn't really do anything like the one in Example 1. One of the problems with the approach is that I might need to make this request a lot and that might create a lot of dummy subscribers, not to mention that the code looks really bad.
Could you help me find a better way of handling this?

But You already wrote answer for Your question.
You can just call:
dao.updateUser(user).subscribe()
If You want manipulate / jump between thread you are doing something like in Example 1.

Calling RXJava2 Completable in a cascade

Usually to implement cascading tasks we use flatMap .
Like ObserableA.flatMap(A->ObserableB)
However I have a situation in which I would want to have two Completables that are interdependent.
Completable OperationA;
Completable OperationB;
I need OperationB to only execute after Operation A. Since there are no flatmap operators in Completable , how should I go about the situation?

You can use the andThen operator from the first Completable.
http://reactivex.io/RxJava/2.x/javadoc/io/reactivex/Completable.html#andThen-io.reactivex.CompletableSource-

RxJava Observable based on items on a list

I need an Observable that never ends, and just process some data and chain another observable when there are items on a list. Is there any way of accomplish that, and what would be the best approach=?
My closest idea was to create a timer observable and check every x seconds if there are items on the list. This idea is not ideal, because i need to process the data as soon as there are values on that list, which i modify outside the observable chain.
return Observable.timer(2, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
.flatMap(integer -> captureList.getLatestCaptureCut())
.flatMap(vp::processVideo)
.observeOn(AndroidSchedulers.mainThread())
.repeat()

I think you can use Subject, and push your next items there.
PublishSubject<Integer> subject = PublishSubject.<Integer>create();
subject.flatMap(integer -> captureList.getLatestCaptureCut())
.flatMap(vp::processVideo)
.observeOn(AndroidSchedulers.mainThread())
.subscribe();
//push new items
subject.onNext(0);
subject.onNext(1);

I would suggest a PublishSubject in your CaptureList class. Instead of providing a pull method getLatestCaptureCut(), you could provide a push method, with a Subject:
PublishSubject<VP> captured = PublishSubject.create();
You could then .subscribe() to the PublishSubject and process the data when they come in.
In your CaptureList you would call
captured.onNext(vp);
every time new data is available. For instance, in your setLatestCaptureCut(). I'm assuming you already have some kind of routine that generates the CaptureCut and store it, to make it available in getLatestCaptureCut().