Develop Reference

one-shot operation with Flow in Android

I'm trying to show a user information in DetailActivity. So, I request a data and get a data for the user from server. but in this case, the return type is Flow<User>. Let me show you the following code.
ServiceApi.kt
#GET("endpoint")
suspend fun getUser(#Query("id") id: Int): Response<User>
Repository.kt
fun getUser(id: Int): Flow<User> = flow<User> {
val userResponse = api.getUser(id = id)
if (userResponse.isSuccessful) {
val user = userResponse.body()
emit(user)
}
}
.flowOn(Dispatchers.IO)
.catch { // send error }
DetailViewModel.kt
class DetailViewModel(
private val repository : Repository
) {
val uiState: StateFlow<User> = repository.getUser(id = 369).stateIn(
scope = viewModelScope,
started = SharingStarted.WhileSubscribed(5000),
initialValue = User() // empty user
)
}
DetailActivity.kt
class DetailActivity: AppCompatActivity() {
....
initObersevers() {
lifecycleScope.launch {
// i used the `flowWithLifecycle` because the data is just a single object.
viewModel.uiState.flowWithLifecycle(lifecycle, Lifecycle.State.STARTED).collect { state ->
// show data
}
}
}
...
}
But, all of sudden, I just realized that this process is just an one-shot operation and thought i can use suspend function and return User in Repository.kt.
So, i changed the Repository.kt.
Repository.kt(changed)
suspend fun getUser(id: Int): User {
val userResponse = api.getUser(id = id)
return if(userResponse.isSuccessful) {
response.body()
} else {
User() // empty user
}
}
And in DetailViewModel, i want to convert the User into StateFlow<User> because of observing from DetailActivity and I'm going to use it the same way as before by using flowWithLifecycle.
the concept is... i thought it's just one single data and i dind't need to use Flow in Repository. because it's not several items like List.
is this way correct or not??

Yeap, this one-time flow doesn't make any sense - it emits only once and that's it.
You've got two different ways. First - is to create a state flow in your repo and emit there any values each time you're doing your GET request. This flow will be exposed to the use case and VM levels. I would say that it leads to more difficult error handling (I'm not fond of this way, but these things are always arguable, haha), but it also has some pros like caching, you can always show/get the previous results.
Second way is to leave your request as a simple suspend function which sends a request, returns the result of it back to your VM (skipping error handling here to be simple):
val userFlow: Flow<User>
get() = _userFlow
private val _userFlow = MutableStateFlow(User())
fun getUser() = launch(viewModelScope) {
_userFlow.value = repository.getUser()
}
This kind of implementation doesn't provide any cache out of scope of this VM's lifecycle, but it's easy to test and use.
So it's not like there is only one "the-coolest-way-to-do-it", it's rather a question what suits you more for your needs.

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...

Android WorkManager - Can I pass input data to a Worker that runs periodically?

In my app I start a WebSocketWorker tasks that runs periodically every 15 minutes. As the name implies, it contains a WebSocket for listening to a socket in the background:
// MainApplication.kt
override fun onCreate() {
super.onCreate()
if (BuildConfig.DEBUG) {
Timber.plant(DebugTree())
}
val work = PeriodicWorkRequestBuilder<WebSocketWorker>(15, TimeUnit.MINUTES).build()
workManager.enqueueUniquePeriodicWork("UniqueWebSocketWorker", ExistingPeriodicWorkPolicy.KEEP, work)
}
The WebSocketWorker contains the following logic:
#HiltWorker
class WebSocketWorker #AssistedInject constructor(
#Assisted appContext: Context,
#Assisted workerParams: WorkerParameters
) : CoroutineWorker(appContext, workerParams) {
inner class MyWebSocketListener : WebSocketListener() {
override fun onMessage(webSocket: WebSocket, text: String) {
Timber.d("The message sent is %s", text)
// do sth. with the message
}
override fun onFailure(webSocket: WebSocket, t: Throwable, response: Response?) {
t.localizedMessage?.let { Timber.e("onFailure: %s", it) }
response?.message?.let { Timber.e("onFailure: %s", it) }
}
}
override suspend fun doWork(): Result {
try{
// code to be executed
val request = Request.Builder().url("ws://***.***.**.***:8000/ws/chat/lobby/").build()
val myWebSocketListener = MyWebSocketListener()
val client = OkHttpClient()
client.newWebSocket(request, myWebSocketListener)
return Result.success()
}
catch (throwable:Throwable){
Timber.e("There is a failure")
Timber.e("throwable.localizedMessage: %s", throwable.localizedMessage)
// clean up and log
return Result.failure()
}
}
}
As you can see, in the Worker class I set the WebSocket and everything is fine. Listening to the socket works.
Now, I also want to add the "sending of messages" functionality to my app. How can I reuse the websocket created in WebSocketWorker? Can I pass input data to the WebSocketWorker that runs in the background ?
Let's say I have a EditText for typing the message and a Button to send the message with a setOnClickListener attached like this:
binding.sendButton.setOnClickListener {
// get message
val message = binding.chatMessageEditText.text.toString()
// check if not empty
if(message.isNotEmpty()) {
// HOW CAN I REUSE THE WEBSOCKET RUNNING PERIODICALLY IN THE BACKGROUND?
// CAN I PASS THE MESSAGE TO THAT WEBSOCKET ?
// OR SHOULD I CREATE A DIFFERENT WORKER FOR SENDING MESSAGES (e.g.: a OneTimeRequest<SendMessageWorker> for sending messages ?
}
}
From the documentation, I know that you need to build Data objects for passing inputs and so on but there was no example which showcased how to pass input to a worker running periodically in the background.

My experience is saying that you can. Basically you "can't" interact with the worker object via the API. It is really annoying.
For example, with the JS you have the option to get a job and check the parameters of the job. There is no such option with the work. For example, I want to check what is the current state of the restrictions - what is satisfied, what is not. Nothing like this. You can just check states, cancel and that is almost all.
My suggestions is that it is because the WorkManager is a "facade/adapter" over other libraries like JS. It has it's own DB to restore JS jobs on device restart and stuff like this, but beside that if you want to interact with the internals I guess it was just too complicated for them to do so they just skipped.
You can just inject some other object and every time the work can ask it for it's data. I don't see other option.

android coroutines flow manual retry

I'm using stateFlow in my viewModel to get the result of api calls with a sealed class like this :
sealed class Resource<out T> {
data class Loading<T>(val data: T?): Resource<T>()
data class Success<T>(val data: T?): Resource<T>()
data class Error<T>(val error: Exception, val data: T?, val time: Long = System.currentTimeMillis()): Resource<Nothing>()
}
class VehicleViewModel #ViewModelInject constructor(application: Application, private val vehicleRepository: VehicleRepository): BaseViewModel(application) {
val vehiclesResource: StateFlow<Resource<List<Vehicle>>> = vehicleRepository.getVehicles().shareIn(viewModelScope, SharingStarted.Eagerly, replay = 1)
}
I would like to propose in my UI a button so that if the api call fails, the user can retry the call. I know there is a retry method on flows but it can not be called manually as it is only triggered when an exception occurs.
A common use case would be: The user have no internet connection, when the api call returns a network exception, I show a message to the user telling him to check its connection, then with a retry button (or by detecting that the device is now connected, whatever), I retry the flow.
But I can't figure a way to do it as you can not, like call flow.retry(). The actual retry method will be called as soon as an exception occurs. I don't want to retry immediately without asking the user to check it's connection, it wouldn't make sense.
Actually the only solution I found is to recreate the activity when the retry button is pressed so the flow will be reseted, but it's terrible for performances of course.
Without flows the solution is simple and there is plenties of examples , you just have to relaunch the job, but I can't find a way to do it properly with flows. I have logic in my repository between the local room database and the remote service and the flow api is really nice so I would like to use it for this use case too.

I recommend keep the vehicleResource as a field in viewmodel and call a function to make an API call to fetch data.
private val _vehiclesResource = MutableStateFlow<Resource<List<Vehicle>>>(Resource.Loading(emptyList()))
val vehiclesResource: StateFlow<Resource<List<Vehicle>>> = _vehiclesResource.asStateFlow()
init {
fetchVehicles()
}
private var vehicleJob : Job? = null
fun fetchVehicles() {
vehicleJob?.cancel()
vehicleJob = viewModelScope.launch {
vehicleRepository.getVehicles().collect {
_vehiclesResource.value = it
}
}
}
The API will be called in the constructor of viewmodel. And also you can call this function via the view (button's click listener) for error state.
P.S: I should mention that this line of your code has issue and SharedFlow couldn't be cast to StateFlow.
val vehiclesResource: StateFlow<Resource<List<Vehicle>>> = vehicleRepository.getVehicles().shareIn(viewModelScope, SharingStarted.Eagerly, replay = 1)

How to handle asynchronous operation in Workmanager Android?

I am using workmanager to upload image file to server and want to pass uploaded imagepath to next worker but Result.success(output) gets called before upload function complete.
class UploadImageWorker(context: Context, workerParameters: WorkerParameters) : RxWorker(context, workerParameters) {
override fun createWork(): Single<Result> {
return Single.fromCallable {
//UploadImageFile()
//updating output
}.map{
Result.success(output)
}
}
}

Success, in this case, is only reporting that the job fired successfully, it is not a measure of the work itself.
You should just use the worker to hand off the work and do something like:
MyFactory.ImageFactory.UploadImageFile(file)
Then inside your ImageFactory use Observer pattern or something similar to subscribe to the state of your UploadImageFile. This would be the true measure of success.

You should use RxWorker. You can return a Single<Result>. Read the documentation for RxWorker for more information.
https://developer.android.com/reference/androidx/work/RxWorker