Develop Reference

How do we cast context to fragment reference?

I have a class 'Common' and a fragment 'FragmentTest'. The 'Common.java' is a general class that have some common functions for other activities..Those functions are accessed by context of each activities.. And here I am passing the fragment's context to a function in that class. I am doing like this
In Fragment :-
Common commonObj = new Common();
commonObj.myfunction(this.getActivity(),"Do you want to Update ?");
And in Class after some operation i'm trying to return back to fragment class.Like this
:-
public void myfunction(Context context , String str){
//....//
if(context.getClass().isInstance(FragmentTest.class)){
**FragmentTest mContext = (FragmentTest)context;**
mContext.FunctionInFragment();
}
}
But i have error in this..Because i cannot cast the context to fragment reference.
Somebody please help..

Firstly you can't cast a Context to a Fragment as Fragment doesn't extend Context. Activity does extend Context which is why when you do this from an Activity what you are trying works.
I'd suggest ideally that the methods in your Common class should be totally unaware of the existence of your Fragment. This way they are not 'coupled' together. To achieve this you can use a callback interface.
Create an interface as follows:
public interface Callback<T> {
onNext(T result);
}
Then you can change your method in Common to the following:
public void myfunction(Callback<Void> callback , String str){
//....//
callback.onNext(null);
}
Then when you call the method in Common from the Fragment you would do it like this:
Common commonObj = new Common();
commonObj.myfunction(
new Callback<Void>() {
#Override
public void onNext(Void result) {
functionInFragment();
}
},
"Do you want to Update ?"
);
If you needed to send data back to the function then you can change the return type of the callback. For instance if you wanted to pass back a string you would use Callback<String> and then the method in the original call would look like this:
new Callback<String>() {
#Override
public void onNext(String result) {
}
}
And in your Common class you would call it like this:
public void myfunction(Callback<String> callback , String str){
//....//
String result = "Hello from common";
callback.onNext(result);
}

You can do something like this:
public void myfunction(BaseFragment fragment, String str){
//....//
if(fragment.getClass().isInstance(FragmentTest.class)){
FragmentTest fr = (FragmentTest) fragment;
fr.FunctionInFragment();
}
}
i.e. using some base fragment(BaseFragment) and inherit from it.

Android MVP Strategy

I am migrating my apps to MVP. Have taken hints on a static presenter pattern from this konmik
This is my brief MVP strategy. Removed most of the boilerplate and MVP listeners for brevity. This strategy has helped me orientation change proof my background processes. The activity correctly recovers from a normal pause compared to pause which is finishing the activity. Also the Presenter only has application context so it does not hold onto activity context.
I am not a java expert and this is my first foray into MVP and using a static presenter has made me uncomfortable. Am I missing something? My app is working fine and has become much more responsive.
View
public class MainActivity extends Activity{
private static Presenter presenter;
protected void onResume() {
if (presenter == null)
presenter = new Presenter(this.getApplicationContext());
presenter.onSetView(this);
presenter.onResume();
}
protected void onPause() {
presenter.onSetView(null);
if(isFinishing())presenter.onPause();
}
}
Presenter
public class Presenter {
private MainActivity view;
Context context;
public Model model;
public Presenter(Context context) {
this.context = context;
model = new Model(context);
}
public void onSetView(MainActivity view) {
this.view = view;
}
public void onResume(){
model.resume();
}
public void onPause(){
model.pause();
}
}
Model
public class Model {
public Model(Context context){
this.context = context;
}
public void resume(){
//start data acquisition HandlerThreads
}
public void pause(){
//stop HandlerThreads
}
}

I would suggest two things.
Make Model, View, and Presenter into interfaces.
Your MVP-View (an Activity, Fragment, or View) should be so simple it does not need to be tested.
Your MVP-Presenter never directly interacts with the Activity/Fragment/View so it can be tested with JUnit. If you have dependencies on the Android Framework is bad for testing because you need to Mock out Android objects, use emulator, or use a Testing Framework like Roboelectric that can be really slow.
As an example of the interfaces:
interface MVPView {
void setText(String str);
}
interface MVPPresenter {
void onButtonClicked();
void onBind(MVPView view);
void onUnbind();
}
The MVPPresenter class now does not depend on the Android Framework:
class MyPresenter implements MVPPresenter{
MVPView view;
#Override void bind(MVPView view){ this.view = view; }
#Override void unbind() {this.view = null; }
#Override void onButtonClicked(){
view.setText("Button is Clicked!");
}
}
Instead of making the Presenter a static class, I would make it a Retained Fragment. Static objects need to be tracked carefully and removed for GC manually whenever they are not needed (otherwise it's considered a memory leak). By using a retain fragment, it is much easier to control the lifetime of the presenter. When the fragment that owns the retain fragment finishes, the retain fragment is also destroyed and the memory can be GC'd. See here for an example.

Activity, Fragments should have only overidden methods of View interface and other Android Activity, Fragment's methods.
View has methods like navigateToHome, setError, showProgress etc
Presenter interacts with both View and Interactor(has methods like onResume, onItemClicked etc)
Interactor has all the logics and calculations, does time intensive tasks such as db, network etc.
Interactor is android free, can be tested with jUnit.
Activity/fragment implements view, instantiate presenter.
Suggest edits to my understanding. :)
An example is always better than words, right?
https://github.com/antoniolg

You're on the right track, and you are correct to ask about static - whenever you notice that you have written that keyword, it's time to pause and reflect.
The Presenter's life should be tied directly to the Activity's/Fragment's. So if the Activity is cleaned up by GC, so should the presenter. This means that you should not hold a reference to the ApplicationContext in the presenter. It's ok to use the ApplicationContext in the Presenter, but it's important to sever this reference when the Activity is destroyed.
The Presenter should also take the View as a constructor parameter:
public class MainActivity extends Activity implements GameView{
public void onCreate(){
presenter = new GamePresenter(this);
}
}
and the presenter looks like:
public class GamePresenter {
private final GameView view;
public GamePresenter(GameView view){
this.view = view;
}
}
then you can notify the Presenter of the Activity LifeCycle Events like so:
public void onCreate(){
presenter.start();
}
public void onDestroy(){
presenter.stop();
}
or in onResume/onPause - try to keep it symmetrical.
In the end you only have 3 files:
(I'm taking some code from another explanation I gave here but the idea is the same.)
GamePresenter:
public class GamePresenter {
private final GameView view;
public GamePresenter(GameView view){
this.view = view;
NetworkController.addObserver(this);//listen for events coming from the other player for example.
}
public void start(){
applicationContext = GameApplication.getInstance();
}
public void stop(){
applicationContext = null;
}
public void onSwipeRight(){
// blah blah do some logic etc etc
view.moveRight(100);
NetworkController.userMovedRight();
}
public void onNetworkEvent(UserLeftGameEvent event){
// blah blah do some logic etc etc
view.stopGame()
}
}
I'm not sure exactly why you want the ApplicationContext instead of the Activity context, but if there's no special reason for that, then you can alter the void start() method to void start(Context context) and just use the Activity's context instead. To me this would make more sense and also rule out the need to create a singleton in your Application class.
GameView
is an interface
public interface GameView {
void stopGame();
void moveRight(int pixels);
}
GameFragment is a class that extends Fragment and implements GameView AND has a GamePresenter as a member.
public class GameFragment extends Fragment implements GameView {
private GamePresenter presenter;
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState){
presenter = new GamePresenter(this);
}
}
The key to this approach is to clearly understand the role of each file.
The Fragment is in control of anything view related (Buttons, TextView etc). It informs the presenter of user interactions.
The Presenter is the engine, it takes the information from the View (in this case it is the Fragment, but notice that this pattern lends itself well to Dependency injection? That's no coincidence. The Presenter doesn't know that the View is a Fragment - it doesn't care) and combines it with the information it is receiving from 'below' (comms, database etc) and then commands the View accordingly.
The View is simply an interface through which the Presenter communicates with the View. Notice that the methods read as commands, not as questions (eg getViewState()) and not to inform (eg onPlayerPositionUpdated()) - commands (eg movePlayerHere(int position)).

How to get the activity reference before its oncreate gets called during testing

How to get the reference of Activity before its onCreate will be called. while its under test. I use ActivityTestRule as JUnit Rule. The reason for this requirement is i want to inject Mocks into activity from tests.
public class MyActivity extends Activity{
MyComponent myComponent;
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState){
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
if(myComponent==null){
myComponent ... //initialise dagger component
}
myComponent.inject(this);
...
}
public void setComponent(MyComponent comp){
this.myComponent = comp;
}
}
public class MyTest{
#Rule
public ActivityTestRule<MyActivity> intentsTestRule = new ActivityTestRule<>(MyActivity.class);
MyComponent myFakeComponent;
#Before
public void setUp() {
MyActivity activity = intentsTestRule.getActivity();
activity.setComponent(myFakeComponent);
}
#Test
public void testMethod1(){...}
}

As per documentation, what you're doing here is wrong.
#Rule
public ActivityTestRule<MyActivity> intentsTestRule = new ActivityTestRule<>(MyActivity.class);
MyComponent myFakeComponent;
#Before
public void setUp() {
MyActivity activity = intentsTestRule.getActivity();
activity.setComponent(myFakeComponent);
}
Because,
This rule provides functional testing of a single activity.
The activity under test will be launched before each test annotated with
Test and before methods annotated with #Before.
It will be terminated after the test is completed and methods
annotated with After are finished. During the duration of the test
you will be able to manipulate your Activity directly.
However!
protected void beforeActivityLaunched ()
Override this method to execute any code that should run
before your Activity is created and launched.
This method is called before each test method,
including any method annotated with #Before.
Therefore, if you move the initialization of the MainActivityComponent outside the Activity to a place that is mockable, then you'll be able to tinker it together before the main activity is created.
EDIT:
Another possible solution is to lazily initiate the Activity as per link.
#Rule
public ActivityTestRule<NoteDetailActivity> mNoteDetailActivityTestRule =
new ActivityTestRule<>(NoteDetailActivity.class, true /* Initial touch mode */,
false /* Lazily launch activity */);
#Before
public void intentWithStubbedNoteId() {
// Add a note stub to the fake service api layer.
FakeNotesServiceApiImpl.addNotes(NOTE);
// Lazily start the Activity from the ActivityTestRule this time to inject the start Intent
Intent startIntent = new Intent();
startIntent.putExtra(NoteDetailActivity.EXTRA_NOTE_ID, NOTE.getId());
mNoteDetailActivityTestRule.launchActivity(startIntent);
registerIdlingResource();
}

Here is my sample code for that:
public class TestClass {
#Rule
public ActivityTestRule<T> activityRule = new ActivityTestRule<T>(type) {
#Override
protected void beforeActivityLaunched() {
//TODO inject mocks, setup stubs etc..
}
};
}
#Before
public void before() {
activityRule.getActivity();
}
#Test
public void myTest() {
//...
}
}

Is this code complete? I can't see you creating the dagger graph.
Anyway, what I do in my code, is to have a Static class called Injector that creates the graph for me, and also can inject elements into objects. So, in my Application Class I call it to create the graph, and all other activities just use the existent graph.
Then, in a test, you could create a fake test application class that initialize the graph in a different way, or simply recreate the graph calling the Injector methods, before the activity is created. I'm not familiar with ActivityTestRule, so I can't help much with the life cycle of this test.
But just make sure you create a new graph before the activity is created, and let the activity just use the existent graph.
How the activity access the graph? Well, I don't really love it, but we are used to access the application class (with explicit cast) and ask it to inject the dependencies for us. This is the way Dagger examples do it also.

Using delegates for AsyncTask

I'm having trouble implementing a delegate in my android app.
In my GetData class I have nested asynctask, and I need to notify my main activity when all the work has actually finished.
I came up with this answer from Mohd Mufiz
What is the best way for AsyncTask to notify parent Activity about completion?
But I always get stuck at the same point:
in my GetData class I call a constructor with the delegate as only argument:
public class GetData {
private TaskDelegate delegate;
public GetData(TaskDelegate delegate) {
this.delegate = delegate;
}
...
}
In my main activity I don't know what I have to pass to get it working:
GetData getData = new GetData(**???**);

Going from the question you linked to, that defined TaskDelegate as :
public interface TaskDelegate {
public void taskCompletionResult(String result);
}
You can pass GetData any instance of a class that implements TaskDelegate - but typically, that would be the object that creates it - ie. your main activity (and so, therefore, it would also implement "void taskCompletionResult(String result);"). That then means you can pass "this" to GetData's constructor, so :
public class MyMainActivity implements TaskDelegate {
public void someMethod() {
GetData getData = new GetData(this);
}
public void taskCompletionResult(String result) {
// do stuff
}
}

How can I call a function in my main Activity class from a custom Gallery view in Android?

I have a custom gallery view in which I am overriding some methods. I would like to be able to call a function in my main activity from this class. How do I make a reference back to my main class?
I thought I'd just push the class reference into CustomGallery by creating a setter function ---> g.setBaseClass(this);
CustomGallery g = (CustomGallery) findViewById(R.id.playSelectionGallery);
g.setSpacing(10);
g.setCallbackDuringFling(false);
g.setAdapter(new ImageAdapter(this));
g.setSelection(1);
registerForContextMenu(g);
g.setBaseClass(this);
Problem is this is of type Context and someFunctionToCall() will result in a not a member of this class error. In my custom class I have:
public void setBaseClass(Context baseClass)
{
_baseClass = baseClass;
}
private void callSomeFuntionOnMyMainActivityClass()
{
_baseClass.someFunctionToCall();
}
All I want to do is call back to my main class, called ViewFlipperDemo. This would be easy in As3. Any thoughts? Hopefully I'm missing something really simple.

That's actually not a good idea... but you can do it this way:
private void callSomeFuntionOnMyMainActivityClass()
{
((ViewFlipperDemo)_baseClass).someFunctionToCall();
}
What you should do instead is implementing a simple observer which allows you to notify the Activity that something happened. That's one of the main OO principles, your custom class shouldn't know anything about your activity class.
Observer pattern example
The Observer interface:
// TheObserver.java
public interface TheObserver{
void callback();
}
Your custom view:
public class CustomGallery{
private TheObserver mObserver;
// the rest of your class
// this is to set the observer
public void setObserver(TheObserver observer){
mObserver = observer;
}
// here be the magic
private void callSomeFuntionOnMyMainActivityClass(){
if( mObserver != null ){
mObserver.callback();
}
}
// actually, callSomeFuntionOnMyMainActivityClass
// is not a good name... but it will work for the example
}
This is the activity that will benefit of the observer (notice that now you can use your custom view on different activities not just one, that's one of the key reasons to implement it this way):
public class YourActivity extends Activity{
// your normal stuff bla blah
public void someMethod(){
CustomGallery g=(CustomGallery)findViewById(R.id.playSelectionGallery);
g.setObserver(new TheObserver(){
public void callback(){
// here you call something inside your activity, for instance
methodOnYourActivity();
}
});
}
}
You will notice that this design pattern (observer) is widely used in Java and Android... almost any kind of UI event is implemented using observers (OnClickListener, OnKeyListener, etc.). By the way, I didn't test the code, but it should work.