Develop Reference

MVVM Architecture Android

I have one Activity and i have created one View-model for it. I have created different classes like
UiUtil( show, hide view, hide key board ), Network layer , Data Base layer, AppUtil( for common functionality like Collection check, String validation, Date Conversion etc)
My question is, In MVVM design pattern is Activity can use these utility classes directly or it needs to use these classes via View-model, if it via view model then in the view-model i have to write a method that just call utility classes method . like below TimeDateManager is utility class used in view-model
class HomeViewModel: BaseViewModel()
{
fun prepareTimeAmPmToDisplay(context: Context, alarm: Alarm): String
{
return TimeDateManager.prepareTimeAmPmToDisplay(context, alarm)
}
}

Architectures are not obligatory, they are recommendational, thus you can change their usage in quite wide range. The only stopper should be a common sense(if it is present of course).
In this particular case the usage of utility class inside an Activity maybe ok, based on your ViewModel construction and its way of communication with View(read Activity).
For example if you have some LiveData that sends some kind of event(for ex. data loaded from backend or alarm trigger) inside your ViewModel and your View listens to it, I think it is ok to use util classes inside an Observer in Activity. Especially if this utils method doesn't depend on any ViewModel or Repository data. The direct utils usage in Activity is not limited by this usecase, though - there are plenty of others.
I understand that this may be an unpopular opinion in modern time of "clean approach" but I believe that this "clean approach" sometimes complicates stuff where it shouldn't, thus if mixing things a bit does not brake overall architecture but rather makes some thing more readable and easy to maintain - I would go for it.
Hope it helps.

My approach toward MVVM is simple, ViewModel is responsible for business logic, dealing with repositories (Network, Database, etc.) and all of the non-UI codes preparing the required data for UI, just like the documentation:
A ViewModel object provides the data for a specific UI component, such as a fragment or activity, and contains data-handling business logic to communicate with the model. For example, the ViewModel can call other components to load the data, and it can forward user requests to modify the data. The ViewModel doesn't know about UI components, so it isn't affected by configuration changes, such as recreating an activity when rotating the device.
On the other hand, ViewModels should not store a context (ApplicationContext is exceptional) and it's preferred that they do not use android APIs at all, so they become more testable (especially in the case on pure unit tests).
Also we are recommended to make use of LiveData in ViewModels and the UI has to observe the LiveData. For example, in onCreate of your Activity, you will call loadMainContent() method from VM, it calls getMainContent(page=1) from repository, and the repository will decide to load data from DB or network, and the result will be set on a LiveData were the View is listening for changes.
TL;DR
Sometimes it's even better to call these utilities from View rather than the VM. I'm pretty sure about your UiUtil also I think TimeDateManager is more view related rather than logic related. In addition, Network and DB layers are more efficient if called through a repository (which is responsible for caching, etc.) and VM can use that repo.

Why Realm doesn't find object which I inserted in transaction before?

I'm trying to implement a simple chat application on web sockets in Clean Architecture. I had to choose a db for caching all information, so I decided to use Realm, because I heard it was pretty good database for any kind of mobile applications. But when I actually faced the Realm, it turned out to be really painful experience for me to implement caching logic with it.
All problems come from applying transaction to database which then must be synced on all threads working with Realm. There seems to some kind of synchronization problem with my code. For example, I want to save my object to Realm and then query it out of.
Here I have two simple functions to save and to get chat:
fun getBackgroundLooper(): Looper {
val handlerThread = HandlerThread("backgroundThread")
if (!handlerThread.isAlive)
handlerThread.start()
return handlerThread.looper
}
fun saveChat(chat: Chat): Completable {
val realmChat = ChatMapper.domainToCache(chat)
return Completable.create { e ->
val realm = Realm.getDefaultInstance()
realm.executeTransactionAsync({
it.insertOrUpdate(realmChat)
}, {
realm.close()
e.onComplete()
}, {
realm.close()
e.onError(it)
})
// Subscribe on background looper thread
// to be able to execute async transaction
}.subscribeOn(AndroidSchedulers.from(getBackgroundLooper()))
}
fun getSingleChat(chatId: String): Single<Chat> {
return Single.defer {
val realm = Realm.getDefaultInstance()
realm.isAutoRefresh = true
val realmChat = realm.where(RealmChat::class.java)
.equalTo("id", chatId).findFirstAsync()
if (realmChat.isValid) {
realmChat.load()
val chat = ChatMapper.cacheToDomain(realmChat)
realm.close()
Single.just(chat)
}
realm.close()
Single.error<Chat>(ChatNotExistException())
// Subscribe on background looper thread
// to be able to execute auto refreshing
}.subscribeOn(AndroidSchedulers.from(getBackgroundLooper()))
}
So, when I try to run simple code like this
remote.getChat().flatMap {
cache.saveChat(it) //save chat to realm
.andThen(cache.getSingleChat(it.id)) //then query it by id
}
I always get no matter of what ChatNotExistException, but if I try to run query again in another attempt or after restarting the application, then the chat object gets found
I also tried many different approaches to execute this code:
I tried to use realm.refresh() in getSingleChat or not use it at all.
I tried to query chat synchronously with findFirst() and findAll() instead of findFirstAsync().
I tried querying chat on current thread without .subscribeOn().
I tried to use realm.executeTransaction() instead of async transactions.
I tried to add thread sleep between saving and querying, so that transaction may take some time to get applied and I need to wait before attempting to query the chat
I'm begging anybody to explain me what am I doing wrong and how to make this code working. I can't change the architecture of my application and use Realm objects as my view models, I need to find solution in these conditions.

But when I actually faced the Realm, it turned out to be really painful experience for me to implement caching logic with it.
Reading the docs regarding best practices help. For example, the default idea is that you define a RealmResults using an async query on the UI thread, add a change listener to it, and observe the latest emission of the database.
There is no "caching" involved in that beyond saving to the database and observing the database. Any additional complexity is added by you and is completely optional.
All problems come from applying transaction to database which then must be synced on all threads working with Realm.
All looper threads automatically make the Realm auto-refresh, therefore if addChangeListener is used as intended in the docs, then there is no need for trickery, Realm will manage the synchronization between threads.
I want to save my object to Realm and then query it out of.
realm.executeTransactionAsync({
No reason to use executeTransactionAsync when you are already on a background thread.
try(Realm realm = Realm.getDefaultInstance()) {
realm.executeTransaction((r) -> {
// do write here
});
}
realm.where(RealmChat::class.java)
If you do import io.realm.kotlin.where, then you can do realm.where<RealmChat>().
.findFirstAsync()
No reason to use findFirstAsync() instead of findFirst() when you are already on a background thread. Also no reason to use load() when you're on a background thread, because you should be using findFirst() in the first place anyway.
You are also most likely missing a return#defer Single.just(chat) to actually return the chat if it's found. That is most likely what your original problem is.
With the handler thread things you're doing though, you might want to consider taking a look at this project called "Monarchy", as it intends to set up the ability to run queries on a background looper thread while still observing the results. It is labelled stagnant but the ideas are sound.

Realm Android: what is mean by isValid(), isLoaded(), isManaged()?

In Realm there are three methods isValid(), isLoaded(), isManaged().
I want to know which method should used when?

isValid
public final boolean isValid()
Checks if the RealmObject is still valid to use i.e., the RealmObject hasn't been deleted nor has the Realm been closed. It will always return true for unmanaged objects.
Two things invalidate a RealmObject:
- closing the Realm instance it belongs to
and deleting the object on any thread (if you're on an auto-updating
looper thread)
isLoaded
public final boolean isLoaded()
Checks if the query used to find this RealmObject has completed.
Async methods like RealmQuery.findFirstAsync() return an RealmObject that represents the future result of the RealmQuery. It can be considered similar to a Future in this regard.
Once isLoaded() returns true, the object represents the query result even if the query didn't find any object matching the query parameters. In this case the RealmObject will become a "null" object.
isManaged
public static boolean isManaged(E object)
Checks if this object is managed by Realm. A managed object is just a wrapper around the data in the underlying Realm file. On Looper threads, a managed object will be live-updated so it always points to the latest data. It is possible to register a change listener using addChangeListener(RealmModel, RealmChangeListener) to be notified when changes happen. Managed objects are thread confined so that they cannot be accessed from other threads than the one that created them.
Instances of Realm objects can be either managed or unmanaged.
Managed objects are persisted in Realm, are always up to date and thread confined. They are generally more lightweight than the unmanaged version as they take up less space on the Java heap.
Unmanaged objects are just like ordinary Java objects, they are not persisted and they will not be updated automatically. They can be moved freely across threads.
More info refer:https://realm.io/docs/java/4.3.3/api/io/realm/RealmObject.html

FROM DOCS
isValid()
Checks if the RealmObject is still valid to use i.e., the RealmObject hasn't been deleted nor has the Realm been closed. It will always return true for unmanaged objects.
Note that this can be used to check the validity of certain conditions such as being null when observed.
EXAMPLE :
// With RealmObject
yourRealmObject.isValid();
isLoaded()
Checks if the query used to find this RealmObject has completed.
Returns:
true if the query has completed, false if the query is in progress.
3.
isManaged()
Checks if this object is managed by Realm. A managed object is just a wrapper around the data in the underlying Realm file. On Looper threads, a managed object will be live-updated so it always points to the latest data. It is possible to register a change listener using addChangeListener(RealmModel, RealmChangeListener) to be notified when changes happen. Managed objects are thread confined so that they cannot be accessed from other threads than the one that created them.
If this method returns false, the object is unmanaged. An unmanaged object is just a normal Java object, so it can be parsed freely across threads, but the data in the object is not connected to the underlying Realm, so it will not be live updated.

Realm Find Queries Result in Empty Objects [duplicate]

This question already has answers here:
Cannot retrieve field values from realm object, values are null in debugger
(5 answers)
Closed 5 years ago.
When doing find queries for objects I'm getting "empty" objects (non-null, but not populated). However, in the debugger I can see the data for the object in the object description (see below). I've also verified the data is there using the Realm Browser. I've tried different find queries, querying with filter criteria, using the same Realm object for inserts/queries, using different Realm objects for inserts/queries, refreshing the Realm, etc.
If I Log fields in the RealmObject I see the proper data print out. However, I'm trying to convert these models into other models for use in RxJava per https://realm.io/news/using-realm-with-rxjava/.
Here's some sample code where reproduced the issue. Below that is a screenshot when breaking at verifyRealm.close().
RealmTester realmTester1 = new RealmTester();
realmTester1.setFirstName("Tester1");
realmTester1.setLastName("ABC");
RealmTester realmTester2 = new RealmTester();
realmTester2.setFirstName("Tester2");
realmTester2.setLastName("XYZ");
Realm insertRealm = Realm.getDefaultInstance();
insertRealm.refresh();
insertRealm.beginTransaction();
insertRealm.copyToRealm(realmTester1);
insertRealm.copyToRealm(realmTester2);
insertRealm.commitTransaction();
insertRealm.close();
Realm verifyRealm = Realm.getDefaultInstance();
RealmResults<RealmTester> verifyTesters = verifyRealm.where(RealmTester.class).findAll();
verifyRealm.close();
I have a screenshot of the debugger at: http://i.stack.imgur.com/1UdRr.png
I'm using v0.82.1. Any thoughts on why the models here aren't populating?

The idea behind realm-java is that we are generating Proxy class inherits from user's model class, and override the setters and getters there.
It is totally normal that you see null values for the model's field in the debugger, since the Realm are not setting them. (zero-copy, Realm is trying to reduce the memory usage by managing the data in the native code and sharing them whenever it is possible.)
Because of this, when you want to access a Realm model's field, please always use setters and getters. Checking the generated Proxy class will help you to understand this, it is quite simple actually. It is located in the build directory named like MyModelRealmProxy.java
And also check this section of the documents, it would give you some idea about the standalone object and how to write them to Realm.

Reading from SharedPreferences vs. keeping an instance of the object

THE SCENARIO
I have a class that makes use of a request list set by the user. The request list is stored in SharedPreferences. The dilemma I'm facing is to whether to keep an instance of the request list or to read from SharedPreferences every time the request list is needed (which is very frequent).
Also not that Gson is used to deserialize the object.
The code goes like this:
public List<PrayerTimesCalculator.Time> getDefaultRequestList() {
if (mRequestList != null) return mRequestList;
// Try getting request list from preferences;
Gson gson = new Gson();
String json = mSharedPref.getString(KEY_PREF_REQUEST_LIST, null);
Type listType = new TypeToken<List<Time>>() {
}.getType();
mRequestList = gson.fromJson(json, listType);
if (mRequestList != null) return mRequestList;
// Create default list;
mRequestList = Arrays.asList(
Time.DAWN,
Time.MORNING,
Time.AFTERNOON,
Time.EVENING,
Time.MID_NIGHT);
return mRequestList;
}
THE GOAL
My concern is that if I keep around an instance of the request list, and there are multiple instances of this class, an update to the request list in one instance of the class would not be reflected in the rest of the instances until they are recreated.
Thus, I'm leaning towards reading from SharedPreferences unless there is a better way to keep the request list objected updated in all instances.
THE QUESTION
(1) So, how efficient is it to read the same key from SharedPreferences quite frequently by multiple instances of the object? and (2) Is there a better way to keep the request list objected updated in all instances?

So there are a couple of approaches you can take to this.
First, your object is small - re-reading SharedPreferences thousands of times would hardly be noticeable. It's not like SharedPreferences is on a remote drive or has a "bad connection."
Second, if you don't like that answer, then you need a DAO (Data Access Object). SharedPreferences is a form of this already. It provides a means to store and retrieve data with confidence that you have the most recent data available. But, if you feel like you can improve on it's optimization (because it's generic, and this is your app), then you can provide access to you data through a static object that performs both "read" and "write" operations. This will guarantee that access to the object is done with the most recent data. Of course, you will need to be thread aware, etc. (something that is not always guaranteed by SharedPreferences).
Next, you could persist your data in a database and use Cursors or other built-in or custom DAOs. This requires another level of complexity and a lot of overhead, but is useful when several components of your app might need access to the data, provide updates or needs real-time monitoring of changes because background threads or other objects may make modifications that will change your app behavior or result in UI updates.
Last, you could use more complex data stores like a Content Provider. This is really required for cases where you want/need other apps to access data provided by your app (and your app may also consume the data). That's a complex solution and implementation is well outside the scope of this question.
But I mention it because you seem interested in being certain that frequent reads of SharedPreferences is acceptable. It definitely is acceptable - otherwise there would be something else besides it, databases and Content Providers.