Develop Reference

Android: deleting programmatically added image buttons with ID's

hows it going? I'm creating a little training app for a project, its going fine except for a formatting problem im getting. So, ive a csv file with a name and age for a client. an array is created from this, then I've got a scroll View containing a grid layout and i create Image Buttons from the client array. that's all fine. ive got an add client button at the end of this, the button and its activity work fine, but when you come back to the main screen, the buttons are all screwed up (huge, misplaced etc). So i figured i would loop through and delete all the buttons and repopulate the main screen, except, since i programmatically created them, i cant figure out how to find them to delete them. i tried setting their id's to the index of the array, but then i get a null pointer error.
Function where the buttons are created:
public void fillActivity_main(){
if(listPopulated == false) { // check to see if its aready been created
populateClientList();//fill array with client objects
listPopulated = true;
}
//setup asset manager
AssetManager am = getApplicationContext().getAssets();
//Create the "GridLayout Image Board"
GridLayout buttonBoard = (GridLayout) findViewById(R.id.buttonboard);
int idealWidth = buttonBoard.getWidth(); //get width of the board
int idealHeight = buttonBoard.getHeight() / 2;//same
//create the Listeners, this is a place holder for now but will eventually use SetCurrentClient() (or maybe just switch to Start screen, with the current client?)
View.OnClickListener imageClickListener = new View.OnClickListener() {
#Override
public void onClick(View v) {
System.out.println("CLICK AT: " + v.getId());
Client temp = clientList[v.getId()];
Intent i = new Intent(getApplicationContext(), DisplayClient.class);
System.out.println(temp.getName());
i.putExtra("name", temp.getName());
System.out.println(i.getStringExtra("name"));
i.putExtra("age", Integer.toString(temp.getAge()));
startActivity(i);
}
};
int j = 0; //used the keep track of the id's we set for the buttons
for (int i = 0; i < clientList.length; i++) {
if (clientList[i] != null) {
//creation and ID setting
ImageButton imgbutton = (ImageButton) new ImageButton(this);
imgbutton.setId(i);
//Layout shit
imgbutton.setImageResource(R.mipmap.ic_launcher);
imgbutton.setMinimumWidth(idealWidth);
imgbutton.setMinimumHeight(idealHeight);
imgbutton.setOnClickListener(imageClickListener);
//check and set image
if(clientList[i].getClientImage().equals(" ")) {
try{
imgbutton.set(am.openFd(clientList[i].getClientImage()));}
catch(Exception ex){
ex.toString();
}
Log.d("ClientImageCheck", "No picture found for " + clientList[i].getName());
}
buttonBoard.addView(imgbutton);
j++;
}
}
//create the new Client Button at the end of all the rest.
Button newClientButton = (Button) new Button(this);
newClientButton.setText("+"); // obvious
newClientButton.setLayoutParams(new LinearLayout.LayoutParams(GridLayout.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT, GridLayout.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT));
newClientButton.setWidth(idealWidth);
newClientButton.setHeight(idealHeight);
View.OnClickListener newClientListener = new View.OnClickListener() {
#Override
public void onClick(View v) {
Intent i = new Intent(getApplicationContext(), CreateClientForm.class);
startActivityForResult(i, 199);
//System.out.println("Doing good so far, leaving the createclient form bnut still in main");
}
}; // create listener
newClientButton.setOnClickListener(newClientListener); // assign listener
buttonBoard.addView(newClientButton); //add the button the buttonBoard, after all the clients have been added
}
Function where i do the deleting:
protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
//Check which request we're responding to
if (requestCode == 199) {
// Make sure request was successful
if (resultCode == RESULT_OK) {
// The user made a name and crap.
Bundle extras = data.getExtras();
String name = extras.getString("name");
int age = extras.getInt("age");
Client temp = new Client(name, age);
addClientToArray(temp);
System.out.println(name + "attempted add to array");
}
for(int i = 0; i<clientList.length; i++ ){
View v = findViewById(i);
((ViewManager) v.getParent()).removeView(v);
}
fillActivityMain();
}
if i've got the logic right, the 'i' in the loop should be the appropriate id. Granted, the teach has kind of thrown us in the deep end for this project, never taken mobile apps or anything, so all this code is the result of me googling issues as i run into them. I've read the basics for Views, intents, etc, but there must be something i'm missing.
I've tried making the gridLayout that the buttons sit on a class variable so i could call it buttonBoard.removeView(i) or something.
ive also tried `
for(int i = 0; i<clientList.length; i++ ){
ImageButton btn = (ImageButton) findViewByid(i);
((ViewManager) v.getParent()).removeView(btn);
}

Can you add the replacement images at the same time that you delete the existing images? If so, try this:
for(int i = 0; i < buttonBoard.getChildCount(); i++) {
ImageButton tempButton = (ImageButton) buttonBoard.getChildAt(i);
tempButton.setVisibility(View.INVISIBLE);
buttonBoard.addView(yourImageButtonHere, i); //adds a new ImageButton in the same cell you are removing the old button from
buttonBoard.removeView(tempButton);
}
This approach should also prevent the GridLayout from rearranging where the children are. I believe the default behavior if you delete a child view is that the GridLayout will re-order the children so there is not empty cell at the beginning of the grid. I hope that makes sense.

There is so much wrong with this approach.
Mainly you don't have to create the ImageButtons manually and add them to the GridLayout. That is what recycled views such as GridView or RecyclerView are for. In fact you should use those to avoid OutOfMemoryError from having too much images in your layout.
But also you cannot just call setId(i) in the for loop. Android holds many ids already assigned and you can never be sure whether the id is safe. (Unless you use View.generatViewId())
And since you only want to remove all views added to your GridLayout why don't you just call removeAllViews() on the buttonBoard?

disable button click for certain rows of buttons

I dynamically create Buttons by entering a word. If I write "met", it appears on the screen - one Button per letter. The same thing happens for the next word I enter, and it appears below the previous word --- as shown in the image above.
When I click on a Button it turns green. My question is, what is the best way to disable the clicking of a row of Buttons. Meaning, if the user clicks on the 'm' in "met" I want the user to only be able to click on the Buttons in "met" and to not be able to click on any of the Buttons in "had", "goes", or "ran"
Here is my code:
EDIT
int size = enter_txt.getText().toString().length();
for (int i=0; i<size; i++){
final Button dynamicButtons = new Button(view.getContext());
dynamicButtons.setLayoutParams(rlp);
dynamicButtons.getLayoutParams().width = 130;
dynamicButtons.getLayoutParams().height = 130;
dynamicButtons.setTag("0");
dynamicButtons.setId(1);
dynamicButtons.setText(edit_text_array[i]);
dynamicButtons.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.button);
button_list.add(dynamicButtons);
linearLayout2.addView(dynamicButtons, rlp);
dynamicButtons.setOnClickListener(
new View.OnClickListener()
{
public void onClick(View view)
{
int i=0;
LinearLayout ll = (LinearLayout) dynamicButtons.getParent();
for(i=0; i<list_of_ll.size();i++){
if (ll == list_of_ll.get(i)){
list_of_ll.get(i).setId(i);
break;
}
}
if(list_of_ll.get(i).getId()==i)
ButtonOnClick(view);
}
});
}
linearLayout2.setId(0);
linearLayout2.setTag("0");
list_of_ll.add(linearLayout2);
EDIT
I created a List of the LinearLayouts for each row of Buttons. The Buttons turn green if the id of the LinearLayout is set to 1. When I click on a Button I want that LinearLayout to stay at 1 and have all other rows/LinearLayouts set to 0 so they become unclickable.
Currently, every Button I click turns green even if it's in a different row. Can someone please help me solve this issue?

Why you don't set Id in the for loop so that you are able to refer and set the onlicklistener to null like jpcrow already mentioned.
Set Id like:
YourCreatedBtn.setId(i+1);
//Id's setted programmatically don't.
have to be unique... But they should be
a positive number (referring to the
android documentation)
And in your on click method simply set onclicklistener for specified Id's to null. Just a hint, hope it helps
Update regarding Thread-openers Comment
I found two simple ways but i would prefer the one which is not commented out in the buttonIsClicked:
LinearLayout llrow;
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
llrow = (LinearLayout) findViewById(R.id.test_layout);
//Adding 5 Buttons
for(int i = 0; i<5; i++) {
Button mybtn = new Button(this);
//set LayoutParams here
mybtn.setId(5);
mybtn.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
#Override
public void onClick(View v) {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
buttonIsClicked(v);
}
});
llrow.addView(mybtn);
}
}
private void buttonIsClicked(View v) {
/*ArrayList<View> myButtons = llrow.getTouchables();
for(int i = 0; i < llrow.getChildCount(); i++){
myButtons.get(i).setOnClickListener(null);
}*/
for(int i = 0; i<llrow.getChildCount(); i++){
llrow.getChildAt(i).setOnClickListener(null);
}
}
It's just a simplified Version of your code, but i'm sure you will get the Content..
What if found out is, that you don't have to set the ID in both cases.. You can easily get all the child over
YourRowLinearLayout.getChildAt(starting from 0 to n-1-Views you added)...
I didn't found a way around the for-loop... But this small-little loop will not break your neck regarding to Performance..
The outcommented-code is the second Approach, finding all the Child over getTouchables which logically leads to an ArrayList and that's exactly the reason why i don't like it. You have to initialize an arraylist...... However, this also won't break your neck regarding to Performance but a penny saved is a penny got! ;) Hope it helps and everything is clear. Both of them work! Please mark as accepted answere if it fits your Needs...

You have to distinguish between the two rows, either add them to different ViewGroups or you can use View.setTag(int key, Object tag)

Two Button OnClickListeners inside for loop

I am self studying Android and now I am learning how to use buttons. I created a simple up counter which works like this:
I add the strings (eg. 1 2 3) in different text fields. Then I want to compaire those in pairs(1 with 2, 1 with 3, 2 with 3). The first string element is written on the first button, second on the second and after i press any of those buttons, the tags on the buttons has to change (if there was 1 and 2 so it should change to 1 and 3 or 2 and 3 etc) and the string element gets a higher rank. Everything seems to work well, but I think I am doing huge mistake with adding buttons. Can anyone help me? :) Can I add button listeners like I did in code bellow? :) Thank You!
public void counter()
{
int i = 0;
int a = i + 1;
for ( i = 0; i < candidates.size() - 1; i++ )
{
Log.d(TAG, "Setting button one tag: " + i );
button_one.setTag(i);
button_one.setText(candidates.get(i).name);
for (a = i + 1; a < candidates.size(); a++)
{
Log.d(TAG, "Setting button two tag: " + a );
button_two.setTag(a);
button_two.setText(candidates.get(a).name);
button_one.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener()
{
public void onClick(View view) {
/* Read the clicked tag */
int tag = (Integer) view.getTag();
/* Make higher rank */
candidates.get(tag).addRank();
}
});
button_two.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener()
{
public void onClick(View view) {
/* Read the clicked tag */
int tag = (Integer) view.getTag();
/* Make higher rank */
candidates.get(tag).addRank();
}
});
}
}

everything AndyRes said plus:
you're creating (candidates.size() * candidates.size()) number of OnClickListeners
that's A LOT of unnecessary objects hogging your memory.
You should create ONE OnClickListener mListener = new View.OnClickListener etc... etc...
and OUTSIDE the loop, probably during your OnCreate() just after you defined button_one = (Button)findViewById(R.id.button_one); you do button_one.setOnClickListener(mListener);
that way you have only 1 listener that will be serving any amount of buttons you might have, and don't need to be setting again the same listener.

In general there's not need to add the click listeners in a loop, unless you create those buttons dinamically.
Setting the click listeners in a loop for the same button, every time you cycle through the loop, will do nothing but override the previous settings, so I don't see any point in doing like this.

Some alternative to hundreds of buttons

Im going to write some android app, which will basically consists of two activities. So first should have a lot of buttons (100+) and on click on any of them I will just get some special id and move to second activity. But is there any alternative to declare that hundreds of buttons and copy/paste one piece of code to every of them setting almost same onClickLister? Is there any special construction? Thanks
Edit: every of buttons are actually indexed from 1 to n. And on the click second activity will be launched and get that index to show it. I cant basically use any spinner or smth else, because there will be 3 rows of clickable things and each of them carring different images
Edit 2: so, to give you an idea, im going to do some table of buttons like in Angry Birds menu when you actually choosing the level you want to play. So, on click you will get id of button and start second activity

Call the method to add buttons
private void addButton(){
LinearLayout view = (LinearLayout) findViewById(R.id.linear_layout_id_here);
Button btn = null;
int w = 50;
int h = 25;
for(int i=1; i<100; i++) {
btn = new Button(this);
btn.setLayoutParams(new LayoutParams(w,h));
btn.setText("button " +i);
btn.setTag(""+i);
btn.setOnClickListener(onClickBtn);
view.addView(btn);
btn = null;
}
}
Call this method for handling onclick on button
private View.OnClickListener onClickBtn = new View.OnClickListener() {
public void onClick(View view) {
final int tag = Integer.parseInt(view.getTag().toString());
switch (tag) {
case 1:
// Do stuff
break;
case 2:
// Do stuff
break;
default:
break;
}
}
};

You should use a ListView.
ListViews are great for handling a lot of items at the same time. They are also natural for the user. Additionally, you use only one click listener - OnItemClickListener.
There's a useful example on how to work with ListViews in the Android Referenence.

You may add buttons in code, something like this:
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
/*your code here*/
GroupView gw =findViewById(R.id.pnlButtonscontainer); //find the panel to add the buttons
for(int i=0; i<100; i++) {
Button b = new Button(this);
b.setLayoutParameters(new LayoutParameters(w,h));
b.settext = i+"";
b.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener(){
});
}
}
I coded directly into browser, so some syntax error may appear in my code, but this is the point, a way, not the only one, to add 100 buttons.

Android - attach data to views

In my application I create dynamic rows in table much as in this tutorial:
http://en.androidwiki.com/wiki/Dynamically_adding_rows_to_TableLayout
for(int i = startDay; i < startDay + 7; i++){
/* Create a TextView to be the row-content. */
TextView day = new TextView(this);
day.setText(Integer.toString(i));
day.setLayoutParams(new LayoutParams(
LayoutParams.FILL_PARENT,
LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT));
day.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
#Override
public void onClick(View v) {
Log.i("Listener: ", "Click");
}
So now when I click on a TextView I can register click event, but how do I determine which TextView was clicked?
Not just an object which I get with an event but data like which day number was clicked?
Ideally I would want to have data attached to every view I create dynamically.
Something like data() method in Javascript jQuery.
Right now I can see only 1 way to solve this - while creating TextView add id with data and when clicked - get id back and parse it to get my data. But it strikes me as ugly approach.
Is there a way to attach arbitrary data to android views?

Found answer going through view methods. Maybe it will be useful for someone.
Methods I needed were:
setTag() and getTag()
http://developer.android.com/reference/android/view/View.html#setTag%28java.lang.Object%29