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Instantiate a custom activity class with a ListView object from MainActivity

Unlike typical android projects starting with MainActivity with all the code of the layout object in it. This architecture requires me to have the initial code in a custom object. Here's a structure for better understanding.
java/MainActivity.java
java/User.java
layout/activity_main.xml
layout/user.xml
Now I also need a reference to User object within MainActivity and it looks like this.
public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
public Users users; // instantiate custom class and show
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
}
}
My User class looks like this.
public class User extends AppCompatActivity {
ListView userList;
#Override
public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container, Bundle savedInstanceState) {
View view = inflater.inflate(R.layout.user_list, container, false); // Inflate the layout for this fragment
userList = view.findViewById(R.id.userList);
return view;
}
}
layout/user.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<FrameLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
tools:context="org.puremvc.java.demos.android.employeeadmin.view.components.UserList">
<ListView
android:id="#+id/userList"
android:layout_width="395dp"
android:layout_height="715dp"
tools:layout_editor_absoluteX="8dp"
tools:layout_editor_absoluteY="8dp" />
</FrameLayout>
So, in other words, MainActivity just acts like a stage doing nothing except just providing a reference to the Initial object. Now I do need MainActivity to be there, can't point User to be a launcher in the manifest. Responsibilities are to be taken care of by User class.
Question: How to instantiate CustomClass User and show.
Context: The MainActivity class has to be minimalistic and clean, no User related code (ListView), all logic lies in the custom class.
P.S. There can be lateral approaches, as long as I have a reference to user Object in MainActivity and it's displayed on launch, I'll accept the answer.

As per my understanding: there should be two approaches.
First, by using the Fragment inside your Activity. Write all initialize and data flow codes inside the fragment and just initialize and start the fragment from the Activity. So when the Activity will start, it will give all its tasks to the fragment with its Context and rest thing Fragment will do.
Like below:
public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
public Users users; // instantiate custom class and show
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
//the fragment stuff
FragmentManager fm= getFragmentManager() //or get SupportFragmentManager when the Fragment comes from Support lib
FragmentTransaction ft= fm.beginTransaction();
Fragment fragment= new UserListFragment();
ft.add(R.id.fragment_container, fragment);
ft.commit();
}
}
OR, the second approach should by using Interface and communicate both Activity and the Custom Class (or you can call it Controller) with it.
Its nothing, but a simple MVC design pattern which I never recommend.
You can write one Interface like below:
public interface IController{
public void initialize(Activity activity, Bundle savedInstanceState);
public void engage();
public void disengage();
}
Then, make an instance of this Controller inside your Activity/BaseActivity and use like below:
public MainActivity(IController controller){
this.controller = controller;
}
Then call each callback methods from their appropriate place to make them work inside the Controller.
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
//give the priviledge of onCreate to initialize
controller.initialize(this, savedInstanceState);
}
Then in your Controller class, just write the same program which you supposed to write inside Activity:
public class Your_Controller implements IController {
#Override
public void initialize(Activity activity, Bundle savedInstanceState) {
//do super where needed
//make one class level Activity instance to work in other methods
act = activity;
//just initialize views like below
TextView tv = (TextView) activity.findViewById(R.id.abc);
}

Appcompat activity required as argument for function used in fragment

I am using an external library in my app. The first argument used in the example is "this". Which refers to an appcompat activity. However I am using this in a fragment shich obviously doesn't extend appcompat activity.
This is the library:
https://github.com/TouchBoarder/weekdays-buttons-bar
I am not sure whether there is anything I can do. Can I extend the fragment to something compatible (right now it just extends fragment).
Below is a screenshot of the issue:
EDIT:
This is what I extend in my MainActivity:
public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity implements View.OnClickListener {
The Fragment that is called innside Main activity is extended like this:
public class AddAlarmFragment extends Fragment {
And I am trying to create the data source in the oncreate method of the fragment like this:
#Override
public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container,
Bundle savedInstanceState) {
// Inflate the layout for this fragment
View view = inflater.inflate(R.layout.fragment_add_alarm, container, false);
WeekdaysDataSource wds = new WeekdaysDataSource(, R.id.weekdays_stub)
.start(this);
new WeekdaysDataSource.Callback() {
#Override
public void onWeekdaysItemClicked(int attachId,WeekdaysDataItem item) {
// Do something if today is selected?
Calendar calendar = Calendar.getInstance();
if(item.getCalendarDayId()==calendar.get(Calendar.DAY_OF_WEEK)&&item.isSelected())
Toast.makeText(getActivity(),"Carpe diem",Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
}
#Override
public void onWeekdaysSelected(int attachId,ArrayList<WeekdaysDataItem> items) {
//Filter on the attached id if there is multiple weekdays data sources
if(attachId==R.id.weekdays_stub){
// Do something on week 4?
}
}
};
Thanks in advance for your help.

Have you tried casting getActivity()?
((AppCompatActivity) getActivity(), R.id.weekdays_stub)
Read the Android API, you can see AppCompatActivity does extend FragmentActivity and getActivity() does return a FragmentActivity, not an AppCompatActivity, as expected by your library.
I do find it odd that a AppCompatActivity is even the defined parameter rather than a Context

Cannot convert from FragmentActivity to Fragment

I have used fragments in app. When i pass constructor of FragmentActivity class to the fragment it gives an error i.e. "Type mismatch: cannot convert from ReadFragment to Fragment". Thanks in advance for your help
ReadFragment.java
public class ReadFragment extends FragmentActivity {
public ReadFragment(){
}
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.read_layout);
}
}
MainActivity.java
......
Fragment fragment = null;
fragment = new ReadFragment();
......
}

I guess what you want to do is either:
public class ReadFragment extends Fragment {
or (and this should not work because you cannot cast from one to the other):
fragment_activity = new ReadFragment();
fragment = (fragment) fragment_activity;
Now you can chose

FragmentActivity is not a Fragment and thus cant be assigned to a variable of type Fragment. Your ReadFragment should extend Fragment instead. I would suggest doing this tutorial to learn the basics of fragments and probably search the web for Java tutorials, this is the very basics of Java.
public class ReadFragment extends Fragment {
#Override
public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container,
Bundle savedInstanceState) {
//For more info how to implement this i highly suggest you read the tutorial.
}
...
}
When extending Fragment you also need to override OnCreateView.

update TextView in fragment A when clicking button in fragment B

I have two fragments sitting side by side in the same activity. When I touch a button in the right fragment (fragment B), I need a TextView in the left fragment to update (fragment A). I have looked all over for the best way to do this, but nothing seems to work for my needs. Could someone possibly give me an example of how I would code this? Fragment A is set through the XML layout, and fragment B gets loaded programmatically into a container. I have tried accomplishing this by using a method in fragment A to update the text, and calling on that method from a method in the parent activity. I then call on the method in the parent activity from fragment B.
This is the code in fragment B that declares the interface and calls a method in the interface
AttackCards attackCards;
public interface AttackCards {
public void deckSize();
}
public void onAttach(DeckBuilder deckBuilder) {
super.onAttach(deckBuilder);
attackCards = (AttackCards) deckBuilder;
}
attackCards.deckSize(); //this is in my onclick methods
This is the code in the activity that implements the interface and calls the method in fragment A
public class DeckBuilder extends Activity implements AttackCards{
public void deckSize() {
DeckBuilderFragment deckBuilderFragment = (DeckBuilderFragment)getFragmentManager().
findFragmentById(R.id.deckbuilder_fragment);
deckBuilderFragment.deckSize();
}
This is the method in fragment A that appends the textview with the contents of a shared preferences value
public void deckSize() {
deckSize = (TextView) getView().findViewById(R.id.decksize);
final SharedPreferences defaultDeck = getActivity()
.getSharedPreferences("defaultDeck", Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
deckSize.setText(String.valueOf(defaultDeck.getInt("decksize", 0)));
}
Sadly this attempt simply brings me a nullpointer when touching a button. I am getting a null pointer at
attackCards.deckSize(); //this is in my onclick methods
Could someone please help me out with an example of how to do this correctly?

One fragment should not communicate to another fragment directly. It should do so through attached activity. The detail explanation with code example is available here
Android Developer site
Declare an interface in Fragment B, and implement the interface in the activity. Call the interface through callback in Fragment B when button is clicked. You can have a public function in Fragment A to update the TextView, so activity directly call the function to update the text.

You can define an interface in Fragment B and implement it on the MainActivity. Then on the callback method (onClickOnB in this case) set the text on the TextView. You should obtain a reference of the TextView in the Activity's onCreate() after setContentView(). This works because Fragment A is static. Otherwise, you can create a public method inside Fragment A so you can set the text from inside the callback by getting a reference of Fragment A and calling such method.
Fragment B
public class FragmentB extends Fragment implements onClickListener{
ClickOnB listener;
public void setOnFragmentBClickListener(ClickOnB listener){
this.listener = listener;
}
#Override
public void onClick(View v){
//stringMessage is a `String` you will pass to `Fragment` A to update its `TextView`
listener.onClickOnB(stringMessage);
}
interface ClickOnB{
public void onClickOnB(String message);
}
}
MainActivity
public class MainActivity extends Activity implements ClickOnB{
#Override
protected onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState){
//Get a reference of `Fragment` B somewhere in your code after you added it dynamically and set the listener.
((FragmentB)getFragmentManager().findFragmentByTag("FragmentB")).setOnFragmentBClickListener(this);
}
#Override
public void onClickOnB(String message){
//Set the text to the `TextView` here (I am assuming you get a reference of the `TextView` in onCreate() after inflating your layout.
mTextView.setText(message);
}
}

Calling a method from layout xml with DialogFragment.. how does that work?

Let's say I have this button:
<Button
android:id="#+id/idone"
android:layout_width="0dip"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:text="D2"
android:onClick="myMeth"/>
I have several times used this to call methods from a layout xml as it calls the method from the activity that inflated such view.
Recently with DialogFragments, well it does not work at all. I keep getting an error telling me that such method does not exist. Where is it then looking for such method? I have added it to the DialogFragment class:
public class myActivity extends DialogFragment {
public DiceDialog() {
// empty constructor
}
#Override
public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container,
Bundle savedInstanceState) {
View view = inflater.inflate(R.layout.myDialog, container);
getDialog().setTitle("Hello");
return view;
}
public void myMeth(View view) {
//...
}
As well as in the activity that instantiates the FragmentManager and calls the dialog:
public Class MainActiviry Extends FragmentActivity {
//...
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
// ..
FragmentManager fm = getSupportFragmentManager();
MyActivity dialog = new AddDiceDialog();
dialog.show(fm, "tag");
}
public void myMeth(View view){
//...
}
And still the messag is that MyMeth is not found.
I have already read that using interfaces and listeners is the correct way to communicate between activity and dialog fragments, but what I am trying to figure out here is where that myMeth call is being made, because well,it is called.

You can implement public myMeth(View view) in your Activity, which will then check for the currently visible Fragment, and call its method.
If you want to use more then one callable method in your Fragment, you can utilize the id's of the calling views and implement a switch, calling a different fragment method according to the id of the View.