Develop Reference

Android proper way to create a DatabaseAccess class

I have the following DatabaseAccess.java class which contains the following code in order to instance , open , close and some queries :
public class DatabaseAccess {
Context context;
private SQLiteOpenHelper openHelper;
private SQLiteDatabase database;
private static DatabaseAccess instance;
/**
* Private constructor to avoid object creation from outside classes.
*
* #param context
*/
private DatabaseAccess(Context context) {
this.context = context;
this.openHelper = new DatabaseHelper(context);
}
/**
* Return a singleton instance of DatabaseAccess.
*
* #param context the Context
* #return the instance of DabaseAccess
*/
public static DatabaseAccess getInstance(Context context) {
if (instance == null) {
instance = new DatabaseAccess(context);
}
return instance;
}
/**
* Open the database connection.
*/
public void open() {
this.database = openHelper.getWritableDatabase();
}
/**
* Close the database connection.
*/
public void close() {
if (database != null) {
this.database.close();
}
}
However , im getting a serious SONAR warning about this :
Do not place Android context classes in static fields (static
reference to DatabaseAccess which has field context pointing to
Context); this is a memory leak
In my app , every time I need to use databaseAccess instance I do the following on onViewCreated()
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
databaseAccess = DatabaseAccess.getInstance(getContext());
}
I'm really confused about this , how can I fix this memory leak ?

Your getting the error because DatabaseAccess is created with context. And you have it static, so that object is never collected the Garbage. Hence the error.
Instead of passing activity context to the singleton class, you can pass applicationContext(). and #supress the warning

Firstly create an application class for your project like this.
<application android:name="com.xyz.YourApplicataionClassName">
</application>
Then in this application class, create a static getter method for your context.
Call this method wherever you need a context.
public class YourApplicataionClassName extends Application {
private static Context context;
public void onCreate() {
super.onCreate();
YourApplicataionClassName.context = getApplicationContext();
}
public static Context getAppContext() {
return YourApplicataionClassName.context;
}
}
Call YourApplicataionClassName.getAppContext() method and this returns your context.
However using Room Persistence Library is better way then doing all this operations

Have a look at the developer guidelines for implementing databases within Android here. The issue is that you save the context which is a potential memory leak, mentioned by TDIScott. Here is an example how to create it taken from the guidelines:
public class FeedReaderDbHelper extends SQLiteOpenHelper {
// If you change the database schema, you must increment the database version.
public static final int DATABASE_VERSION = 1;
public static final String DATABASE_NAME = "FeedReader.db";
public FeedReaderDbHelper(Context context) {
super(context, DATABASE_NAME, null, DATABASE_VERSION);
}
public void onCreate(SQLiteDatabase db) {
db.execSQL(SQL_CREATE_ENTRIES);
}
public void onUpgrade(SQLiteDatabase db, int oldVersion, int newVersion) {
// This database is only a cache for online data, so its upgrade policy is
// to simply to discard the data and start over
db.execSQL(SQL_DELETE_ENTRIES);
onCreate(db);
}
public void onDowngrade(SQLiteDatabase db, int oldVersion, int newVersion) {
onUpgrade(db, oldVersion, newVersion);
}
}
If you want a singleton, than do not store the context.
However, I would not recommend to use the SQL Lite implementation directly. ORM libraries or Room specifically are better ways to store data rather than writing the complete boilerplate code around that by yourself. You will find everything you need here.

Opening an Sqlite database in a background thread

I am trying to better understand what it means to open an Sqlite database on a background thread in Android. Right now I am using a static/singleton pattern for my database via my class DatabaseHelper, so I only need to open it once, but I want to open it using good practice and understand why I shouldn't open it directly from within my Activity directly (or within the helper's constructor, for example).
My class:
public class DatabaseHelper extends SQLiteOpenHelper {
private static volatile SQLiteDatabase mDatabase;
private static DatabaseHelper mInstance = null;
private static Context mContext;
// ...
public static synchronized DatabaseHelper getInstance(Context context) {
/**
* use the application context as suggested by CommonsWare.
* this will ensure that you don't accidentally leak an Activity's
* context (see this article for more information:
* http://android-developers.blogspot.nl/2009/01/avoiding-memory-leaks.html)
*/
if (mInstance == null) {
mInstance = new DatabaseHelper(context.getApplicationContext());
}
return mInstance;
}
private DatabaseHelper(Context context) {
super(context, DB_NAME, null, DB_VERSION);
mContext = context;
}
#Override
public void onCreate(SQLiteDatabase db) {
db.execSQL(DB_CREATE_SOME_TABLE); //some SQL expression
}
#Override
public void onUpgrade(SQLiteDatabase db, int oldVersion, int newVersion) {
db.execSQL(DB_ALTER);
}
public void open() throws SQLException {
mDatabase = getWritableDatabase();
}
public void close() {
mDatabase.close();
}
public boolean isOpen() {
return mDatabase.isOpen();
}
//below this would be various CRUD functions operating on mDatabase
// ...
// ...
}
Is it correct to say that you should do something like this:
DatabaseHelper mDatabaseHelper = DatabaseHelper.getInstance(this);
Thread thread = new Thread("OpenDbThread") {
public void run(){
mDatabaseHelper.open();
}
};
thread.start();
inside an Activity somewhere?

You're correct that the code you wrote would open the database on a background thread. However, you wouldn't actually the database was opened until thread.isAlive() returned false (or mDatabase.isOpen() returned true). Alternatively, you could make your Activity listen for a callback from your Thread.

Android SQLiteDatabase table does not exists

I am having a class named GameDb and it's extending SQLiteOpenHelper. I don't know why, but onCreate it's not called, the table is not created !
Having a singelton for all my activities and fragments:
public MyApp extends Application
{
// .... Code
private GameDb gameDb;
public GameDb getGameDb()
{
if (gameDb == null)
gameDb = new GameDb(this);
return this.gameDb;
}
}
Getting all games from database, calling from an activity
public class MyActivity extends FragmentActivity
{
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle bundle)
{
// Code....
// Get all games
ArrayList<Game> allGames = getMyApp().getGameDb().getAllGames();
}
}
Class which contains all necessary methods for querying the database (writing and reading). This methods are not written below because it's not necessary.
public class GameDb
{
private SQLiteDatabase db;
private GameDbHelper dbHelper;
public GameDb(Context context)
{
this.dbHelper = new GameDbHelper(context);
this.db = dbHelper.getWritableDatabase();
}
public ArrayList<Games> getAllGames()
{
// return db.query(....);
}
public void insertNewGame(int id, String name)
{
// db.query(....);
}
// Static inner class which extends SQLiteOpenHelper
private static class GameDbHelper extends SQLiteOpenHelper
{
public GameDbHelper(Context context)
{
super(context, "DB_NAME", null, 1);
}
// On create not called !
#Override
public void onCreate(SQLiteDatabase db)
{
db.execSQL("CREATE TABLE my_table(_id INTEGER AUTOINCREMENT, date TEXT);");
}
#Override
public void onUpgrade(SQLiteDatabase db, int oldVersion, int newVersion)
{
dropTable(db);
onCreate(db);
}
public void dropTable(SQLiteDatabase db)
{
db.execSQL("DROP TABLE IF EXISTS my_table");
}
}
}
When I'm trying to get all games, or add a new game I'm getting a FATAL EXCEPTION, (1) no such table: my_table

You may have a old database present on your device and database doesn't always get deleted when you reinstall the app using IDE. Thus you must uninstall the app manually and the reinstall your app using IDE.

I don't believe onCreate() gets implicitly called when you instantiate your database object. You need to explicitly call your Activity's openOrCreateDatabase() method.

How to call methods of an external class from Activity?

First let you know I am new in Android.
Trying to create multiple classes to handle database table operations. Created a database helper as follow:
public class WSDatabaseHelper extends SQLiteOpenHelper {
private static final String DATABASE_NAME = "wsemp";
private static final int DATABASE_VERSION = 5;
public WSDatabaseHelper(Context context) {
super(context, DATABASE_NAME, null, DATABASE_VERSION);
}
#Override
public void onCreate(SQLiteDatabase database) {
.............
}
#Override
public void onUpgrade(SQLiteDatabase database, int oldVersion, int newVersion) {
................
}
}
Created a class to handle database table operation:
public class CustomerBean {
private WSDatabaseHelper database;
#Override
public boolean onCreate() {
database = new WSDatabaseHelper(getContext());
return false;
}
public boolean insertObject(valObj) {
SQLiteDatabase db = database.getWritableDatabase();
db.insert(.......);
}
}
But now I am not sure how I can call this insertObject function from my activity or session file. I tried by CustomerBean.isnertObject(obj) but it's asking to change the method to static.

There are two ways to call method in this situation
Create the object of the class and call method
// Create object
CustomerBean customerBean = new CustomerBean();
// call the method
customerBean.insertObject(<insert object here>);
Make the method static and call it from class name
// In CustomerBean class
public static boolean insertObject(valObj) {
SQLiteDatabase db = database.getWritableDatabase();
db.insert(.......);
}
//In WSDatabaseHelper class
CustomerBean.insertObject(<object name here>);
On more thing to correct here is that in CustomerBean class you have written
#Override
public boolean onCreate() {
database = new WSDatabaseHelper(getContext());
return false;
}
Which is not correct. onCreate() method of Activity class of Android and
you can put #Override Annotation for this method only if your class is extending Activity class
Hope this will help you

Add the static modifier to your method. Then you should be able to access it between classes.

Testing database on Android: ProviderTestCase2 or RenamingDelegatingContext?

I've implemented access to a database using SQLiteOpenHelper from the android.database package within some classes (with pattern DAO).
I wrote some junit tests for these classes using an AndroidTestCase but this causes the tests to use the same database as the application.
I read that the ProviderTestCase2 or RenamingDelegatingContext can be used to test the database separately. Unluckily I couldn't find any nice tutorial/example that shows how to test a database with ProviderTestCase2/RenamingDelegatingContext.
Can anyone point me somewhere OR give me some tip OR share some code for database testing?!
Cheeerrrrsss!!
Giorgio

Both the ProviderTestCase and RenamingDelegatingContext will destroy the database if one already exists before opening it within it's context, so in that sense they both have the same low-level approach towards opening a SQLite database.
You leverage this by opening the database in your fixture in setUp(), which will then ensure that your working with a fresh database before each test case.
I would suggest that you go for writing content providers rather than creating database adapters. You can use a common interface for accessing data, be it stored in the DB or somewhere over the network, the design of content providers can be accommodated to access such data at the cost of a bit of IPC overhead involved that most of us shouldn't have to care about.
If you did this for accessing a SQLite database, the framework would completely manage the database connection for you in a separate process. As added beef, the ProviderTestCase2<ContentProvider> completely bootstraps a test context for your content provider without you having to a write a single line of code.
But, that's not said it isn't such a huge effort to do the bootstrapping yourself. So supposing you had a database adapter as such; we'll just focus on open() for getting write access to our database, nothing fancy:
public class MyAdapter {
private static final String DATABASE_NAME = "my.db";
private static final String DATABASE_TABLE = "table";
private static final int DATABASE_VERSION = 1;
/**
* Database queries
*/
private static final String DATABASE_CREATE_STATEMENT = "some awesome create statement";
private final Context mCtx;
private SQLiteDatabase mDb;
private DatabaseHelper mDbHelper;
private static class DatabaseHelper extends SQLiteOpenHelper {
public DatabaseHelper(Context context) {
super(context, DATABASE_NAME, null, DATABASE_VERSION);
}
#Override
public void onCreate(SQLiteDatabase db) {
db.execSQL(DATABASE_CREATE_STATEMENT);
}
#Override
public void onUpgrade(SQLiteDatabase db, int a, int b) {
// here to enable this code to compile
}
}
/**
* Constructor - takes the provided context to allow for the database to be
* opened/created.
*
* #param context the Context within which to work.
*/
public MyAdapter(Context context) {
mCtx = context;
}
/**
* Open the last.fm database. If it cannot be opened, try to create a new
* instance of the database. If it cannot be created, throw an exception to
* signal the failure.
*
* #return this (self reference, allowing this to be chained in an
* initialization call)
* #throws SQLException if the database could be neither opened or created
*/
public MyAdapter open() throws SQLException {
mDbHelper = new DatabaseHelper(mCtx);
mDb = mDbHelper.getWritableDatabase();
return this;
}
public void close() {
mDbHelper.close();
}
}
Then you could write your test as such:
public final class MyAdapterTests extends AndroidTestCase {
private static final String TEST_FILE_PREFIX = "test_";
private MyAdapter mMyAdapter;
#Override
protected void setUp() throws Exception {
super.setUp();
RenamingDelegatingContext context
= new RenamingDelegatingContext(getContext(), TEST_FILE_PREFIX);
mMyAdapter = new MyAdapter(context);
mMyAdapter.open();
}
#Override
protected void tearDown() throws Exception {
super.tearDown();
mMyAdapter.close();
mMyAdapter = null;
}
public void testPreConditions() {
assertNotNull(mMyAdapter);
}
}
So what's happening here is that the context implementation of RenamingDelegatingContext, once MyAdapter(context).open() is called, will always recreate the database. Each test you write now will be going against the state of the database after MyAdapter.DATABASE_CREATE_STATEMENT is called.

I actually use database with SQLiteOpenHelper and I have a trick for testing.
The idea is to use standard on-file stored DB during the normal use of the app and an in-memory DB during tests. In this way you can use a clear DB for each test without insert/delete/update data in your standard DB. It works fine for me.
Keep in mind you can use in-memory database, just passing null as name of database file. This is clearly documented in the API documentation.
Advantages of using in-memory DB during tests is explained here:
https://attakornw.wordpress.com/2012/02/25/using-in-memory-sqlite-database-in-android-tests/
In my project I have the DBHelper class wich extends SQLiteHelper. As you can see, there are the standard methods. I simply added a constructor with two parameters. The difference is that when I call the super constructor, I pass null as DB name.
public class DBHelper extends SQLiteOpenHelper {
public static final int DATABASE_VERSION = 1;
public static final String DATABASE_NAME = "mydatabase.db";
public DBHelper(Context context) {
super(context, DATABASE_NAME, null, DATABASE_VERSION);
}
public DBHelper(Context context, boolean testMode) {
super(context, null, null, DATABASE_VERSION);
}
public void onCreate(SQLiteDatabase db) {
//create statements
}
public void onUpgrade(SQLiteDatabase db, int oldVersion, int newVersion) {
//on upgrade policy
}
public void onDowngrade(SQLiteDatabase db, int oldVersion, int newVersion) {
//on downgrade policy
}
}
Every "model" in the project extends DBModel that is an abstract class.
public abstract class DBModel {
protected DBHelper dbhelper;
public DBModel(Context context) {
dbhelper = new DBHelper(context);
}
//other declarations and utility function omitted
}
As discussed here: How can I find out if code is running inside a JUnit test or not?
there is a way to establish if you are running JUnit tests, simply searching in stack trace elements.
As a conseguence, I modified DBModel constructor
public abstract class DBModel {
protected DBHelper dbhelper;
public DBModel(Context context) {
if(isJUnitTest()) {
dbhelper = new DBHelper(context, true);
} else {
dbhelper = new DBHelper(context);
}
}
private boolean isJUnitTest() {
StackTraceElement[] stackTrace = Thread.currentThread().getStackTrace();
List<StackTraceElement> list = Arrays.asList(stackTrace);
for (StackTraceElement element : list) {
if (element.getClassName().startsWith("junit.")) {
return true;
}
}
return false;
}
//other declarations and utility function omitted
}
Note that
startsWith("junit.")
may be
startsWith("org.junit.")
in your case.

I have an application that uses a ContentProvider backed by an sqlite database to provide data to the application.
Let PodcastDataProvider be the actual dataprovider used by the application.
Then you can set up a test provider with something like the following:
public abstract class AbstractPodcastDataProvider extends ProviderTestCase2<PodcastDataProvider>{
public AbstractPodcastDataProvider(){
this(PodcastDataProvider.class, Feed.BASE_AUTH);
}
public AbstractPodcastDataProvider(Class<PodcastDataProvider> providerClass,
String providerAuthority) {
super(providerClass, providerAuthority);
}
public void setUp() throws Exception{
super.setUp();
//clear out all the old data.
PodcastDataProvider dataProvider =
(PodcastDataProvider)getMockContentResolver()
.acquireContentProviderClient(Feed.BASE_AUTH)
.getLocalContentProvider();
dataProvider.deleteAll();
}
}
to setup a test data provider that will be backed by a different database than the actual application.
To test the DAO, create another class which extends AbstractPodcastDataProvider and use the
getMockContentResolver();
method to get an instance of a content resolver that will use the test database instead of the application database.

private static String db_path = "/data/data/android.testdb/mydb";
private SQLiteDatabase sqliteDatabase = null;
private Cursor cursor = null;
private String[] fields;
/*
* (non-Javadoc)
*
* #see dinota.data.sqlite.IDataContext#getSQLiteDatabase()
*/
public SQLiteDatabase getSQLiteDatabase() {
try {
sqliteDatabase = SQLiteDatabase.openDatabase(db_path, null,
SQLiteDatabase.OPEN_READWRITE);
sqliteDatabase.setVersion(1);
sqliteDatabase.setLocale(Locale.getDefault());
sqliteDatabase.setLockingEnabled(true);
return sqliteDatabase;
} catch (Exception e) {
return null;
}
}
if you give the exact location of the sqlite db(in my case it's db_path), using the above method you can find-out whether it returns an sqlitedatabase or not.

A possible solution can be to open database using this method
myDataBase = SQLiteDatabase.openDatabase(DATABASE_NAME, null, SQLiteDatabase.OPEN_READWRITE);
And change database name in your tests. Here you can find some info about this method.