Develop Reference

What is the best place to call getContext()?

I was reading fragment documentation and found this:
Caution: If you need a Context object within your Fragment, you can call getContext(). However, be careful to call getContext() only when the fragment is attached to an activity. When the fragment isn't attached yet or was detached during the end of its lifecycle, getContext() returns null
So my question is what is the best place to call getContext() inside the fragment. Like i can call it in onCreateView, or onCreate() or onAttach() on any other place.
I am asking this because recently I got a crash of null pointer using getContext in my fragment. So I thought I should create a global Context object and access it inside the fragment. But then I came across this text from official documentation so I am a bit confused what would be the best place to initialize this Context object.

It all depends what you need that Context for. Sometimes it's just fine to call getApplicationContext(), in other cases it may be needed to use what you are given in onAttach() or call getActivity() if you are in Fragment code. Some are also providing own Application subclass, exposing static method like getAppContext().
In any case, AVOID saving the context as it may lead to memory leak. Get it dynamically when needed only.

As a lot of wrong answers are given, I'll provide what's the best way to handle context inside fragments.
The best solution is checking if the context has a value whenever you need it.
You can do it by wrapping the code in which you access the fragment in 2 ways:
if (getContext() != null) { /* code here */ }
or, as stated in the documentation there's this method:
isAdded()
which: "Return true if the fragment is currently added to its activity." -reference
Again: please AVOID saving the context in a local fragment's variable.

You can do something like this in your fragment.
#Override
public void onAttach(Activity activity) {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
super.onAttach(activity);
// After this point the context is initialized.
context=activity;
}
NOTE: I don't really get it why it is so not liked this answer.
First af all, depending on the version of android(which was not mentioned), of course the OnAttach is deprecated, it has to be checked.
Next:
I think that if you need cobntext somewhere, you can make a private or protected variable in Fragment, so the context is destroyed when it is garbage collected.
protected MainActivity activity;
Make sure you hold this variable dearly and its reference is not passed to other classes.
This should do the job.

You can implement your logic like this :
private Context mContext;
#Override
public void onAttach(Context context) {
super.onAttach(context);
mContext = context;
}
#Override
public void onDetach() {
mContext = null;
super.onDetach();
}
When you required to use context,
if(mContext != null) {
//Add your logic here
}

Getting instance of MainActivity

Hi I am kind of new to android, still learning. And my problem is that, for example I have a method which was created in the MainActivity and I need to call it from another class.
Is it a good practice to get the instance of the MainActivity so that I may be able to call the method in the MainActivity from another class?
This is an example:
public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
private static MainActivity inst;
public static MainActivity instances()
{
return inst;
}
#Override
public void onStart() {
super.onStart();
inst = this;
}
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
}
public void showToast (String text){
Toast.makeText(inst, text, Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
}
Then this is the other class:
public class broadcastReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver {
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
MainActivity instance = new MainActivity();
instance.showToast(AnyText);
}
}
I saw this type of coding while looking at tutorials and wondered if it's a good practice or maybe there might be a better way? Since I get the warning of Do not place Android Context Classes in static classes
Thanks in advance for any insight or help! :D

I guess You want to make A singleton of Activity Class
but as Mention in All Pattern Design
using Singleton
If and Only If its only way to Make A Global Variable
Singleton is based on Lazing Initialing and Load On Memory
so I guess If you cant to Interact With Activiy You can Use
BroadCast Or Intents

You can call method from another class like this:
MainActivity instance = new MainActivity();
String data = instance.data();
and create data method in that class:
public String data() {
return mangaId;
}

Is it a good practice to get the instance of the MainActivity so that
I may be able to call the method in the MainActivity from another
class?
You totally can do this but you don't need to make it static and use a constructor. Just create a new instance like follows and you'll access the public methods
MainActivity mainActivity = new MainActivity();
mainActivity.showToast(text);
About the warning
It suggests avoiding having context fields defined as static. The warning itself explains why: It's a memory leak. If you make it static it will be accessible anywhere in your app and some methods can hold the reference to this context for a really long time and it won't be garbage collected. It will lead to a outofmemory exception and the app could crash. But here you're trying to invoke showToast() from broadcastreceiver so you can just get rid of static references. And it you need them in the future you safe ways to inject context

You cannot create instances of an Activity using the new operator.
You have to use an Intent to let an Activity to be created.
So you cannot get a reference to an instance of your activity.
The only methods you can use of your activity class are static ones.

How to use Context to access/manipulate another class/activity

I want to create a generic AsynceTask class that all my activities use/share for downloading content from a url. for this reason, I don't want the OnPostExecute to do anything other than to send the content back to some method in the activity that invoked the AsyncTask class.
I know that I need to create a constructor that sets the context of the Activity that invoked the AsyncTask, but then what, how do I use the context to send something back the the activity corresponding to that context. I've seen no tutorials that show how to use context in this manner.
Lets say I have:
public class LoginActivity {
public int ActivityMember;
public void HandleButtonClick(void){
DownloadFromURL task = new DownloadFromURL(this);
task.execute(url);
}
public void HandleLoginResult(int x){
ActivityMember = x;
}
}
now in a separate java file I have:
private class DownloadFromURL extends AsyncTask<List<NameValuePair>, Long, JSONObject> {
Context context;
public void DownloadFromURL (Context context){
this.context = context;
}
#Override
protected void onPostExecute(JSONObject json) {
context.(<- *my question involves this part of code)
}
}
I'm pretty sure I cant call context.ActivityMember, or context.HandleLoginResult(y) inside onPostExecute, because context is not of the type LoginActivity, its a Context.
So how can I access members or methods belonging to LoginActivity, using it's context?

you can use ((ActivityName)contextName).methodName()
But it is not a good solution. You can try something like this

pass your activity name along with the context to the async class.
protected void onPostExecute(SoapObject result)
{
if(classname.equals("LoginActivity"))
{
((LoginActivity) object).method();
}
else if(classname.equals("MainActivity"))
{
((MainActivity) object).method();
}
}

Easy to do, you just create a method in your activity and call it from the instance you pass through AsyncTask parent class constructor.
Assume you have in your activity some like this:
public void Foo(ArrayList<DataType> data)
{
//Do some with data
}
You then call this method from onPostExecute like this:
#Override
protected void onPostExecute(ArrayList<DataType> data)
{
activity.Foo(data);
}
Where activity is the instance passed through the constructor.
Cheers

This involves basic Object Oriented Programming knowledge.
If you look closely at http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Activity.html you can see Activity extends Context, that's why you can get away with passing this to your AsyncTask constructor and having the compiler do the required object slicings.
We can use that to your advantage: Create an abstract class extending Activity (Let's say: DataActivity, just an example though, name it whatever you want) and write a method named onDataDownloadComplete(JSONObject json) (A callback) on it, that you would of call on your AsyncTask's onPostExecute. Make all your activities extend from DataActivity and implement that method. Change the AsyncTask context from Context to DataActivity so you can call the onDataDownloadComplete callback and you are done. Again, as DataActivity would of extend Activity and Activity extends Context, DataActivity or anyhting extending it would be a valid context for the AsyncTask.
Hope you find this useful.

I realized there is another way to achieve what I was trying to do. This takes away the Asyncrony, but for the case of login, I actually do want the UI to be inactive while the app trys to log in.
After I call
asyncTask.execute()
I can call
asyncTask.get()
and that will retrieve the result of doInBackground and allow you to run it on the spot. Alternatively I can use a timeout so I dont block forever:
asynceTask.get(5000, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS)

How to set a TextView from another class (not extending to Activity.class)

I have a problem about setting a TextView from a class which is not a child class of Activity. This class is basically used for handling registration and REST request with 3rd party server.
After getting textfield info from 3rd Party server, it is too late to set TextView in the Main Activity.
I can't use SharedPreferences to set this info, because MainActivity has already started.
I can't pass this info with Bundle since my java class is not an activity class.
How can I pass this info and set the TextView in the MainActivity? Is there any way to do this?

The proper way of doing this this is to create a listener.
Create an interface :
public interface OperationCompletedListener{
void onOperationCompleted(String resultValue);
}
Then in your class which calls Rest services, create a variable for this listener and a method to set it.
private OperationCompletedListener mListener;
public void setOperationCompletedListener(OperationCompletedListener listener){
mListener=listener;
}
Then when the your rest service completed call like below :
if(mListener!=null){
mListener.onOperationCompleted("your value to be passed");
}
Then in your activity class which contains the TextView, create an object of OperationCompletedListener and set it to the other class using the set method that we created earlier. Then in the onOperationCompleted method, set the text view with your value and you are done.
private OperationCompletedListener mOperationCompletedListener=new OperationCompletedListener() {
#Override
public void onOperationCompleted(String resultValue) {
yourTextView.setText(resultValue);
}
};
restServiceClassObject.setOperationCompletedListener(mOperationCompletedListener);

You can create an static method which update textview in your activity class . Then call this method from your other class whenever you want.

Try to pass the Activity to the non-Activity class when you instantiate it. For example:
public class NonActivityClass {
private Activity parentActivity;
public NonActivity(Activity parentActivity) {
this.parentActivity = parentActivity;
}
}
Or you can just pass the Activity to a static method in your NonActivityClass if you don't want to instantiate it (it's abstract). Then, you can inflate the TextView or do a findViewById from the parent and set the text.
From my experience, you should never use a static non-final variable to maintain a reference across activities. When you restart the app or the phone, or when Android kills your app's process, the reference and state of the variable becomes lost and may cause your app to crash.

How to avoid static context reference when I need to use a activity context?

After read this topic avoiding memory leaks some doubts arouse.
If I need to use an activity context (example: inflate a view in a PopupWindow class to show a popup) how can I hold the context of actual activity to do it? If I need to avoid a static context reference the only way to do it is creating an attribute in my class? And all the other classes I'll need the actual activity context I need to do it?
update-
I want to use this actual activity context in many classes that don't inherited Context, like I use with the application Context in my Application class that has a static method called getApplicationContext() declared. This method follows the Singleton Design Pattern and works fine.

Working from the code you linked in the comments, why not do this:
//my main activity
public class ExampleStaticReferenceActivity extends Activity {
//...
public void methodCalledWhenUserPressesButton(){
LinearLayout masterLayout = (LinearLayout) findViewById(R.id.masterLayout);
//now passing a reference to the current activity - elevine
masterLayout.addView(ButtonCreator.createButton(this));
}
}
//this class is in another package
public class ButtonCreator {
//added a Context parameter - elevine
public static Button createButton(Context context) {
Button button;
button = new Button(context);
//... some configurations for button
return button;
}
}

That will crash your Application since Your Activity will be killed by OS when it runs out of Resources thus Context will also be null.. And its meaningless to give A background Activities Instance when you want to show pop up in the Foreground Activity.. What the Blog says is avoid passing activity.this where even getApplicationContext() can do the job..