Accessing Drawable resources from a non context class - android

I'm defining a class that sets a Drawable attribute in an object. The problem is that I can't access the getResource().getDrawable(int resourceId) method unless I have some Context.
What I did was to send to that class an activity instance (let's call it "act") and then I did:
act.getResources().getDrawable(R.drawable.whellchair)
but, when executing that line it throws a NullPointerException.
When idea how to accomplish this?

I found the problem!
I'm using a singleton and I put the line accessing the "act" in a static method... how fool of me ...
Sorry and thank you Juhani for the comment :)

Pass that the application context to the constructor of your class. In the main application class you just get the context by invoking the getApplication() method if you need the a lifetime aware context or getApplicationContext() if you need a the context which is tied to the current process.
Example:
private Context ctx = getApplication();
... some code ...
MyClass myClass = new MyClass(ctx);
Your classes' constructor of course has to handle the context accordingly (i.e. setting a private member of type Context to the passed value) like this.
private Context ctx = null;
public MyClass(ctx) {
this.ctx = ctx;
}
Then you can use the context for whatever you need.

Related

Android Studio context returning null

I have a class that's inputting some data into SharedPreferences.
private static Context context;
context = MainActivity.getContext();
sp = (SharedPreferences) context.getSharedPreferences("currentData", Context.MODE_PRIVATE).edit();
SharedPreferences.Editor editor = sp.edit();
editor.putString("name", placeName);
editor.apply()
I set the context using a method in my MainActivity class:
public static Context getContext(){
return context;
}
However I keep getting a null object reference. Tried multiple solutions from stack overflow and can't overcome the issue.
Why is context returning null?
This is because MainActivity.getContext() is null try passing the context from MainActivity to your class.
public Context context;
public YourClass(Context context) {
this.context= context;
}
In MainActivity init it like this:-
YourClass yours = new YourClass(MainActivity.this);
And also avoid using static contexts it might cause memory leaks !!
Context is an abstract class whose implementation is provided by the
Android system
Context is provided to any Activity by the android system during runtime (Activity indirectly extends Context). You are trying to get Context from MainActivity class via static method, which will not work and will always return null:
context = MainActivity.getContext();
You should always get Context from an instance of Activity, not the class itself. You can do this easily by passing an instance of your current Activity to the constructor of your class. Then, you call getContext() on an INSTANCE of that Activity, not the Activity class itself.
Also, wanted to mention that your code is mostly anti-pattern. You should never store Context in static variables. I'd recommend you read more about Activity lifecycle in android and Context - these are fundamental knowledge.
You can get context statically throughout the application
please try below code:
In the Android Manifest file, declare the following.
<application android:name="com.xyz.MyApplication">
</application>
Use this class
public class MyApplication extends Application {
private static Context context;
public void onCreate() {
super.onCreate();
MyApplication.context = getApplicationContext();
}
public static Context getAppContext() {
return MyApplication.context;
}
}
Now you can call MyApplication.getAppContext() to get your application context statically.
You are getting the context from a static method in the class, that mean that method is called before the class is actually initialized. If there is no actual instance of the activity or if the OS haven't provide with context to the activity, then is null. The Activity has access to the contexto but after the Android underlining management initialized it, the class won't have the context by it self because it is there, if you notice Activities are never instantiated using the constructor because Android does it for you.
If you want to use a static method to having a nice syntax then the static method should be inside the class that use the shared preferences and should be passed from the activity, during any method of the Activity life cycle or when the user interacts with the ui (those listeners are set on the Activity life cycle).
class MyPreferences {
static void save(String toSave, Contex context) {
//TODO your operation here
}
}
And your activity:
public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
//Below is pseudo code, be careful on doing this precisely in the activity
#Override
onCreate() {
//TODO call super and setContentView
MyPreferences.save("foo", this);
}
}
It seems your problem is you are trying to make the other class to use the Activity, but in Android is the Activity that uses other classes

Referencing a non-static method in a static class in Android - getSharedPref

I have following code :
Context context = Activity.getApplicationContext();
SharedPreferences settings = context.getSharedPreferences("AutoMsgSharedPrefs", MODE_PRIVATE);
// Writing data to SharedPreferences
SharedPreferences.Editor editor = settings.edit();
editor.putString("key", "some value");
editor.commit();
I have been trying to use SharedPrefs to store messages given in - "Conversation" class as in sample - https://developer.android.com/samples/MessagingService/index.html. But, I get "can not reference non-static method from a static class if I try to achieve it in constructor of "Conversation" class. So How do I resolve this?
Here is the screenshot of error if I update as suggested :
Here
Context context = Activity.getApplicationContext();
This line not return a valid Context for your application to call getSharedPreferences.
To call getSharedPreferences from non Activity,Service,... classes you should need to pass valid context from application component like from Activity,Service,..
To get Context in Conversation use Conversation class constructor which is already created in given example you will need to add one more parameter:
Context mContext;
public Conversation(int conversationId, String participantName,
List<String> messages,Context mContext) {
.....
this.mContext=mContext;
}
Now use mContext to call getSharedPreferences method from Conversation class :
SharedPreferences settings = mContext.getSharedPreferences("AutoMsgSharedPrefs",
Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
To get the context no need to use Activity class. Change this code
Context context = Activity.getApplicationContext();
to
Context context = getApplicationContext();
Explanation: Activity class does not have a static method getApplicationContext(), because this method is non static, so you need to have an object instance. So call this method on Activity on Context instance.
As #ρяσѕρєя K already pointed out you have to somehow grant your non-Context class access to your Context instance. For example through introducing a new parameter.
public Conversation(int conversationId, String participantName,
List<String> messages, Context context) {
.....
}
But keep in mind:
It is discouraged to save references to long-life and heavy weight components like Contexts in your classes because this strong reference will exclude the context from the garbage collection and thus causing memory leaks.
So instead of storing your Context you can use it to initialize your Conversation object as you like and let the scope of the constructor take care of discarding the short-term reference to your Context.
If you should need a Context multiple times though, you could write a method which takes a Context instance as a parameter and call it to do the dirty work:
public void doStuff(Context context) {
// do your work here
}

Android: How do you access a string-array from strings.xml in a custom class?

I'd like to get my string-array without extending Activity in my custom class. Is there a way to do this?
String[] foo_array = getResources().getStringArray(R.array.foo_array); will not work without extending Activity, so I need a work-around.
Pass the context to the constructor of custom class and use the same
new CustomClass(ActivityName.this);
Then
Context mContext;
public CustomClass(Context context)
{
mContext = context;
}
use the context
String[] foo_array = mContext.getResources().getStringArray(R.array.foo_array);
Also keep in mind
Do not keep long-lived references to a context-activity (a reference to an activity should have the same life cycle as the activity itself)
http://android-developers.blogspot.in/2009/01/avoiding-memory-leaks.html
Also check this
android getResources() from non-Activity class
Edit:
Change this
public class CustomClass(Context context)
{
}
To
public class CustomClass
{
Context mContext;
public CustomClass(Context context) // constructor
{
mContext = context;
}
}
try this,
Context context=getApplicationContext();
String[] foo_array = context.getResources().getStringArray(R.array.foo_array);
And, do not use Activity Context as that is tied to the Activity life cycle.
Update,
getApplicationContext() is from Context class. That means any thing extended Context have this method. This also means you will be able to use this from service or from other resources.
But, if you custom class do not extend Activity/context, you have to pass Context as parameter to use getApplicationContext()
if you declare your activity like this
myMethod(Activity activity) //this is bad
Bud if it is like following,
myMethod(Context context) //this is ok
but from above declaration do not pass Activity or Service Context as they have own life cycle. instead you will use getApplicationContext()
You need pass the Activity context to the Custom class.
private Context context;
public CustomClass(Context context)
{
this.context=context;
}
if you use numberpicker and pass String from sring xml then use this
np_Basic_Hight.setMinValue(0);
np_Basic_Hight.setMaxValue(71);
np_Basic_Hight.setDisplayedValues(getContext().getResources().getStringArray(R.array.hieght));

How can i reach getResources() and Context except Activity class?

I know this question is general but I am always face to face this problem.
My question is I can reach getResource() or getContext() in Activity but when I want to use a class without activity
example:
public class MapOverlay extends ItemizedOverlay
I can not reach getResources() or Context.
How can I do that anybody know any trick?
I usually do it the following way:
Create a class that extends Application, say MyApp.
Declare a private static Context context field
Declare a (static) getter for the context field
Initialize the field in onCreate(): context = this
Now context is available across all application via MyApp.context()
ItemizedOverlay in not extending android.content.Context.
You can create the construcor like
private Context mContext;
public MapOverlay(Context context){
this.mContext=context;
}
and then use the mContext field to call getResource() or getContext() methods.
Just expose a public method inside your MapOverlay that takes a Context.
public void setContext(Context context) {
mContext = context;
}

How to obtain AssetManager without reference to Context?

I have a class that needs to obtain a reference to it's application's AssetManager. This class does not extend any sort of android UI class, so it doesn't have a getContext() method, or anything similar. Is there some sort of static Context.getCurrentApplicationContext() type of method?
To clarify: my class is intended to be used like a library, for other applications. It has no associated AndroidManifest.xml or control over the context which is calling it.
Create a subclass of Application, for instance public class App extends Application {
Set the android:name attribute of your <application> tag in the AndroidManifest.xml to point to your new class, e.g. android:name=".App"
In the onCreate() method of your app instance, save your context (e.g. this) to a static field named app and create a static method that returns this field, e.g. getApp():
This is how it should look:
public class App extends Application{
private static Context mContext;
#Override
public void onCreate() {
super.onCreate();
mContext = this;
}
public static Context getContext(){
return mContext;
}
}
Now you can use: App.getContext() whenever you want to get a context, and then getAssetManager() (or App.getContext().getAssetManager()).
I am not sure of the best answer to the OP question. However, I do know that you have to be very careful when using a static context as suggested in Android developer resources:
In the onCreate() method of your app instance, save your context (e.g. this) to a static field named app and create a static method that returns this field, e.g. getApp():
Using static contexts can leak to leaked memory issues, especially if the static context is used for references to views.

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