Building a Dynamic UI with Fragments

DEPENDENCIES AND PREREQUISITES

Basic knowledge of the Activity lifecycle (see Managing the Activity Lifecycle)
Experience building XML layouts

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FragmentBasics.zip

To create a dynamic and multi-pane user interface on Android, you need to encapsulate UI components and activity behaviors into modules that you can swap into and out of your activities. You can create these modules with the Fragment class, which behaves somewhat like a nested activity that can define its own layout and manage its own lifecycle.

When a fragment specifies its own layout, it can be configured in different combinations with other fragments inside an activity to modify your layout configuration for different screen sizes (a small screen might show one fragment at a time, but a large screen can show two or more).

This class shows you how to create a dynamic user experience with fragments and optimize your app's user experience for devices with different screen sizes, all while continuing to support devices running versions as old as Android 1.6.

Lessons

Creating a Fragment

Learn how to build a fragment and implement basic behaviors within its callback methods.

Building a Flexible UI

Learn how to build your app with layouts that provide different fragment configurations for different screens.

Communicating with Other Fragments

Learn how to set up communication paths from a fragment to the activity and other fragments.

Creating a Fragment

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Fragments

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FragmentBasics.zip

You can think of a fragment as a modular section of an activity, which has its own lifecycle, receives its own input events, and which you can add or remove while the activity is running (sort of like a "sub activity" that you can reuse in different activities). This lesson shows how to extend the Fragment class using theSupport Library so your app remains compatible with devices running system versions as low as Android 1.6.

Note: If you decide that the minimum API level your app requires is 11 or higher, you don't need to use the Support Library and can instead use the framework's built in Fragmentclass and related APIs. Just be aware that this lesson is focused on using the APIs from the Support Library, which use a specific package signature and sometimes slightly different API names than the versions included in the platform.

Before you begin this lesson, you must set up your Android project to use the Support Library. If you have not used the Support Library before, set up your project to use the v4 library by following the Support Library Setup document. However, you can also include the action bar in your activities by instead using the v7 appcompat library, which is compatible with Android 2.1 (API level 7) and also includes the Fragment APIs.

Create a Fragment Class

To create a fragment, extend the Fragment class, then override key lifecycle methods to insert your app logic, similar to the way you would with an Activity class.

One difference when creating a Fragment is that you must use the onCreateView() callback to define the layout. In fact, this is the only callback you need in order to get a fragment running. For example, here's a simple fragment that specifies its own layout:

import android.os.Bundle;
import android.support.v4.app.Fragment;
import android.view.LayoutInflater;
import android.view.ViewGroup;
public class ArticleFragment extends Fragment {
    @Override
    public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container,
        Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        // Inflate the layout for this fragment
        return inflater.inflate(R.layout.article_view, container, false);
    }
}

Just like an activity, a fragment should implement other lifecycle callbacks that allow you to manage its state as it is added or removed from the activity and as the activity transitions between its lifecycle states. For instance, when the activity's onPause() method is called, any fragments in the activity also receive a call to onPause().

More information about the fragment lifecycle and callback methods is available in the Fragments developer guide.

Add a Fragment to an Activity using XML

While fragments are reusable, modular UI components, each instance of a Fragment class must be associated with a parent FragmentActivity. You can achieve this association by defining each fragment within your activity layout XML file.

Note: FragmentActivity is a special activity provided in the Support Library to handle fragments on system versions older than API level 11. If the lowest system version you support is API level 11 or higher, then you can use a regular Activity.

Here is an example layout file that adds two fragments to an activity when the device screen is considered "large" (specified by the large qualifier in the directory name).

res/layout-large/news_articles.xml

<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:orientation="horizontal"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent">

    <fragment android:name="com.example.android.fragments.HeadlinesFragment"
              android:id="@+id/headlines_fragment"
              android:layout_weight="1"
              android:layout_width="0dp"
              android:layout_height="match_parent" />

    <fragment android:name="com.example.android.fragments.ArticleFragment"
              android:id="@+id/article_fragment"
              android:layout_weight="2"
              android:layout_width="0dp"
              android:layout_height="match_parent" />
</LinearLayout>

Tip: For more about creating layouts for different screen sizes, read Supporting Different Screen Sizes.

Then apply the layout to your activity:

import android.os.Bundle;
import android.support.v4.app.FragmentActivity;
public class MainActivity extends FragmentActivity {
    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.news_articles);
    }
}

If you're using the v7 appcompat library, your activity should instead extend ActionBarActivity, which is a subclass of FragmentActivity (for more information, read Adding the Action Bar).

Note: When you add a fragment to an activity layout by defining the fragment in the layout XML file, you cannotremove the fragment at runtime. If you plan to swap your fragments in and out during user interaction, you must add the fragment to the activity when the activity first starts, as shown in the next lesson.

Building a Flexible UI

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Download the sample

FragmentBasics.zip

When designing your application to support a wide range of screen sizes, you can reuse your fragments in different layout configurations to optimize the user experience based on the available screen space.

For example, on a handset device it might be appropriate to display just one fragment at a time for a single-pane user interface. Conversely, you may want to set fragments side-by-side on a tablet which has a wider screen size to display more information to the user.

Figure 1. Two fragments, displayed in different configurations for the same activity on different screen sizes. On a large screen, both fragments fit side by side, but on a handset device, only one fragment fits at a time so the fragments must replace each other as the user navigates.

The FragmentManager class provides methods that allow you to add, remove, and replace fragments to an activity at runtime in order to create a dynamic experience.

Add a Fragment to an Activity at Runtime

Rather than defining the fragments for an activity in the layout file—as shown in the previous lesson with the<fragment> element—you can add a fragment to the activity during the activity runtime. This is necessary if you plan to change fragments during the life of the activity.

To perform a transaction such as add or remove a fragment, you must use the FragmentManager to create aFragmentTransaction, which provides APIs to add, remove, replace, and perform other fragment transactions.

If your activity allows the fragments to be removed and replaced, you should add the initial fragment(s) to the activity during the activity's onCreate() method.

An important rule when dealing with fragments—especially when adding fragments at runtime—is that your activity layout must include a container View in which you can insert the fragment.

The following layout is an alternative to the layout shown in the previous lesson that shows only one fragment at a time. In order to replace one fragment with another, the activity's layout includes an empty FrameLayout that acts as the fragment container.

Notice that the filename is the same as the layout file in the previous lesson, but the layout directory does nothave the large qualifier, so this layout is used when the device screen is smaller than large because the screen does not fit both fragments at the same time.

res/layout/news_articles.xml:

<FrameLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:id="@+id/fragment_container"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent" />

Inside your activity, call getSupportFragmentManager() to get a FragmentManager using the Support Library APIs. Then call beginTransaction() to create a FragmentTransaction and call add() to add a fragment.

You can perform multiple fragment transaction for the activity using the same FragmentTransaction. When you're ready to make the changes, you must call commit().

For example, here's how to add a fragment to the previous layout:

import android.os.Bundle;
import android.support.v4.app.FragmentActivity;
public class MainActivity extends FragmentActivity {
    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.news_articles);

        // Check that the activity is using the layout version with
        // the fragment_container FrameLayout
        if (findViewById(R.id.fragment_container) != null) {

            // However, if we're being restored from a previous state,
            // then we don't need to do anything and should return or else
            // we could end up with overlapping fragments.
            if (savedInstanceState != null) {
                return;
            }

            // Create a new Fragment to be placed in the activity layout
            HeadlinesFragment firstFragment = new HeadlinesFragment();
            
            // In case this activity was started with special instructions from an
            // Intent, pass the Intent's extras to the fragment as arguments
            firstFragment.setArguments(getIntent().getExtras());
            
            // Add the fragment to the 'fragment_container' FrameLayout
            getSupportFragmentManager().beginTransaction()
                    .add(R.id.fragment_container, firstFragment).commit();
        }
    }
}

Because the fragment has been added to the FrameLayout container at runtime—instead of defining it in the activity's layout with a <fragment> element—the activity can remove the fragment and replace it with a different one.

Replace One Fragment with Another

The procedure to replace a fragment is similar to adding one, but requires the replace() method instead ofadd().

Keep in mind that when you perform fragment transactions, such as replace or remove one, it's often appropriate to allow the user to navigate backward and "undo" the change. To allow the user to navigate backward through the fragment transactions, you must call addToBackStack() before you commit the FragmentTransaction.

Note: When you remove or replace a fragment and add the transaction to the back stack, the fragment that is removed is stopped (not destroyed). If the user navigates back to restore the fragment, it restarts. If you do notadd the transaction to the back stack, then the fragment is destroyed when removed or replaced.

Example of replacing one fragment with another:

// Create fragment and give it an argument specifying the article it should show
ArticleFragment newFragment = new ArticleFragment();
Bundle args = new Bundle();
args.putInt(ArticleFragment.ARG_POSITION, position);
newFragment.setArguments(args);
FragmentTransaction transaction = getSupportFragmentManager().beginTransaction();
// Replace whatever is in the fragment_container view with this fragment,
// and add the transaction to the back stack so the user can navigate back
transaction.replace(R.id.fragment_container, newFragment);
transaction.addToBackStack(null);
// Commit the transaction
transaction.commit();

The addToBackStack() method takes an optional string parameter that specifies a unique name for the transaction. The name isn't needed unless you plan to perform advanced fragment operations using the

Communicating with Other Fragments

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THIS LESSON TEACHES YOU TO

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Fragments

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Download the sample

FragmentBasics.zip

In order to reuse the Fragment UI components, you should build each as a completely self-contained, modular component that defines its own layout and behavior. Once you have defined these reusable Fragments, you can associate them with an Activity and connect them with the application logic to realize the overall composite UI.

Often you will want one Fragment to communicate with another, for example to change the content based on a user event. All Fragment-to-Fragment communication is done through the associated Activity. Two Fragments should never communicate directly.

Define an Interface

To allow a Fragment to communicate up to its Activity, you can define an interface in the Fragment class and implement it within the Activity. The Fragment captures the interface implementation during its onAttach() lifecycle method and can then call the Interface methods in order to communicate with the Activity.

Here is an example of Fragment to Activity communication:

public class HeadlinesFragment extends ListFragment {
    OnHeadlineSelectedListener mCallback;

    // Container Activity must implement this interface
    public interface OnHeadlineSelectedListener {
        public void onArticleSelected(int position);
    }

    @Override
    public void onAttach(Activity activity) {
        super.onAttach(activity);
        
        // This makes sure that the container activity has implemented
        // the callback interface. If not, it throws an exception
        try {
            mCallback = (OnHeadlineSelectedListener) activity;
        } catch (ClassCastException e) {
            throw new ClassCastException(activity.toString()
                    + " must implement OnHeadlineSelectedListener");
        }
    }
    
    ...
}

Now the fragment can deliver messages to the activity by calling the onArticleSelected() method (or other methods in the interface) using the mCallback instance of the OnHeadlineSelectedListener interface.

For example, the following method in the fragment is called when the user clicks on a list item. The fragment uses the callback interface to deliver the event to the parent activity.

    @Override
    public void onListItemClick(ListView l, View v, int position, long id) {
        // Send the event to the host activity
        mCallback.onArticleSelected(position);
    }

Implement the Interface

In order to receive event callbacks from the fragment, the activity that hosts it must implement the interface defined in the fragment class.

For example, the following activity implements the interface from the above example.

public static class MainActivity extends Activity
        implements HeadlinesFragment.OnHeadlineSelectedListener{
    ...
    
    public void onArticleSelected(int position) {
        // The user selected the headline of an article from the HeadlinesFragment
        // Do something here to display that article
    }
}

Deliver a Message to a Fragment

The host activity can deliver messages to a fragment by capturing the Fragment instance withfindFragmentById(), then directly call the fragment's public methods.

For instance, imagine that the activity shown above may contain another fragment that's used to display the item specified by the data returned in the above callback method. In this case, the activity can pass the information received in the callback method to the other fragment that will display the item:

public static class MainActivity extends Activity
        implements HeadlinesFragment.OnHeadlineSelectedListener{
    ...

    public void onArticleSelected(int position) {
        // The user selected the headline of an article from the HeadlinesFragment
        // Do something here to display that article

        ArticleFragment articleFrag = (ArticleFragment)
                getSupportFragmentManager().findFragmentById(R.id.article_fragment);

        if (articleFrag != null) {
            // If article frag is available, we're in two-pane layout...

            // Call a method in the ArticleFragment to update its content
            articleFrag.updateArticleView(position);
        } else {
            // Otherwise, we're in the one-pane layout and must swap frags...

            // Create fragment and give it an argument for the selected article
            ArticleFragment newFragment = new ArticleFragment();
            Bundle args = new Bundle();
            args.putInt(ArticleFragment.ARG_POSITION, position);
            newFragment.setArguments(args);
        
            FragmentTransaction transaction = getSupportFragmentManager().beginTransaction();

            // Replace whatever is in the fragment_container view with this fragment,
            // and add the transaction to the back stack so the user can navigate back
            transaction.replace(R.id.fragment_container, newFragment);
            transaction.addToBackStack(null);

            // Commit the transaction
            transaction.commit();
        }
    }
}

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Monday 16 March 2015