What's callback in Kotlin? - kotlin

I'm learning kotlin in intelij Idea, and I have to make presentation about interfaces. One subject is callback, where can I find information about it? or can you tell me simply, veery simply, what's call back?
fun main() {
val myphone = Myphone()
myphone.phoneOn()
myphone.onClick()
myphone.onTouch()
myphone.openApp()
myphone.closeApp()
}
interface Application {
var AppName: String
fun openApp()
fun closeApp() {
println("$AppName App is closed!")
}
}
interface Button {
var helloMessage: String
fun phoneOn()
fun onClick()
fun onTouch() {
println("The screen was touched!")
}
}
class Myphone: Button, Application {
override var AppName: String = "Facebook"
override fun openApp() {
println("$AppName Is Open!")
}
override var helloMessage: String = "Hello"
override fun onClick() {
println("The screen was clicked!")
}
override fun phoneOn() {
println("$helloMessage !")
}
}

VERY simply: callback means the function, that is executed on the other function's finish or some specific event happening.
fun execute() {
// Some logic
executeAnotherOnFinish();
}
OR
// filter executes only after array converted to list
myIntArray.toList().filter { it > 0 }
OR
myListener.notify()
// Listener class methid
notify() {
// Do some work
executeCallback()
}

Callback is not just Kotlin related, its very common programming technique which is primarily used with asynchronous programming. The simplest explanation is that it is function that will be called back (hence the name) once some asynchronous event has occurred.
Button's onClick function is quite good example of that, we have some logic that we need to execute but we want it to run only when button is clicked so we provide callback which will be called once that button is clicked.

Related

LiveData Observer isn't triggered for the second time

I'm expecting that the observer will be triggered when I'm hitting API by clicking one of the side menu. When I clicked one of the menu, Retrofit actually gave me the response with the correct value. The problem is, the Observer isn't getting triggered for the second time. I've trace the problem and find out that my Repository isn't returning a value even though my Retrofit already update the MutableLiveData.
RemoteDataSource.kt
override fun getDisastersByFilter(filter: String?): LiveData<ApiResponse<DisastersDTO?>> {
val result = MutableLiveData<ApiResponse<DisastersDTO?>>()
apiService.getDisastersByFilter(filter).enqueue(object : Callback<DisastersResponse> {
override fun onResponse(
call: Call<DisastersResponse>,
response: Response<DisastersResponse>
) {
if(response.isSuccessful) {
val data = response.body()
data?.disastersDTO?.let {
result.postValue(ApiResponse.Success(it))
Log.d("RemoteDataSource", "$it")
} ?: run {
result.postValue(ApiResponse.Error("Bencana alam tidak ditemukan"))
}
} else {
result.postValue(ApiResponse.Error("Terjadi kesalahan!"))
}
}
override fun onFailure(call: Call<DisastersResponse>, t: Throwable) {
result.postValue(ApiResponse.Error(t.localizedMessage!!))
Log.d("RemoteDataSource", t.localizedMessage!!)
}
})
return result
}
Repository.kt
override fun getDisastersByFilter(filter: String?): LiveData<Resource<List<Disaster>>> =
remoteDataSource.getDisastersByFilter(filter).map {
when (it) {
is ApiResponse.Empty -> Resource.Error("Terjadi error")
is ApiResponse.Error -> Resource.Error(it.errorMessage)
is ApiResponse.Loading -> Resource.Loading()
is ApiResponse.Success -> Resource.Success(
DataMapper.disastersResponseToDisasterDomain(
it.data
)
)
}
}
SharedViewModel.kt
fun getDisastersByFilter(filter: String? = "gempa"): LiveData<Resource<List<Disaster>>> =
useCase.getDisastersByFilter(filter)
Here's the **MapsFragment**
private val viewModel: SharedViewModel by activityViewModels()
viewModel.getDisastersByFilter("gempa").observe(viewLifecycleOwner) {
when (it) {
is Resource.Success -> {
Log.d("MapsFragmentFilter", "${it.data}")
it.data?.let { listDisaster ->
if(listDisaster.isNotEmpty()) {
map.clear()
addGeofence(listDisaster)
listDisaster.map { disaster ->
placeMarker(disaster)
addCircle(disaster)
}
}
}
}
is Resource.Error -> Toast.makeText(context, "Filter Error", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show()
is Resource.Loading -> {}
}
}
Here's the MainActivity that triggers the function to hit API
private val viewModel: SharedViewModel by viewModels()
binding.navViewMaps.setNavigationItemSelectedListener { menu ->
when (menu.itemId) {
R.id.filter_gempa -> viewModel.getDisastersByFilter("gempa")
R.id.filter_banjir -> viewModel.getDisastersByFilter("banjir")
R.id.about_us -> viewModel.getDisasters()
}
binding.drawerLayoutMain.closeDrawers()
true
}
I can't be sure from what you've posted, but your menu options call getDisastersByFilter on your SharedViewModel, and it looks like that eventually calls through to getDisastersByFilter in RemoteDataSource.
That function creates a new LiveData and returns it, and all your other functions (including the one in viewModel) just return that new LiveData. So if you want to see the result that's eventually posted to it, you need to observe that new one.
I don't know where the fragment code you posted is from, but it looks like you're just calling and observing viewModel.getDisastersByFilter once. So when that first happens, it does the data fetch and you get a result on the LiveData it returned. That LiveData won't receive any more results, from the looks of your code - it's a one-time, disposable thing that receives a result later, and then it's useless.
If I've got that right, you need to rework how you're handling your LiveDatas. The fragment needs to get the result of every viewModel.getDisastersByFilter call, so it can observe the result - it might be better if your activity passes an event to the fragment ("this item was clicked") and the fragment handles calling the VM, and it can observe the result while it's at it (pass it to a function that wires that up so you don't have to keep repeating your observer code)
The other approach would be to have the Fragment observe a currentData livedata, that's wired up to show the value of a different source livedata. Then when you call getDisastersByFilter, that source livedata is swapped for the new one. The currentData one gets any new values posted to this new source, and the fragment only has to observe that single LiveData once. All the data gets piped into it by the VM.
I don't have time to do an example, but have a look at this Transformations stuff (this is one of the developers' blogs): https://medium.com/androiddevelopers/livedata-beyond-the-viewmodel-reactive-patterns-using-transformations-and-mediatorlivedata-fda520ba00b7
What I believe you are doing wrong is using LiveData in the first place while using a retrofit.
You are getting a response asynchronously while your code is running synchronously. So, you need to make use of suspending functions by using suspend.
And while calling this function from ViewModel, wrap it with viewModelScope.launch{}
fun getDisastersByFilter(filter: String? = "gempa") = viewModelScope.launch {
useCase.getDisastersByFilter(filter).collect{
// do something....
// assign the values to MutableLiveData or MutableStateFlows
}
}
You should either be using RxJava or CallbackFlow.
I prefer Flows, given below is an example of how your code might look if you use callback flow.
suspend fun getDisastersByFilter(filter: String?): Flow<ApiResponse<DisastersDTO?>> =
callbackFlow {
apiService.getDisastersByFilter(filter)
.enqueue(object : Callback<DisastersResponse> {
override fun onResponse(
call: Call<DisastersResponse>,
response: Response<DisastersResponse>
) {
if (response.isSuccessful) {
val data = response.body()
data?.disastersDTO?.let {
trySend(ApiResponse.Success(it))
// result.postValue(ApiResponse.Success(it))
Log.d("RemoteDataSource", "$it")
} ?: run {
trySend(ApiResponse.Error("Bencana alam tidak ditemukan"))
// result.postValue(ApiResponse.Error("Bencana alam tidak ditemukan"))
}
} else {
trySend(ApiResponse.Error("Terjadi kesalahan!"))
// result.postValue(ApiResponse.Error("Terjadi kesalahan!"))
}
}
override fun onFailure(call: Call<DisastersResponse>, t: Throwable) {
trySend(ApiResponse.Error(t.localizedMessage!!))
// result.postValue(ApiResponse.Error(t.localizedMessage!!))
Log.d("RemoteDataSource", t.localizedMessage!!)
}
})
awaitClose()
}

Using Coroutines with Third party library that's using callback handlers

Here is a breakdown of how the current third party SDK implementation works.
class Handler(val context: Context) {
val device = Controller.getInstance(context,Listener())
fun connectBT(BTDevice:BluetoothDevice){
device.connectBT(BTDevice)
}
}
and then the Listener implementation
class Listener: BBDeviceController.BBDeviceControllerListener{
override fun onBTConnected(device: BluetoothDevice?) {
println("Device Connected")
// Send back to function that device is connect
}
}
This is a straightforward example, but the idea is, when you press a button it will call connectBT() and then contain the result like so:
val handler = Handler(this)
val res = handler.connectBT(btDevice)
I know you can use suspendCoroutine on the function handler.connectBT() however the issue is how do I get the listeners result from the SDK to return back to the main function that called it?
When using suspendCoroutine, you need to call resume/resumeWithException/etc on the continuation object. You can store/pass this object anywhere, for example to your listener:
class Handler(val context: Context) {
val listener = Listener()
val device = Controller.getInstance(context, listener)
suspend fun connectBT(BTDevice:BluetoothDevice){
suspendCoroutine<Unit> { continuation ->
listener.continuation = continuation
device.connectBT(BTDevice)
}
}
}
class Listener: BBDeviceController.BBDeviceControllerListener{
var continuation: Continuation<Unit>? = null
override fun onBTConnected(device: BluetoothDevice?) {
println("Device Connected")
if (continuation != null) {
continuation?.resume(Unit)
continuation = null
}
}
}

Variable value is still null even after assigning a value inside the listener block [duplicate]

(Disclaimer: There are a ton of questions which arise from people asking about data being null/incorrect when using asynchronous operations through requests such as facebook,firebase, etc. My intention for this question was to provide a simple answer for that problem to everyone starting out with asynchronous operations in android)
I'm trying to get data from one of my operations, when I debug it using breakpoints or logs, the values are there, but when I run it they are always null, how can I solve this ?
Firebase
firebaseFirestore.collection("some collection").get()
.addOnSuccessListener(new OnSuccessListener<QuerySnapshot>() {
#Override
public void onSuccess(QuerySnapshot documentSnapshots) {
//I want to return these values I receive here...
});
//...and use the returned value here.
Facebook
GraphRequest request = GraphRequest.newGraphPathRequest(
accessToken,
"some path",
new GraphRequest.Callback() {
#Override
public void onCompleted(GraphResponse response) {
//I want to return these values I receive here...
}
});
request.executeAsync();
//...and use the returned value here.
Kotlin coroutine
var result: SomeResultType? = null
someScope.launch {
result = someSuspendFunctionToRetrieveSomething()
//I want to return the value I received here...
}
Log.d("result", result.toString()) //...but it is still null here.
Etc.
What is a Synchronous/Asynchronous operation ?
Well, Synchronous waits until the task has completed. Your code executes "top-down" in this situation.
Asynchronous completes a task in the background and can notify you when it is complete.
If you want to return the values from an async operation through a method/function, you can define your own callbacks in your method/function to use these values as they are returned from these operations.
Here's how for Java
Start off by defining an interface :
interface Callback {
void myResponseCallback(YourReturnType result);//whatever your return type is: string, integer, etc.
}
next, change your method signature to be like this :
public void foo(final Callback callback) { // make your method, which was previously returning something, return void, and add in the new callback interface.
next up, wherever you previously wanted to use those values, add this line :
callback.myResponseCallback(yourResponseObject);
as an example :
#Override
public void onSuccess(QuerySnapshot documentSnapshots) {
// create your object you want to return here
String bar = document.get("something").toString();
callback.myResponseCallback(bar);
})
now, where you were previously calling your method called foo:
foo(new Callback() {
#Override
public void myResponseCallback(YourReturnType result) {
//here, this result parameter that comes through is your api call result to use, so use this result right here to do any operation you previously wanted to do.
}
});
}
How do you do this for Kotlin ?
(as a basic example where you only care for a single result)
start off by changing your method signature to something like this:
fun foo(callback:(YourReturnType) -> Unit) {
.....
then, inside your asynchronous operation's result :
firestore.collection("something")
.document("document").get()
.addOnSuccessListener {
val bar = it.get("something").toString()
callback(bar)
}
then, where you would have previously called your method called foo, you now do this :
foo() { result->
// here, this result parameter that comes through is
// whatever you passed to the callback in the code aboce,
// so use this result right here to do any operation
// you previously wanted to do.
}
// Be aware that code outside the callback here will run
// BEFORE the code above, and cannot rely on any data that may
// be set inside the callback.
if your foo method previously took in parameters :
fun foo(value:SomeType, callback:(YourType) -> Unit)
you simply change it to :
foo(yourValueHere) { result ->
// here, this result parameter that comes through is
// whatever you passed to the callback in the code aboce,
// so use this result right here to do any operation
// you previously wanted to do.
}
these solutions show how you can create a method/function to return values from async operations you've performed through the use of callbacks.
However, it is important to understand that, should you not be interested in creating a method/function for these:
#Override
public void onSuccess(SomeApiObjectType someApiResult) {
// here, this `onSuccess` callback provided by the api
// already has the data you're looking for (in this example,
// that data would be `someApiResult`).
// you can simply add all your relevant code which would
// be using this result inside this block here, this will
// include any manipulation of data, populating adapters, etc.
// this is the only place where you will have access to the
// data returned by the api call, assuming your api follows
// this pattern
})
There's a particular pattern of this nature I've seen repeatedly, and I think an explanation of what's happening would help. The pattern is a function/method that calls an API, assigning the result to a variable in the callback, and returns that variable.
The following function/method always returns null, even if the result from the API is not null.
Kotlin
fun foo(): String? {
var myReturnValue: String? = null
someApi.addOnSuccessListener { result ->
myReturnValue = result.value
}.execute()
return myReturnValue
}
Kotlin coroutine
fun foo(): String? {
var myReturnValue: String? = null
lifecycleScope.launch {
myReturnValue = someApiSuspendFunction()
}
return myReturnValue
}
Java 8
private String fooValue = null;
private String foo() {
someApi.addOnSuccessListener(result -> fooValue = result.getValue())
.execute();
return fooValue;
}
Java 7
private String fooValue = null;
private String foo() {
someApi.addOnSuccessListener(new OnSuccessListener<String>() {
public void onSuccess(Result<String> result) {
fooValue = result.getValue();
}
}).execute();
return fooValue;
}
The reason is that when you pass a callback or listener to an API function, that callback code will only be run some time in the future, when the API is done with its work. By passing the callback to the API function, you are queuing up work, but the current function (foo() in this case) returns immediately before that work begins and before that callback code is run.
Or in the case of the coroutine example above, the launched coroutine is very unlikely to complete before the function that started it.
Your function that calls the API cannot return the result that is returned in the callback (unless it's a Kotlin coroutine suspend function). The solution, explained in the other answer, is to make your own function take a callback parameter and not return anything.
Alternatively, if you're working with coroutines, you can make your function suspend instead of launching a separate coroutine. When you have suspend functions, somewhere in your code you must launch a coroutine and handle the results within the coroutine. Typically, you would launch a coroutine in a lifecycle function like onCreate(), or in a UI callback like in an OnClickListener.
Other answer explains how to consume APIs based on callbacks by exposing a similar callbacks-based API in the outer function. However, recently Kotlin coroutines become more and more popular, especially on Android and while using them, callbacks are generally discouraged for such purposes. Kotlin approach is to use suspend functions instead. Therefore, if our application uses coroutines already, I suggest not propagating callbacks APIs from 3rd party libraries to the rest of our code, but converting them to suspend functions.
Converting callbacks to suspend
Let's assume we have this callback API:
interface Service {
fun getData(callback: Callback<String>)
}
interface Callback<in T> {
fun onSuccess(value: T)
fun onFailure(throwable: Throwable)
}
We can convert it to suspend function using suspendCoroutine():
private val service: Service
suspend fun getData(): String {
return suspendCoroutine { cont ->
service.getData(object : Callback<String> {
override fun onSuccess(value: String) {
cont.resume(value)
}
override fun onFailure(throwable: Throwable) {
cont.resumeWithException(throwable)
}
})
}
}
This way getData() can return the data directly and synchronously, so other suspend functions can use it very easily:
suspend fun otherFunction() {
val data = getData()
println(data)
}
Note that we don't have to use withContext(Dispatchers.IO) { ... } here. We can even invoke getData() from the main thread as long as we are inside the coroutine context (e.g. inside Dispatchers.Main) - main thread won't be blocked.
Cancellations
If the callback service supports cancelling of background tasks then it is best to cancel when the calling coroutine is itself cancelled. Let's add a cancelling feature to our callback API:
interface Service {
fun getData(callback: Callback<String>): Task
}
interface Task {
fun cancel();
}
Now, Service.getData() returns Task that we can use to cancel the operation. We can consume it almost the same as previously, but with small changes:
suspend fun getData(): String {
return suspendCancellableCoroutine { cont ->
val task = service.getData(object : Callback<String> {
...
})
cont.invokeOnCancellation {
task.cancel()
}
}
}
We only need to switch from suspendCoroutine() to suspendCancellableCoroutine() and add invokeOnCancellation() block.
Example using Retrofit
interface GitHubService {
#GET("users/{user}/repos")
fun listRepos(#Path("user") user: String): Call<List<Repo>>
}
suspend fun listRepos(user: String): List<Repo> {
val retrofit = Retrofit.Builder()
.baseUrl("https://api.github.com/")
.build()
val service = retrofit.create<GitHubService>()
return suspendCancellableCoroutine { cont ->
val call = service.listRepos(user)
call.enqueue(object : Callback<List<Repo>> {
override fun onResponse(call: Call<List<Repo>>, response: Response<List<Repo>>) {
if (response.isSuccessful) {
cont.resume(response.body()!!)
} else {
// just an example
cont.resumeWithException(Exception("Received error response: ${response.message()}"))
}
}
override fun onFailure(call: Call<List<Repo>>, t: Throwable) {
cont.resumeWithException(t)
}
})
cont.invokeOnCancellation {
call.cancel()
}
}
}
Native support
Before we start converting callbacks to suspend functions, it is worth checking whether the library that we use does support suspend functions already: natively or with some extension. Many popular libraries like Retrofit or Firebase support coroutines and suspend functions. Usually, they either provide/handle suspend functions directly or they provide suspendable waiting on top of their asynchronous task/call/etc. object. Such waiting is very often named await().
For example, Retrofit supports suspend functions directly since 2.6.0:
interface GitHubService {
#GET("users/{user}/repos")
suspend fun listRepos(#Path("user") user: String): List<Repo>
}
Note that we not only added suspend, but also we no longer return Call, but the result directly. Now, we can use it without all this enqueue() boilerplate:
val repos = service.listRepos(user)
TL;DR The code you pass to these APIs (e.g. in the onSuccessListener) is a callback, and it runs asynchronously (not in the order it is written in your file). It runs at some point later in the future to "call back" into your code. Without using a coroutine to suspend the program, you cannot "return" data retrieved in a callback from a function.
What is a callback?
A callback is a piece of code you pass to some third party library that it will run later when some event happens (e.g. when it gets data from a server). It is important to remember that the callback is not run in the order you wrote it - it may be run much later in the future, could run multiple times, or may never run at all. The example callback below will run Point A, start the server fetching process, run Point C, exit the function, then some time in the distant future may run Point B when the data is retrieved. The printout at Point C will always be empty.
fun getResult() {
// Point A
var r = ""
doc.get().addOnSuccessListener { result ->
// The code inside the {} here is the "callback"
// Point B - handle result
r = result // don't do this!
}
// Point C - r="" still here, point B hasn't run yet
println(r)
}
How do I get the data from the callback then?
Make your own interface/callback
Making your own custom interface/callback can sometimes make things cleaner looking but it doesn't really help with the core question of how to use the data outside the callback - it just moves the aysnc call to another location. It can help if the primary API call is somewhere else (e.g. in another class).
// you made your own callback to use in the
// async API
fun getResultImpl(callback: (String)->Unit) {
doc.get().addOnSuccessListener { result ->
callback(result)
}
}
// but if you use it like this, you still have
// the EXACT same problem as before - the printout
// will always be empty
fun getResult() {
var r = ""
getResultImpl { result ->
// this part is STILL an async callback,
// and runs later in the future
r = result
}
println(r) // always empty here
}
// you still have to do things INSIDE the callback,
// you could move getResultImpl to another class now,
// but still have the same potential pitfalls as before
fun getResult() {
getResultImpl { result ->
println(result)
}
}
Some examples of how to properly use a custom callback: example 1, example 2, example 3
Make the callback a suspend function
Another option is to turn the async method into a suspend function using coroutines so it can wait for the callback to complete. This lets you write linear-looking functions again.
suspend fun getResult() {
val result = suspendCoroutine { cont ->
doc.get().addOnSuccessListener { result ->
cont.resume(result)
}
}
// the first line will suspend the coroutine and wait
// until the async method returns a result. If the
// callback could be called multiple times this may not
// be the best pattern to use
println(result)
}
Re-arrange your program into smaller functions
Instead of writing monolithic linear functions, break the work up into several functions and call them from within the callbacks. You should not try to modify local variables within the callback and return or use them after the callback (e.g. Point C). You have to move away from the idea of returning data from a function when it comes from an async API - without a coroutine this generally isn't possible.
For example, you could handle the async data in a separate method (a "processing method") and do as little as possible in the callback itself other than call the processing method with the received result. This helps avoid a lot of the common errors with async APIs where you attempt to modify local variables declared outside the callback scope or try to return things modified from within the callback. When you call getResult it starts the process of getting the data. When that process is complete (some time in the future) the callback calls showResult to show it.
fun getResult() {
doc.get().addOnSuccessListener { result ->
showResult(result)
}
// don't try to show or return the result here!
}
fun showResult(result: String) {
println(result)
}
Example
As a concrete example here is a minimal ViewModel showing how one could include an async API into a program flow to fetch data, process it, and display it in an Activity or Fragment. This is written in Kotlin but is equally applicable to Java.
class MainViewModel : ViewModel() {
private val textLiveData = MutableLiveData<String>()
val text: LiveData<String>
get() = textLiveData
fun fetchData() {
// Use a coroutine here to make a dummy async call,
// this is where you could call Firestore or other API
// Note that this method does not _return_ the requested data!
viewModelScope.launch {
delay(3000)
// pretend this is a slow network call, this part
// won't run until 3000 ms later
val t = Calendar.getInstance().time
processData(t.toString())
}
// anything out here will run immediately, it will not
// wait for the "slow" code above to run first
}
private fun processData(d: String) {
// Once you get the data you may want to modify it before displaying it.
val p = "The time is $d"
textLiveData.postValue(p)
}
}
A real API call in fetchData() might look something more like this
fun fetchData() {
firestoreDB.collection("data")
.document("mydoc")
.get()
.addOnCompleteListener { task ->
if (task.isSuccessful) {
val data = task.result.data
processData(data["time"])
}
else {
textLiveData.postValue("ERROR")
}
}
}
The Activity or Fragment that goes along with this doesn't need to know anything about these calls, it just passes actions in by calling methods on the ViewModel and observes the LiveData to update its views when new data is available. It cannot assume that the data is available immediately after a call to fetchData(), but with this pattern it doesn't need to.
The view layer can also do things like show and hide a progress bar while the data is being loaded so the user knows it's working in the background.
class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
val binding = ActivityMainBinding.inflate(layoutInflater)
setContentView(binding.root)
val model: MainViewModel by viewModels()
// Observe the LiveData and when it changes, update the
// state of the Views
model.text.observe(this) { processedData ->
binding.text.text = processedData
binding.progress.visibility = View.GONE
}
// When the user clicks the button, pass that action to the
// ViewModel by calling "fetchData()"
binding.getText.setOnClickListener {
binding.progress.visibility = View.VISIBLE
model.fetchData()
}
binding.progress.visibility = View.GONE
}
}
The ViewModel is not strictly necessary for this type of async workflow - here is an example of how to do the same thing in the activity
class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
private lateinit var binding: ActivityMainBinding
override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
binding = ActivityMainBinding.inflate(layoutInflater)
setContentView(binding.root)
// When the user clicks the button, trigger the async
// data call
binding.getText.setOnClickListener {
binding.progress.visibility = View.VISIBLE
fetchData()
}
binding.progress.visibility = View.GONE
}
private fun fetchData() {
lifecycleScope.launch {
delay(3000)
val t = Calendar.getInstance().time
processData(t.toString())
}
}
private fun processData(d: String) {
binding.progress.visibility = View.GONE
val p = "The time is $d"
binding.text.text = p
}
}
(and, for completeness, the activity XML)
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
tools:context=".MainActivity">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/text"
android:layout_margin="16dp"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
app:layout_constraintLeft_toLeftOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintRight_toRightOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent"/>
<Button
android:id="#+id/get_text"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_margin="16dp"
android:text="Get Text"
app:layout_constraintLeft_toLeftOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintRight_toRightOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="#+id/text"
/>
<ProgressBar
android:id="#+id/progress"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:padding="48dp"
app:layout_constraintLeft_toLeftOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintRight_toRightOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="#+id/get_text"
/>
</androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>

How can I perform clean up actions upon closing a view in Kotlin/TornadoFX?

I have been searching the docs and IDE autocomplete suggestions and cannot figure this out. The closest I have found is onDelete(), and it is not working the way I envision.
I just need a way to run some clean up code when a view is closed.
Here is a failed attempt using the simple example from the docs.
import tornadofx.*
class MyApp: App(MyView::class)
class MyView: View() {
// this does not print when the window is closed
override fun onDelete() {
super.onDelete()
println("Print on close!")
}
override val root = vbox {
button("Press me")
label("Waiting")
}
}
fun main(args: Array<String>) {
launch<MyApp>(args)
}
Another failed attempt per a suggestion below:
import tornadofx.*
class MyApp: App(MyView::class)
class MyView: View() {
// "Closing" is never printed when closing this view"
override fun onDock() {
currentWindow?.onHidingProperty()?.onChangeOnce {
println("Closing")
}
}
override val root = vbox {
button("Press me")
label("Waiting")
}
}
fun main(args: Array<String>) {
launch<MyApp>(args)
}
I'm using this in my project right now. setOnCloseRequest is my go to!
override fun onDock() {
currentWindow?.setOnCloseRequest {
println("Closing")
}
}
onDelete is a callback for the Workspace in TornadoFX, and will be called if you click the Delete button in the Workspace when that View is active. What you can do is override onDock and add a once change listener to the hiding property:
override fun onDock() {
currentWindow?.onHidingProperty()?.onChangeOnce {
println("Closing")
}
}
If you're looking for cleanup code when closing the application, another option that works for child views/fragments/controllers is an FXEvent that's fired on close. The event is defined like this:
object ApplicationClosingEvent : FXEvent()
In the main App, I override stop() so that the event is fired:
override fun stop() {
fire(ApplicationClosingEvent)
}
Since stop() is running on the application thread, the event is fired and handled synchronously. Finally, in each view/fragment/controller you can subscribe like so:
subscribe<ApplicationClosingEvent> {
// Clean-up code goes here
}
The primary benefit of using an event instead of a window callback is that you can have many different views subscribing to it, rather than a single window callback.

Single-function listeners using lambda

With all the well-known single-function listeners we can use a simpler lambda notation
view.setOnClickListener { do() }
instead of the original, longer Java way of
view.setOnClickListener(object : View.OnClickListener {
override fun onClick(v: View?) {
do()
}
})
But what exactly makes this work? I tried to do the same with my own listener:
private var listener: OnCopyPasteClickListener? = null
interface OnCopyPasteClickListener {
fun onPasteClick(text: String)
}
fun setOnCopyPasteClickListener(onCopyPasteClickListener: OnCopyPasteClickListener) {
listener = onCopyPasteClickListener
}
and while the long approach works just fine:
copypaste.setOnCopyPasteClickListener(object : CopyPasteMenu.OnCopyPasteClickListener {
override fun onPasteClick(text: String) {
do(text)
}
})
I can't make it accept the short one:
copypaste.setOnCopyPasteClickListener {
do(it)
}
The IDE gives a type mismatch error.
Actually, if you have only one function to be invoked, I recommend you use Kotlin Callback.
typealias OnDoWorkListener = ((String) -> Unit)
class Work {
var doWork: OnDoWorkListener? = null
fun doSomething() {
doWork?.invoke("Message Here")
}
}
And in your function, you just set the callback to it
fun main() {
val work = Work()
work.doWork = {
Log.d("WORK", "This gets called from the `work` object. Message: $it")
}
work.doSomething();
}
We can also use function to set the listener as well.
class Work {
var doWork: OnDoWorkListener? = null
fun doSomething() {
doWork?.invoke("Message Here")
}
fun setOnWorkListener(listener: OnDoWorkListener) {
doWork = listener
}
}
fun main() {
val work = Work()
work.setOnWorkListener {
Log.d("WORK", "This gets called from the `work` object. Message: $it")
}
work.doSomething()
}
Higher order functions make this work:
Kotlin functions are first-class, which means that they can be stored
in variables and data structures, passed as arguments to and returned
from other higher-order functions. You can operate with functions in
any way that is possible for other non-function values.
From the same page:
Passing a lambda to the last parameter
In Kotlin, there is a convention that if the last parameter of a
function accepts a function, a lambda expression that is passed as the
corresponding argument can be placed outside the parentheses:
val product = items.fold(1) { acc, e -> acc * e }
If the lambda is the only argument to that call, the parentheses can
be omitted entirely:
run { println("...") }
Knowing this, a possible update on your class would look like:
class CopyPaste {
private var listener: (String) -> Unit = {}
fun setOnCopyPasteClickListener(onCopyPasteClickListener: (String) -> Unit) {
listener = onCopyPasteClickListener
}
fun doCopyPaste(value: String) {
listener.invoke(value)
}
}
fun main() {
val copyPaste = CopyPaste()
copyPaste.setOnCopyPasteClickListener { println(it) }
copyPaste.doCopyPaste("ClipboardContent!")
}
The class CopyPaste stores the listener, which is a function that takes a String parameter and does not return anything. Its function setOnCopyPasteClickListener accepts a function with the same signature as the listener property and at the end doCopyPaste accepts a String parameter and passes it to the stored function.
Actually, just after I posted, I searched for more thoughts and found this thread: https://youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/KT-7770 This is indeed a debated limitation as it currently only applies to Java, not Kotlin itself. There is also a suggestion there that gives almost the required simplicity:
interface OnCopyPasteClickListener {
fun onPasteClick(text: String)
companion object {
inline operator fun invoke(crossinline op: (text: String) -> Unit) =
object : OnCopyPasteClickListener {
override fun onPasteClick(text: String) = op(text)
}
}
}
and then, thanks to this overloaded operator, it can be called as:
copypaste.setOnCopyPasteClickListener(CopyPasteMenu.OnCopyPasteClickListener { text ->
do(text)
})
But as the suggested answers offer a more idiomatic solution, I'll accept one of those, I only wanted to include this approach here for reference.