Trouble getting recyclerview to load elements - android-recyclerview

Question

I am making a networking app's chat section from this tutorial: https://blog.sendbird.com/android-chat-tutorial-building-a-messaging-ui.
I have everything hooked up so that I know that the messages are coming in from the database. It seems to be an issue with how the adapter or recyclerview are set up. I can't see any messages on my activity even though I can see them if I poke in my async/background worker.
This is the adapter class with inner view holders from the tutorial, adapted to my needs:
public class MessageListAdapter extends RecyclerView.Adapter {
private static final int VIEW_TYPE_MESSAGE_SENT = 1;
private static final int VIEW_TYPE_MESSAGE_RECEIVED = 2;
private Activity mContext;
private ArrayList<Message> mMessageList;
public MessageListAdapter(Activity context, ArrayList<Message> messageList) {
mContext = context;
mMessageList = messageList;
}
#Override
public int getItemCount() {
return mMessageList.size();
}
// Determines the appropriate ViewType according to the sender of the message.
#Override
public int getItemViewType(int position) {
Message message = (Message) mMessageList.get(position);
if (message.isOther() == "2") {
// If the current user is the sender of the message
return VIEW_TYPE_MESSAGE_SENT;
} else {
// If some other user sent the message
return VIEW_TYPE_MESSAGE_RECEIVED;
}
}
// Inflates the appropriate layout according to the ViewType.
#Override
public RecyclerView.ViewHolder onCreateViewHolder(ViewGroup parent, int viewType) {
View view;
if (viewType == VIEW_TYPE_MESSAGE_SENT) {
view = LayoutInflater.from(parent.getContext())
.inflate(R.layout.item_message_sent, parent, false);
return new SentMessageHolder(view);
} else if (viewType == VIEW_TYPE_MESSAGE_RECEIVED) {
view = LayoutInflater.from(parent.getContext())
.inflate(R.layout.item_message_received, parent, false);
return new ReceivedMessageHolder(view);
}
return null;
}
// Passes the message object to a ViewHolder so that the contents can be bound to UI.
#Override
public void onBindViewHolder(RecyclerView.ViewHolder holder, int position) {
Message message = mMessageList.get(position);
switch (holder.getItemViewType()) {
case VIEW_TYPE_MESSAGE_SENT:
((SentMessageHolder) holder).bind(message);
break;
case VIEW_TYPE_MESSAGE_RECEIVED:
((ReceivedMessageHolder) holder).bind(message);
}
}
private class SentMessageHolder extends RecyclerView.ViewHolder {
TextView messageText, timeText;
SentMessageHolder(View itemView) {
super(itemView);
messageText = (TextView) itemView.findViewById(R.id.text_message_body);
timeText = (TextView) itemView.findViewById(R.id.text_message_time);
}
void bind(Message message) {
messageText.setText(message.getMessage());
// Format the stored timestamp into a readable String using method.
timeText.setText(message.getCreatedAt());
}
}
private class ReceivedMessageHolder extends RecyclerView.ViewHolder {
TextView messageText, timeText, nameText;
ImageView profileImage;
ReceivedMessageHolder(View itemView) {
super(itemView);
messageText = (TextView) itemView.findViewById(R.id.text_message_body);
timeText = (TextView) itemView.findViewById(R.id.text_message_time);
nameText = (TextView) itemView.findViewById(R.id.text_message_name);
profileImage = (ImageView) itemView.findViewById(R.id.image_message_profile);
}
void bind(Message message) {
messageText.setText(message.getMessage());
// Format the stored timestamp into a readable String using method.
timeText.setText(message.getCreatedAt());
nameText.setText(message.getSender());
Picasso.get().load(message.getProfile())
.transform(new RoundedCornersTransformation(150, 0)).into(profileImage);
// Insert the profile image from the URL into the ImageView.
// Utils.displayRoundImageFromUrl(mContext, message.getSender().getProfileUrl(), profileImage);
}
}
}
I create the adapter and pair it to the recyclerview in a background worker during postExecute()
try {
JSONArray messages = new JSONArray(s);
ArrayList<Message> messageList = new ArrayList<Message>();
for (int i = 0; i < messages.length(); i++) {
String currentMessage = (String) messages.get(i);
String[] fields = currentMessage.split(",", 0);
if (fields.length == 5) {
String isOther = fields[0];
String messageText = fields[1];
String dateTime = fields[2];
String author = fields[3];
String pictureLocation = fields[4];
Message newMessage = new Message(isOther, messageText, dateTime, author, pictureLocation);
messageList.add(newMessage);
}
}
mMessageRecycler = (RecyclerView) ha.findViewById(R.id.reyclerview_message_list);
mMessageRecycler.setLayoutManager(new LinearLayoutManager(ha.getApplicationContext()));
mMessageAdapter = new MessageListAdapter(ha, messageList);
mMessageRecycler.setAdapter(mMessageAdapter);
}
I've tried adding alert dialogs to debug within the OnCreateViewHolder, but can't get them to appear. I've tried using ha, ha.getApplicationContext() on every field. There must be something that's just staring me in the face. I've used this pattern before and it works for another section of my app.

Answer 1

It turns out that the tutorial's recyclerview information is just barely off, so I used the one I had in a previous part of the app:
<android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView
android:id="#+id/recyclerView"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:background="#FFFFFF" />