How to make an inherited class parcelable without common constructor? - kotlin

Question

I get following error for PhoneAppItem:
Parcelable should have primary constructor
How can I solve this? I have a base class with constructors that don't share a basic constructor, so how can I extend such a class and make it parcelable in kotlin?
Ideas
add the primary constructor => then I get the exception, that my secondary constructors in PhoneAppItem do not call the primary constructor, IDE says following:
primary constructor call expected
Code
Here's the basic barebone code (I have more than 2 simple constructors!!) that creates this error:
abstract class AbstractPhoneAppItem : Parcelable {
constructor() {
}
constructor(packageName: String?) {
this.packageName = packageName
}
}
#Parcelize
class PhoneAppItem : AbstractPhoneAppItem {
constructor() : super()
constructor(packageName: String?) : super(packageName)
}

Answer 1

Which version of Kotlin are you using? Have you tried:
abstract class AbstractPhoneAppItem(): Parcelable {
private var packageName: String? = null
constructor(packageName: String?): this() {
this.packageName = packageName
}
}
#Parcelize
class PhoneAppItem : AbstractPhoneAppItem {
constructor() : super()
constructor(packageName: String?) : super(packageName)
}

Answer 2

You could create a primary constructor with an optional parameter:
abstract class AbstractPhoneAppItem (var packageName: String? = null) : Parcelable {
}
This way, you can use it without any params (so your packageName is null, or the default value you want) or use it with a parameter. Your item class then can call the superclass's primary constructor.

Answer 3

You'll have to use a custom parceler:
#Parcelize
class PhoneAppItem : AbstractPhoneAppItem {
constructor() : super()
constructor(packageName: String?) : super(packageName)
companion object : Parceler<PhoneAppItem> {
// modify logic to taste
override fun PhoneAppItem.writeToParcel(parcel: Parcel, flags: Int) {
parcel.writeString(packageName)
}
override fun create(parcel: Parcel): PhoneAppItem {
return PhoneAppItem(parcel.readString())
}
}
}
Otherwise, #Parcelize really needs a primary constructor to know what to do.