2012 Marty Hall

Android Programming:
Widget Event Handling
Originals of Slides and Source Code for Examples:
http://www.coreservlets.com/android-tutorial/

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2012 Marty Hall

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 Topics in This Section
Using a separate Listener class
Using a named inner class
Using an anonymous inner class
Using the main Activity
And having it implement the Listener interface
Using the main Activity
And specifying the method in the layout file (main.xml)
Copying and renaming Eclipse Android
projects

2012 Marty Hall

Using a Separate Listener

Class

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 Idea
Goal
Change color of a TextView when Button or RadioButton is
pressed. Different colors depending on which pressed.
Approach
Use an external class that implements View.OnClickListener
Import android.view.View.OnClickListener, then say implements
OnClickListener
Advantages
You can pass arguments to change behavior
Separate classes generally promote loose coupling
So, if event handler can be applied to different controls, it can be
change independently from rest of app.
But, in most real situations, behavior is tightly coupled to app anyhow.
Disadvantages
If you want to call code in main Activity, you need reference
Even then, that code in main Activity must be public
7

Summary of Layout

Button
Button
Button

Horizontal RadioGroup
(Containing 3 RadioButtons)

Vertical
LinearLayout
TextView
(No text, but controls will
change the background
color of this region.) An upcoming tutorial section gives details on using layouts. However,
you can do a pretty lot now by knowing just two simple things:

1) You can make some pretty complex layouts by nesting horizontal

and vertical layouts inside each other.

2) You can experiment interactively with the visual layout editor in

8 Eclipse. Edit main.xml and click on Graphical Layout.
 res/layout/main.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:orientation="vertical"
Overall layout is a vertical stack of graphical items.
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent">
<Button
android:id="@+id/button1"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
This part defines the 3 buttons shown on the previous slide.
android:text="@string/red_prompt"/>
<Button Each button is given an id so that it can be found in Java via
findViewById, then assigned an event handler via
android:id="@+id/button2" setOnClickListener.
android:layout_height="wrap_content" The text (Button label) is taken from strings.xml instead of
android:layout_width="match_parent" entered directly here, because the same label will also be
used for RadioButtons.
android:text="@string/blue_prompt"/>
<Button
android:id="@+id/button3"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
9 android:text="@string/yellow_prompt"/>

res/layout/main.xml (Continued)
<RadioGroup
android:gravity="center_horizontal"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:orientation="horizontal">
<RadioButton
android:id="@+id/radio_button1"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:text="@string/red_prompt"/>
A horizontal RadioGroup gives the same layout
<RadioButton as a horizontal LinearLayout, except that it
android:id="@+id/radio_button2" contains only RadioButtons. A RadioGroup also
means that only one of the RadioButtons inside
android:layout_height="wrap_content" can be selected at any given time.
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:text="@string/blue_prompt"/>
<RadioButton
android:id="@+id/radio_button3"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:text="@string/yellow_prompt"/>
10 </RadioGroup>
 res/layout/main.xml (Continued)
<TextView
android:id="@+id/color_region"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_width="match_parent"/>
</LinearLayout>

This defines the blank region at the bottom that

will change colors when the Buttons or
RadioButtons are clicked. I used a TextView
because I might later want to put some text
inside.

11

res/values/strings.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
<string name="app_name">Event Handling Example</string>
<string name="red_prompt">Red</string>
<string name="blue_prompt">Blue</string>
<string name="yellow_prompt">Yellow</string>
</resources>

main.xml refers to these names with @string/red_prompt,

@string/blue_prompt, and @string/yellow_prompt.

Each string is used as label for one Button and one RadioButton.

12
 Main Activity Class
This part just looks up the
public class Events1Example extends Activity { controls that were defined in
private View mColorRegion; main.xml, and assigns them to
variables. Note the Android
coding convention that non-public
instance variables (data
@Override members) start m.

public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {

super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main);
mColorRegion = findViewById(R.id.color_region);
Button b1 = (Button)findViewById(R.id.button1);
Button b2 = (Button)findViewById(R.id.button2);
Button b3 = (Button)findViewById(R.id.button3);
RadioButton r1 =
(RadioButton)findViewById(R.id.radio_button1);
RadioButton r2 =
(RadioButton)findViewById(R.id.radio_button2);
RadioButton r3 =
(RadioButton)findViewById(R.id.radio_button3);
13

Main Activity Class (Continued)

b1.setOnClickListener(new ColorSetter(Color.RED, this));
b2.setOnClickListener(new ColorSetter(Color.BLUE, this));
b3.setOnClickListener(new ColorSetter(Color.YELLOW, this));
r1.setOnClickListener(new ColorSetter(Color.RED, this));
r2.setOnClickListener(new ColorSetter(Color.BLUE, this));
r3.setOnClickListener(new ColorSetter(Color.YELLOW, this));
}
Assigns a separate class as the event
handler for each of the Buttons and
RadioButtons.
public void setRegionColor(int color) {
Good news: you can pass arguments
mColorRegion.setBackgroundColor(color); to the event handler (the colors) so that
} the same event handler class can have
different behaviors for different controls.
}
Bad news: you have to pass a
Since this method will be reference to the main Activity (this
called by method in above) so that the event handler can
separate event handler call back to code in the Activity.
class, it must be public.

14
 Event Handler Class
public class ColorSetter implements OnClickListener {
private int regionColor;
private Events1Example mainActivity;

public ColorSetter(int regionColor,

Events1Example mainActivity) {
this.regionColor = regionColor;
this.mainActivity = mainActivity;
}

@Override
public void onClick(View v) {
mainActivity.setRegionColor(regionColor);
}
} Event handler must store a reference to the main Activity so that it can call
back to it. Another option in this particular case would be to pass the TextView
15
to the event handler, but passing the main Activity is a more general solution.

Results on Emulator

16
 Results on Physical Phone

17

2012 Marty Hall

Using a Named Inner Class

for Event Handling

Customized Java EE Training: http://courses.coreservlets.com/

Java, JSF 2, PrimeFaces, Servlets, JSP, Ajax, jQuery, Spring, Hibernate, RESTful Web Services, Hadoop, Android.
Developed and taught by well-known author and developer. At public venues or onsite at your location.
 Idea
Goal
Change color of a TextView when Button or RadioButton
is pressed. Different colors depending on which pressed.
Same as previous example
Approach
Use an inner class that implements View.OnClickListener
Advantages
You can pass arguments to change behavior
Event handler methods can access private data of
Activity. No reference is needed to call to Activity.
Disadvantages
Since Listener class is in same file as Activity, it is more
tightly coupled, and cannot be changed independently
19

XML Files:
Same as Previous Example
res/layout/main.xml
Defines vertical LinearLayout that contains 3 Buttons, a
horizontal RadioGroup (with 3 RadioButtons), and a
TextView.
The Buttons, RadioButtons, and TextView have ids so
that they can be referred to in the Java code
res/values/strings.xml
Defines the app name and the labels of the Buttons and
RadioButtons

20
 Main Activity Class
Except for the class name, this
public class Events2Example extends Activity { top part of the Activity is exactly
private View mColorRegion; the same as the previous
example.

@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main);
mColorRegion = findViewById(R.id.color_region);
Button b1 = (Button)findViewById(R.id.button1);
Button b2 = (Button)findViewById(R.id.button2);
Button b3 = (Button)findViewById(R.id.button3);
RadioButton r1 =
(RadioButton)findViewById(R.id.radio_button1);
RadioButton r2 =
(RadioButton)findViewById(R.id.radio_button2);
RadioButton r3 =
(RadioButton)findViewById(R.id.radio_button3);
21

Main Activity Class (Continued)

b1.setOnClickListener(new ColorSetter(Color.RED));
b2.setOnClickListener(new ColorSetter(Color.BLUE));
b3.setOnClickListener(new ColorSetter(Color.YELLOW));
r1.setOnClickListener(new ColorSetter(Color.RED));
r2.setOnClickListener(new ColorSetter(Color.BLUE));
r3.setOnClickListener(new ColorSetter(Color.YELLOW));
}
Assigns an inner class as the event
handler for each of the Buttons and
private void setRegionColor(int color) { RadioButtons.
mColorRegion.setBackgroundColor(color); As with the previous example, you can
} pass arguments to the event handler
(the colors) so that the same event
handler class can have different
Since this method will only behaviors for different controls.
be called by method in inner
event handler class, it is However, since the event handler is in
allowed to be private. the same class, you do not have to
supply a reference to the main Activity
class.
Note no closing brace. This class
is not finished yet (continued on
next slide)
22
 Event Handler Class
(Part of Main Activity Class)
private class ColorSetter implements OnClickListener {
private int regionColor;

public ColorSetter(int regionColor) {

this.regionColor = regionColor;
}

@Override
public void onClick(View v) {
setRegionColor(regionColor);
}
}
Event handler can directly call methods in the main
} Activity, even if the method is private.

Closes off the main Activity class.

23

Results on Emulator
Same as previous example.

24
 Results on Physical Phone
Same as previous example.

25

2012 Marty Hall

Using an Anonymous
Inner Class for Event
Handling
Customized Java EE Training: http://courses.coreservlets.com/
Java, JSF 2, PrimeFaces, Servlets, JSP, Ajax, jQuery, Spring, Hibernate, RESTful Web Services, Hadoop, Android.
Developed and taught by well-known author and developer. At public venues or onsite at your location.
 Idea
Goal
Randomly change color of TextView when Button is pressed.
Approach
Use an anonymous inner class that implements the Listener
Advantages
Assuming that each class is applied to a single control only,
same advantages as named inner classes, but shorter.
This approach is widely used in Swing, SWT, AWT, and GWT.
Disadvantages
If you applied the handler to more than one control, you would
have to cut and paste the code for the handler.
This approach should be applied for a single control only
If the code for the handler is long, it makes the code harder to
read by putting it inline.
27 This approach is usually used only when handler code is short

res/layout/main.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent">
<Button
android:id="@+id/color_button"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:text="@string/button_prompt"/>
<TextView
android:id="@+id/color_region"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_width="match_parent"/>
</LinearLayout>

28
 res/values/strings.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
<string name="app_name">Event Handling Example</string>
<string name="button_prompt">Random Color</string>
</resources>

29

Main Activity Class Attempt 1:

Named Inner Class
public class Events3Example extends Activity {
private View mColorRegion;
private int[] mColorChoices =
{ Color.BLACK, Color.BLUE, ...};

@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main);
mColorRegion = findViewById(R.id.color_region);
Button colorButton =
(Button)findViewById(R.id.color_button);
colorButton.setOnClickListener(new ColorRandomizer());
}
There is nothing wrong with this approach.
However, this event handler class is only
used on this line of code. Furthermore, the
private void setRegionColor(int color) { code for ColorRandomizer (next page) is
relatively short. So, you can make it a bit
mColorRegion.setBackgroundColor(color); more concise with an anonymous inner

30
} class.
 Main Activity Class Attempt 1:
Named Inner Class (Continued)
private class ColorRandomizer
implements OnClickListener {
@Override
public void onClick(View v) {
Random generator = new Random();
int index = generator.nextInt(mColorChoices.length);
setRegionColor(mColorChoices[index]);
}
}
}

31

Main Activity Class Refactored:

Anonymous Inner Class
public class Events3Example extends Activity {
private View mColorRegion;
private int[] mColorChoices =
{ Color.BLACK, Color.BLUE, ...};

private void setRegionColor(int color) {

mColorRegion.setBackgroundColor(color);
}

See next page for onCreate

32
 Main Activity Class Refactored:
Anonymous Inner Class (Cont.)
@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main);
mColorRegion = findViewById(R.id.color_region);
Button colorButton =
(Button)findViewById(R.id.color_button);
colorButton.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
@Override
public void onClick(View v) {
Random generator = new Random();
int index = generator.nextInt(mColorChoices.length);
setRegionColor(mColorChoices[index]);
}
}); This defines the class and instantiates it all in one fell swoop. If you have never seen anonymous
inner classes before, the confusion is probably not worth the code savings over a named inner
} class. However, once you are used to it, it is more concise and arguably easier to understand
because the behavior is shown where it is used. This approach is very commonly used by Swing,
SWT, AWT, and GWT programmers. This is also very analogous to anonymous functions
(closures) that are widely used in functional programming languages.
33

Results on Emulator

34
 Results on Physical Phone

35

2012 Marty Hall

Handling Events by Having

Main Activity Implement
Listener Interface
Customized Java EE Training: http://courses.coreservlets.com/
Java, JSF 2, PrimeFaces, Servlets, JSP, Ajax, jQuery, Spring, Hibernate, RESTful Web Services, Hadoop, Android.
Developed and taught by well-known author and developer. At public venues or onsite at your location.
 Idea
Goal
Randomly change color of TextView when Button is pressed.
Same as previous example
Approach
Have the main Activity implement the Listener interface. Put the handler method in
the main Activity. Call setOnClickListener(this).
Advantages
Assuming that the app has only a single control of that Listener type, this is the
shortest and simplest of the approaches.
Disadvantages
Scales poorly to multiple controls unless they have completely identical behavior.
If you assigned this as the handler for more than one control of the same Listener
type, the onClick (or whatever) method would have to have cumbersome if statements
to see which control was clicked
This approach should be applied when your app has only a single control of that
Listener type
You cannot pass arguments to the Listener.
So, again, works poorly for multiple controls

37

XML Files:
Same as Previous Example
res/layout/main.xml
Defines vertical LinearLayout that contains a Button and
a TextView.
The Button and TextView have ids so that they can be
referred to in the Java code
res/values/strings.xml
Defines the app name and the label of the Button

38
 Main Activity Class
public class Events5Example extends Activity
implements OnClickListener {
private View mColorRegion;
private int[] mColorChoices =
{ Color.BLACK, Color.BLUE, ... };

@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main);
mColorRegion = findViewById(R.id.color_region);
Button colorButton =
(Button)findViewById(R.id.color_button);
colorButton.setOnClickListener(this);
}

39

Main Activity Class (Continued)

private void setRegionColor(int color) {
mColorRegion.setBackgroundColor(color);
}

@Override
public void onClick(View v) {
Random generator = new Random();
int index = generator.nextInt(mColorChoices.length);
setRegionColor(mColorChoices[index]);
}
}

40
 Results on Emulator
Same as previous example.

41

Results on Physical Phone

Same as
previous
example.

42
 2012 Marty Hall

Handling Events by
Specifying the Event
Handler Method in
main.xml
Customized Java EE Training: http://courses.coreservlets.com/
Java, JSF 2, PrimeFaces, Servlets, JSP, Ajax, jQuery, Spring, Hibernate, RESTful Web Services, Hadoop, Android.
Developed and taught by well-known author and developer. At public venues or onsite at your location.

Idea
Goal
Randomly change color of TextView when Button is pressed.
Same as previous example
Approach
Put the handler method in the main Activity. Do not implement a Listener interface or call
setOnClickListener. Have the layout file (main.xml) specify the handler method via the
android:onClick attribute.
Advantages
Assuming that the app has only a single control of that Listener type, mostly the same
advantages (short/simple code) as the previous approach where the Activity implemented the
interface.
More consistent with the do layout in XML strategy
You can supply different method names for different controls, so not nearly as limited as
interface approach.
Disadvantages
You cannot pass arguments to Listener.
Less clear to the Java developer which method is the handler for which control
Since no @Override, no warning until run time if method is spelled wrong or has wrong
argument signature
44
 res/layout/main.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent">
<Button
android:id="@+id/color_button"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:text="@string/button_prompt"
android:onClick="randomizeColor"/>
<TextView
android:id="@+id/color_region" This is the name of the event
handler method in the main class.
android:layout_height="match_parent" This method must have a void
android:layout_width="match_parent"/> return type and take a View as an
argument. However, the method
</LinearLayout> name is arbitrary, and the main
class need not implement any
particular interface.
45

res/values/strings.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
<string name="app_name">Event Handling Example</string>
<string name="button_prompt">Random Color</string>
</resources>

Unchanged from the previous two examples

46
 Main Activity Class
public class Events6Example extends Activity {
private View mColorRegion;
private int[] mColorChoices =
{ Color.BLACK, Color.BLUE, ... };

@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main);
mColorRegion = findViewById(R.id.color_region);
// No need to look up the button or assign event handler
}

47

Main Activity Class (Continued)

private void setRegionColor(int color) {
mColorRegion.setBackgroundColor(color);
}

public void randomizeColor(View v) {

Random generator = new Random();
int index = generator.nextInt(mColorChoices.length);
setRegionColor(mColorChoices[index]);
}
}
Matches method name given for
android:onClick in main.xml

48
 Results on Emulator
Same as previous example.

49

Results on Physical Phone

Same as
previous
example.

50
 2012 Marty Hall

Aside: Copying Android

Projects in Eclipse

Customized Java EE Training: http://courses.coreservlets.com/

Java, JSF 2, PrimeFaces, Servlets, JSP, Ajax, jQuery, Spring, Hibernate, RESTful Web Services, Hadoop, Android.
Developed and taught by well-known author and developer. At public venues or onsite at your location.

Steps to Copy Projects

Issues
The projects in this tutorial are very similar to each other.
So, you want to copy/rename previous project instead of making
new project and copying many separate pieces
But, package names on devices must be unique
Renaming package requires care. Poor Eclipse support.
Steps (order of steps 2 and 3 matter!)
1. R-click old project. R-click and choose Paste. New name.
2. R-click new project, Android Tools Rename Application
Package. New name. Unselect the Java classes, and leave
selection for manifest only. OK when asked to update launch
configuration.
3. R-click src/projectName in new project. Refactor
Rename. OK when warned package exists.
52
4. Optional: R-click main Activity. Refactor Rename.
 2012 Marty Hall

Wrap-Up

Customized Java EE Training: http://courses.coreservlets.com/

Java, JSF 2, PrimeFaces, Servlets, JSP, Ajax, jQuery, Spring, Hibernate, RESTful Web Services, Hadoop, Android.
Developed and taught by well-known author and developer. At public venues or onsite at your location.

Approaches: Single or Multiple

Controls
Situation
Same handler code may be applied to multiple controls
Options
Use a separate event handler class
Pros: can pass args to handler to customize behavior,
easier to change independently of main app
Cons: if handler will call code in main Activity, must pass
this and must make methods public
Use a named inner class
Pros: can pass args to handler to customize behavior, no
need to pass this reference, methods can be private
This is my overall favorite and most widely used approach for
Widget event handling
Cons: handler tightly coupled to main Activity
54
 Approaches: Single Control
Situation
Handler code will be applied only to a single control
Options
Use an anonymous inner class
Pros: same as named inner class, but more concise
Cons: confusing to newbies or if handler code is long
Put handler method in Activity, implement interface,
call setOnClickListener(this)
Pros: simple code
Cons: cant pass arguments to handler class
Put handler method in Activity, no interface,
specify method with android:onClick in main.xml
Pros: one method per control, but can specify different methods
for each control. More XML-oriented. Less Java code.
Cons: more confusing to Java developer (arguably)
55

2012 Marty Hall

Questions?
JSF 2, PrimeFaces, Java 7, Ajax, jQuery, Hadoop, RESTful Web Services, Android, Spring, Hibernate, Servlets, JSP, GWT, and other Java EE training.

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Developed and taught by well-known author and developer. At public venues or onsite at your location.