Lecture: Fragments in Android

Introduction to Fragments
In Android development, a Fragment represents a modular portion of an Activity. Fragments
allow for building dynamic and flexible UI designs for both small and large screen devices.

Key Characteristics of Fragments

 Lifecycle: Fragments have their own lifecycle, closely tied to the lifecycle of the hosting
Activity.
 Reusable: They can be reused in multiple Activities.
 Modular: They allow developers to divide the UI and logic of an app into smaller,
manageable components.

Lifecycle of a Fragment
Key Lifecycle Methods
1. onAttach(Context context): Called when the fragment is attached to an activity.
2. onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState): Initializes fragment-related resources.
3. onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container, Bundle
savedInstanceState): Inflates the fragment's UI.
4. onActivityCreated(Bundle savedInstanceState): Called after the hosting
activity's onCreate method is complete.
5. onStart(): Makes the fragment visible.
6. onResume(): Fragment is active and ready for user interaction.
7. onPause(): Called when the fragment is no longer interacting with the user.
8. onStop(): Fragment is no longer visible.
9. onDestroyView(): Cleans up the view hierarchy.
10. onDetach(): Fragment is detached from the activity.

Types of Fragments
1. Static Fragments: Defined in the XML layout.
2. Dynamic Fragments: Added programmatically at runtime.

Implementing Static and Dynamic Fragments

1. Static Fragment Example
Static fragments are declared in the activity's XML layout.
XML Layout (activity_main.xml)
<LinearLayout

xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/androi
d"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent">

<fragment
android:id="@+id/fragment_static"
android:name="com.example.myapp.StaticFragment"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent" />
</LinearLayout>

Static Fragment Class (StaticFragment.java)

package com.example.myapp;

import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.LayoutInflater;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.ViewGroup;
import androidx.fragment.app.Fragment;

public class StaticFragment extends Fragment {

@Override
public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup
container, Bundle savedInstanceState) {
return inflater.inflate(R.layout.fragment_static, container,
false);
}
}

Fragment Layout (fragment_static.xml)

<LinearLayout

xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/androi
d"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent">
 <TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="This is a Static Fragment" />
</LinearLayout>

2. Dynamic Fragment Example

Dynamic fragments are added programmatically using the FragmentManager.

Dynamic Fragment Class (DynamicFragment.java)

package com.example.myapp;

import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.LayoutInflater;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.ViewGroup;
import androidx.fragment.app.Fragment;

public class DynamicFragment extends Fragment {

@Override
public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup
container, Bundle savedInstanceState) {
return inflater.inflate(R.layout.fragment_dynamic, container,
false);
}
}

Adding Dynamic Fragment (MainActivity.java)

package com.example.myapp;

import android.os.Bundle;
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity;
import androidx.fragment.app.Fragment;
import androidx.fragment.app.FragmentManager;
import androidx.fragment.app.FragmentTransaction;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
 // Dynamically add fragment
Fragment dynamicFragment = new DynamicFragment();
FragmentManager fragmentManager =
getSupportFragmentManager();
FragmentTransaction fragmentTransaction =
fragmentManager.beginTransaction();
fragmentTransaction.add(R.id.fragment_container,
dynamicFragment);
fragmentTransaction.commit();
}
}

XML Layout (activity_main.xml)

<FrameLayout

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

Dynamic Fragment Layout (fragment_dynamic.xml)

<LinearLayout

xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/androi
d"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent">

<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="This is a Dynamic Fragment" />
</LinearLayout>

Communication Between Fragment and Activity

Using Interfaces
Define Interface in Fragment (DynamicFragment.java)
public interface FragmentListener {
void onFragmentInteraction(String
data);
}

Implement Interface in Activity (MainActivity.java)

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity implements
DynamicFragment.FragmentListener {

@Override
public void onFragmentInteraction(String data) {
Toast.makeText(this, "Data from Fragment: " + data,
Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
}
}

Fragment Transactions
Key Methods:
 add(): Adds a fragment.
 replace(): Replaces an existing fragment.
 remove(): Removes a fragment.
 addToBackStack(): Adds the transaction to the back stack.

Example:

FragmentManager fragmentManager = getSupportFragmentManager();

FragmentTransaction transaction =
fragmentManager.beginTransaction();
transaction.replace(R.id.fragment_container, new
AnotherFragment());
transaction.addToBackStack(null);
transaction.commit();

Practice Questions
1. Explain the difference between static and dynamic fragments.
2. Write a program to replace one fragment with another on a button click.
3. How can you pass data between an Activity and a Fragment?