An android library containing most of the helper classes every android developer needs
Every Android developer faces few problems while developing Android Apps. Listing down some of them, which I have faced everytime I create a new android project.
- The problem of writing boilerplate code while creating Activities, Fragments is annoying.
- Need of readymade methods which can come handy such as showing a toast, or showing a progress dialog or launching a new activity.
- The problem of applying proper styles and themes to activities and handling those for pre-lollipop and post-lollipop.
What if we had a library which takes care of all these problems and let the developers concentrate on writing the actual business logic and create awesome functionalities.
Using the Helper library developer can solve the above mentioned problems. Using this Helper library is pretty simple and is currently in development phase so suggestions are welcomed.
For using this library you need to import ButterKnife Library and include Google's Maven repository for latest Support libraries.
You can do that as give below :
In your project's build.gradle file include as :
allprojects {
repositories {
jcenter()
maven {
url "https://maven.google.com"
}
}
}In your app's build.gradle file include as :
dependencies{
//Other dependecies...
compile 'com.jakewharton:butterknife:<latest-version>'
annotationProcessor 'com.jakewharton:butterknife-compiler:<latest-version>'
}Include using gradle dependency
dependencies{
//Other dependecies...
compile 'me.rohanpeshkar.helper:helper:0.0.1'
}An abstract activity which can be used to create activities easily without writing the boilerplate code. It comes with methods which are required frequently. It helps in keeping activity's code clean and readable.
Here is sample activity created using HelperActivity
public class MainActivity extends HelperActivity {
@Override
protected void create() {
/*Write code for actual activity functionality,
no need of writing any other initializations*/
//Set title to actionBar/toolbar
setTitle("Some Title");
}
@Override
protected Activity getActivity() {
//Return activity instance
return this;
}
@Override
protected int getLayout() {
//Return layout resource id for layout of this activity
return R.layout.activity_main;
}
@Override
protected boolean isToolbarPresent() {
//Return true if toolbar is needed
return true;
}
}Following is the list of methods readily available in HelperActivity
| Method | Description |
|---|---|
showToast(String msg) |
Show a toast for short duration |
showToast(String msg, int length) |
Show a toast with customised duration i.e Toast.LONG or Toast.SHORT. |
setTitle(String title) |
Set title to actionbar/toolbar |
enableHome() |
Enable back button on action bar, this will work if parentActivity is defined in AndroidManifest.xml |
launch(Class clazz) |
Launch a new activity, this method will save hassle of creating new intent object every time. Accepts a .class of new activity |
getNewIntent(Class clazz) |
Get a new intent of an activity to launch, used when there is a need to pass extras to new activity. It returns Intent object for an activity to be launched. |
showProgressDialog(String message, boolean isCancelable) |
Show a progress dialog with message and isCancelable boolean, uses the deprecated Progress Dialog as of now. |
dismissProgressDialog() |
Dismiss the progress dialog, checks for the condition that showProgressDialog() method is called and activity is not finishing to avoid any exceptions. |
More details at HelperActivity.java
An abstract fragment which can be used to create fragments faster without writing the boilerplate code. It comes with methods which are required frequently. It helps in keeping fragment's code clean and readable.
Here is sample fragment created using HelperFragment
public class SampleFragment extends HelperFragment {
@Override
protected void start() {
/* Actual logic for fragment goes here, the code
which is written in onCreateView() */
}
@Override
protected Fragment getFragment() {
//Return instance of fragment
return this;
}
@Override
protected int getLayout() {
//Return layout resource id for fragment layout
return R.layout.layout_fragment_sample;
}
}Following is the list of methods readily available in HelperFragment
| Method | Description |
|---|---|
showToast(String msg) |
Show a toast for short duration |
showToast(String msg, int length) |
Show a toast with customised duration i.e Toast.LONG or Toast.SHORT. |
launch(Class clazz) |
Launch a new activity, this method will save hassle of creating new intent object every time. Accepts a .class of new activity |
getNewIntent(Class clazz) |
Get a new intent of an activity to launch, used when there is a need to pass extras to new activity. It returns Intent object for an activity to be launched. |
showProgressDialog(String message, boolean isCancelable) |
Show a progress dialog with message and isCancelable boolean, uses the deprecated Progress Dialog as of now. |
dismissProgressDialog() |
Dismiss the progress dialog, checks for the condition that showProgressDialog() method is called and activity is not finishing to avoid any exceptions. |
More details at HelperFragment.java
An utility class containing utility methods like method write log, check permissions for Android M & above, hide & show keyboard.
Following is the list of methods readily available in HelperUtils
| Method | Description |
|---|---|
logError(String error) |
Log an error message to Logcat |
logDebug(String debug) |
Log a debug message to Logcat |
logVerbose(String verbose) |
Log a verbose message to Logcat |
logInfo(String info) |
Log an info message to Logcat |
updateTag(String customTag) |
Update the log tag value |
hasPermissions(Context context, String... permissions) |
Check whether App has permissions, it is executed if android M & above. Accepts an array of permissions. |
getManifestPermissions(@NonNull final Activity activity) |
Retrieves all the permissions declared in the application's manifest. It returns a non null array of permissions that can be declared. |
hideKeyboard(View view, Context context) |
Hide soft keyboard from any view |
showKeyboard(View view, Context context) |
Method to forcefully show the soft keyboard. |
More details at HelperUtils.java
Most widely used way to store key values in local storage in android is use of SharedPreferences. To make it easy to store and retrieve values from SharedPreferences this class will come in handy.
Here is example of how to use this class :
//Save String to Preferences
HelperPreferences.get(this).saveString("SomeKey","SomeValue");
//Get String from Preferences
String valueForKey = HelperPreferences.get(this).getString("SomeKey");
//Clear all the shared preferences
HelperPreferences.get(this).clear();Following is the list of methods readily available in HelperPreferences
| Method | Description |
|---|---|
get(Context context) |
Get Singleton instance of class |
saveString(String key, String value) |
Store String value corresponding to a key |
saveInt(String key, int value) |
Store int value corresponding to a key |
saveLong(String key, long value) |
Store long value corresponding to a key |
saveFloat(String key, float value) |
Store float value corresponding to a key |
saveBolean(String key, boolean value) |
Store boolean value corresponding to a key |
getString(String key) |
Get String value from preferences for a given Key |
getInt(int key) |
Get int value from preferences for a given Key |
getLong(long key) |
Get long value from preferences for a given Key |
getFloat(float key) |
Get float value from preferences for a given Key |
getBoolean(boolean key) |
Get boolean value from preferences for a given Key |
clear() |
Clear all the shared preferences stored, comes handy in scenarios like logout |
More details at HelperPreferences.java
Finding the correct styles for different use cases is difficult, to solve this ready Helper styles can be used. Included styles take care of pre-lollipop & post-lollipop devices.
Following is the list of styles available
| Method | Description |
|---|---|
HelperTheme |
App theme which takes care for pre-lollipop & above lollipop devices |
HelperTheme.FullScreen |
Theme which makes any activity full screen |
HelperTheme.Transperant |
Theme which can be used to make any activity transparent |
More Details at HelperStyles