Android Parcelable: reading and writing

Question

I want to make a custom entity class Parcelable.. I have some fields in it: a String[] and another custom entity object (which is parcelable).. I want to know how to read and write these objects and lists..

public class CustomEntity implements Parcelable {
    private int number;
    private String[] urls;
    private AnotherEntity object;

    public CustomEntity(Parcel in) {
        number = in.readInt();
        // how should I read urls?
        // how should I read object?
    }

    @Override
    public void writeToParcel(Parcel parcel, int i) {
        parcel.writeInt(number);
        // how should I write urls?
        // how should I write object?
    }

}

why do you need to use parcelable?? extend from serializable if all you want to do is pass data from one activity to another. Java will take care of marshalling and unmarshalling by itself. — ichthyocentaurs, Apr 19 '15 at 10:01
Well, yes, but I doubt you would see a lot of difference with just 3 class variables, also a lot of complexity may be removed from your code. I would suggest use of parcelables more while using heavy model objects or for any kind of AIDL interactions. Anyways my answer is given below. — ichthyocentaurs, Apr 19 '15 at 10:17
Of curse it's just an example... my entities are super complex... I need to make them parcelable... — Reza Bigdeli, Apr 19 '15 at 10:22

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 19 '15 at 10:05

1

https://github.com/mcharmas/android-parcelable-intellij-plugin use this plugin! Your AnotherEntity must implemented Parcelable too!

answered Apr 19 '15 at 10:05

Leonid Veremchuk

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score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 19 '15 at 10:12

1

I definitely think you should NOT handle the boilerplate yourself. There are libraries around like Parceler where with only one annotation on your POJO and one line like Parcel.wrap or Parcel.unwrap you can do instant serialization.

answered Apr 19 '15 at 10:12

inmyth

8,880
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score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 19 '15 at 10:12

1

For a String[] you can use the API

parcel.writeStringArray(url)

For AnotherEntity you need to extend it with Parcelable again

parcel.writeParcelable();

answered Apr 19 '15 at 10:12

ichthyocentaurs

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what if I have a list of a parcelable entity... Like CustomEntity[] objects; how should i read and write – Reza Bigdeli Apr 19 '15 at 10:27
writeParcelableArray() will come to your rescue :) – ichthyocentaurs Apr 19 '15 at 10:30
writeParcelableArray(T[] value, int parcelableFlags).. what should I enter as parcelableFlags?!?!? – Reza Bigdeli Apr 19 '15 at 10:54
http://developer.android.com/reference/android/os/Parcelable.html#writeToParcel(android.os.Parcel, int). – ichthyocentaurs Apr 19 '15 at 10:57

Android Parcelable: reading and writing

3 Answers3