Android Using FirebaseUI with FirebaseListOptions to populate a ListView doesn't call populateView

Question

I'm using the following dependencies in build.gradle:

compile 'com.google.firebase:firebase-database:11.4.2'
compile 'com.firebaseui:firebase-ui-database:3.1.0'
compile 'com.firebaseui:firebase-ui-auth:3.1.0'

My goal is to populate a Listview with data from a Firebase Database. I'm following the guide on Github Firebase The following method should bind the data to a listview:

private void showMessages() {

        Query query = FirebaseDatabase.getInstance()
                .getReference("notfication/unread/" + userMailAddress.replace(".", ","))
                .orderByKey();


        FirebaseListOptions<Message> options = new FirebaseListOptions.Builder<Message>()
                .setLayout(R.layout.fbmessage_listitem)//Note: The guide doesn't mention this method, without it an exception is thrown that the layout has to be set.
                .setQuery(query, Message.class)
                .build();


        FirebaseListAdapter<Message> adapter = new FirebaseListAdapter<Message>(options) {
            @Override
            protected void populateView(View v, Message model, int position) {

                TextView tvMessage = v.findViewById(R.id.tv_message);
                tvMessage.setText(model.getDateTimeCreated());

            }
        };

        ListView readMessageList = findViewById(R.id.lvReadMessageList);
        readMessageList.setAdapter(adapter);
}

This is the layout that contains the TextViews.

<LinearLayout
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_weight="0.6"
    android:orientation="vertical">

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/tv_created_on"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_gravity="start"
        android:gravity="start"
        android:paddingStart="5dp"
        android:paddingEnd="0dp"
        android:textColor="@android:color/black" />

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/tv_message"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_gravity="start"
        android:gravity="start"
        android:paddingStart="5dp"
        android:paddingEnd="0dp"
        android:textColor="@android:color/black" />

</LinearLayout>


<ImageView
    android:id="@+id/iv_message_read"
    android:layout_width="200dp"
    android:layout_height="30dp"
    android:layout_weight="0.2"
    android:contentDescription="@string/message_read"
    android:elevation="2dp"
    app:srcCompat="@drawable/android_ok_sign" />

<ImageView
    android:id="@+id/iv_delete"
    android:layout_width="200dp"
    android:layout_height="30dp"
    android:layout_weight="0.2"
    android:contentDescription="@string/abc_delete"
    android:elevation="2dp"
    android:src="@drawable/ic_delete_red_48dp" />

The model:

public class Message {

    private String message;
    private String sender;
    private String receiver;
    private long timestamp;
    private boolean isRead;
    private String userMailAddress;

    public Message() {
    }

    public Message(String message, String sender, String receiver, long timestamp, boolean isRead) {
        this.message = message;
        this.sender = sender;
        this.receiver = receiver;
        this.timestamp = timestamp;
        this.isRead = isRead;
    }

    public String getMessage() {
        return message;
    }

    public void setMessage(String message) {
        this.message = message;
    }

    public String getSender() {
        return sender;
    }

    public void setSender(String sender) {
        this.sender = sender;
    }

    public String getReceiver() {
        return receiver;
    }

    public void setReceiver(String receiver) {
        this.receiver = receiver;
    }

    public long getTimestamp() {
        return timestamp;
    }

    public void setTimestamp(long timestamp) {
        this.timestamp = timestamp;
    }

    public boolean isRead() {
        return isRead;
    }

    public void setRead(boolean read) {
        isRead = read;
    }

    public String getUserMailAddress() {
        return userMailAddress;
    }

    public void setUserMailAddress(String userMailAddress) {
        this.userMailAddress = userMailAddress;
    }

    public String getDateTimeCreated() {

        Calendar calendar = Calendar.getInstance(Locale.getDefault());
        calendar.setTimeInMillis(timestamp);
        String date = DateFormat.format("dd-MM-yyyy", calendar).toString();
        String time = DateFormat.format("HH:mm", calendar).toString();
        return date + "\r\n" + time;
    }
}

No matter what i try, set a breakpoint or Log a TAG, the method populateView to bind the data from the model to the textfields isn't called. I use the same layouts in the previous FirebaseUI (still in my production app) and everything is working fine there.

Does anyone know why the override method populateView isn't called?

score 10 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 02 '17 at 18:25

10

I had the same problem, fixed it with:

@Override
protected void onStart() {
    super.onStart();
    mAdapter.startListening();
}

And then

@Override
protected void onStop() {
    super.onStop();
    mAdapter.stopListening();
}

Works like it did before the update :-)

answered Nov 02 '17 at 18:25

Jaafar Mahdi

683
1
8
15

Thank you. Just implemented the changes and added your suggestion. Everything works fine now! – Hans Nov 15 '17 at 12:38

score 6 · Answer 2 · edited Dec 10 '17 at 16:05

I had the same problem. I tried the accepted answer, but the code was failing with null pointer exception in the startListening statement (adapter was null !).

After much research, I added .setLifecycleOwner(this) as in the sample code (see below code for example). It worked like a charm!

FirebaseListOptions<Message> options = new FirebaseListOptions.Builder<Message>()
    .setLayout(R.layout.fbmessage_listitem)//Note: The guide doesn't mention this method, without it an exception is thrown that the layout has to be set.
    .setQuery(query, Message.class)
    .setLifecycleOwner(this)   //Added this
    .build();

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 29 '17 at 06:15

3

Could it be a typo in the query? notifications instead of notification? Try putting a breakpoint in FirebaseListAdapter#onChildChanged() and see if any events come in.

Most likely, it's because you haven't called FirebaseListAdapter#startListening(). Unless you are using Android Architecture Components with FirebaseListOptions#setLifecycleOwner(...), you must manually manage your adapter's lifecycle. This means calling startListening() in onStart() and stopListening() in onStop().

PS: I would recommend checking out the RecyclerView which has better performance than ListView.

answered Oct 29 '17 at 06:15

SUPERCILEX

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4
32
61

Thanx, i think startListening() can be the solution. At this moment we don't have the time to implement the RecyclerView. I will test your solution and come back with the answer. – Hans Oct 30 '17 at 12:30
Did you figure it out? I have the same problem. :( – Jaafar Mahdi Nov 02 '17 at 17:46
I spent half a day to reach to this solution. Thank you. – Shwe Feb 25 '18 at 16:33

Android Using FirebaseUI with FirebaseListOptions to populate a ListView doesn't call populateView

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