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Introducing MVVM in Phimpme

Introducing MVVM (Model-View-ViewModel) Architecture in Phimpme Android App

Phimpme Android App an image editor app that aims to replace proprietary photographing and image apps on smartphones. It offers features such as taking photos, adding filters, editing images and uploading them to social networks. The app was using MVP(Model-View-Presenter) architecture and is now being ported to MVVM(Model-View-ViewModel) architecture.

Advantages of MVVM over MVP?

  1. The view model is lifecycle aware and only updates the UI based on the lifecycle of the activity/fragment.
  2. Separation of concerns – Not all the code under one single activity
  3. Loose coupling – Activity depends on ViewModel and ViewModel depends on the Repository and not the other way around.

MVVM?

  1. Model – Model represents the data and business logic of the app. The repository can be seen as a model in an MVVM architecture which contains login to fetch the data from an API or a remote API
  2. ViewModel – The view model creates a reference with Model/Repository and gets the data for the UI. It delivers the data to UI via observers of LiveData and also the ViewModel is lifecycle aware and respects the lifecycle of the activity such as screen rotations that don’t cause the ViewModel to be created again.
  3. View – The Activity/Fragment is the view where the data is shown to the user, the View creates a reference to the ViewModel via ViewModel provider class. Hence it listens to the ViewModel callbacks via LiveData.

Process for inclusion

  1. Add ViewModel and LiveData

    implementation "androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-extensions:$rootProject.lifecycleVersion"

  2. Now create a class AccountViewModel – it will perform all the functioning that will drive the UI of the Account Activity. We will use LiveData for observing the data in the activity

    public class AccountViewModel extends ViewModel {
    private AccountRepository accountRepository

    = new AccountRepository();
    MutableLiveData<RealmQuery<AccountDatabase>>accountDetails = new MutableLiveData<>();//live data 

    }

  3. Create a class AccountRepository – Used to perform the DB related operations and the ViewModel will hold the instance of this repository.

    class AccountRepository {
    private Realm realm = Realm.getDefaultInstance();
    private DatabaseHelper databaseHelper = new DatabaseHelper(realm);// Fetches the details of all accounts present in database
    RealmQuery<AccountDatabase> fetchAllAccounts() {
    return databaseHelper.fetchAccountDetails();
     }
    }


  4. Now we will add the functionality in AccountViewModel to fetch accounts for the UI

    public class AccountViewModel extends ViewModel {
     final int RESULT_OK = 1;
    private AccountRepository accountRepository = new AccountRepository();
    MutableLiveData<Boolean> error = new MutableLiveData<>();
    MutableLiveData<RealmQuery<AccountDatabase>> accountDetails = new MutableLiveData<>();
    public AccountViewModel() {}
    // Used to fetch all the current logged in accounts
    void fetchAccountDetails() {
       RealmQuery<AccountDatabase> accountDetails = accountRepository.fetchAllAccounts();
    if (accountDetails.findAll().size() > 0) {
         this.accountDetails.postValue(accountDetails);
    } else {
     error.postValue(true);
    }
    }


  5. Now in the AccountActivity, we will have the reference of ViewModel and then observe the liveData error and accountDetails

    public class AccountActivity extends ThemedActivityimplements RecyclerItemClickListner.OnItemClickListener {

    private AccountViewModel accountViewModel;

    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    ButterKnife.bind(this);
    ActivitySwitchHelper.setContext(this);
    setSupportActionBar(toolbar);
    //fetching the viewmodel from ViewModelProviders
    accountViewModel = ViewModelProviders.of(this).get(AccountViewModel.class);
    initObserver();
    }

    private void initObserver() {
    accountViewModel.error.observe(this, value -> {
    if (value) {
     SnackBarHandler.create(coordinatorLayout, getString(no_account_signed_in)).show();
    showComplete();
    }
     });
    accountViewModel.accountDetails.observe(this, this::setUpAdapter);
    }


Hence, this completes the implementation of MVVM Architecture in the Phimpme app.

Resources 

  1. Guide to App Architecture – Android Developers Blog
  2. ViewModel Overview – Android Developers Blog
  3. LiveData Overview – Android Developers Blog

Link to the Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/phimpme-android/issues/2889
Link to the PR: https://github.com/fossasia/phimpme-android/pull/2890

Continue ReadingIntroducing MVVM (Model-View-ViewModel) Architecture in Phimpme Android App

Creating Custom Widgets in Badge Magic Android

In this blog, we are going to have a look on how I created this badge preview in fossasia/badge-magic-android


What is Canvas?

Canvas is a class in Android that performs 2D drawing of different objects onto the screen. The saying “a blank canvas” is very similar to what a Canvas object is on Android. It is basically, an empty space to draw onto.

Canvas Coordinate System

The coordinate system of the Android canvas starts in the top left corner, where [0,0] represents that point. The y axis is positive downwards, and x axis positive towards the right.


Some basics of Canvas, lets see how we drew this Preview Badge.

The Badge consists of only 2 components:

  1. Rounded Rectangle ( Background )
  2. Normal Rectangles ( LED Lights )

Let’s see how we create rounded rectangles in android. 

// Draw Background
canvas.drawRoundRect(bgBounds, 25f, 25f, bgPaint)

Using drawRoundRect() we can easily create the badge background. 25f specified is the corner radius of the rectangle.

The LED Lights are just drawable resources which are used according to the current state of the LED.

private fun drawLED(condition: Boolean, canvas: Canvas, xValue: Int, yValue: Int) {
   if (condition) {
       ledEnabled.bounds = cells[xValue].list[yValue]
       ledEnabled.draw(canvas)
   } else {
       ledDisabled.bounds = cells[xValue].list[yValue]
       ledDisabled.draw(canvas)
   }
}

This function draws the LED Lights if the condition is satisfied.

When we consider a custom view, we need to consider the changes which occur according. These layout changes are to be controlled and maintained accordingly, Let’s see how we manage the positioning of the led lights for every android device. Spoiler: Simple 10th Grade Maths xD

override fun onLayout(changed: Boolean, left: Int, top: Int, right: Int, bottom: Int) {
   super.onLayout(changed, left, top, right, bottom)
   val offset = 30
   val singleCell = (right - left - (offset * 3)) / badgeWidth
   val offsetXToAdd: Int = ((((right - offset).toFloat() - (left + offset).toFloat()) - (singleCell * badgeWidth)) / 2).toInt() + 1

   cells = mutableListOf()
   for (i in 0 until badgeHeight) {
       cells.add(Cell())
       for (j in 0 until badgeWidth) {
           cells[i].list.add(Rect(
               (offsetXToAdd * 2) + j * singleCell,
               (offsetXToAdd * 2) + i * singleCell,
               (offsetXToAdd * 2) + j * singleCell + singleCell,
               (offsetXToAdd * 2) + i * singleCell + singleCell
           ))
       }
   }
   bgBounds = RectF((offsetXToAdd).toFloat(), (offsetXToAdd).toFloat(), ((singleCell * badgeWidth) + (offsetXToAdd * 3)).toFloat(), ((singleCell * badgeHeight) + (offsetXToAdd * 3)).toFloat())
}

We create an offset which is nothing but the gap from the screen edge to the badge itself, now we need to have gaps on both sides of the badge and we also leave half the offset inside the badge which is the difference between the badge background and the LED starting point, hence we calculate the value of single cells by: 

val singleCell = (right - left - (offset * 3)) / badgeWidth

We minus the no of pixels on the right of the display to the left, to get the width of the actual screen. Then we minus the padding from the left and right which is offset * 3 . Now we divide it by the number of cells we want in the badge which is the badgeWidth.

Once we have the number of cells, we want to calculate the left, right, top and bottom positions of all the LED. What we now do is loop into the number of LEDs and then multiply the singleLed width with the current position to get the accurate pixels which need to be escaped from the left.

cells = mutableListOf()
   for (i in 0 until badgeHeight) {
       cells.add(Cell())
       for (j in 0 until badgeWidth) {
           cells[i].list.add(Rect(
               (offsetXToAdd * 2) + j * singleCell,
               (offsetXToAdd * 2) + i * singleCell,
               (offsetXToAdd * 2) + j * singleCell + singleCell,
               (offsetXToAdd * 2) + i * singleCell + singleCell
           ))
       }
   }

Now the fun part, we save all of it in a 2D ArrayList to be able to draw it later on.

Conclusion

Working on custom views is very unique. This experience is one of a kind and drawing stuff with basic maths is fun in the first place. Simple equations led me to create a preview which simulates the complete badge in software. 

Ressources

Continue ReadingCreating Custom Widgets in Badge Magic Android

Creating an awesome ‘About Us’ page for the Open Event Organizer Android App

Open Event Organizer App (Eventyay Organizer App) is an Android app based on the Eventyay platform. It contains various features using which organizers can manage their events.

This article will talk about a library which can help you create great about pages for Android apps without the need of making custom layouts.

It is the Android About Page library.

Let’s go through the process of its implementation in the Eventyay Organizer App.

First add the dependency in the app level build.gradle file:

implementation 'com.github.medyo:android-about-page:1.2.5'

Creating elements to be added:

Element legalElement = new Element();
legalElement.setTitle("Legal");

Element developersElement = new Element();      
developersElement.setTitle(getString(R.string.developers));

Element shareElement = new Element();
shareElement.setTitle(getString(R.string.share));

Element thirdPartyLicenses = new Element();       
thirdPartyLicenses.setTitle(getString(R.string.third_party_licenses));

Setting image, description and adding items in the About Page:

AboutPage aboutPage = new AboutPage(getContext())
            .isRTL(false)
            .setImage(R.mipmap.ic_launcher)            
            .setDescription(getString(R.string.about_us_description))
            .addItem(new Element("Version " + BuildConfig.VERSION_NAME, R.drawable.ic_info))
            .addGroup("Connect with us")
            .addGitHub("fossasia/open-event-organizer-android")
            .addPlayStore(getContext().getPackageName())
            .addWebsite(getString(R.string.FRONTEND_HOST))
            .addFacebook(getString(R.string.FACEBOOK_ID))
            .addTwitter(getString(R.string.TWITTER_ID))
            .addYoutube(getString(R.string.YOUTUBE_ID))
            .addItem(developersElement)
            .addItem(legalElement)
            .addItem(shareElement);

if (BuildConfig.FLAVOR.equals("playStore")) {    
    aboutPage.addItem(thirdPartyLicenses);
}

View aboutPageView = aboutPage.create();

Now add the aboutPageView in the fragment.

To make the values configurable from build.gradle, add this is the defaultConfig:

resValue "string", "FACEBOOK_ID", "eventyay"
resValue "string", "TWITTER_ID", "eventyay"
resValue "string", "YOUTUBE_ID", "UCQprMsG-raCIMlBudm20iLQ"

That’s it! The About Page is now ready.

Resources:

Library used: Android About Page

Pull Request: #1904

Open Event Organizer App: Project repo, Play Store, F-Droid

Continue ReadingCreating an awesome ‘About Us’ page for the Open Event Organizer Android App

Mapbox implementation in Open Event Organizer Android App

Open Event Organizer Android App is used by event organizers to manage events on the Eventyay platform. While creating or updating an event, location is one of the important factors which needs to be added so that the attendees can be informed of the venue.

Here, we’ll go through the process of implementing Mapbox Places Autocomplete for event location in the F-Droid build variant.

The first step is to create an environment variable for the Mapbox Access Token. 

def MAPBOX_ACCESS_TOKEN = System.getenv('MAPBOX_ACCESS_TOKEN') ?: "YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN"

Add the Mapbox dependency:

fdroidImplementation 'com.mapbox.mapboxsdk:mapbox-android-plugin-places-v8:0.9.0'

Fetching the access token in EventDetailsStepOne as well as UpdateEventFragment:

ApplicationInfo applicationInfo = null;
        try {
            applicationInfo = getContext().getPackageManager().getApplicationInfo(getContext().getPackageName(), PackageManager.GET_META_DATA);
        } catch (PackageManager.NameNotFoundException e) {
            Timber.e(e);
        }
        Bundle bundle = applicationInfo.metaData;

        String mapboxAccessToken = bundle.getString(getString(R.string.mapbox_access_token));

The app should not crash if the access token is not available. To ensure this, we need to put a check. Since, the default value of the access token is set to “YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN”, the following code will check whether a token is available or not:

if (mapboxAccessToken.equals("YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN")) {
    ViewUtils.showSnackbar(binding.getRoot(),                             R.string.access_token_required);
    return;
}

Initializing the PlacesAutocompleteFragment:

PlaceAutocompleteFragment autocompleteFragment = PlaceAutocompleteFragment.newInstance(
                mapboxAccessToken, PlaceOptions.builder().backgroundColor(Color.WHITE).build());

getFragmentManager().beginTransaction()
    .replace(R.id.fragment, autocompleteFragment)
    .addToBackStack(null)
    .commit();

Now, a listener needs to be set up to get the selected place and set the various fields like latitude, longitude, location name and searchable location name.

autocompleteFragment.setOnPlaceSelectedListener(new PlaceSelectionListener() {
                @Override
                public void onPlaceSelected(CarmenFeature carmenFeature) {
                    Event event = binding.getEvent();
                    event.setLatitude(carmenFeature.center().latitude());
                    event.setLongitude(carmenFeature.center().longitude());
                    event.setLocationName(carmenFeature.placeName());
                    event.setSearchableLocationName(carmenFeature.text());
                    binding.form.layoutLocationName.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
                    binding.form.locationName.setText(event.getLocationName());
                    getFragmentManager().popBackStack();
                }

                @Override
                public void onCancel() {
                    getFragmentManager().popBackStack();
                }
            });

This brings the process of implementing Mapbox SDK to completion.

GIF showing the working of Mapbox Places Autocomplete

Resources:

Documentation: Mapbox Places Plugin

Open Event Organizer App: Project repo, Play Store, F-Droid

Continue ReadingMapbox implementation in Open Event Organizer Android App

Implementation of Android App Links in Open Event Organizer App

Android App Links are HTTP URLs that bring users directly to specific content in an Android app. They allow the website URLs to immediately open the corresponding content in the related Android app.

Whenever such a URL is clicked, a dialog is opened allowing the user to select a particular app which can handle the given URL.

In this blog post, we will be discussing the implementation of Android App Links for password reset in Open Event Organizer App, the Android app developed for event organizers using the Eventyay platform.

What is the purpose of using App Links?

App Links are used to open the corresponding app when a link is clicked.

  • If the app is installed, then it will open on clicking the link.
  • If app is not installed, then the link will open in the browser.

The first steps involve:

  1. Creating intent filters in the manifest.
  2. Adding code to the app’s activities to handle incoming links.
  3. Associating the app and the website with Digital Asset Links.

Adding Android App Links

First step is to add an intent-filter for the AuthActivity.

<intent-filter>
    <action android:name="android.intent.action.VIEW" />

    <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
     <category android:name="android.intent.category.BROWSABLE" />

     <data
         android:scheme="https"
         android:host="@string/FRONTEND_HOST"
         android:pathPrefix="/reset-password" />
</intent-filter>

Here, FRONTEND_HOST is the URL for the web frontend of the Eventyay platform.

This needs to be handled in AuthActivity:

@Override
protected void onNewIntent(Intent intent) {
    super.onNewIntent(intent);
    handleIntent(intent);
}
private void handleIntent(Intent intent) {
    String appLinkAction = intent.getAction();
    Uri appLinkData = intent.getData();

    if (Intent.ACTION_VIEW.equals(appLinkAction) && appLinkData != null) {
        LinkHandler.Destination destination = LinkHandler.getDestinationAndToken(appLinkData.toString()).getDestination();
        String token = LinkHandler.getDestinationAndToken(appLinkData.toString()).getToken();

        if (destination.equals(LinkHandler.Destination.RESET_PASSWORD)) {
            getSupportFragmentManager().beginTransaction()
            .replace(R.id.fragment_container,                     
                         ResetPasswordFragment.newInstance(token))
            .commit();
        }
    }
}

 Call the handleIntent() method in onCreate():

handleIntent(getIntent());

Get the token in onCreate() method of ResetPasswordFragment:

@Override
public void onCreate(@Nullable Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

    if (getArguments() != null)
        token = getArguments().getString(TOKEN_KEY);
}

Set the token in ViewModel:

if (token != null)
    resetPasswordViewModel.setToken(token);

The setToken() method in ViewModel:

if (token != null)
    resetPasswordViewModel.setToken(token);

LinkHandler class for handling the links:

package com.eventyay.organizer.utils;

public class LinkHandler {

    public Destination destination;
    public String token;

    public LinkHandler(Destination destination, String token) {
        this.destination = destination;
        this.token = token;
    }

    public static LinkHandler getDestinationAndToken(String url) {
        if (url.contains("reset-password")) {
            String token = url.substring(url.indexOf('=') + 1);
            return new LinkHandler(Destination.RESET_PASSWORD, token);
        } else if (url.contains("verify")) {
            String token = url.substring(url.indexOf('=') + 1);
            return new LinkHandler(Destination.VERIFY_EMAIL, token);
        } else
            return null;
    }

    public Destination getDestination() {
        return destination;
    }

    public String getToken() {
        return token;
    }

    public enum Destination {
        VERIFY_EMAIL,
        RESET_PASSWORD
    }
}

enum is used to handle links for both, password reset as well as email verification.

Finally, the unit tests for LinkHandler:

package com.eventyay.organizer.utils;

import org.junit.Test;
import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
import org.junit.runners.JUnit4;

import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;

@RunWith(JUnit4.class)
public class LinkHandlerTest {

    private String resetPassUrl = "https://eventyay.com/reset-password?token=12345678";
    private String verifyEmailUrl = "https://eventyay.com/verify?token=12345678";

    @Test
    public void shouldHaveCorrectDestination() {
        assertEquals(LinkHandler.Destination.RESET_PASSWORD,
            LinkHandler.getDestinationAndToken(resetPassUrl).getDestination());
        assertEquals(LinkHandler.Destination.VERIFY_EMAIL,
            LinkHandler.getDestinationAndToken(verifyEmailUrl).getDestination());
    }

    @Test
    public void shouldGetPasswordResetToken() {
        assertEquals(LinkHandler.Destination.RESET_PASSWORD,
            LinkHandler.getDestinationAndToken(resetPassUrl).getDestination());
        assertEquals("12345678",
            LinkHandler.getDestinationAndToken(resetPassUrl).getToken());
    }

    @Test
    public void shouldGetEmailVerificationToken() {
        assertEquals(LinkHandler.Destination.VERIFY_EMAIL,
            LinkHandler.getDestinationAndToken(verifyEmailUrl).getDestination());
        assertEquals("12345678",
            LinkHandler.getDestinationAndToken(verifyEmailUrl).getToken());
    }
}

Resources:

Documentation: Link

Further reading: Android App Linking

Pull Request: feat: Add app link for password reset

Open Event Organizer App: Project repo, Play Store, F-Droid

Continue ReadingImplementation of Android App Links in Open Event Organizer App

Implementation of scanning in F-Droid build variant of Open Event Organizer Android App

Open Event Organizer App (Eventyay Organizer App) is the Android app used by event organizers to create and manage events on the Eventyay platform.

Various features include:

  1. Event creation.
  2. Ticket management.
  3. Attendee list with ticket details.
  4. Scanning of participants etc.

The Play Store build variant of the app uses Google Vision API for scanning attendees. This cannot be used in the F-Droid build variant since F-Droid requires all the libraries used in the project to be open source. Thus, we’ll be using this library: https://github.com/blikoon/QRCodeScanner 

We’ll start by creating separate ScanQRActivity, ScanQRView and activity_scan_qr.xml files for the F-Droid variant. We’ll be using a common ViewModel for the F-Droid and Play Store build variants.

Let’s start with requesting the user for camera permission so that the mobile camera can be used for scanning QR codes.

public void onCameraLoaded() {
    if (hasCameraPermission()) {
        startScan();
    } else {
        requestCameraPermission();
    }
}
@Override
public void onRequestPermissionsResult(int requestCode, @NonNull String[] permissions, @NonNull int[] grantResults) {
    if (requestCode != PERM_REQ_CODE)
            return;

    // If request is cancelled, the result arrays are empty.
    if (grantResults.length > 0 && grantResults[0] == PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED) {
        cameraPermissionGranted(true);
    } else {
        cameraPermissionGranted(false);
    }
}



@Override
public boolean hasCameraPermission() {
    return ContextCompat.checkSelfPermission(this, permission.CAMERA) == PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED;
}

@Override
public void requestCameraPermission() {
    ActivityCompat.requestPermissions(this, new String[]{Manifest.permission.CAMERA}, PERM_REQ_CODE);
}


@Override
public void showPermissionError(String error) {
    Toast.makeText(this, error, Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
}

public void cameraPermissionGranted(boolean granted) {
    if (granted) {
        startScan();
    } else {
        showProgress(false);
        showPermissionError("User denied permission");
    }
}

After the camera permission is granted, or if the camera permission is already granted, then the startScan() method would be called.

@Override
public void startScan() {
    Intent i = new Intent(ScanQRActivity.this, QrCodeActivity.class);
    startActivityForResult(i, REQUEST_CODE_QR_SCAN);
}

QrCodeActivity belongs to the library that we are using.

Now, the processing of barcode would be started after it is scanned. The processBarcode() method in ScanQRViewModel would be called.

public void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent intent) {

    if (requestCode == REQUEST_CODE_QR_SCAN) {
        if (intent == null)
            return;

        scanQRViewModel.processBarcode(intent.getStringExtra
            ("com.blikoon.qrcodescanner.got_qr_scan_relult"));

    } else {
        super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, intent);
    }
}

Let’s move on to the processBarcode() method, which is the same as the Play Store variant.

public void processBarcode(String barcode) {

    Observable.fromIterable(attendees)
        .filter(attendee -> attendee.getOrder() != null)
        .filter(attendee -> (attendee.getOrder().getIdentifier() + "-" + attendee.getId()).equals(barcode))
        .compose(schedule())
        .toList()
        .subscribe(attendees -> {
            if (attendees.size() == 0) {
                message.setValue(R.string.invalid_ticket);
                tint.setValue(false);
            } else {
                checkAttendee(attendees.get(0));
            }
        });
}

The checkAttendee() method:

private void checkAttendee(Attendee attendee) {
    onScannedAttendeeLiveData.setValue(attendee);

    if (toValidate) {
        message.setValue(R.string.ticket_is_valid);
        tint.setValue(true);
        return;
    }

    boolean needsToggle = !(toCheckIn && attendee.isCheckedIn ||
        toCheckOut && !attendee.isCheckedIn);

    attendee.setChecking(true);
    showBarcodePanelLiveData.setValue(true);

    if (toCheckIn) {
        message.setValue(
            attendee.isCheckedIn ? R.string.already_checked_in : R.string.now_checked_in);
        tint.setValue(true);
        attendee.isCheckedIn = true;
    } else if (toCheckOut) {
        message.setValue(
            attendee.isCheckedIn ? R.string.now_checked_out : R.string.already_checked_out);
        tint.setValue(true);
        attendee.isCheckedIn = false;
    }

    if (needsToggle)
        compositeDisposable.add(
            attendeeRepository.scheduleToggle(attendee)
                .subscribe(() -> {
                    // Nothing to do
                }, Logger::logError));
}

This would toggle the check-in state of the attendee.

Resources:

Library used: QRCodeScanner

Pull Request: feat: Implement scanning in F-Droid build variant

Open Event Organizer App: Project repo, Play Store, F-Droid

Continue ReadingImplementation of scanning in F-Droid build variant of Open Event Organizer Android App

Implementation of Role Invites in Open Event Organizer Android App

Open Event Organizer Android App consists of various features which can be used by event organizers to manage their events. Also, they can invite other people for various roles. After acceptance of the role invite, the particular user would have access to features like the event settings and functionalities like scanning of tickets and editing of event details, depending on the access level of the role.

There can be various roles which can be assigned to a user: Organizer, Co-Organizer, Track Organizer, Moderator, Attendee, Registrar.

Here we will go through the process of implementing the feature to invite a person for a particular role for an event using that person’s email address.

The ‘Add Role’ screen has an email field to enter the invitee’s email address and select the desired role for the person. Upon clicking the ‘Send Invite’ button, the person would be sent a mail containing a link to accept the role invite.

The Role class is used for the different types of available roles.

@Data
@Builder
@Type("role")
@AllArgsConstructor
@NoArgsConstructor
@JsonNaming(PropertyNamingStrategy.KebabCaseStrategy.class)
public class Role {

    @Id(LongIdHandler.class)
    public Long id;

    public String name;
    public String titleName;
}

The RoleInvite class:

@Data
@Builder
@Type("role-invite")
@AllArgsConstructor
@NoArgsConstructor
@JsonNaming(PropertyNamingStrategy.KebabCaseStrategy.class)
public class RoleInvite {

    @Id(LongIdHandler.class)
    public Long id;

    @Relationship("event")
    public Event event;

    @Relationship("role")
    public Role role;

    public String email;
    public String createdAt;
    public String status;
    public String roleName;
}

A POST request is required for sending the role invite using the email address of the recipient as well as the role name.

@POST("role-invites")
Observable<RoleInvite> postRoleInvite(@Body RoleInvite roleInvite);

On clicking the ‘Send Invite’ button, the email address would be validated and if it is valid, the invite would be sent.

binding.btnSubmit.setOnClickListener(v -> {
        if (!validateEmail(binding.email.getText().toString())){            
            showError(getString(R.string.email_validation_error));
            return;
        }
        roleId = binding.selectRole.getSelectedItemPosition() + 1;
        roleInviteViewModel.createRoleInvite(roleId);
});

createRoleInvite() method in RoleInviteViewModel:

public void createRoleInvite(long roleId) {

    long eventId = ContextManager.getSelectedEvent().getId();
    Event event = new Event();
    event.setId(eventId);
    roleInvite.setEvent(event);
    role.setId(roleId);
    roleInvite.setRole(role);

    compositeDisposable.add(
        roleRepository
            .sendRoleInvite(roleInvite)
            .doOnSubscribe(disposable -> progress.setValue(true))
            .doFinally(() -> progress.setValue(false))
            .subscribe(sentRoleInvite -> {
                success.setValue("Role Invite Sent");
            }, throwable -> error.setValue(ErrorUtils.getMessage(throwable).toString())));
}

It takes roleId as an argument which is used to set the desired role before sending the POST request.

We can notice the use of sendRoleInvite() method of RoleRepository. Let’s have a look at that:

@Override
public Observable<RoleInvite> sendRoleInvite(RoleInvite roleInvite) {
    if (!repository.isConnected()) {
        return Observable.error(new Throwable(Constants.NO_NETWORK));
    }

    return roleApi
        .postRoleInvite(roleInvite)
        .doOnNext(inviteSent -> Timber.d(String.valueOf(inviteSent)))
        .subscribeOn(Schedulers.io())
        .observeOn(AndroidSchedulers.mainThread());
}

Resources:

API Documentation: Roles, Role Invites

Pull Request: feat: Implement system of role invites

Open Event Organizer App: Project repo, Play Store, F-Droid

Continue ReadingImplementation of Role Invites in Open Event Organizer Android App

Implementation of Pagination in Open Event Organizer Android App

Pagination (Endless Scrolling or Infinite Scrolling) breaks down a list of content into smaller parts, loaded one at a time. It is important when the quantity of data to be loaded is huge and loading all the data at once can result in timeout.

Here, we will discuss about the implementation of pagination in the list of attendees in the Open Event Organizer App (Eventyay Organizer App).

It is an Android app used by event organizers to create and manage events on the Eventyay platform. Features include event creation, ticket management, attendee list with ticket details, scanning of participants etc.

In the Open Event Organizer App, the loading of attendees would result in timeout when the number of attendees would be large. The solution for fixing this was the implementation of pagination in the Attendees fragment.

First, the API call needs to be modified to include the page size as well as the addition of page number as a Query.

@GET("events/{id}/attendees?include=order,ticket,event&fields[event]=id&fields[ticket]=id&page[size]=20")
Observable<List<Attendee>> getAttendeesPageWise(@Path("id") long id, @Query("page[number]") long pageNumber);

Now, we need to modify the logic of fetching the list of attendees to include the page number. Whenever one page ends, the next page should be fetched automatically and added to the list.

The page number needs to be passed as an argument in the loadAttendeesPageWise() method in AttendeesViewModel.

public void loadAttendeesPageWise(long pageNumber, boolean forceReload) {

    showScanButtonLiveData.setValue(false);

    compositeDisposable.add(
        getAttendeeSourcePageWise(pageNumber, forceReload)
            .doOnSubscribe(disposable -> progress.setValue(true))
            .doFinally(() -> progress.setValue(false))
            .toSortedList()
            .subscribe(attendees -> {
                attendeeList.addAll(attendees);
                attendeesLiveData.setValue(attendees);
                showScanButtonLiveData.setValue(!attendeeList.isEmpty());
            }, throwable -> error.setValue(ErrorUtils.getMessage(throwable).toString())));
}

Also in the getAttendeeSourcePageWise() method:

private Observable<Attendee> getAttendeeSourcePageWise(long pageNumber, boolean forceReload) {
    if (!forceReload && !attendeeList.isEmpty())
        return Observable.fromIterable(attendeeList);
    else
        return attendeeRepository.getAttendeesPageWise(eventId, pageNumber, forceReload);
}

Now, in the AttendeesFragment, a check is needed to increase the current page number and load attendees for the next page when the user reaches the end of the list. 

if (!recyclerView.canScrollVertically(1)) {

    if (recyclerView.getAdapter().getItemCount() > currentPage * ITEMS_PER_PAGE) {
        currentPage++;
    } else {
        currentPage++;                       
        attendeesViewModel.loadAttendeesPageWise(currentPage, true);
    }
}

When a new page is fetched, we need to update the existing list and add the elements from the new page.

@Override
public void showResults(List<Attendee> attendees) {
    attendeeList.addAll(attendees);
    fastItemAdapter.setNewList(attendeeList);
    binding.setVariable(BR.attendees, attendeeList);
    binding.executePendingBindings();
}

Now, list of attendees would be fetched pagewise, thus improving the performance and preventing timeouts.

Resources:

Further reading:

Open Event Organizer App: Project repo, Play Store, F-Droid

Continue ReadingImplementation of Pagination in Open Event Organizer Android App

Migration to Model-View-ViewModel Architecture and LiveData in Open Event Organizer App

Open Event Organizer App (Eventyay Organizer App) is the Android app used by event organizers to create and manage events on the Eventyay platform as well as check-in and check-out attendees along with other functionalities. The app used the MVP (Model-View-Presenter) architecture and is being ported to MVVM (Model-View-ViewModel). This article will explain the procedure of migrating MVP to MVVM architecture and implementing LiveData. 

Why migrate to MVVM?

The MVVM architecture is designed to store and manage UI-related data in a lifecycle conscious way. Configuration changes such as screen rotations are handled properly by ViewModels.

Tight Coupling:

The issue of tight coupling is resolved since only the View holds the reference to ViewModel and not vice versa. A single View can hold references to multiple ViewModels.

Testability:

Since Presenters are hard bound to Views, writing unit tests becomes slightly difficult as there is a dependency of a View.

ViewModels are more unit test friendly as they can be independently tested. There is no dependency of the View.

Here, the implementation is being described with the example of About Event module in the Open Event Organizer App.

First step is the creation of a new class AboutEventViewModel which extends ViewModel.

@Binds
@IntoMap
@ViewModelKey(AboutEventViewModel.class)
public abstract ViewModel bindAboutEventViewModel(AboutEventViewModel aboutEventViewModel);

The new ViewModel has to be added to the ViewModelModule:

Constructor for the ViewModel:

@Inject
public AboutEventViewModel(EventRepository eventRepository,  CopyrightRepository copyrightRepository,
DatabaseChangeListener<Copyright> copyrightChangeListener) {
    this.eventRepository = eventRepository;
    this.copyrightRepository = copyrightRepository;
    this.copyrightChangeListener = copyrightChangeListener;

    eventId = ContextManager.getSelectedEvent().getId();
}

We are using Dagger2 for dependency injection. 

LiveData

LiveData is a lifecycle-aware data holder with the observer pattern.

When we have a LiveData object (e.g. list of attendees), we can add some LifecycleOwner (it can be Activity or Fragment) as an observer. Using this:

The Activity or Fragment will remain updated with the data changes.

Observers are only notified if they are in the STARTED or RESUMED state which is also known as the active state. This prevents memory leaks and NullPointerExceptions because inactive observers are not notified about changes.

Now, let’s discuss about the implementation of LiveData. We will create objects of SingleEventLiveData<> class.

private final SingleEventLiveData<Boolean> progress = new SingleEventLiveData<>();
private final SingleEventLiveData<String> error = new SingleEventLiveData<>();
private final SingleEventLiveData<Event> success = new SingleEventLiveData<>();
private final SingleEventLiveData<Copyright> showCopyright = new SingleEventLiveData<>();
private final SingleEventLiveData<Boolean> changeCopyrightMenuItem = new SingleEventLiveData<>();
private final SingleEventLiveData<String> showCopyrightDeleted = new SingleEventLiveData<>();

The functions to get the LiveData objects:

public LiveData<Boolean> getProgress() {
    return progress;
}

public LiveData<Event> getSuccess() {
    return success;
}

public LiveData<String> getError() {
    return error;
}

public LiveData<Copyright> getShowCopyright() {
    return showCopyright;
}

public LiveData<Boolean> getChangeCopyrightMenuItem() {
    return changeCopyrightMenuItem;
}

public LiveData<String> getShowCopyrightDeleted() {
    return showCopyrightDeleted;
}

Now, we can remove getView() methods and instead, these objects will be used to call various methods defined in the fragment.

Let’s discuss the changes required in the AboutEventFragment now.

The Fragment will have ViewModelProvider.Factory injected.

@Inject
ViewModelProvider.Factory viewModelFactory;

Declare an object of the ViewModel.

private AboutEventViewModel aboutEventViewModel;

Then, in onCreateView(), viewModelFactory will be passed to the ViewModelProviders.of() method as the factory, which is the second parameter.

aboutEventViewModel = ViewModelProviders.of(this, viewModelFactory).get(AboutEventViewModel.class);

Replace all references to the Presenter with references to the ViewModel.

Add the Fragment as an observer to the changes by adding the following in the onStart() method:

aboutEventViewModel.getProgress().observe(this, this::showProgress);
aboutEventViewModel.getSuccess().observe(this, this::showResult);
aboutEventViewModel.getError().observe(this, this::showError);
aboutEventViewModel.getShowCopyright().observe(this, this::showCopyright);
aboutEventViewModel.getChangeCopyrightMenuItem().observe(this, this::changeCopyrightMenuItem);
aboutEventViewModel.getShowCopyrightDeleted().observe(this, this::showCopyrightDeleted);

Two parameters are passed to the observe() method  –  first one is LifecycleOwner, which is our Fragment in this case. The second one is a callback along with a parameter and is used to call the required method.

With this, the implementation of MVVM and LiveData is brought to completion.

Resources:

Documentation: ViewModel, LiveData

Further reading:

Open Event Organizer App: Project repo, Play Store, F-Droid

Continue ReadingMigration to Model-View-ViewModel Architecture and LiveData in Open Event Organizer App

Serializing Java objects for REST API Requests in Open Event Organizer App

Open Event Organizer App is a client side application which uses REST API for network requests. The server supports sending and receiving of data only in JSONAPI spec, so, we needed to serialize java models into JSON objects and deserialize JSON data into java models following JSONAPI spec. To achieve this we followed the following steps.

Specifications

We will be using jasminb/jsonapi-converter which handles request/response parsing of models following JSONAPI Spec and Retrofit plugin of jackson converter to serializing JSON to Java Models and vice versa.

Let’s create a java model. We are using some annotations provided by Lombok library to avoid writing boilerplate code. @JsonNaming annotation is used to apply KebabCaseStrategy while serializing fields

@Data
@Type(“order”)
@AllArgsConstructor
@JsonNaming(PropertyNamingStrategy.KebabCaseStrategy.class)
@Table(database = OrgaDatabase.class, allFields = true)
public class Order {

@PrimaryKey
@Id(LongIdHandler.class)
public Long id;

public float amount;
public String completedAt;
public String identifier;
public String paidVia;
public String paymentMode;
public String status;

@Relationship(“event”)
@ForeignKey(stubbedRelationship = true, onDelete = ForeignKeyAction.CASCADE)
public Event event;

public Order() { }
}

In the NetworkModule class, there is a method providesMappedClasses() containing a list of classes that needs to be serialized/deserialized. We need to add the above model in the list. Then, this list is provided to Singleton instance of JSONAPIConvertorFactory through Dagger. JSONAPIConvertorFactory uses the Retrofit ObjectMapper and maps the classes that are handled by this instance.

@Provides
Class[] providesMappedClasses() {
return new Class[]{Event.class, Attendee.class, Ticket.class, Order.class};
}

Further, various serialization properties can be used while building Singleton ObjectMapper instance. Adding any properties here ensures that these are applied to all the mapped classes by JSONAPIConvertorFactory. For eg, we are using the serialization property to throw an exception and fail whenever empty beans are encountered.

@Provides
@Singleton
ObjectMapper providesObjectMapper() {
return new ObjectMapper()
.disable(DeserializationFeature.FAIL_ON_UNKNOWN_PROPERTIES)
.disable(SerializationFeature.FAIL_ON_EMPTY_BEANS)
// Handle constant breaking changes in API by not including null fields
// TODO: Remove when API stabilizes and/or need to include null values is there
.setSerializationInclusion(JsonInclude.Include.NON_ABSENT);
}

Resources

  1. Github Repository for jsonapi-converter https://github.com/jasminb/jsonapi-converter
  2. Github repository for Jackson Retrofit Plugin https://github.com/square/retrofit/tree/master/retrofit-converters/jackson
  3. Official Website for Project Lombok https://projectlombok.org/

Github Repository for Open-Event-Orga-App https://github.com/fossasia/open-event-orga-app

Continue ReadingSerializing Java objects for REST API Requests in Open Event Organizer App