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BaseExpandableListAdapter in Android with Example

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In many android apps, the developer may need to show multi-data for huge main data items. i.e. as per our example, under “Programming languages”, we need to show “Python”, “Java” etc., and under “Relational database” we need to show “Oracle”, “MySQL’ etc., For that purpose, we can use “BaseExpandableListAdapter“. It is a bridge between the UI component and the data source which fills data in the UI component. It holds the data and then sends the data to the Adapter view then the view can take the data from the Adapter view and shows the data on different views like ExpandableListView. It will provide access to the data of the children (categorized by groups), and also instantiate views for the children and groups. A sample GIF is given below to get an idea about what we are going to do in this article. Note that we are going to implement this project using the Java language. 

BaseExpandableListAdapter in Android

Let us see via code. Here is the code snippet for the CustomizedAdapter.java file:

Java




import android.content.Context;
import android.view.LayoutInflater;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.ViewGroup;
import android.widget.BaseExpandableListAdapter;
import android.widget.TextView;
import java.util.ArrayList;
  
public class CustomizedAdapter extends BaseExpandableListAdapter {
  
    private Context context;
    private ArrayList<GroupInformation> mainSetName;
  
    public CustomizedAdapter(Context context, ArrayList<GroupInformation> deptList) {
        this.context = context;
        this.mainSetName = deptList;
    }
  
    @Override
    public Object getChild(int groupPosition, int childPosition) {
        ArrayList<ChildInfo> productList = mainSetName.get(groupPosition).getSubsetName();
        return productList.get(childPosition);
    }
  
    @Override
    public long getChildId(int groupPosition, int childPosition) {
        return childPosition;
    }
  
    @Override
    public View getChildView(int groupPosition, int childPosition, boolean isLastChild,
                             View view, ViewGroup parent) {
  
        ChildInfo detailInfo = (ChildInfo) getChild(groupPosition, childPosition);
        if (view == null) {
            LayoutInflater infalInflater = (LayoutInflater) context.getSystemService(Context.LAYOUT_INFLATER_SERVICE);
            view = infalInflater.inflate(R.layout.child_items, null);
        }
        TextView childItem = (TextView) view.findViewById(R.id.childItm);
        childItem.setText(detailInfo.getName().trim());
  
        return view;
    }
  
    @Override
    public int getChildrenCount(int groupPosition) {
  
        ArrayList<ChildInfo> productList = mainSetName.get(groupPosition).getSubsetName();
        return productList.size();
  
    }
  
    @Override
    public Object getGroup(int groupPosition) {
        return mainSetName.get(groupPosition);
    }
  
    @Override
    public int getGroupCount() {
        return mainSetName.size();
    }
  
    @Override
    public long getGroupId(int groupPosition) {
        return groupPosition;
    }
  
    @Override
    public View getGroupView(int groupPosition, boolean isLastChild, View view,
                             ViewGroup parent) {
  
        GroupInformation headerInfo = (GroupInformation) getGroup(groupPosition);
        if (view == null) {
            LayoutInflater inf = (LayoutInflater) context.getSystemService(Context.LAYOUT_INFLATER_SERVICE);
            view = inf.inflate(R.layout.group_items, null);
        }
  
        TextView heading = (TextView) view.findViewById(R.id.data);
        heading.setText(headerInfo.getName().trim());
  
        return view;
    }
  
    @Override
    public boolean hasStableIds() {
        return true;
    }
  
    @Override
    public boolean isChildSelectable(int groupPosition, int childPosition) {
        return true;
    }
  
}


Check out the methods getChildView() and getGroupView(). They are used to create the View corresponding to the layout.

Method 1: 

getChildView(int groupPosition, int childPosition, boolean isLastChild, View convertView, ViewGroup parent)

Explanation: Used to create a child View means a child item for a parent or group

Parameters:

groupPosition: Position for the parent(group) of the current child. The function returns an integer type value. Eg: Programming_Languages

childPosition: Position for current child item of the parent.

isLastChild: It returns either true/false for the current child item is the last child within its group.

convertView: It returns View which is used to set the layout for child items.

Parent: Set the view for the parent or group item.  The eventual parent of this new View.

Method 2: 

View getGroupView(int groupPosition, boolean isExpanded, View convertView, ViewGroup parent)

Explanation: Used  to create our group or parent View

Parameters:

groupPosition: It tells the position of the parent or group of the child. The return type is an integer.

isExpanded: To indicate whether the group expanded and if so returns true or otherwise false.

convertView: Returns View which is used to set the layout for group items.

Parent: Used to set the view for the parent or group item.  The eventual parent of this new View.

Method 3: 

getChild(int groupPosition, int childPosition)

Explanation: Gets the data associated with the given child within the given group.

Parameters:

groupPosition: It tells the position for the parent or group of the child and returns an integer type value.

childPosition: It tells the position for the child of the given group and returns an integer type value.

Method 4:

getGroup(int groupPosition)

Explanation: Gets the data associated with the given group.

Parameters:

groupPosition: It tells the position for the parent or group of the child and returns an integer type value.

Method 5:

getChildrenCount(int groupPosition)

Explanation: Gets the number of children in a specified group.

Parameters:

groupPosition: It tells the position for the parent or group of the child and by using that position we calculate the number of children in that group.

Method 6:

getGroupCount()

Explanation: Get the total number of groups.

Method  7:

getGroupId(int groupPosition)

Explanation: Get the ID for the group at the given position.

Parameters:

groupPosition: It tells the position for the parent or group of the child and by using that position we get the ID for the group.

Method  8:

getChildId(int groupPosition, int childPosition)

Explanation: To get the ID for the given child within the given group.

Parameters:

groupPosition: It tells the position for the parent or group of the child and returns an integer type value.

childPosition: It tells the position for the child of the given group and returns an integer type value.

Method 9: 

isChildSelectable(int groupPosition, int childPosition)

Explanation: Checks whether the child at the specified position is selectable or not and returns a Boolean value

Parameters:

groupPosition: It tells the position for the parent or group of the child and returns an integer type value.

childPosition: It tells the position for the child of the given group and returns an integer type value.and by using that value we check whether the child is selectable or not.

Example

Step 1: Create a New Project

To create a new project in Android Studio please refer to How to Create/Start a New Project in Android Studio. Note that select Java as the programming language.

Step 2: Working with the activity_main.xml file

Go to the activity_main.xml file and refer to the following code. Below is the code for the activity_main.xml file.

XML




<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<RelativeLayout 
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:background="#fff"
    android:orientation="vertical">
  
    <ExpandableListView
        android:id="@+id/simpleExpandableListView1"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="fill_parent"
        android:divider="#0f0"
        android:dividerHeight="2dp" />
  
</RelativeLayout>


Step 3: Create new XML files

Go to the app > res > layout > right-click > New > Layout Resource File and name the file as child_items. Below is the code for the child_items.xml file. Here TextView is used for a subset of items Eg: Python.

XML




<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout 
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:background="@color/colorAccent"
    android:orientation="vertical">
  
    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/childItm"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
        android:layout_marginLeft="15dp"
        android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceMedium" />
  
</RelativeLayout>


Similarly, create another layout resource file and name the file as group_items. Below is the code for the group_items.xml file. Here TextView is used for the main set of items Eg: Programming_Languages

XML




<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout 
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="55dip"
    android:orientation="vertical">
  
    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/data"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:paddingLeft="35sp"
        android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceLarge"
        android:textStyle="bold" />
  
</LinearLayout>


Step 4: Create new Java files

Go to the app > java > your package name > right-click > New > Java Classe and name the file as ChildInfo. Below is the code for the ChildInfo.java file.

Java




public class ChildInfo {
    private String name = "";
      
    // Getter , setter methods
    public String getName() {
        return name;
    }
  
    public void setName(String name) {
        this.name = name;
    }
}


Similarly, create another java class file and name the file as CustomizedAdapter. We have discussed this in the beginning section and also each overridden method. So you may copy the same code and implement it in the project.

Now create another java file and name the file as GroupInformation. Below is the code for the GroupInformation.java file.

Java




import java.util.ArrayList;
  
public class GroupInformation {
  
    private String mainSetName;
    private ArrayList<ChildInfo> list = new ArrayList<ChildInfo>();
  
    public String getName() {
        return mainSetName;
    }
  
    public void setName(String mainSetName) {
        this.mainSetName = mainSetName;
    }
  
    public ArrayList<ChildInfo> getSubsetName() {
        return list;
    }
  
    public void setSubsetName(ArrayList<ChildInfo> subSetName) {
        this.list = subSetName;
    }
  
}


Step 5: Working with the MainActivity.java file

Go to the MainActivity.java file and refer to the following code. Below is the code for the MainActivity.java file. Comments are added inside the code to understand the code in more detail.

Java




import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.ExpandableListView;
import android.widget.Toast;
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
  
public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
  
    private LinkedHashMap<String, GroupInformation> mainSet = new LinkedHashMap<String, GroupInformation>();
    private ArrayList<GroupInformation> subSet = new ArrayList<GroupInformation>();
  
    private CustomizedAdapter listAdapter;
    private ExpandableListView simpleExpandableListView1;
  
    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
  
        // add data for displaying in expandable list view
        loadData();
  
        // get reference of the ExpandableListView from activity_main
        simpleExpandableListView1 = (ExpandableListView) findViewById(R.id.simpleExpandableListView1);
          
        // create the adapter and by passing your ArrayList data
        listAdapter = new CustomizedAdapter(MainActivity.this, subSet);
        simpleExpandableListView1.setAdapter(listAdapter);
  
        // setOnChildClickListener listener for child row click, so that we can get the value
        simpleExpandableListView1.setOnChildClickListener(new ExpandableListView.OnChildClickListener() {
            @Override
            public boolean onChildClick(ExpandableListView parent, View v, int groupPosition, int childPosition, long id) {
                // get the group header
                GroupInformation headerInfo = subSet.get(groupPosition);
                // get the child info
                ChildInfo detailInfo = headerInfo.getSubsetName().get(childPosition);
                // display it or do something with it
                Toast.makeText(getBaseContext(), headerInfo.getName() + "/" + detailInfo.getName(), Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
                return false;
            }
        });
          
        // setOnGroupClickListener listener for group heading click
        simpleExpandableListView1.setOnGroupClickListener(new ExpandableListView.OnGroupClickListener() {
            @Override
            public boolean onGroupClick(ExpandableListView parent, View v, int groupPosition, long id) {
                // get the group header
                GroupInformation headerInfo = subSet.get(groupPosition);
                // display it or do something with it
                Toast.makeText(getBaseContext(), headerInfo.getName(), Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
                return false;
            }
        });
    }
  
    // load some initial data into out list
    private void loadData() {
  
        addDetails("Programming_Languages", "Python");
        addDetails("Programming_Languages", "Java");
        addDetails("Programming_Languages", "Kotlin");
        addDetails("Programming_Languages", "NodeJS");
        addDetails("Programming_Languages", "GO");
  
        addDetails("Relational_Database", "Oracle");
        addDetails("Relational_Database", "SQLServer");
        addDetails("Relational_Database", "MySQL");
  
        addDetails("NoSQL_Database", "MongoDB");
        addDetails("NoSQL_Database", "Cassandra");
        addDetails("NoSQL_Database", "CouchDB");
  
    }
      
    // here we maintain main set like Programming languages and subsets like Python
    private int addDetails(String mainSet, String subSet) {
  
        int groupPosition = 0;
  
        // check the hash map if the group already exists
        GroupInformation headerInfo = this.mainSet.get(mainSet);
          
        // add the group if doesn't exists
        if (headerInfo == null) {
            headerInfo = new GroupInformation();
            headerInfo.setName(mainSet);
            this.mainSet.put(mainSet, headerInfo);
            this.subSet.add(headerInfo);
        }
  
        // get the children for the group
        ArrayList<ChildInfo> subList = headerInfo.getSubsetName();
          
        // size of the children list
        int listSize = subList.size();
          
        // add to the counter
        listSize++;
  
        // create a new child and add that to the group
        ChildInfo detailInfo = new ChildInfo();
        detailInfo.setName(subSet);
        subList.add(detailInfo);
        headerInfo.setSubsetName(subList);
  
        // find the group position inside the list
        groupPosition = this.subSet.indexOf(headerInfo);
        return groupPosition;
    }
}


Output:

On running the app, on the emulator, we can able to view the output as attached in the video. This feature is a much-required feature across many apps.



Last Updated : 10 Nov, 2020
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