Android Material Design Features: RecyclerView, CardView and FloatingActionButon

In old verisons (pre 5.0), we are familiar with ListView with and ArrayAdapter or BaseAdapter. With the release of Android Lollipop and Material Design technology, where Support Design Library is a new point, RecyclerView has many similarities. RecyclerView is more advanced and flexible and efficient version of ListView. RecyclerView ViewGroup is an container for larger data set of views that can be recycled and scrolled very efficiently. RecyclerView can be used for larger datasets to be rendered on the UI like a list. RecyclerView provides maximum flexibility to design different kind of views. Moreover, CardView can be set as each RecyclerView elements, user can notice this design now available in Google+ app.
To create complex lists and cards with material design styles in your apps, you can use the RecyclerView and CardView widgets. In this post, I provide solution to combined both of them. Futher, I also include a FloatingActionButton (a Design Support Libary widget, too) and adding data to RecyclerView by it action!
Please watch project output by this demo video:

Starting project

I select min-sdk is 15 (Design Support Libary support API 7 and higher). To use this libary, include dependencies to app/build.gradle:

    compile 'com.android.support:recyclerview-v7:22.2.1'
    compile 'com.android.support:cardview-v7:22.2.1'
    compile 'com.android.support:design:22.2.1'

In order to combine FloatingActionButton with RecyclerView, we use FrameLayout as root. Main activity layout simple like this:
Okey, in programmatically code, we need "config" RecyclerView features. If you know that changes in content do not change the layout size of the RecyclerView, please use this setting to improve performance:

recyclerView.setHasFixedSize(true);

We also set LayoutManager (I use LinearLayout) for RecyclerView and set adapter like ListView:

        LinearLayoutManager layoutManager = new LinearLayoutManager(this);
        recyclerView.setLayoutManager(layoutManager);
        
        setRecyclerViewData(); // call adding data to array list method
        adapter = new RecyclerAdapter(this, friendArrayList);
        recyclerView.setAdapter(adapter);

Cutomizing a RecyclerView Adapter

RecyclerView includes special kind of adapter which works pretty much same as traditional Android adapters but with additional functionalities. We can build a Adapter class based on RecyclerView.Adapter<RecyclerAdapter.ViewHolder>. In this class, first, create a ViewHolder class extends from RecyclerAdapter.ViewHolder:

/**
     * View holder to display each RecylerView item
     */
    protected class ViewHolder extends RecyclerView.ViewHolder {
        private ImageView imageView;
        private TextView name;
        private TextView job;
        private View container;

        public ViewHolder(View view) {
            super(view);
            imageView = (ImageView) view.findViewById(R.id.image);
            name = (TextView) view.findViewById(R.id.name);
            job = (TextView) view.findViewById(R.id.job);
            container = view.findViewById(R.id.card_view);
        }
    }

Note: this inner class must in public or protected type to use!
Overriding onCreateViewHolder() and onBindViewHolder() to organize the code, through these methods, data views and size were created:

    @Override
    public ViewHolder onCreateViewHolder(ViewGroup viewGroup, int viewType) {

        //inflate your layout and pass it to view holder
        LayoutInflater inflater = activity.getLayoutInflater();
        View view = inflater.inflate(R.layout.item_recycler, viewGroup, false);
        ViewHolder viewHolder = new ViewHolder(view);

        return viewHolder;
    }

    @Override
    public void onBindViewHolder(RecyclerAdapter.ViewHolder viewHolder, int position) {

        //setting data to view holder elements
        viewHolder.name.setText(friends.get(position).getName());
        viewHolder.job.setText(friends.get(position).getJob());

        if (friends.get(position).isGender()) {
            viewHolder.imageView.setImageResource(R.mipmap.male);
        } else {
            viewHolder.imageView.setImageResource(R.mipmap.female);
        }
        //set on click listener for each element
        viewHolder.container.setOnClickListener(onClickListener(position));
    }

As note above, each RecyclerView item is a CardView, this was declared in xml layout:
When app running, we'll have this output screen:

Handle RecyclerView Item Click Event

Note like GridView or ListView, handling click event on RecyclerView is not as sweet as them. As item_recycler.xml above, I set ID for root layout (CardView) and set it's click event in programmatically code, so "item click event" was done. Put this View.OnClickListener method in our adapter code:

private View.OnClickListener onClickListener(final int position) {
        return new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                final Dialog dialog = new Dialog(activity);
                dialog.setContentView(R.layout.item_recycler);
                dialog.setTitle("Position " + position);
                dialog.setCancelable(true); // dismiss when touching outside Dialog

                // set the custom dialog components - texts and image
                TextView name = (TextView) dialog.findViewById(R.id.name);
                TextView job = (TextView) dialog.findViewById(R.id.job);
                ImageView icon = (ImageView) dialog.findViewById(R.id.image);

                setDataToView(name, job, icon, position);

                dialog.show();
            }
        };
    }

Ofcourse, from now, when each item clicked, a Dialog appeared and show a single CardView with it's information:

Floating Action Button implements

We have defined a FloatingActionButton in main activity (xml) layout above. Now, we set click event for it. In this example, it is "adding a new friend" button, which showing a Dialog and user put some new values and app will add to data list and update RecyclerView layout. In main activity, add these method:

 private View.OnClickListener onAddingListener() {
        return new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                final Dialog dialog = new Dialog(MainActivity.this);
                dialog.setContentView(R.layout.dialog_add); //layout for dialog
                dialog.setTitle("Add a new friend");
                dialog.setCancelable(false); //none-dismiss when touching outside Dialog

                // set the custom dialog components - texts and image
                EditText name = (EditText) dialog.findViewById(R.id.name);
                EditText job = (EditText) dialog.findViewById(R.id.job);
                Spinner spnGender = (Spinner) dialog.findViewById(R.id.gender);
                View btnAdd = dialog.findViewById(R.id.btn_ok);
                View btnCancel = dialog.findViewById(R.id.btn_cancel);

                //set spinner adapter
                ArrayList<String> gendersList = new ArrayList<>();
                gendersList.add("Male");
                gendersList.add("Female");
                ArrayAdapter<String> spnAdapter = new ArrayAdapter<String>(MainActivity.this,
                        android.R.layout.simple_dropdown_item_1line, gendersList);
                spnGender.setAdapter(spnAdapter);

                //set handling event for 2 buttons and spinner
                spnGender.setOnItemSelectedListener(onItemSelectedListener());
                btnAdd.setOnClickListener(onConfirmListener(name, job, dialog));
                btnCancel.setOnClickListener(onCancelListener(dialog));

                dialog.show();
            }
        };
    }

    private AdapterView.OnItemSelectedListener onItemSelectedListener() {
        return new AdapterView.OnItemSelectedListener() {
            @Override
            public void onItemSelected(AdapterView parent, View view, int position, long id) {
                if (position == 0) {
                    gender = true;
                } else {
                    gender = false;
                }
            }

            @Override
            public void onNothingSelected(AdapterView parent) {

            }
        };
    }

    private View.OnClickListener onConfirmListener(final EditText name, final EditText job, final Dialog dialog) {
        return new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                Friend friend = new Friend(name.getText().toString().trim(), gender, job.getText().toString().trim());

                //adding new object to arraylist
                friendArrayList.add(friend);

                //notify data set changed in RecyclerView adapter
                adapter.notifyDataSetChanged();

                //close dialog after all
                dialog.dismiss();
            }
        };
    }

    private View.OnClickListener onCancelListener(final Dialog dialog) {
        return new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                dialog.dismiss();
            }
        };
    }

Customized layout for this adding dialog:
Output running screen:

Final Code

The following are full code of some important files in this project.
POJO of project, data object:

package devexchanges.info.recycleviewandcardview;

public class Friend {

    private String name;
    private String job;
    private boolean gender;

    public Friend(String name, boolean gender, String job) {
        this.name = name;
        this.gender = gender;
        this.job = job;
    }

    public String getName() {
        return name;
    }

    public String getJob() {
        return job;
    }

    public boolean isGender() {
        return gender;
    }
}

Running (main) activity full code:

package devexchanges.info.recycleviewandcardview;

import android.app.Dialog;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.support.design.widget.FloatingActionButton;
import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;
import android.support.v7.widget.LinearLayoutManager;
import android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.AdapterView;
import android.widget.ArrayAdapter;
import android.widget.EditText;
import android.widget.Spinner;

import java.util.ArrayList;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

    private RecyclerView recyclerView;
    private RecyclerAdapter adapter;
    private ArrayList<Friend> friendArrayList;
    private FloatingActionButton fab;
    private boolean gender;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
        friendArrayList = new ArrayList<>();

        recyclerView = (RecyclerView) findViewById(R.id.recyle_view);
        fab = (FloatingActionButton) findViewById(R.id.fab);

        recyclerView.setHasFixedSize(true);

        LinearLayoutManager layoutManager = new LinearLayoutManager(this);
        recyclerView.setLayoutManager(layoutManager);

        setRecyclerViewData(); //adding data to array list
        adapter = new RecyclerAdapter(this, friendArrayList);
        recyclerView.setAdapter(adapter);

        fab.setOnClickListener(onAddingListener());
    }

    private void setRecyclerViewData() {
        friendArrayList.add(new Friend("Phan Thanh", false, "Cashier"));
        friendArrayList.add(new Friend("Nguyen Tuan", true, "Developer"));
        friendArrayList.add(new Friend("Tran Van Minh", true, "Designer"));
        friendArrayList.add(new Friend("Pham Mai Anh", true, "architect"));
        friendArrayList.add(new Friend("Nguyen Quynh Trang", false, "Doctor"));
        friendArrayList.add(new Friend("Hoang Dinh Cuong", false, "artist"));
        friendArrayList.add(new Friend("Tran Cong Bach", true, "Student"));
        friendArrayList.add(new Friend("Vu Van Duong", false, "Teacher"));
    }

    private View.OnClickListener onAddingListener() {
        return new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                final Dialog dialog = new Dialog(MainActivity.this);
                dialog.setContentView(R.layout.dialog_add); //layout for dialog
                dialog.setTitle("Add a new friend");
                dialog.setCancelable(false); //none-dismiss when touching outside Dialog

                // set the custom dialog components - texts and image
                EditText name = (EditText) dialog.findViewById(R.id.name);
                EditText job = (EditText) dialog.findViewById(R.id.job);
                Spinner spnGender = (Spinner) dialog.findViewById(R.id.gender);
                View btnAdd = dialog.findViewById(R.id.btn_ok);
                View btnCancel = dialog.findViewById(R.id.btn_cancel);

                //set spinner adapter
                ArrayList<String> gendersList = new ArrayList<>();
                gendersList.add("Male");
                gendersList.add("Female");
                ArrayAdapter<String> spnAdapter = new ArrayAdapter<String>(MainActivity.this,
                        android.R.layout.simple_dropdown_item_1line, gendersList);
                spnGender.setAdapter(spnAdapter);

                //set handling event for 2 buttons and spinner
                spnGender.setOnItemSelectedListener(onItemSelectedListener());
                btnAdd.setOnClickListener(onConfirmListener(name, job, dialog));
                btnCancel.setOnClickListener(onCancelListener(dialog));

                dialog.show();
            }
        };
    }

    private AdapterView.OnItemSelectedListener onItemSelectedListener() {
        return new AdapterView.OnItemSelectedListener() {
            @Override
            public void onItemSelected(AdapterView parent, View view, int position, long id) {
                if (position == 0) {
                    gender = true;
                } else {
                    gender = false;
                }
            }

            @Override
            public void onNothingSelected(AdapterView parent) {

            }
        };
    }

    private View.OnClickListener onConfirmListener(final EditText name, final EditText job, final Dialog dialog) {
        return new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                Friend friend = new Friend(name.getText().toString().trim(), gender, job.getText().toString().trim());

                //adding new object to arraylist
                friendArrayList.add(friend);

                //notify data set changed in RecyclerView adapter
                adapter.notifyDataSetChanged();

                //close dialog after all
                dialog.dismiss();
            }
        };
    }

    private View.OnClickListener onCancelListener(final Dialog dialog) {
        return new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                dialog.dismiss();
            }
        };
    }
}

Recycler adapter class, most important file:

package devexchanges.info.recycleviewandcardview;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.app.Dialog;
import android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView;
import android.view.LayoutInflater;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.ViewGroup;
import android.widget.ImageView;
import android.widget.TextView;

import java.util.List;

public class RecyclerAdapter extends RecyclerView.Adapter<RecyclerAdapter.ViewHolder> {

    private List<Friend> friends;
    private Activity activity;

    public RecyclerAdapter(Activity activity, List<Friend> friends) {
        this.friends = friends;
        this.activity = activity;
    }

    @Override
    public ViewHolder onCreateViewHolder(ViewGroup viewGroup, int viewType) {

        //inflate your layout and pass it to view holder
        LayoutInflater inflater = activity.getLayoutInflater();
        View view = inflater.inflate(R.layout.item_recycler, viewGroup, false);
        ViewHolder viewHolder = new ViewHolder(view);

        return viewHolder;
    }

    @Override
    public void onBindViewHolder(RecyclerAdapter.ViewHolder viewHolder, int position) {

        //setting data to view holder elements
        viewHolder.name.setText(friends.get(position).getName());
        viewHolder.job.setText(friends.get(position).getJob());

        if (friends.get(position).isGender()) {
            viewHolder.imageView.setImageResource(R.mipmap.male);
        } else {
            viewHolder.imageView.setImageResource(R.mipmap.female);
        }
        //set on click listener for each element
        viewHolder.container.setOnClickListener(onClickListener(position));
    }

    private void setDataToView(TextView name, TextView job, ImageView genderIcon, int position) {
        name.setText(friends.get(position).getName());
        job.setText(friends.get(position).getJob());
        if (friends.get(position).isGender()) {
            genderIcon.setImageResource(R.mipmap.male);
        } else {
            genderIcon.setImageResource(R.mipmap.female);
        }
    }

    @Override
    public int getItemCount() {
        return (null != friends ? friends.size() : 0);
    }

    private View.OnClickListener onClickListener(final int position) {
        return new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                final Dialog dialog = new Dialog(activity);
                dialog.setContentView(R.layout.item_recycler);
                dialog.setTitle("Position " + position);
                dialog.setCancelable(true); // dismiss when touching outside Dialog

                // set the custom dialog components - texts and image
                TextView name = (TextView) dialog.findViewById(R.id.name);
                TextView job = (TextView) dialog.findViewById(R.id.job);
                ImageView icon = (ImageView) dialog.findViewById(R.id.image);

                setDataToView(name, job, icon, position);

                dialog.show();
            }
        };
    }

    /**
     * View holder to display each RecylerView item
     */
    protected class ViewHolder extends RecyclerView.ViewHolder {
        private ImageView imageView;
        private TextView name;
        private TextView job;
        private View container;

        public ViewHolder(View view) {
            super(view);
            imageView = (ImageView) view.findViewById(R.id.image);
            name = (TextView) view.findViewById(R.id.name);
            job = (TextView) view.findViewById(R.id.job);
            container = view.findViewById(R.id.card_view);
        }
    }
}

Final thoughts

Not like ListView, adding header/footer layout is not easy. In this post, I don't mention. They are alike and not entirely the similar. I hope that through this post, you can understanding how RecyclerView works and using FloatingActionButton and CardView. Moreover, check this link to see more posts about Android Material Design.

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