Android Tutorial 💡 Part 1 Basics - Creating long lists using xCustomListView with Lazy Loading - Newer developers

Hello All
After thinking about it yesterday and having a quick chat with Erel, I decided that my previous long list examples were not basic enough for newer B4X developers, so I put together a minimal xCLV with LL code example together with comments in the code module. There are no themes, databases or external APIs to worry about in this example, just a simple 'For i = 0 to 999' loop to populate the list. I also decided to add both item click and button click events to help users get to grip with how simple it can be to read and write data back and forth using xCLV. I'm fully aware that you can loop through the views to get the information, but I decided that this way is easier for newer B4X developers to follow.

I'm hoping that both new and lesser experienced users to the B4X suite of RAD tools will read this post and then move onto >>> 💡 Part 2 Examples <<< which has some more comprehensive examples that they can download, assemble and learn from.

>>> CLICK HERE <<< to download the Basics example source code.

B4i example can be found here

Libraries needed.
1586512593495.png


Bare bone example screenshot with click events
Screenshot_20200218-160526.jpg


The code in this example
B4X:
Sub Process_Globals
End Sub

Sub Globals
    'These global variables will be redeclared each time the activity is created.
    'These variables can only be accessed from this module.

    Type TestData (LabelNum As Int, LabelText As String) 'Create your own custom type

    Private XUI As XUI
   
    Private CLVList As CustomListView     'Layout View
    Private LblNum, LblText As B4XView    'Layout View
    Private BtnPress As B4XView            'Layout View
End Sub

Sub Activity_Create(FirstTime As Boolean)
    Activity.LoadLayout("MainCLV") 'Load the base/main layout file
    Activity.Title = "Basic xCLV with LL layout" 'Activity title

    BuildListItems 'Build and populate the xCLV (the list)
End Sub

Sub Activity_Pause (UserClosed As Boolean)
End Sub

'LETS BUILD AND POPULATE THE XCUSTOMLISTVIEW ITEMS
Sub BuildListItems
    For i = 0 To 999
        Dim TD As TestData 'Declare your new custom type (Line 23 above)
            TD.Initialize 'Initialize your custom type
            TD.LabelNum = i 'Set the value of i into the LabelNun custom type field
            TD.LabelText = $"Line ${i} this is a test "$ 'Set the value of this entire line into the LabelText custom type field

        Dim Pnl As B4XView = XUI.CreatePanel(Null) 'Create a new B4X View
            Pnl.Color = XUI.Color_White 'Set the background color to white
            Pnl.SetLayoutAnimated(0dip, 0dip, 0dip, CLVList.AsView.Width, 50dip) 'Set the list positiion and dimensions

        CLVList.Add(Pnl, TD)
    Next
End Sub

'POPULATE THE XCUSTOMLISTVIEW WITH THE BUILT ITEMS CREATED IN THE SUB ABOVE
Sub CLVList_VisibleRangeChanged (FirstIndex As Int, LastIndex As Int)
    Dim ExtraSize As Int = 25 'Add 25 items at a time, this can be changed to suite your requirements
    For i = Max(0, FirstIndex - ExtraSize) To Min(LastIndex + ExtraSize, CLVList.Size - 1) 'Loop for adding/removing your items layout to or from the list
        Dim Pnl As B4XView = CLVList.GetPanel(i) 'Declare a new B4XView
        If i > FirstIndex - ExtraSize And i < LastIndex + ExtraSize Then 'Add a new item to the list
            If Pnl.NumberOfViews = 0 Then 'Add items to the list
                Dim TD As TestData = CLVList.GetValue(i) 'Get your custom Type
                Pnl.LoadLayout("ItemInfo") 'Load your
                LblNum.Text = TD.LabelNum 'Self-explanatory
                LblText.Text = TD.LabelText 'Self-explanatory
            End If
        Else 'Remove items from the list
            If Pnl.NumberOfViews > 0 Then
                Pnl.RemoveAllViews 'Remove none visible item from the main xCLV layout
            End If
        End If
    Next
End Sub

'A LABEL ON THE LIST HAS BEEN CLICKED
Sub CLVList_ItemClick (Index As Int, Value As Object)
    Dim xCLVItem As B4XView = CLVList.GetPanel(Index).GetView(1) '2nd view in the layout index which is LblText
    Log(xCLVItem.Text) 'Print the label text in the logs
End Sub

'A BUTTON ON THE LIST HAS BEEN CLICKED
Sub BtnPress_Click
    Dim xCLVIndex As Int = CLVList.GetItemFromView(Sender) 'Get the row index by using the sender filter
    Dim xCLVItem As B4XView = CLVList.GetPanel(xCLVIndex) 'Get the Item layout for the selected Row
    Dim LblNum As B4XView = xCLVItem.GetView(0) '1st view in the layout index which is LblNum
    Dim LblText As B4XView = xCLVItem.GetView(1) '2nd view in the layout index which is LblText

    LblNum.TextColor = XUI.Color_Blue 'Change the font color to blue
    LblNum.Text = Chr(0xF118) 'Put an icon in the label (a smiley)
    LblText.TextColor = XUI.Color_Red 'Change the font color to red
    LblText.Text = "It worked" 'Put new text in the label
End Sub

A special thanks goes out to Erel, Klaus, Manfred and all the developers that makes b4x.com the place to be when it comes to RAD tools, that means everybody 👏👏👏


Enjoy...
 
Last edited:

Peter Simpson

Expert
Licensed User
Longtime User
B4J screenshot

XUI cross-platform user interface development could not be made any easier, than you @Erel .

Below is a screenshot of B4J using the EXACT same code as B4A with absolutely NO code modifications whatsoever.

Thank you @klaus for the advice 👍
1582056900684.png


B4X:
Sub Process_Globals
    Private fx As JFX
    Private MainForm As Form
    
    Type TestData (LabelNum As Int, LabelText As String) 'Create your own custom type
    
    Private XUI As XUI
        
    Private CLVList As CustomListView     'Layout View
    Private LblNum, LblText As B4XView    'Layout View
    Private BtnPress As B4XView            'Layout View
End Sub

Sub AppStart (Form1 As Form, Args() As String)
    MainForm = Form1
    MainForm.RootPane.LoadLayout("MainCLV") 'Load the layout file.
    MainForm.Title = "Basic xCLV with LL layout" 'Activity title

    BuildListItems 'Build and populate the xCLV (the list)
    
    MainForm.Show
End Sub

'Return true to allow the default exceptions handler to handle the uncaught exception.
Sub Application_Error (Error As Exception, StackTrace As String) As Boolean
    Return True
End Sub


'LETS BUILD AND POPULATE THE XCUSTOMLISTVIEW ITEMS
Sub BuildListItems
    For i = 0 To 999
        Dim TD As TestData 'Declare your new custom type (Line 23 above)
            TD.Initialize 'Initialize your custom type
            TD.LabelNum = i 'Set the value of i into the LabelNun custom type field
            TD.LabelText = $"Line ${i} this is a test "$ 'Set the value of this entire line into the LabelText custom type field

        Dim Pnl As B4XView = XUI.CreatePanel(Null) 'Create a new B4X View
            Pnl.Color = XUI.Color_White 'Set the background color to white
            Pnl.SetLayoutAnimated(0dip, 0dip, 0dip, CLVList.AsView.Width, 50dip) 'Set the list positiion and dimensions

        CLVList.Add(Pnl, TD)
    Next
End Sub

'POPULATE THE XCUSTOMLISTVIEW WITH THE BUILT ITEMS CREATED IN THE SUB ABOVE
Sub CLVList_VisibleRangeChanged (FirstIndex As Int, LastIndex As Int)
    Dim ExtraSize As Int = 25 'Add 25 items at a time, this can be changed to suite your requirements
    For i = Max(0, FirstIndex - ExtraSize) To Min(LastIndex + ExtraSize, CLVList.Size - 1) 'Loop for adding/removing your items layout to or from the list
        Dim Pnl As B4XView = CLVList.GetPanel(i) 'Declare a new B4XView
        If i > FirstIndex - ExtraSize And i < LastIndex + ExtraSize Then 'Add a new item to the list
            If Pnl.NumberOfViews = 0 Then 'Add items to the list
                Dim TD As TestData = CLVList.GetValue(i) 'Get your custom Type
                Pnl.LoadLayout("ItemInfo") 'Load your
                LblNum.Text = TD.LabelNum 'Self-explanatory
                LblText.Text = TD.LabelText 'Self-explanatory
            End If
        Else 'Remove items from the list
            If Pnl.NumberOfViews > 0 Then
                Pnl.RemoveAllViews 'Remove none visible item from the main xCLV layout
            End If
        End If
    Next
End Sub

'A LABEL ON THE LIST HAS BEEN CLICKED
Sub CLVList_ItemClick (Index As Int, Value As Object)
    Dim xCLVItem As B4XView = CLVList.GetPanel(Index).GetView(1) '2nd view in the layout index which is LblText
    Log(xCLVItem.Text) 'Print the label text in the logs
End Sub

'A BUTTON ON THE LIST HAS BEEN CLICKED
Sub BtnPress_Click
    Dim xCLVIndex As Int = CLVList.GetItemFromView(Sender) 'Get the row index by using the sender filter
    Dim xCLVItem As B4XView = CLVList.GetPanel(xCLVIndex) 'Get the Item layout for the selected Row
    Dim LblNum As B4XView = xCLVItem.GetView(0) '1st view in the layout index which is LblNum
    Dim LblText As B4XView = xCLVItem.GetView(1) '2nd view in the layout index which is LblText
    
    LblNum.TextColor = XUI.Color_Blue 'Change the font color to blue
    LblNum.Text = Chr(0xF118) 'Put an icon in the label (a smiley)
    LblText.TextColor = XUI.Color_Red 'Change the font color to red
    LblText.Text = "It worked" 'Put new text in the label
End Sub

Enjoy...
 
Last edited:
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