Android Question B4XSerializator and types declared outside main module

[Dave O]

B4XSerializator says that it wants any types to be defined in the Main module. Why is that?

Background:
I'm building a multi-user version of my checklist app using CloudKVS, which uses B4XSerializator to send objects back and forth.

Normally I declare my types and most global variables and constants in a code module called "c" (for "common", but shorter as a prefix in the code). That's also where I put subs that are used across activities, because it's a central place. That's worked well in all my apps so far.

But if I try to use those types with B4XSerializator, it fails because it expects to find them in Main.

So I guess this is more a question about best practices - doesn't it make more sense to declare app-wide stuff in a code module rather than in a particular activity? Do I really need to move all those types that CloudKVS needs into my Main module?

Just seems a bit counter-intuitive. Am I missing something?

Thanks!

 

[Erel]

Tip: you shouldn't have multiple activities. Switch to B4XPages.

You can have the custom types declared in any module, with the exception of types that will be deserialized on a different platform / app. Like in the case of CloudKVS. So all the custom types that are added to CloudKVS need to be declared in B4XMainPage or Main module.

 

[Dave O]

B4XPages: My app is Android only (for now), and at the time B4XPages came out, it was too limited for my needs (orientation changes, etc.). I do plan to try it for my next app, but it's not feasible for my checklist app right now.

Thanks for your quick reply, but I do already know about the Main-module constraint. My question was, why impose that constraint? Why does B4XSerializator (and/or CloudKVS) care which module I declare my types in?

I'm assuming there's a good technical reason for this; I'm just asking because it seems odd to me (and will make for a lot of tedious code changes).

Thanks again.

 

[Erel]

The custom type qualified name includes its parent module (in B4A and B4J, not B4i). During deserialization, B4XSerializator searches for the declared type and if there is no match it searches in the main module and B4XMainPage. B4XSerializator isn't "familiar" with all custom types.

 

[Dave O]

Thanks, moving the participating types to the Main module fixed the error.

And the code change was easy - I didn't have to change/move any variables based on those types because the types themselves are accessible globally (without a module prefix).