A ListFragment Application with backward compatibility in Android

ListFragment is a fragment class available in the package android.app and it is used to list a set of items in as a listview. Fragment is a new concept which is introduced in Android 3.0 and its higher versions. But we can create applications having fragments for the prior versions of Android till 1.6 using an additional support library. In this article we will create a ListFragment application using this additional support library for Android 2.3.

1. Create an Android Project namely “ListFragmentWithBackward”

Figure 1 : New Android Project

2. Select Android Build target 2.3

Figure 2 : Select Build Target

3. Enter application details

Figure 3: Application Details

4. Add fragment support to the application

Right click project explorer and then click the menu Android Tools -> Add Support library

5. src/in/wptrafficanalyzer/listfragmentwithbackward/CountryList.java

package in.wptrafficanalyzer.listfragmentwithbackward;

import android.os.Bundle;
import android.support.v4.app.ListFragment;
import android.view.LayoutInflater;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.ViewGroup;
import android.widget.ArrayAdapter;

public class CountryList extends ListFragment {

    /**
    * The list of countries to be shown in the ListFragment
    */
    String[] countries = new String[] {
        "India",
        "Pakistan",
        "Sri Lanka",
        "China",
        "Bangladesh",
        "Nepal",
        "Afghanistan",
        "North Korea",
        "South Korea",
        "Japan"
    };

    @Override
    public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container, Bundle savedInstanceState) {

        /**
        * Creating an array adapter to host the list of items to be displayed in the ListFragment
        */
        ArrayAdapter<String> adapter = new ArrayAdapter<String>(inflater.getContext(), android.R.layout.simple_list_item_1, countries);

        setListAdapter(adapter);

        return super.onCreateView(inflater, container, savedInstanceState);
    }

}

• CountryList class inherits ListFragment class and sets the items list to it using ArrayAdapter

6. res/layout/main.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    android:orientation="vertical" >

    <fragment
        android:tag="country_fragment"
        android:name="in.wptrafficanalyzer.listfragmentwithbackward.CountryList"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    />

</LinearLayout>

7. src/in/wptrafficanalyzer/listfragmentwithbackward/MainActivity.java

package in.wptrafficanalyzer.listfragmentwithbackward;

import android.os.Bundle;
import android.support.v4.app.FragmentActivity;

public class MainActivity extends FragmentActivity {
    /** Called when the activity is first created. */
    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.main);
    }
}

8. Application in execution

Figure 4 : Application in execution

9. Download

ListFragment Application with Backward Compatibility in Android 598.78 KB

Download Full Source Code

10. Reference

http://developer.android.com/guide/index.html

How to hire me?

I am George Mathew, working as software architect and Android app developer at wptrafficanalyzer.in

You can hire me on hourly basis or on project basis for Android applications development.

For hiring me, please mail your requirements to info@wptrafficanalyzer.in.

My other blogs
store4js.blogspot.com

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Tags: fragment, FragmentActivity, inflater, ListFragment, listview