Android - setOnClickListener vs OnClickListener vs View.OnClickListener
My understanding is that when I'm creating a button object that listens for a click, I have to:
- Create the button object
- Use
OnClickListner
to make it listen to the user's click - Use
onClick
to execute actions after the user clicks the button
Now,
- Where does
setOnClickListener
fit into the above logic? - Which one actually listens to the button click?
-
setOnClickListener
? -
OnClickListener
? -
View.OnClickListener
? - What are the differences between those three?
Here is what I found in Android Dev:
//The example below shows how to register an on-click listener for a Button.
// Create an anonymous implementation of OnClickListener
private OnClickListener mCorkyListener = new OnClickListener() {
public void onClick(View v) {
// do something when the button is clicked
}
};
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedValues) {
...
// Capture our button from layout
Button button = (Button)findViewById(R.id.corky);
// Register the onClick listener with the implementation above
button.setOnClickListener(mCorkyListener);
...
}
You may also find it more convenient to implement OnClickListener
as a part of your Activity
. This will avoid the extra class load and object allocations. For example:
public class ExampleActivity extends Activity implements OnClickListener {
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedValues) {
...
Button button = (Button)findViewById(R.id.corky);
button.setOnClickListener(this);
}
// Implement the OnClickListener callback
public void onClick(View v) {
// do something when the button is clicked
}
}
Imagine that we have 3 buttons for example
public class MainActivity extends ActionBarActivity {
@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
// Capture our button from layout
Button button = (Button)findViewById(R.id.corky);
Button button2 = (Button)findViewById(R.id.corky2);
Button button3 = (Button)findViewById(R.id.corky3);
// Register the onClick listener with the implementation above
button.setOnClickListener(mCorkyListener);
button2.setOnClickListener(mCorkyListener);
button3.setOnClickListener(mCorkyListener);
}
// Create an anonymous implementation of OnClickListener
private View.OnClickListener mCorkyListener = new View.OnClickListener() {
public void onClick(View v) {
// do something when the button is clicked
// Yes we will handle click here but which button clicked??? We don't know
}
};
}
So what we will do?
public class MainActivity extends ActionBarActivity {
@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
// Capture our button from layout
Button button = (Button)findViewById(R.id.corky);
Button button2 = (Button)findViewById(R.id.corky2);
Button button3 = (Button)findViewById(R.id.corky3);
// Register the onClick listener with the implementation above
button.setOnClickListener(mCorkyListener);
button2.setOnClickListener(mCorkyListener);
button3.setOnClickListener(mCorkyListener);
}
// Create an anonymous implementation of OnClickListener
private View.OnClickListener mCorkyListener = new View.OnClickListener() {
public void onClick(View v) {
// do something when the button is clicked
// Yes we will handle click here but which button clicked??? We don't know
// So we will make
switch (v.getId() /*to get clicked view id**/) {
case R.id.corky:
// do something when the corky is clicked
break;
case R.id.corky2:
// do something when the corky2 is clicked
break;
case R.id.corky3:
// do something when the corky3 is clicked
break;
default:
break;
}
}
};
}
Or we can do this:
public class MainActivity extends ActionBarActivity {
@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
// Capture our button from layout
Button button = (Button)findViewById(R.id.corky);
Button button2 = (Button)findViewById(R.id.corky2);
Button button3 = (Button)findViewById(R.id.corky3);
// Register the onClick listener with the implementation above
button.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
@Override
public void onClick(View v) {
// do something when the corky is clicked
}
});
button2.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
@Override
public void onClick(View v) {
// do something when the corky2 is clicked
}
});
button3.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
@Override
public void onClick(View v) {
// do something when the corky3 is clicked
}
});
}
}
Or we can implement View.OnClickListener and i think it's the best way:
public class MainActivity extends ActionBarActivity implements View.OnClickListener {
@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
// Capture our button from layout
Button button = (Button)findViewById(R.id.corky);
Button button2 = (Button)findViewById(R.id.corky2);
Button button3 = (Button)findViewById(R.id.corky3);
// Register the onClick listener with the implementation above
button.setOnClickListener(this);
button2.setOnClickListener(this);
button3.setOnClickListener(this);
}
@Override
public void onClick(View v) {
// do something when the button is clicked
// Yes we will handle click here but which button clicked??? We don't know
// So we will make
switch (v.getId() /*to get clicked view id**/) {
case R.id.corky:
// do something when the corky is clicked
break;
case R.id.corky2:
// do something when the corky2 is clicked
break;
case R.id.corky3:
// do something when the corky3 is clicked
break;
default:
break;
}
}
}
Finally there is no real differences here Just "Way better than the other"
The logic is simple. setOnClickListener
belongs to step 2.
- You create the button
- You create an instance of
OnClickListener
* like it's done in that example and override theonClick
-method. - You assign that
OnClickListener
to that button usingbtn.setOnClickListener(myOnClickListener);
in your fragments/activitiesonCreate
-method. - When the user clicks the button, the
onClick
function of the assignedOnClickListener
is called.
*If you import android.view.View;
you use View.OnClickListener
. If you import android.view.View.*;
or import android.view.View.OnClickListener;
you use OnClickListener
as far as I get it.
Another way is to let you activity/fragment inherit from OnClickListener
. This way you assign your fragment/activity as the listener for your button and implement onClick
as a member-function.