How to update RecyclerView Adapter Data

I am trying to figure out what is the issue with updating RecyclerView's Adapter.

After I get a new List of products, I tried to:

Update the ArrayList from the fragment where recyclerView is created, set new data to adapter, and then call adapter.notifyDataSetChanged(); it did not work.
Create a new adapter, as others did, and it worked for them, but there wasn't any change for me: recyclerView.setAdapter(new RecyclerViewAdapter(newArrayList))

Create a method in Adapter which updates the data as follows:

 public void updateData(ArrayList<ViewModel> viewModels) {
    items.clear();
    items.addAll(viewModels);
    notifyDataSetChanged();
 }

Then I call this method whenever I want to update the data list; it did not work.

To check if I can modify the recyclerView in any way, and I tried to remove at least an item:

  public void removeItem(int position) {
     items.remove(position);
     notifyItemRemoved(position);
 }

Everything remained as it was.

Here is my Adapter:

public class RecyclerViewAdapter extends RecyclerView.Adapter<RecyclerViewAdapter.ViewHolder> implements View.OnClickListener {

    private ArrayList<ViewModel> items;
    private OnItemClickListener onItemClickListener;

    public RecyclerViewAdapter(ArrayList<ViewModel> items) {
        this.items = items;
    }


    public void setOnItemClickListener(OnItemClickListener onItemClickListener) {
        this.onItemClickListener = onItemClickListener;
    }

    @Override
    public ViewHolder onCreateViewHolder(ViewGroup parent, int viewType) {
        View v = LayoutInflater.from(parent.getContext()).inflate(R.layout.item_recycler, parent, false);
        v.setOnClickListener(this);
        return new ViewHolder(v);
    }

    public void updateData(ArrayList<ViewModel> viewModels) {
        items.clear();
        items.addAll(viewModels);
        notifyDataSetChanged();
    }
    public void addItem(int position, ViewModel viewModel) {
        items.add(position, viewModel);
        notifyItemInserted(position);
    }

    public void removeItem(int position) {
        items.remove(position);
        notifyItemRemoved(position);
    }


    @Override
    public void onBindViewHolder(ViewHolder holder, int position) {
        ViewModel item = items.get(position);
        holder.title.setText(item.getTitle());
        Picasso.with(holder.image.getContext()).load(item.getImage()).into(holder.image);
        holder.price.setText(item.getPrice());
        holder.credit.setText(item.getCredit());
        holder.description.setText(item.getDescription());

        holder.itemView.setTag(item);
    }


    @Override
    public int getItemCount() {
        return items.size();
    }


    @Override
    public void onClick(final View v) {
        // Give some time to the ripple to finish the effect
        if (onItemClickListener != null) {
            new Handler().postDelayed(new Runnable() {
                @Override
                public void run() {
                    onItemClickListener.onItemClick(v, (ViewModel) v.getTag());
                }
            }, 0);
        }
    }

    protected static class ViewHolder extends RecyclerView.ViewHolder {
        public ImageView image;
        public TextView price, credit, title, description;

        public ViewHolder(View itemView) {
            super(itemView);
            image = (ImageView) itemView.findViewById(R.id.image);
            price = (TextView) itemView.findViewById(R.id.price);
            credit = (TextView) itemView.findViewById(R.id.credit);
            title = (TextView) itemView.findViewById(R.id.title);
            description = (TextView) itemView.findViewById(R.id.description);
        }
    }

    public interface OnItemClickListener {

        void onItemClick(View view, ViewModel viewModel);

    }
}

And I initiate RecyclerView as follows:

recyclerView = (RecyclerView) view.findViewById(R.id.recycler);
recyclerView.setLayoutManager(new GridLayoutManager(getActivity(), 5));
adapter = new RecyclerViewAdapter(items);
adapter.setOnItemClickListener(this);
recyclerView.setAdapter(adapter);

So, how do I actually update adapter data in order to display newly received items?

The issue was that the layout where gridView was looked as follows:

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

    <FrameLayout
        android:orientation="vertical"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent">

        <android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView
            android:id="@+id/recycler"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="match_parent"
            android:clipToPadding="false"/>

        <ImageButton
            android:id="@+id/fab"
            android:layout_gravity="top|end"
            style="@style/FabStyle"/>

    </FrameLayout>
</LinearLayout>

Then I just removed LinearLayout and made FrameLayout as the parent layout.

Solution 1:

This is a general answer. The various ways to update the adapter data are explained. The process includes two main steps every time:

Update the data set
Notify the adapter of the change

Insert single item

Add "Pig" at index 2.

String item = "Pig";
int insertIndex = 2;
data.add(insertIndex, item);
adapter.notifyItemInserted(insertIndex);

Insert multiple items

Insert three more animals at index 2.

ArrayList<String> items = new ArrayList<>();
items.add("Pig");
items.add("Chicken");
items.add("Dog");
int insertIndex = 2;
data.addAll(insertIndex, items);
adapter.notifyItemRangeInserted(insertIndex, items.size());

Remove a single item

Remove "Pig" from the list.

int removeIndex = 2;
data.remove(removeIndex);
adapter.notifyItemRemoved(removeIndex);

Remove multiple items

Remove "Camel" and "Sheep" from the list.

int startIndex = 2; // inclusive
int endIndex = 4;   // exclusive
int count = endIndex - startIndex; // 2 items will be removed
data.subList(startIndex, endIndex).clear();
adapter.notifyItemRangeRemoved(startIndex, count);

Remove all items

Clear the whole list.

data.clear();
adapter.notifyDataSetChanged();

Replace old list with the new list

Clear the old list then add a new one.

// clear old list
data.clear();

// add new list
ArrayList<String> newList = new ArrayList<>();
newList.add("Lion");
newList.add("Wolf");
newList.add("Bear");
data.addAll(newList);

// notify adapter
adapter.notifyDataSetChanged();

The adapter has a reference to data, so it is important that I didn't set data to a new object. Instead, I cleared the old items from data and then added the new ones.

Update single item

Change the "Sheep" item so that it says "I like sheep."

String newValue = "I like sheep.";
int updateIndex = 3;
data.set(updateIndex, newValue);
adapter.notifyItemChanged(updateIndex);

Move a single item

Move "Sheep" from position 3 to position 1.

int fromPosition = 3;
int toPosition = 1;

// update data array
String item = data.get(fromPosition);
data.remove(fromPosition);
data.add(toPosition, item);

// notify adapter
adapter.notifyItemMoved(fromPosition, toPosition);

Code

Here is the project code for your reference. The RecyclerView Adapter code can be found at this answer.

MainActivity.java

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity implements MyRecyclerViewAdapter.ItemClickListener {

    List<String> data;
    MyRecyclerViewAdapter adapter;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

        // data to populate the RecyclerView with
        data = new ArrayList<>();
        data.add("Horse");
        data.add("Cow");
        data.add("Camel");
        data.add("Sheep");
        data.add("Goat");

        // set up the RecyclerView
        RecyclerView recyclerView = findViewById(R.id.rvAnimals);
        LinearLayoutManager layoutManager = new LinearLayoutManager(this);
        recyclerView.setLayoutManager(layoutManager);
        DividerItemDecoration dividerItemDecoration = new DividerItemDecoration(recyclerView.getContext(),
                layoutManager.getOrientation());
        recyclerView.addItemDecoration(dividerItemDecoration);
        adapter = new MyRecyclerViewAdapter(this, data);
        adapter.setClickListener(this);
        recyclerView.setAdapter(adapter);
    }

    @Override
    public void onItemClick(View view, int position) {
        Toast.makeText(this, "You clicked " + adapter.getItem(position) + " on row number " + position, Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
    }

    public void onButtonClick(View view) {
        insertSingleItem();
    }

    private void insertSingleItem() {
        String item = "Pig";
        int insertIndex = 2;
        data.add(insertIndex, item);
        adapter.notifyItemInserted(insertIndex);
    }

    private void insertMultipleItems() {
        ArrayList<String> items = new ArrayList<>();
        items.add("Pig");
        items.add("Chicken");
        items.add("Dog");
        int insertIndex = 2;
        data.addAll(insertIndex, items);
        adapter.notifyItemRangeInserted(insertIndex, items.size());
    }

    private void removeSingleItem() {
        int removeIndex = 2;
        data.remove(removeIndex);
        adapter.notifyItemRemoved(removeIndex);
    }

    private void removeMultipleItems() {
        int startIndex = 2; // inclusive
        int endIndex = 4;   // exclusive
        int count = endIndex - startIndex; // 2 items will be removed
        data.subList(startIndex, endIndex).clear();
        adapter.notifyItemRangeRemoved(startIndex, count);
    }

    private void removeAllItems() {
        data.clear();
        adapter.notifyDataSetChanged();
    }

    private void replaceOldListWithNewList() {
        // clear old list
        data.clear();

        // add new list
        ArrayList<String> newList = new ArrayList<>();
        newList.add("Lion");
        newList.add("Wolf");
        newList.add("Bear");
        data.addAll(newList);

        // notify adapter
        adapter.notifyDataSetChanged();
    }

    private void updateSingleItem() {
        String newValue = "I like sheep.";
        int updateIndex = 3;
        data.set(updateIndex, newValue);
        adapter.notifyItemChanged(updateIndex);
    }

    private void moveSingleItem() {
        int fromPosition = 3;
        int toPosition = 1;

        // update data array
        String item = data.get(fromPosition);
        data.remove(fromPosition);
        data.add(toPosition, item);

        // notify adapter
        adapter.notifyItemMoved(fromPosition, toPosition);
    }
}

Notes

If you use notifyDataSetChanged(), then no animation will be performed. This can also be an expensive operation, so it is not recommended to use notifyDataSetChanged() if you are only updating a single item or a range of items.
Check out DiffUtil if you are making large or complex changes to a list.

Further study

CodePath: Using the RecyclerView
Smart way to update RecyclerView using DiffUtil

Solution 2:

I'm working with RecyclerView and both the remove and the update work well.

Remove:

There are four steps to remove an item from a RecyclerView

 list.remove(position);
 recycler.removeViewAt(position);
 mAdapter.notifyItemRemoved(position);
 mAdapter.notifyItemRangeChanged(position, list.size());

These lines of code work for me.

Update the data:

The only things I had to do was:
```
 mAdapter.notifyDataSetChanged();
```

You had to do all of this in the Actvity/Fragment code, not in the RecyclerView Adapter code.