LiveData  |  API reference  |  Android Developers (original) (raw)

added in version 1.0.0
belongs to Maven artifact android.arch.lifecycle:livedata-core:1.1.1

Summary:Ctors | Methods | Protected Methods | Inherited Methods

public abstract class LiveData
extends Object ``

java.lang.Object
↳ android.arch.lifecycle.LiveData

LiveData is a data holder class that can be observed within a given lifecycle. This means that an [Observer](/reference/android/arch/lifecycle/Observer) can be added in a pair with a [LifecycleOwner](/reference/android/arch/lifecycle/LifecycleOwner), and this observer will be notified about modifications of the wrapped data only if the paired LifecycleOwner is in active state. LifecycleOwner is considered as active, if its state is[STARTED](/reference/android/arch/lifecycle/Lifecycle.State#STARTED) or [RESUMED](/reference/android/arch/lifecycle/Lifecycle.State#RESUMED). An observer added via[observeForever(Observer)](/reference/android/arch/lifecycle/LiveData#observeForever%28android.arch.lifecycle.Observer<T>%29) is considered as always active and thus will be always notified about modifications. For those observers, you should manually call[removeObserver(Observer)](/reference/android/arch/lifecycle/LiveData#removeObserver%28android.arch.lifecycle.Observer<T>%29).

An observer added with a Lifecycle will be automatically removed if the corresponding Lifecycle moves to [DESTROYED](/reference/android/arch/lifecycle/Lifecycle.State#DESTROYED) state. This is especially useful for activities and fragments where they can safely observe LiveData and not worry about leaks: they will be instantly unsubscribed when they are destroyed.

In addition, LiveData has [onActive()](/reference/android/arch/lifecycle/LiveData#onActive%28%29) and [onInactive()](/reference/android/arch/lifecycle/LiveData#onInactive%28%29) methods to get notified when number of active [Observer](/reference/android/arch/lifecycle/Observer)s change between 0 and 1. This allows LiveData to release any heavy resources when it does not have any Observers that are actively observing.

This class is designed to hold individual data fields of [ViewModel](/reference/android/arch/lifecycle/ViewModel), but can also be used for sharing data between different modules in your application in a decoupled fashion.

Summary

Public constructors
LiveData()
Public methods
T getValue() Returns the current value.
boolean hasActiveObservers() Returns true if this LiveData has active observers.
boolean hasObservers() Returns true if this LiveData has observers.
void [observe](/reference/android/arch/lifecycle/LiveData#observe%28android.arch.lifecycle.LifecycleOwner, android.arch.lifecycle.Observer%29)(LifecycleOwner owner, Observer observer) Adds the given observer to the observers list within the lifespan of the given owner.
void observeForever(Observer observer) Adds the given observer to the observers list.
void removeObserver(Observer observer) Removes the given observer from the observers list.
void removeObservers(LifecycleOwner owner) Removes all observers that are tied to the given LifecycleOwner.
Protected methods
void onActive() Called when the number of active observers change to 1 from 0.
void onInactive() Called when the number of active observers change from 1 to 0.
void postValue(T value) Posts a task to a main thread to set the given value.
void setValue(T value) Sets the value.
Inherited methods
From class java.lang.Object Object clone() boolean equals(Object arg0) void finalize() final Class<?> getClass() int hashCode() final void notify() final void notifyAll() String toString() final void wait(long arg0, int arg1) final void wait(long arg0) final void wait()

Public constructors

Public methods

getValue

T getValue ()

Returns the current value. Note that calling this method on a background thread does not guarantee that the latest value set will be received.

Returns
T the current value

hasActiveObservers

boolean hasActiveObservers ()

Returns true if this LiveData has active observers.

Returns
boolean true if this LiveData has active observers

hasObservers

boolean hasObservers ()

Returns true if this LiveData has observers.

Returns
boolean true if this LiveData has observers

observe

void observe (LifecycleOwner owner, Observer observer)

Adds the given observer to the observers list within the lifespan of the given owner. The events are dispatched on the main thread. If LiveData already has data set, it will be delivered to the observer.

The observer will only receive events if the owner is in [STARTED](/reference/android/arch/lifecycle/Lifecycle.State#STARTED) or [RESUMED](/reference/android/arch/lifecycle/Lifecycle.State#RESUMED) state (active).

If the owner moves to the [DESTROYED](/reference/android/arch/lifecycle/Lifecycle.State#DESTROYED) state, the observer will automatically be removed.

When data changes while the owner is not active, it will not receive any updates. If it becomes active again, it will receive the last available data automatically.

LiveData keeps a strong reference to the observer and the owner as long as the given LifecycleOwner is not destroyed. When it is destroyed, LiveData removes references to the observer & the owner.

If the given owner is already in [DESTROYED](/reference/android/arch/lifecycle/Lifecycle.State#DESTROYED) state, LiveData ignores the call.

If the given owner, observer tuple is already in the list, the call is ignored. If the observer is already in the list with another owner, LiveData throws an[IllegalArgumentException](/reference/java/lang/IllegalArgumentException).

Parameters
owner LifecycleOwner: The LifecycleOwner which controls the observer
observer Observer: The observer that will receive the events

observeForever

void observeForever (Observer observer)

Adds the given observer to the observers list. This call is similar to[observe(LifecycleOwner, Observer)](/reference/android/arch/lifecycle/LiveData#observe%28android.arch.lifecycle.LifecycleOwner, android.arch.lifecycle.Observer<T>%29) with a LifecycleOwner, which is always active. This means that the given observer will receive all events and will never be automatically removed. You should manually call [removeObserver(Observer)](/reference/android/arch/lifecycle/LiveData#removeObserver%28android.arch.lifecycle.Observer<T>%29) to stop observing this LiveData. While LiveData has one of such observers, it will be considered as active.

If the observer was already added with an owner to this LiveData, LiveData throws an[IllegalArgumentException](/reference/java/lang/IllegalArgumentException).

Parameters
observer Observer: The observer that will receive the events

removeObserver

void removeObserver (Observer observer)

Removes the given observer from the observers list.

Parameters
observer Observer: The Observer to receive events.

removeObservers

void removeObservers (LifecycleOwner owner)

Removes all observers that are tied to the given [LifecycleOwner](/reference/android/arch/lifecycle/LifecycleOwner).

Parameters
owner LifecycleOwner: The LifecycleOwner scope for the observers to be removed.

Protected methods

onActive

void onActive ()

Called when the number of active observers change to 1 from 0.

This callback can be used to know that this LiveData is being used thus should be kept up to date.

onInactive

void onInactive ()

Called when the number of active observers change from 1 to 0.

This does not mean that there are no observers left, there may still be observers but their lifecycle states aren't [STARTED](/reference/android/arch/lifecycle/Lifecycle.State#STARTED) or [RESUMED](/reference/android/arch/lifecycle/Lifecycle.State#RESUMED) (like an Activity in the back stack).

You can check if there are observers via [hasObservers()](/reference/android/arch/lifecycle/LiveData#hasObservers%28%29).

postValue

void postValue (T value)

Posts a task to a main thread to set the given value. So if you have a following code executed in the main thread:

liveData.postValue("a"); liveData.setValue("b");

The value "b" would be set at first and later the main thread would override it with the value "a".

If you called this method multiple times before a main thread executed a posted task, only the last value would be dispatched.

Parameters
value T: The new value

setValue

void setValue (T value)

Sets the value. If there are active observers, the value will be dispatched to them.

This method must be called from the main thread. If you need set a value from a background thread, you can use [postValue(Object)](/reference/android/arch/lifecycle/LiveData#postValue%28T%29)

Parameters
value T: The new value