Passing function as a parameter in java

Question

I\'m getting familiar with Android framework and Java and wanted to create a general \"NetworkHelper\" class which would handle most of the networking code enabling me to ju

Answer 1

Use a callback interface or an abstract class with abstract callback methods.

Callback interface example:

public class SampleActivity extends Activity {

    //define callback interface
    interface MyCallbackInterface {

        void onDownloadFinished(String result);
    }

    //your method slightly modified to take callback into account 
    public void downloadUrl(String stringUrl, MyCallbackInterface callback) {
        new DownloadWebpageTask(callback).execute(stringUrl);
    }

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

        //example to modified downloadUrl method
        downloadUrl("http://google.com", new MyCallbackInterface() {

            @Override
            public void onDownloadFinished(String result) {
                // Do something when download finished
            }
        });
    }

    //your async task class
    private class DownloadWebpageTask extends AsyncTask {

        final MyCallbackInterface callback;

        DownloadWebpageTask(MyCallbackInterface callback) {
            this.callback = callback;
        }

        @Override
        protected void onPostExecute(String result) {
            callback.onDownloadFinished(result);
        }

        //except for this leave your code for this class untouched...
    }
}

The second option is even more concise. You do not even have to define an abstract method for "onDownloaded event" as onPostExecute does exactly what is needed. Simply extend your DownloadWebpageTask with an anonymous inline class inside your downloadUrl method.

    //your method slightly modified to take callback into account 
    public void downloadUrl(String stringUrl, final MyCallbackInterface callback) {
        new DownloadWebpageTask() {

            @Override
            protected void onPostExecute(String result) {
                super.onPostExecute(result);
                callback.onDownloadFinished(result);
            }
        }.execute(stringUrl);
    }

    //...