ChatGPT解决这个技术问题 Extra ChatGPT

Why use Fragment#setRetainInstance(boolean)?

I find Fragment#setRetainInstance(true) confusing. Here is the Javadoc, extracted from the Android Developer API:

public void setRetainInstance (boolean retain) Control whether a fragment instance is retained across Activity re-creation (such as from a configuration change). This can only be used with fragments not in the back stack. If set, the fragment lifecycle will be slightly different when an activity is recreated: onDestroy() will not be called (but onDetach() still will be, because the fragment is being detached from its current activity). onCreate(Bundle) will not be called since the fragment is not being re-created. onAttach(Activity) and onActivityCreated(Bundle) will still be called.

Question: How do you as a developer use this, and why does it make things easier?

similar question with good info: Understanding Fragment's setRetainInstance(boolean)
onDestroy() will be called if the device is low on memory

C
CommonsWare

How do you as a developer use this

Call setRetainInstance(true). I typically do that in onCreateView() or onActivityCreated(), where I use it.

and why does it make things easier?

It tends to be simpler than onRetainNonConfigurationInstance() for handling the retention of data across configuration changes (e.g., rotating the device from portrait to landscape). Non-retained fragments are destroyed and recreated on the configuration change; retained fragments are not. Hence, any data held by those retained fragments is available to the post-configuration-change activity.


@CommonsWare - If you create a new fragment in an Activity and that Activity is recreated, how do avoid creating a new fragment again?
@Neil: See if the fragment exists (e.g., findFragmentById()). Don't recreate it if it exists.
@androiddeveloper: "If the fragment holds its views so that it won't have to re-create them (in the onCreate() method), it might take some memory" -- you are welcome to attempt to re-parent the widgets into the new activity, but I have had zero luck with that. AFAIK, you need to recreate the widgets in onCreateView(). "However, I think it's ok to use softReference/weakReference for this task instead, right?" -- what task?
@e.shishkin: It should be. I rarely implement onCreate() in a fragment, so I have not tried it.
@e.shishkin You can call it anytime you want. Technically you don't even need to call it in the lifecycle methods (although this is generally not something you would ever want/need to do).
D
DeeV

It's very helpful in keeping long running resources open such as sockets. Have a UI-less fragment that holds references to bluetooth sockets and you won't have to worry about reconnecting them when the user flips the phone.

It's also handy in keeping references to resources that take a long time to load like bitmaps or server data. Load it once, keep it in a retained fragment, and when the activity is reloaded it's still there and you don't have to rebuild it.


Nice. But what if we need to refresh them?
Am I wrong in thinking that this is what a Singleton of some sort would normally do?
@rupinderjeet yes. A Singleton is another way of doing it. Singletons are considered "anti-patterns" and some people are hesitant to use them. Fragments also have the advantage of being tied to the lifecycle of the activity so you get lifecycle events. You can destroy the resource if the user leaves the app for example (which can also be done with Singleton but takes more code).
R
Ryan M

Added this answer very late, but I thought it would make things clearer. Say after me. When setRetainInstance is:

FALSE

Fragment gets re-created on config change. NEW INSTANCE is created.

ALL lifecycle methods are called on config change, including onCreate() and onDestroy().

TRUE

Fragment does not get re-created on config change. SAME INSTANCE is used.

All lifecycle methods are called on config change, APART FROM onCreate() and onDestroy().

Retaining an instance will not work when added to the backstack.

Don't forget that the above applies to DialogFragments as well as Fragments.


can you add reference to Retaining an instance will not work when added to the backstack. ?
How can I restore the fragment's state in case it was added to the back-stack ? the savedInstanceState is null, and I can't use setRetainInstance ...
D
Darish

The setRetainInstance(boolean) method is deprecated, use ViewModels instead.

The setRetainInstance(boolean) method on Fragments has been deprecated as of Version 1.3.0 of fragment API.

With the introduction of ViewModels, developers have a specific API for retaining state that can be associated with Activities, Fragments, and Navigation graphs. This allows developers to use a normal, not retained Fragment and keep the specific state they want retained separate.

This ensures that developers have a much more understandable lifecycle for those Fragments (one that matches all of the rest of their Fragments) while maintaining the useful properties of a single creation and single destruction (in this case, the constructor of the ViewModel and the onCleared() callback from the ViewModel).