Hello Mark,

howdy, Dimitri

how can I help you today?

I have a question regarding implementation of Viewflipper and Tabhosts.

Can i upload an image i think be quicker to describe what i want exactly...?

sure

try the "Upload a file" link on the right

I am developing a application for ferry schedules in greece...

What i would like to do is be able to flip between two sets of tabs ... depicting Oneway and Return journeys...

So basicaly flip the whole image to show the return trips...

that's going to be one fat activity

one ViewFlipper holding two TabHosts holding a total of 14...ListViews?

Exactly which is really getting to complicated for my liking...

the dates are the same for both sets, right?

nope... the return date might be later...

ah, right

i.e leaves on 05/04 returns on 23/04 has a spam of a week each time

I wish TabHost were more flexible

there's no clean way to change tab indicators once the tabs are created

very frustrating

so, you will probably wind up with two TabHosts anyway

the only question is: is this one activity with a ViewFlipper, or two instances of the "view possible itineraries" activity?

I'd consider going with the latter

this is part of my questuin

Sorry i did not get that, so how would my layout.xml be?

the activity you show above could be used for either departures or returns

they have the same structure

Yes.

for the purposes of discussion, what's the name of this activity?

TripResults

OK

So, you would have one TripResults activity showing the departures

somewhere (e.g., action bar, options menu), you would have an option to view returns

that would start up another TripResults that views the returns

ah... i see a new activity i was trying to do all in one and kept on getting null pointer...

one more question when i am loading the tabs... as indicated in the image the users input 5/04 is the centered tab...

What happens however although i set host.setCurrentTabByTag(...) the activity will load the initials tabs data as well?

Is there a way to avoid this...

I do not see where setCurrentTabByTag() would cause this

it probably loads all the tabs when you add them

I am guessing, based on your phrasing, that you are using activities as the contents of the tabs?

In order to fill each tab of the TripResults activity i am using a TripActivity extending ListActivity to fill the resulting trips..

Yes its the same activity for each tab..

yeah, I don't use activities-in-tabs very much

adds overhead for no value, IMHO

Granted i am very new to android this might not be the best approach, but i can seem to find another solution...

Actually, my books focus on the views-in-tabs approach

you will see that in _The Busy Coder's Guide to Android Development_ and _Android Programming Tutorials_

howdy, fitz!

morning just getting started today so no questions

you don't want me to ask you any questions in the morning?

oh, no, wait, that's a question...

:-)

na that is my status - your well into your morning - past coffee time

well, if anyone has a question, chime in

I noticed through some emails that your planning to do section on voice recognition - huge need for this?

I don't think it's super-popular

which is one of the reasons it's on the back burner

my focus tends to be either on itches of my own that I am scratching, or itches that I think a lot of developers have

hence, I'd rather focus on memory management and Honeycomb and stuff now than voice recognition

not that voice recognition is bad, hard, or anything -- it's just not as critical for as many people

ya not main stream yet

If i was to implement a solution using the views-in-tabs approach how exactly would I load only the data require in each view. I.e http request per tab?

put a ListView in each tab, but do not set an adapter right away

register an OnTabChangeListener with the TabHost

when the tab becomes active, you then know to load your data

using an intent to TripActivity...

well, if TripActivity used to be what were in the tabs, there would be no TripActivity if you switch to views-in-tabs

Again it would be 7 lists view in the tabhost correct?

yes

I would have to call spec.setContent(R.id.list{id}); in each case?

yes

or, if you prefer, you could not have the ListViews in the XML and use a TabContentFactory

what would be nice here is an equivalent of the old VB TabStrip control, which gave you tab buttons but made no assumptions about what happened on a tab button press

in that case, you would use a single ListView and change up the adapter on a tab change

I have not tried using TabWidget this way, but I suspect it will only work with a TabHost

How anout a custom Viewflipper instead?

I don't know how that would help

Thanks for your time as always valuable info i will have to read up on what we discussed.

do you think it is best to have logic and time set aside to re-do an app just for tablets - so can most code work with tweeks - I guess what I am asking if if apps now should be only for cells and then start from scratch for tablets and market it that way?

that's difficult to answer in the abstract

the problem with "start from scratch for tablets" is that tablets will be able to get at your phone edition

talking business apps not games etc.

though you can try the new <compatible-screens> element to try to keep tablet users from seeing the phone apps

the only way, IMHO, it's clearly desirable to have a separate tablet-only app is if that's your sales model (e.g., phone app is free, tablet app with more features costs $$$)

otherwise, I'd try to have one app supporting all form factors

in theory, fragments and the Android Compatibility Library will help here

after my weekend of fighting with fragments, the acronym of ACL for that library seems apropos -- in other words, ow.

ok thanks for info will ponder ...... till next time have a GREAT day

you too!

OK, today's chat is over

next one is Thursday at 4pm Eastern Time

have a pleasant day!