Hi Mark

howdy, Brent!

how can I help you today!

er, ?

I wanted to talk about adapters

More specifically, which kind would be best for my app

I've been using an arrayAdapter so far, and in rummaging through the ICS email app, I've gotten to understand cursorAdapters

what is your data and where is it stored?

I'm making a file manager app

so obviously not a db

which nixes cursor adapters

I was looking at OI file manager, and it uses a custom adapter that extends baseAdapter and implements filterable

if you are using methods like list() on File, I would think an ArrayAdapter would be good

but your own BaseAdapter is certainly another possibility

(btw, howdy, Yash!)

Hello!

Brent: is there a particular problem you have been encountering?

so is an array adapter pretty much just an adapter of a baseadapter?

ArrayAdapter inherits from BaseAdapter IIRC

Hey Mark, I have some questions on caching...

and, indeed, IDRC (I Do Remember Correctly)

Yash: go ahead, I'll try to handle you both in parallel

No particular problems, but I wanted to make sure I have the best adapter in place before I go building more code on top of it.

Wanted to make sure that there wasn't any common wisdom I was missing out on

The Android docs say that you have stay within a reasonable limit of space consumed, such as 1MB while caching. Can we go beyond this amount?

Brent: if your data model is an array, ArrayAdapter is certainly a reasonable solution, unless you specifically encounter problems (e.g., your array is too massive and can no longer be held in the heap)

Yash: there is no fixed limit for how much data you store in getCacheDir()

however, bear in mind that the user, and some apps, can purge your cache

and, many devices have very limited internal storage, which is where getCacheDir() goes

if you want to have a lot more than 1MB, please consider using getExternalCacheDir()

at least on API Level 8

That was going to be my next question :)

but it's not like the phone will blow up if you use 1.1MB or something

you might also set up a manifest-registered BroadcastReceiver for ACTION_DEVICE_STORAGE_LOW, and trim your cache at that point

Are there any cons of using the External Directory?

on Android 1.x and 2.x, it is not always available

specifically, if it is mounted as a drive on a host PC, Android does not have access to it, and hence, neither does your app

there are methods on the Environment class to let you know the current status

this problem goes away on Android 3.0+, thankfully

Yes. I encountered this problem.

Mark, is there some documentation that I could read on caching?

not specifically on caching

that page is generally on data storage

OK, that is it for today's chat

next one is Thursday at 10am Eastern

Thanks! Will catch you on Thursday.

have a pleasant day!