How to Read Data from Firebase Database and Display Multiple Fields in ListView with ArrayAdapter

Question

I have spent the better half of the day trying to figure out how to read data from my firebase database and display multiple fields in a ListView via an Array

Answer 1

after two days of being stuck I was able to answer my own question! Hopefully this will help future beginners stuck trying to display a custom view within an ArrayAdapter. Basically, I created a custom ArrayAdapter class which could hold three TextViews inside of it.

I am in no means an expert and will not be able to explain this as well as others, so instead, I will paste a link to the two video tutorials that I followed and had success with.

Android Beginner Tutorial #8 - Custom ListView Adapter For Displaying Multiple Columns https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6vE8fqQPTE&t=392s

Android Beginner Tutorial #9 - Custom ListView Adapter [With Loading Animation] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SApBLHIpH8A

Here is my updated code below:

CustomAdapter.java

public class CustomAdapter extends BaseAdapter {

    private static ArrayList searchArrayList;
    private LayoutInflater mInflater;
    private Context mContext;
    private int lastPosition;

    /**
     * Holds elements in a view
     */
    static class ViewHolder {
        TextView make;
        TextView model;
        TextView stock;
    }

    public CustomAdapter(Context context, ArrayList results) {
        searchArrayList = results;
        mContext = context;
        mInflater = LayoutInflater.from(context);
    }

    @Override
    public int getCount() {
        return searchArrayList.size();
    }

    @Override
    public Object getItem(int position) {
        return searchArrayList.get(position);
    }

    @Override
    public long getItemId(int position) {
        return position;
    }

    @Override
    public View getView(int position, View convertView, ViewGroup parent) {
        String make = searchArrayList.get(position).getMake();
        String model = searchArrayList.get(position).getModel();
        String stock = searchArrayList.get(position).getStock();

        final View result;

        ViewHolder holder;

        if (convertView == null) {

            LayoutInflater inflater = LayoutInflater.from(mContext);
            convertView = inflater.inflate(R.layout.list_item, parent, false);
            holder = new ViewHolder();
            holder.make = (TextView) convertView.findViewById(R.id.tv_list_item_make);
            holder.model = (TextView) convertView.findViewById(R.id.tv_list_item_model);
            holder.stock = (TextView) convertView.findViewById(R.id.tv_list_item_stock);

            result = convertView;
            convertView.setTag(holder);
        } else {
            holder = (ViewHolder) convertView.getTag();
            result = convertView;
        }

        Animation animation = AnimationUtils.loadAnimation(mContext,
                (position > lastPosition) ? R.anim.load_down_anim : R.anim.load_up_anim);
        result.startAnimation(animation);
        lastPosition = position;

        holder.make.setText(make);
        holder.model.setText(model);
        holder.stock.setText(stock);

        return convertView;
    }
}

MainActivity.java (Only the onCreate method)

protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
        Toolbar toolbar = findViewById(R.id.toolbar);
        setSupportActionBar(toolbar);

        databaseReference.addChildEventListener(new ChildEventListener() {
            @Override
            public void onChildAdded(@NonNull DataSnapshot snapshot, @Nullable String previousChildName) {
                String make = snapshot.child("make").getValue(String.class);
                String model = snapshot.child("model").getValue(String.class);
                String stock = snapshot.child("stock").getValue(Long.class).toString();
                SearchModel searchModel = new SearchModel(make, model, stock);
                searchList.add(searchModel);

              CustomAdapter customAdapter = new CustomAdapter(getApplicationContext(), searchList);

                mListView = (ListView) findViewById(R.id.lv_searches);
                mListView.setAdapter(customAdapter);
            }

            @Override
            public void onChildChanged(@NonNull DataSnapshot snapshot, @Nullable String previousChildName) {
            }

            @Override
            public void onChildRemoved(@NonNull DataSnapshot snapshot) {
            }

            @Override
            public void onChildMoved(@NonNull DataSnapshot snapshot, @Nullable String previousChildName) {
            }

            @Override
            public void onCancelled(@NonNull DatabaseError error) {
            }
        });