Android: Highlighting the selected item in the ExpandableListView

Steps to Highlight the selected item in the ExpandableListView

1.    In our ExpandableListView add android:choiceMode and android:listSelector attributes.

To use setItemChecked  we need to Set the checked state of the specified position. The is only valid if the choice mode has been set to CHOICE_MODE_SINGLE or CHOICE_MODE_MULTIPLE.

listSelector is used to indicate the currently selected item in the list. 

2.    Get the position of child using getPackedPositionForChild

3.    Get flat list position using getFlatListPosition.

4.    setItemChecked with the list position we get in step 2.

5.    Create row_highlighter.xml file.

xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<selector xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">

<item android:drawable="@android:color/holo_orange_dark" android:state_activated="true"/>

<item android:drawable="@android:color/transparent"/>

</selector>

6.    Add android:background="@drawable/row_highlighter" attribute to child.xml of expandableListView.

7.    Source Code:

expandableListView.setOnChildClickListener(new OnChildClickListener() {

public boolean onChildClick(ExpandableListView parent, View v,

                                                int groupPosition, int childPosition, long id) {

int index = parent.getFlatListPosition(ExpandableListView

                   .getPackedPositionForChild(groupPosition, childPosition));

parent.setItemChecked(index, true);

                                     

return false;

}

});

output:

Improvements 

If you want to see an example of customizing navigation drawer and highlighting of expanadablelistview then, see Custom Navigation Drawer  post. This example supports from API levels.

If you have any other quick hints that you think people will find useful, feel free to leave a comment.

Overview & Mapping of GoF design patterns with Android API's

The 23 Gang of Four Design Patterns .. Revisited

The Gang of Four (GoF) (from Design Patterns: Elements of  Reusable Object-Oriented Software, Addison-Wesley Professional Computing Series, by Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, and John Vlissides).
These 23 GoF patterns are generally considered the foundation for all other patterns. They are categorized in three groups: Creational, Structural, and Behavioral.

Creational Patterns

1. Abstract Factory:  Creates an instance of several families of classes. Provide an interface for creating families of related or dependent objects without specifying their concrete classes.
2. Builder: Separates object construction from its representation. Separate the construction of a complex object from its representation so that the same construction processes can create different representations.
3. Factory Method: Creates an instance of several derived classes. Define an interface for creating an object, but let subclasses decide which class to instantiate. Factory Method lets a class defer instantiation to subclasses.
4. Prototype: A fully initialized instance to be copied or cloned. Specify the kinds of objects to create using a prototypical instance, and create new objects by copying this prototype.
5. Singleton: A class of which only a single instance can exist. Ensure a class only has one instance, and provide a global point of access to it.

Structural Patterns

1. Adapter: Match interfaces of different classes.Convert the interface of a class into another interface clients expect. Adapter lets classes work together that couldn’t otherwise because of incompatible interfaces.
2. Bridge: Separates an object’s interface from its implementation. Decouple an abstraction from its implementation so that the two can vary independently.
3. Composite: A tree structure of simple and composite objects. Compose objects into tree structures to represent part-whole hierarchies. Composite lets clients treat individual objects and compositions of objects uniformly.
4. Decorator: Add responsibilities to objects dynamically.  Attach additional responsibilities to an object dynamically. Decorators provide a             flexible alternative to subclassing for extending functionality.
5. Facade: A single class that represents an entire subsystem. Provide a unified interface to a set of interfaces in a system. Facade defines a higher-level interface that makes the subsystem easier to use.
6. Flyweight: A fine-grained instance used for efficient sharing. Use sharing to support large numbers of fine-grained objects efficiently. A flyweight is a shared object that can be used in multiple contexts simultaneously. The flyweight acts as an independent object in each context — it’s indistinguishable from an instance of the object that’s not shared.
7. Proxy: An object representing another object. Provide a surrogate or placeholder for another object to control access to it.

Behavioral Patterns

1. Chain of Resp. : A way of passing a request between a chain of objects. Avoid coupling the sender of a request to its receiver by giving more than one object a  chance to handle the request. Chain the receiving objects and pass the request along the chain until an object handles it.
2. Command: Encapsulate a command request as an object. Encapsulate a request as an object, thereby letting you parameterize clients with different requests, queue or log requests, and support undoable operations.
3. Interpreter: A way to include language elements in a program. Given a language, define a representation for its grammar along with an interpreter that uses the representation to interpret sentences in the language.
4. Iterator: Sequentially access the elements of a collection. Provide a way to access the elements of an aggregate object sequentially without exposing its underlying representation.
5. Mediator: Defines simplified communication between classes. Define an object that encapsulates how a set of objects interact. Mediator promotes loose coupling by keeping objects from referring to each other explicitly, and it lets you vary their interaction independently.
6. Memento: Capture and restore an object's internal state. Without violating encapsulation, capture and externalize an object’s internal state so that the object can be restored to this state later.
7. Observer: A way of notifying change to a number of classes. Define a one-to-many dependency between objects so that when one object changes state, all its dependents are notified and updated automatically.
8. State: Alter an object's behavior when its state changes. Allow an object to alter its behavior when its internal state changes. The object will appear to change its class.
9. Strategy: Encapsulates an algorithm inside a class. Define a family of algorithms, encapsulate each one, and make them interchangeable.            Strategy lets the algorithm vary independently from clients that use it.
10. Template: Defer the exact steps of an algorithm to a subclass. Define the skeleton of an algorithm in an operation, deferring some steps to subclasses. Template Method lets subclasses redefine certain steps of an algorithm without changing the algorithm’s structure.
11. Visitor: Defines a new operation to a class without change. Represent an operation to be performed on the elements of an object structure. Visitor lets you define a new operation without changing the classes of the elements on which it operates.

Patterns	Definition	Android
Creational
Singleton	Ensure a class has only one instance and provide a global point of access to it.	Application Class (AndroidManifest.xml's tag)
Abstract Factory	Provides an interface for creating families of related or dependent objects without specifying their concrete classes.	Interface ComponentCallbacks (The set of callback APIs that are common to all application components Activity, Service, ContentProvider, and Application) Activity,  Service,  ContentProvider, AbstractAccountAuthenticator, ActionBar.Tab, ….
Factory Method	Define an interface for creating an object, but let the subclasses decide which class to instantiate. The Factory method lets a class defer instantiation to subclasses The Factory method works just the same way: it defines an interface for creating an object, but leaves the choice of its type to the subclasses, creation being deferred at run-time.	We can relate this design pattern with multi pane layout. It’s like choosing which view to be loaded whether handset or tablet views.
Builder	Construct a complex object from simple objects step by step	StringBuilder
Structural
Adapter (Wrapper pattern / Decorator pattern)	Convert the interface of a class into another interface clients expect. Adapter lets classes work together that couldn't otherwise because of incompatible interfaces. (Adapter design pattern is used when you want two different classes with incompatible interfaces to work together)	ListView, GridView, Spinner and Gallery for commonly used subclasses of AdapterView.
Bridge	Decouple an abstraction from its implementation so that the two can vary independently (An Abstraction can be implemented by an abstraction implementation, and this implementation does not depend on any concrete implementers of the Implementor interface. Extending the abstraction does not affect the Implementor. Also extending the Implementor has no effect on the Abstraction.)	AdapterView AdapterViewFlipper ExpandableListView Gallery Adapter CursorAdapter SimpleCursorAdapter ArrayAdapter
Composite	The intent of this pattern is to compose objects into tree structures to represent part-whole hierarchies. Composite lets clients treat individual objects and compositions of objects uniformly.	View
Decorator	Allows for the dynamic wrapping of objects in order to modify their existing responsibilities and behaviours	java.io.BufferedReader; java.io.FileReader; java.io.Reader;
Proxy	Provide a “Placeholder” for an object to control references to it.	Java.rmi.*
Behavioral
Observer	Define a one-to-many dependency between objects so that when one object changes state, all its dependents are notified and updated automatically.	BroadCastReceiver SensorListener Method Notifydatasetchanged() from BaseAdapter registerReceiver unregisterReceiver registerContentObserver unregisterContentObserver and many more…
Template	Defines the skeleton of an algorithm in a method, deferring some steps to subclasses. Template Method lets subclasses redefine certain steps of an algorithm without changing the algorithms structure.	ContentProvider can be consider as a example. Whete it contains the templateMethod(), which are declared as final so that it cannot be overridden.
Command	-encapsulate a request in an object -allows the parameterization of clients with different requests -allows saving the requests in a queue	AsyncTask
Iterator	Provides a way to access the elements of an aggregate object without exposing its underlying representation.	Iterator

Definition is taken from following articles:

http://java.dzone.com/articles/design-patterns-uncovered

www.oodesign.com