LiveData Transformation not getting triggered - android-room

Question

I subscribed to ids and search in the ui but i wasn't getting any results so i stepped through with the debugger and found out that the transformation is not getting triggered after the first time. So when i call setIds the first time ids gets updated but for every call after the first one the transformation won't trigger. Same goes for the search.
Any ideas what might possible go wrong?
class MyViewModel : ViewModel() {
private val repository = Repository.sharedInstance
var recentRadius: LiveData<List<RecentRadius>>?
var recentRoute: LiveData<List<RecentRoute>>?
init {
recentRadius = repository.recentRadius()
recentRoute = repository.recentRoute()
}
private val idsInput = MutableLiveData<String>()
fun setIdsInput(textId: String) {
idsInput.value = textId
}
val ids: LiveData<List<String>> = Transformations.switchMap(idsInput) { id ->
repository.ids(id)
}
private val searchInput = MutableLiveData<Search>()
fun setSearchInput(search: Search) {
searchInput.value = search
}
val search: LiveData<SearchResult> = Transformations.switchMap(searchInput) { search ->
when (search.type) {
SearchType.ID -> repository.id(search)
SearchType.RADIUS -> repository.radius(search)
SearchType.ROUTE -> repository.route(search)
}
}
}

Answer 1

The most common reason why transformation don't get triggered is when there is no Observer observing it or the input LiveData is not getting changed.

Answer 2

Below example illustrates use of map when observer is attached in the activity.
Activity
class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
lateinit var mBinding : ActivityMainBinding
private val mViewModel : MainViewModel by lazy {
getViewModel { MainViewModel(this.application) }
}
override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
mBinding = DataBindingUtil.setContentView(this, R.layout.activity_main)
mBinding.vm = mViewModel
// adding obeserver
mViewModel.videoName.observe(this, Observer<String> { value ->
value?.let {
//Toast.makeText(this, it, Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show()
}
})
}
}
ViewModel with map
class MainViewModel(val appContext : Application) : AndroidViewModel(appContext) {
private val TAG = "MainViewModel"
var videoData = MutableLiveData<VideoDownload>()
var videoName : LiveData<String>
init {
// Update the data
videoName = Transformations.map(videoData) { "updated : "+it.webUrl }
}
fun onActionClick(v : View) {
// change data
videoData.value = VideoDownload(System.currentTimeMillis().toString())
}
fun onReActionClick(v : View) {
// check data
Toast.makeText(appContext, videoName.value, Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show()
}
}
ViewModel with switchMap
class MainViewModel(val appContext : Application) : AndroidViewModel(appContext) {
private val TAG = "MainViewModel"
var videoData = MutableLiveData<VideoDownload>()
var videoName : LiveData<String>
init {
// Update the data
videoName = Transformations.switchMap(videoData) { modData(it.webUrl) }
}
private fun modData(str: String): LiveData<String> {
val liveData = MutableLiveData<String>()
liveData.value = "switchmap : "+str
return liveData
}
fun onActionClick(v : View) {
// change data
videoData.value = VideoDownload(System.currentTimeMillis().toString())
}
fun onReActionClick(v : View) {
// check data
Toast.makeText(appContext, videoName.value, Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show()
}
}

Answer 3

for me, it was because the observer owner was a fragment. It stopped triggering when navigating to different fragments. I changed the observer owner to the activity and it triggered as expected.
itemsViewModel.items.observe(requireActivity(), Observer {
The view model was defined as a class property:
private val itemsViewModel: ItemsViewModel by lazy {
ViewModelProvider(requireActivity()).get(ItemsViewModel::class.java)
}

Answer 4

If you really want it to be triggered.
fun <X, Y> LiveData<X>.forceMap(
mapFunction: (X) -> Y
): LiveData<Y> {
val result = MutableLiveData<Y>()
this.observeForever {x->
if (x != null) {
result.value = mapFunction.invoke(x)
}
}
return result
}