Call getLayoutInflater() in places not in activity

Question

What does need to be imported or how can I call the Layout inflater in places other than activity?

public static void method(Context context){
    //this doesn't work the getLayoutInflater method could not be found
    LayoutInflater inflater = getLayoutInflater();
    // this also doesn't work 
    LayoutInflater inflater = context.getLayoutInflater();
}

I am able to call getLayoutInflater only in activity, is that an restriction? What if I want to create custom dialog and I want to inflate view for it, or what if I want to have Toast message with custom view that is shown from a service, I only have the context from the service I do not have any activity but I want to show custom message.

I need the inflater in places in the code that isn't in the activity class.

How can I do this ?

score 440 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:34

440

You can use this outside activities - all you need is to provide a Context:

LayoutInflater inflater = (LayoutInflater) context.getSystemService( Context.LAYOUT_INFLATER_SERVICE );

Then to retrieve your different widgets, you inflate a layout:

View view = inflater.inflate( R.layout.myNewInflatedLayout, null );
Button myButton = (Button) view.findViewById( R.id.myButton );

EDIT as of July 2014

Davide's answer on how to get the LayoutInflater is actually more correct than mine (which is still valid though).

edited May 23 '17 at 12:34

Community

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answered Oct 18 '11 at 07:31

kaspermoerch

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Great, But now the findViewById doesn't work, do you have any ideas about that ? inflater.inflate(R.layout.some_layout, (ViewGroup) findViewById(R.id.parent)); – Lukap Oct 18 '11 at 07:48
nop, the inflater.inflate() method doen't have overloaded method with just one int param, but I guess the next one could be null. – Lukap Oct 18 '11 at 08:06
1

@RohanBhatia Davides answer does not require casting which mine does. If the call to `getSystemService` for some (unlikely) reason does not return an object of type `LayoutInflater` then my code would cause a runtime exception. – kaspermoerch Jan 02 '18 at 14:46
@kaspermoerch Does this quote mean that your solution is better than Davide's? "It is never used directly. Instead, use getLayoutInflater() or getSystemService(Class ) to retrieve a standard LayoutInflater instance that is already hooked up to the current context and correctly configured for the device you are running on." https://developer.android.com/reference/android/view/LayoutInflater – Tamás Bolvári Jul 12 '19 at 16:12
@TamásBolvári No. Both solutions are equaly valid. Davide's solution is simpler than mine and you avoid casting the result to LayoutInflater which could potentially fail (although it is unlikely). – kaspermoerch Aug 12 '19 at 08:03

score 296 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 22 '13 at 10:21

296

Or ...

LayoutInflater inflater = LayoutInflater.from(context);

answered Sep 22 '13 at 10:21

Davide

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Very late, but actually a better answer as the from function also checks with assert that you actually get an inflater back and throws an error otherwise - which will be much easier to deal with then a null pointer excpetion somewhere in the code. http://grepcode.com/file/repository.grepcode.com/java/ext/com.google.android/android/2.2_r1.1/android/view/LayoutInflater.java#LayoutInflater.from%28android.content.Context%29 – Raanan Nov 05 '13 at 23:45
@Davide Does this quote mean that kaspermoerch's solution is better than yours? "It is never used directly. Instead, use getLayoutInflater() or getSystemService(Class ) to retrieve a standard LayoutInflater instance that is already hooked up to the current context and correctly configured for the device you are running on." https://developer.android.com/reference/android/view/LayoutInflater – Tamás Bolvári Jul 12 '19 at 16:13
@TamásBolvári Is only more easy and clear, in fact the internal implementation is the same as Kaspermoerch write. – Davide Jul 15 '19 at 09:56

score 12 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 10 '14 at 21:50

12

or

View.inflate(context, layout, parent)

answered Jun 10 '14 at 21:50

Prakash Nadar

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That's fine ; however, with this method, I cannot provide the boolean "attachToRoot" – DenisGL Mar 20 '16 at 08:06
It is based on the requirement, if you do not need attachToRoot then this is a convenient helper method or pass getRootView() as the parent to the method. – Prakash Nadar Mar 20 '16 at 16:26

score 11 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 18 '11 at 07:31

11

Using context object you can get LayoutInflater from following code

LayoutInflater inflater = (LayoutInflater)context.getSystemService(Context.LAYOUT_INFLATER_SERVICE);

answered Oct 18 '11 at 07:31

anujprashar

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score 4 · Answer 5 · edited Mar 28 '19 at 07:55

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LayoutInflater.from(context).inflate(R.layout.row_payment_gateway_item, null);

edited Mar 28 '19 at 07:55

Suraj Rao

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answered Mar 28 '19 at 07:48

Sikander Bakht

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You're encouraged to provide some explanatory text along with your code. – HansHirse Mar 28 '19 at 08:06

score 3 · Answer 6 · edited Sep 07 '19 at 11:09

3

LayoutInflater inflater = (LayoutInflater) context.getSystemService( Context.LAYOUT_INFLATER_SERVICE );

Use this instead!

edited Sep 07 '19 at 11:09

Brian Tompsett - 汤莱恩

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answered Sep 07 '19 at 10:48

Call getLayoutInflater() in places not in activity

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