Android: TabHost without TabActivity

Question

I want to create tabs without extending TabActivity. (The reason is that TabActivity cannot handle a custom titlebar as it seems). I have

public class startTab extends Activity {

 @Override
 public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) 
    {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.mylayout);
        Resources res = getResources();
        LocalActivityManager mlam = new LocalActivityManager(this, false);
        TabHost tabHost = (TabHost) findViewById(R.id.tabhost);
        tabHost.setup(mlam);
        TabHost.TabSpec spec;
        Intent intent;

    intent = new Intent().setClass(this, Show1.class);
    spec = tabHost.newTabSpec("Items").setIndicator("Items", res.getDrawable(R.drawable.items32_ldpi)).setContent(intent);
    tabHost.addTab(spec);

    intent = new Intent().setClass(this, Show2.class);
    spec = tabHost.newTabSpec("Users").setIndicator("Users",res.getDrawable(R.drawable.user32_ldpi)).setContent(intent);
    tabHost.addTab(spec);
}

}

The error I get is

    07-02 07:11:12.715: ERROR/AndroidRuntime(411): 
Caused by: java.lang.IllegalStateException: Activities can't be added until the containing group has been created.

The xml for the view is

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<TabHost xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
 android:id="@+id/tabhost" android:orientation="vertical" android:layout_width="fill_parent"
 android:layout_height="fill_parent" >
 <LinearLayout android:orientation="vertical"
  android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="fill_parent"
  android:paddingTop="5dip">
  <TabWidget android:id="@android:id/tabs"
   android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="fill_parent"></TabWidget>
  <FrameLayout android:id="@android:id/tabcontent"
   android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="fill_parent"
   android:paddingTop="5dip">
  </FrameLayout>
 </LinearLayout>
</TabHost>

I read somewhere that I have to use a LocalActivityManager, I assume that I am missing something there. Anyone an idea?

Thanks!

this tutorial might help you http://learnncode.wordpress.com/2013/12/18/how-to-use-tabwidget-with-fragments/ — Prachi, Dec 23 '13 at 11:45

score 86 · Answer 1 · edited Oct 27 '11 at 06:03

86

Before calling tabHost.setup(mLocalActivityManager); you need to add this line.

mlam.dispatchCreate(savedInstanceState);
tabHost.setup(mlam );

similarly, you need to add for onResume,

mlam.dispatchResume();

onPause(),

 mlam.dispatchPause(isFinishing());

edited Oct 27 '11 at 06:03

CJ Villa

13
3

answered Feb 23 '11 at 23:45

dcanh121

4,665
11
37
84

4

But could you please explain why this works after adding these dispatchXXX() methods? Thanks very much:) – shihpeng May 18 '11 at 09:40
1

great!! but any idea why all these extra lines? – mudit Jan 05 '12 at 11:42
**It doesn't work for me..** I'm getting `android.util.AndroidRuntimeException: You cannot combine custom titles with other title features`. Note that my code is pretty similar as shown in question and I'm using **Custom Title feature**. – GAMA Apr 04 '12 at 13:07
It's an ugly solution. Another alternative is extends ActivityGroup, but the idea is not make the Activity extend strange things just because it has to display tabs. So maybe CommonsWare's answer about using views is the best? But it's a bit annoying to not be able just to use already existing activities... – User Apr 26 '12 at 10:19
It also doesn't work (or the solution is incomplete, at least). All my tabs are now empty. – User Apr 26 '12 at 10:30
is it necessary to use `dispatchStop()` within `onStop()` and `dispatchDestroy()` within `onDestroy` ? – Someone Somewhere Sep 12 '13 at 21:52
according to http://alvinalexander.com/java/jwarehouse/android/core/java/android/app/ActivityGroup.java.shtml it is needed, but I've seen a lot of null-pointer exception's due to dispatchDestroy() – Someone Somewhere Sep 12 '13 at 21:58
tnx! it works for me. I lost more time with Google Maps – Unmerciful Jul 04 '14 at 08:55
Saved me so much time Thanks – skryshtafovych Jul 24 '17 at 19:33

score 13 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 02 '10 at 07:42

13

Please consider using Views as the contents of your tabs. Not only will this result in less code, less consumed heap space, less consumed stack space, and lower CPU utilization, it will also get you past this problem. Here are two examples showing this technique.

answered Jul 02 '10 at 07:42

CommonsWare

986,068
189
2,389
2,491

1

Thanks. But if I don't work with intents how can I have a different menu for each tab? – paradroid666 Jul 05 '10 at 06:49
@paradroid: load a different menu based on the currently active tab. – CommonsWare Jul 05 '10 at 10:46
That's the whole point in using an activity - it's a better functional separation. – AlikElzin-kilaka Nov 30 '11 at 17:53
2

@kilaka: Not really. Activities-in-tabs has been deprecated, because Google agrees that it was a bad idea. – CommonsWare Nov 30 '11 at 18:16

score 4 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 01 '13 at 15:47

public class ScoreboardActivity extends Activity {
    LocalActivityManager mlam;

    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_scoreboard);
        mlam = new LocalActivityManager(this, false);
        mlam.dispatchCreate(savedInstanceState);
        TabHost th = (TabHost) findViewById(android.R.id.tabhost);
        th.setup(mlam);
        th.addTab(th.newTabSpec("Numpad").setIndicator("Numpad").setContent(R.id.tab1));
        th.addTab(th.newTabSpec("CardCount").setIndicator("CardCount").setContent(R.id.tab2));
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
        getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.activity_scoreboard, menu);
        return true;


    }
    @Override
    protected void onResume(){
        super.onResume();
        mlam.dispatchResume();
    }

    @Override
    protected void onPause(){
        super.onPause();
        mlam.dispatchPause(isFinishing());
    }

}

`LocalActivityManager` is deprecated now – Mārtiņš Briedis Nov 11 '13 at 21:39 — Mārtiņš Briedis, Nov 11 '13 at 21:39

score 1 · Answer 4 · edited Aug 23 '11 at 05:55

Design considerations notwithstanding, the following does not work at all, and the API seems to indicate that setContent(Intent i) is valid. This works when the activity extends TabActivity, however, extending Activity and adding setup() call results in an exception at android.widget.TabHost$IntentContentStrategy.getContentView(TabHost.java:649)

Funny thing is, the LogCat suggests I forgot to call setup()

mTabHost = (TabHost) findViewById(android.R.id.tabhost);
mTabHost.setup();

Intent tab1Intent = new Intent(this, ActivityOne.class);
Button tab1View = new Button(this);
tab1View.setText("Activity 1");
  mTabHost.addTab(mTabHost.newTabSpec("tab_1").setIndicator(tab1View).setContent(tab1Intent));

This looks like it should have been a separate question. The issue you're likely running into is that you're not using a TabbedActivity, which means you need to call set up with the ActivityManager, as suggested above. That will then lead you to this issue, unless you dispatch the events to the ActivityManager properly. — shortstuffsushi, Sep 03 '15 at 14:33

Android: TabHost without TabActivity

4 Answers4

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