how do I find complete view hierarchy of android activity in a programmatic way (code)?

Question

I am writing a module to detect which Android activity is currently running, and complete information regarding the view tree of that activity.

I understand Android framework lays out, and draws the views. Where can I find out the information such as which views are currently visible on the screen and their positions?

I tried using reflection as below. But it always returns empty set of views. Does anyone have pointers on how to do that?

try {
  String windowManagerClassName;
  if (android.os.Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= 17) {
    windowManagerClassName = "android.view.WindowManagerGlobal";
  } else {
    windowManagerClassName = "android.view.WindowManagerImpl";
  }
  windowManager = Class.forName(windowManagerClassName);
} catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
  throw new RuntimeException(e);
} catch (SecurityException e) {
  throw new RuntimeException(e);
}
Field views;
Field instanceField;
try {
  views = windowManager.getDeclaredField("mViews");
  instanceField = windowManager.getDeclaredField(getWindowManagerString());
  views.setAccessible(true);
  instanceField.setAccessible(true);
  Object instance = instanceField.get(null);
  synchronized (windowManager) {
    if (android.os.Build.VERSION.SDK_INT <= 18) {
      return new HashSet<View>(Arrays.asList(((View[]) views.get(instance))));
  }
}
...

Those are external tools. I am looking for programmatic way (code) to get the info in my app. Do you have any pointers for code snippet? — user2423696, Oct 16 '15 at 19:33

Cory Roy · Accepted Answer · 2015-10-16T19:40:20.150

0

For and external tool, I would recommend using the Hierarchy View tool in the android device monitor.

[EDIT] If you'd rather do it programmatically. Try getting the root view and iterating through the children recursively.

edited Oct 16 '15 at 19:40

answered Oct 16 '15 at 19:16

Cory Roy

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Those are external tools. I am looking for programmatic way (code) to get the info in my app. Do you have any pointers for code snippet? – user2423696 Oct 16 '15 at 19:33

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 16 '15 at 19:19

0

Use hierarchyviewer to see what all views present in view hierarchy

Tool can be found in android sdk .../sdk/tools/hierarchyviewer

answered Oct 16 '15 at 19:19

dex

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Those are external tools. I am looking for programmatic way (code) to get the info in my app. Do you have any pointers for code snippet? – user2423696 Oct 16 '15 at 19:33

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 16 '15 at 19:24

0

You could also try uiautomatorviewer under the sdk/tools folder.

It allows to navigate with the mouse pointer the activity layout displayed on your device / emulator.

answered Oct 16 '15 at 19:24

Simone Leoni

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Those are external tools. I am looking for programmatic way (code) to get the info in my app. Do you have any pointers for code snippet? – user2423696 Oct 16 '15 at 19:33

score 0 · Answer 4 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:01

You could try writing a custom LayoutInflator as per this answer to related question:

Is there an Android tool to find the name of a layout for a running app?

Here's a blog post that contains something interesting - a custom layout inflater that intercepts all view inflation:

http://android-activities.blogspot.co.za/2014/03/add-custom-behavior-to-standard-android.html

It may be possible to use that sample code to intercept the inflate calls, and receive the resource ID of the XML file:

It's a long shot, but it gives you access to the XML files as they are being inflated. I didn't realise you could do this until I saw that previous post which prompted me to do some research.

how do I find complete view hierarchy of android activity in a programmatic way (code)?

4 Answers4