Cannot find method getGridView() in Android View Binding

Question

I am using view binding with Java and have the following activity_main XML file

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout 
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    tools:context=".MainActivity">

    <GridView
        android:id="@+id/grid_view"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        />

</androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>

The official example in the docs shows that views can be accessed through a camel-case getter, like this:

binding.getName().setText(viewModel.getName());

According to the example in the docs then, I should be able to access the GridView from the binding like this

@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    ActivityMainBinding binding = ActivityMainBinding.inflate(getLayoutInflater());
    setContentView(binding.getRoot());
    
    GridView grid = binding.getGridView();
}

However, no getGridView method exists on my binding class. How do I access the view?

Is your layout nested/included in a parent XML file? And have you enabled view binding in the gradle file? Also, have you tried to build the app? Sometimes the IDE is slow to recognize/find the auto-generated content... — Tyler V, Jul 16 '22 at 14:27
@TylerV I have added the contents of my `build.gradle` file to the question. I get the error when I run the app by pressing `Shift + F10`. Thanks. :) — Real Noob, Jul 16 '22 at 14:33
@Seelenvirtuose I am voting to re-open since this question is about why the binding auto-generated method is missing, not "what does the error mean?" — Tyler V, Jul 16 '22 at 14:42
@TylerV there is only one file called `activity_main.xml`. Thanks for voting to re-open the question. :) — Real Noob, Jul 16 '22 at 14:44
@TylerV It goes like this: `MainActivity > onCreate > anonymous ArrayAdapter > getView`. :) — Real Noob, Jul 16 '22 at 14:47
What type is `binding`? You did not show the declaration ... — Seelenvirtuose, Jul 16 '22 at 14:51
@TylerV The Java code is all inside the `MainActivity` class and there is only one layout file `activity_main`. Should I create a separate layout file where I place the layout, update the refrences and everything will work just fine? — Real Noob, Jul 16 '22 at 14:53
If the code is all inside MainActivity, why are you making an ArrayAdapter? Please post sufficient details in your question (a minimal but complete activity code, adapter, + XML) to help us understand what you are asking - using comments like this is not effective. — Tyler V, Jul 16 '22 at 14:54
@TylerV I am very new to Android so learning by doing things. I am just having a hard time finding tutorials that will explain everything. I pieced together my own code by reading multiple tutorials so I made many mistakes. :) — Real Noob, Jul 16 '22 at 14:56
@Seelenvirtuose - it is declared in the question as an `ActivityMainBinding` - have a read about [view binding](https://developer.android.com/topic/libraries/view-binding) — Tyler V, Jul 16 '22 at 14:56
@RealNoob - that's ok, it's a learning process. You should try to explain better what you are trying to do in the question - show the full code, not just the part you think has the current problem. What are you trying to display? — Tyler V, Jul 16 '22 at 14:57
@TylerV I know I provided very little details and I am impressed by the fact that you were still able to pinpoint the probable cause of the error. :) — Real Noob, Jul 16 '22 at 14:57
Let us [continue this discussion in chat](https://chat.stackoverflow.com/rooms/246490/discussion-between-tyler-v-and-real-noob). — Tyler V, Jul 16 '22 at 14:58
@Seelenvirtuose - I clarified the problem with OP in chat and we came up with a more clear version of the original question - the root cause is outdated documentation for Android view binding in terms of what methods will be auto-generated on the binding class. — Tyler V, Jul 16 '22 at 18:36

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 17 '22 at 17:21

Unfortunately, the view binding documentation code examples with Java are out of date. Instead of generating a camel-case getter function now the generated binding class has public (and final) fields so you can access them directly, like this:

GridView grid = binding.gridView;

In the future, if you type binding. and let the IDE (i.e. Android Studio) show a suggestion of what to type (usually it shows up in a popup/dropdown view) it can help find the right method even when the documentation is wrong.

Cannot find method getGridView() in Android View Binding

1 Answers1