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Jetpack Compose Preview is not showing when having a ViewModel parameter

Time:11-21

I am using Jetpack Compose and noticed that the preview is not shown. I read articles like this, but it seems my problem has a different root cause. Even I added defaults to all parameters in the compose function like this:

@OptIn(ExperimentalLifecycleComposeApi::class)
@Composable
@ExperimentalFoundationApi
@Preview
fun VolumeSettingsScreen(
    speech: SpeechHelper = SpeechHelper(), // my class that converts text to speech
    viewModel: VolumeSettingsViewModel = hiltViewModel(), // using Hilt to inject ViewModels
    navController: NavHostController = rememberNavController() // Compose Navigation component
) {
    MyAppheme {
        Box(
             ...
        )
    }
}

When I rollbacked some changes I realized that the @Preview does not support the viewModels regardless of whether they are injected with Hilt or not.

Any Idea how this could be fixed?

CodePudding user response:

Have you considered having a structure where you have a Screen and the actual Content separated like this?

// data class
data class AccountData(val accountInfo: Any?)

// composable "Screen", where you define contexts, viewModels, hoisted states, etc
@Composable
fun AccountScreen(viewModel: AccountViewModel = hiltViewModel()) {

    val accountData = viewModel.accountDataState.collectAsState()

    AccountContent(accountData = accountData) {
        // click callback
    }
}

//your actual composable that hosts your child composable widget/components
@Composable
fun AccountContent(
    accountData: AccountData,
    clickCallback: () ->
) {
   ...
}

where you can have a preview for the Content like this?

@Preview
@Composable
fun AccountContentPreview() {

    // create some mock AccountData
    val mockData = AccountData(…)
    AccountContent(accountData = mockData) {}
}

this way, all components that aren't needed to be configured by the actual content composable are separated, taking you off from headaches configuring a preview.

Just an added note and could be off-topic, I just noticed you have a parameter like this,

speech: SpeechHelper = SpeechHelper()

you might consider utilizing compositionLocalProvider (if needed), that could clean up your parameters.

CodePudding user response:

I managed to visualize the preview of the screen, by wrapping the ViewModels's functions into data classes, like this:

@OptIn(ExperimentalLifecycleComposeApi::class)
@Composable
@ExperimentalFoundationApi
@Preview
fun VolumeSettingsScreen(
    modifier: Modifier = Modifier,
    speechCallbacks: SpeechCallbacks = SpeechCallbacks(),
    navigationCallbacks: NavigationCallbacks = NavigationCallbacks(),
    viewModelCallbacks: VolumeSettingsScreenCallbacks = VolumeSettingsScreenCallbacks()
) {
    MyAppheme {
        Box(
             ...
        )
    }
}

I passed not the ViewModel directly in the compose but needed functions in a Data class for example, like this:

data class VolumeSettingsScreenCallbacks(
    val uiState: Flow<BaseUiState?> = flowOf(null),
    val onValueUpSelected: () -> Boolean = { false },
    val onValueDownSelected: () -> Boolean = { false },
    val doOnBoarding: (String) -> Unit = {},
    val onScreenCloseRequest: (String) -> Unit = {} 
)

I made a method that generates those callbacks in the ViewModel, like this:

@HiltViewModel
class VolumeSettingsViewModel @Inject constructor() : BaseViewModel() {

    fun createViewModelCallbacks(): VolumeSettingsScreenCallbacks =
        VolumeSettingsScreenCallbacks(
            uiState = uiState,
            onValueUpSelected = ::onValueUpSelected,
            onValueDownSelected = ::onValueDownSelected,
            doOnBoarding = ::doOnBoarding,
            onScreenCloseRequest = ::onScreenCloseRequest
        )

 ....
}

In the NavHost I hoisted the creation of the ViewModel like this:

@Composable
@ExperimentalFoundationApi
fun MyAppNavHost(
    speech: SpeechHelper,
    navController: NavHostController,
    startDestination: String = HOME.route,
): Unit = NavHost(
    navController = navController,
    startDestination = startDestination,
) {
    ...

    composable(route = Destination.VOLUME_SETTINGS.route) {
        hiltViewModel<VolumeSettingsViewModel>().run {
            VolumeSettingsScreen(
                modifier = keyEventModifier,
                speechCallbacks = speech.createCallback() // my function,
                navigation callbacks = navController.createCallbacks(), //it is mine extension function                   viewModelCallbacks = createViewModelCallbacks()
            )
        }
    }

    ...
}

It is a bit complicated, but it works :D. I will be glad if there are some comets for improvements.

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