MVP Architecture

Introduction#

This topic will provide Model‑View‑Presenter (MVP) architecture of Android with various examples.

Remarks#

There are many ways to architect an Android app. But not all of them are testable and allows us to structure our code so that the app is easy to test. The key idea of a testable architecture is separating parts of the application which makes them easier to maintain, extend and test separately from each other.

MVP Definition

Model

In an application with a good layered architecture, this model would only be the gateway to the domain layer or business logic. See it as the provider of the data we want to display in the view.

View

The View, usually implemented by an Activity or Fragment, will contain a reference to the presenter. The only thing that the view will do is to call a method from the Presenter every time there is an interface action.

Presenter

The Presenter is responsible to act as the middle man between View and Model. It retrieves data from the Model and returns it formatted to the View. But unlike the typical MVC, it also decides what happens when you interact with the View.

* Definitions from Antonio Leiva’s article.

Recommended App Structure (not required)

The app should be structured by package per feature. This improves readability and modularizes the app in a way that parts of it can be changed independently from each other. Each key feature of the app is in its own Java package.

Login example in the Model View Presenter (MVP) pattern

Let’s see MVP in action using a simple Login Screen. There are two Buttons—one for login action and another for a registration screen; two EditTexts—one for the email and the other for the password.

LoginFragment (The View)

public class LoginFragment extends Fragment implements LoginContract.PresenterToView, View.OnClickListener {

    private View view;
    private EditText email, password;
    private Button login, register;

    private LoginContract.ToPresenter presenter;

    @Nullable
    @Override
    public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container, Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        return inflater.inflate(R.layout.fragment_login, container, false);
    }

    @Override
    public void onViewCreated(View view, @Nullable Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        email = (EditText) view.findViewById(R.id.email_et);
        password = (EditText) view.findViewById(R.id.password_et);
        login = (Button) view.findViewById(R.id.login_btn);
        login.setOnClickListener(this);
        register = (Button) view.findViewById(R.id.register_btn);
        register.setOnClickListener(this);

        presenter = new LoginPresenter(this);

        presenter.isLoggedIn();

    }

    @Override
    public void onLoginResponse(boolean isLoginSuccess) {
        if (isLoginSuccess) {
            startActivity(new Intent(getActivity(), MapActivity.class));
            getActivity().finish();
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void onError(String message) {
        Toast.makeText(getActivity(), message, Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
    }

    @Override
    public void isLoggedIn(boolean isLoggedIn) {
        if (isLoggedIn) {
            startActivity(new Intent(getActivity(), MapActivity.class));
            getActivity().finish();
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void onClick(View view) {
        switch (view.getId()) {
            case R.id.login_btn:
                LoginItem loginItem = new LoginItem();
                loginItem.setPassword(password.getText().toString().trim());
                loginItem.setEmail(email.getText().toString().trim());
                presenter.login(loginItem);
                break;
            case R.id.register_btn:
                startActivity(new Intent(getActivity(), RegisterActivity.class));
                getActivity().finish();
                break;
        }
    }
}

LoginPresenter (The Presenter)

public class LoginPresenter implements LoginContract.ToPresenter {

    private LoginContract.PresenterToModel model;
    private LoginContract.PresenterToView view;

    public LoginPresenter(LoginContract.PresenterToView view) {
        this.view = view;
        model = new LoginModel(this);
    }

    @Override
    public void login(LoginItem userCredentials) {
        model.login(userCredentials);
    }

    @Override
    public void isLoggedIn() {
        model.isLoggedIn();
    }

    @Override
    public void onLoginResponse(boolean isLoginSuccess) {
        view.onLoginResponse(isLoginSuccess);
    }

    @Override
    public void onError(String message) {
        view.onError(message);
    }

    @Override
    public void isloggedIn(boolean isLoggedin) {
        view.isLoggedIn(isLoggedin);
    }
}

LoginModel (The Model)

public class LoginModel implements LoginContract.PresenterToModel, ResponseErrorListener.ErrorListener {

    private static final String TAG = LoginModel.class.getSimpleName();
    private LoginContract.ToPresenter presenter;

    public LoginModel(LoginContract.ToPresenter presenter) {
        this.presenter = presenter;
    }

    @Override
    public void login(LoginItem userCredentials) {
        if (validateData(userCredentials)) {
            try {
                performLoginOperation(userCredentials);
            } catch (JSONException e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
            }
        } else {
            presenter.onError(BaseContext.getContext().getString(R.string.error_login_field_validation));
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void isLoggedIn() {
        DatabaseHelper database = new DatabaseHelper(BaseContext.getContext());
        presenter.isloggedIn(database.isLoggedIn());
    }

    private boolean validateData(LoginItem userCredentials) {
        return Patterns.EMAIL_ADDRESS.matcher(userCredentials.getEmail()).matches()
                && !userCredentials.getPassword().trim().equals("");
    }

    private void performLoginOperation(final LoginItem userCredentials) throws JSONException {

        JSONObject postData = new JSONObject();
        postData.put(Constants.EMAIL, userCredentials.getEmail());
        postData.put(Constants.PASSWORD, userCredentials.getPassword());

        JsonObjectRequest request = new JsonObjectRequest(Request.Method.POST, Url.AUTH, postData,
                new Response.Listener<JSONObject>() {
                    @Override
                    public void onResponse(JSONObject response) {
                        try {
                            String token = response.getString(Constants.ACCESS_TOKEN);
                            DatabaseHelper databaseHelper = new DatabaseHelper(BaseContext.getContext());
                            databaseHelper.login(token);
                            Log.d(TAG, "onResponse: " + token);
                        } catch (JSONException e) {
                            e.printStackTrace();
                        }
                        presenter.onLoginResponse(true);
                    }
                }, new ErrorResponse(this));

        RequestQueue queue = Volley.newRequestQueue(BaseContext.getContext());
        queue.add(request);
    }

    @Override
    public void onError(String message) {
        presenter.onError(message);
    }
}

Class Diagram

Let’s see the action in the form of class diagram.

Notes:

This example uses Volley for network communication, but this library is not required for MVP
UrlUtils is a class which contains all the links for my API Endpoints
ResponseErrorListener.ErrorListener is an interface that listens for error in ErrorResponse that implements Volley’s Response.ErrorListener; these classes are not included here as they are not directly part of this example

Simple Login Example in MVP

Required package structure

XML activity_login

<LinearLayout xmlns:android="https://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:gravity="center_vertical"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    android:paddingBottom="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
    android:paddingLeft="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
    android:paddingRight="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
    android:paddingTop="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin">

    <EditText
        android:id="@+id/et_login_username"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:hint="USERNAME" />

    <EditText
        android:id="@+id/et_login_password"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:hint="PASSWORD" />

    <LinearLayout
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:orientation="horizontal">

        <Button
            android:id="@+id/btn_login_login"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_marginRight="4dp"
            android:layout_weight="1"
            android:text="Login" />

        <Button
            android:id="@+id/btn_login_clear"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_marginLeft="4dp"
            android:layout_weight="1"
            android:text="Clear" />
    </LinearLayout>

    <TextView
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_marginTop="3dp"
        android:text="correct user: mvp, mvp" />

    <ProgressBar
        android:id="@+id/progress_login"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_marginTop="40dp" />

</LinearLayout>

Activity Class LoginActivity.class

public class LoginActivity extends AppCompatActivity implements ILoginView, View.OnClickListener {
    private EditText editUser;
    private EditText editPass;
    private Button   btnLogin;
    private Button   btnClear;
    private ILoginPresenter loginPresenter;
    private ProgressBar progressBar;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_login);

        //find view
        editUser = (EditText) this.findViewById(R.id.et_login_username);
        editPass = (EditText) this.findViewById(R.id.et_login_password);
        btnLogin = (Button) this.findViewById(R.id.btn_login_login);
        btnClear = (Button) this.findViewById(R.id.btn_login_clear);
        progressBar = (ProgressBar) this.findViewById(R.id.progress_login);

        //set listener
        btnLogin.setOnClickListener(this);
        btnClear.setOnClickListener(this);

        //init
        loginPresenter = new LoginPresenterCompl(this);
        loginPresenter.setProgressBarVisiblity(View.INVISIBLE);
    }

    @Override
    public void onClick(View v) {
        switch (v.getId()){
            case R.id.btn_login_clear:
                loginPresenter.clear();
                break;
            case R.id.btn_login_login:
                loginPresenter.setProgressBarVisiblity(View.VISIBLE);
                btnLogin.setEnabled(false);
                btnClear.setEnabled(false);
                loginPresenter.doLogin(editUser.getText().toString(), editPass.getText().toString());
                break;
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void onClearText() {
        editUser.setText("");
        editPass.setText("");
    }

    @Override
    public void onLoginResult(Boolean result, int code) {
        loginPresenter.setProgressBarVisiblity(View.INVISIBLE);
        btnLogin.setEnabled(true);
        btnClear.setEnabled(true);
        if (result){
            Toast.makeText(this,"Login Success",Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
        }
        else
            Toast.makeText(this,"Login Fail, code = " + code,Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
    }

    @Override
    protected void onDestroy() {
        super.onDestroy();
    }

    @Override
    public void onSetProgressBarVisibility(int visibility) {
        progressBar.setVisibility(visibility);
    }
}

Creating an ILoginView Interface

Create an ILoginView interface for update info from Presenter under view folder as follows:

public interface ILoginView {
    public void onClearText();
    public void onLoginResult(Boolean result, int code);
    public void onSetProgressBarVisibility(int visibility);
}

Creating an ILoginPresenter Interface

Create an ILoginPresenter interface in order to communicate with LoginActivity (Views) and create the LoginPresenterCompl class for handling login functionality and reporting back to the Activity. The LoginPresenterCompl class implements the ILoginPresenter interface:

ILoginPresenter.class

public interface ILoginPresenter {
    void clear();
    void doLogin(String name, String passwd);
    void setProgressBarVisiblity(int visiblity);
}

LoginPresenterCompl.class

public class LoginPresenterCompl implements ILoginPresenter {
    ILoginView iLoginView;
    IUser user;
    Handler handler;

    public LoginPresenterCompl(ILoginView iLoginView) {
        this.iLoginView = iLoginView;
        initUser();
        handler = new Handler(Looper.getMainLooper());
    }

    @Override
    public void clear() {
        iLoginView.onClearText();
    }

    @Override
    public void doLogin(String name, String passwd) {
        Boolean isLoginSuccess = true;
        final int code = user.checkUserValidity(name,passwd);
        if (code!=0) isLoginSuccess = false;
        final Boolean result = isLoginSuccess;
        handler.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
            @Override
            public void run() {
                    iLoginView.onLoginResult(result, code);
            }
        }, 5000);
    }

    @Override
    public void setProgressBarVisiblity(int visiblity){
        iLoginView.onSetProgressBarVisibility(visiblity);
    }

    private void initUser(){
        user = new UserModel("mvp","mvp");
    }
}

Creating a UserModel

Create a UserModel which is like a Pojo class for LoginActivity. Create an IUser interface for Pojo validations:

UserModel.class

public class UserModel implements IUser {
String name;
String passwd;

public UserModel(String name, String passwd) {
    this.name = name;
    this.passwd = passwd;
}

@Override
public String getName() {
    return name;
}

@Override
public String getPasswd() {
    return passwd;
}

@Override
public int checkUserValidity(String name, String passwd){
    if (name==null||passwd==null||!name.equals(getName())||!passwd.equals(getPasswd())){
        return -1;
    }
    return 0;
}

IUser.class

public interface IUser {
    String getName();

    String getPasswd();

    int checkUserValidity(String name, String passwd);
}

MVP

A Model-view-presenter (MVP) is a derivation of the model–view–controller (MVC) architectural pattern. It is used mostly for building user interfaces and offers the following benefits:

Views are more separated from Models. The Presenter is the mediator between Model and View.
It is easier to create unit tests.
Generally, there is a one-to-one mapping between View and Presenter, with the possibility to use multiple Presenters for complex Views.