NullPointerException accessing views in onCreate()

Question

This is a canonical question for a problem frequently posted on StackOverflow.

I'm following a tutorial. I've created a new activity using a wizard. I get NullPointerException when attempting to call a method on Views obtained with findViewById() in my activity onCreate().

Activity onCreate():

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

    View something = findViewById(R.id.something);
    something.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() { ... }); // NPE HERE

    if (savedInstanceState == null) {
        getSupportFragmentManager().beginTransaction()
                .add(R.id.container, new PlaceholderFragment()).commit();
    }
}

Layout XML (fragment_main.xml):

<RelativeLayout 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"
    android:paddingBottom="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
    android:paddingLeft="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
    android:paddingRight="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
    android:paddingTop="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
    tools:context="packagename.MainActivity$PlaceholderFragment" >

    <View
        android:layout_width="100dp"
        android:layout_height="100dp"
        android:id="@+id/something" />

</RelativeLayout>

Answer 1

I've got the same NullPointerException initializing a listener after calling findViewById() onCreate() and onCreateView() methods.

But when I've used the onActivityCreated(Bundle savedInstanceState) {...} it works. So, I could access the GroupView and set my listener.

I hope it be helpful.

Answer 2

Since you have declared your View in the fragment_main.xml,move that piece of code where you get the NPE in the onCreateView() method of the fragment. This should solve the issue.

Answer 3

Use onViewCreated() Method whenever using or calling views from fragments.

override fun onViewCreated(view: View?, savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
    super.onViewCreated(view, savedInstanceState)
      View v = view.findViewById(R.id.whatever)
}

Answer 4

The view "something" is in fragment and not in activity, so instead of accessing it in activity you must access it in the fragment class like

In PlaceholderFragment.class

@Override
public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container,
Bundle savedInstanceState) {
View root = inflater.inflate(R.layout.fragment_main, container,
  false);

View something = root .findViewById(R.id.something);
something.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() { ... });

return root;
}

Answer 5

Agreed, this is a typical error because people often don't really understand how Fragments work when they begin working on Android development. To alleviate confusion, I created a simple example code that I originally posted on Application is stopped in android emulator , but I posted it here as well.

An example is the following:

public class ContainerActivity extends FragmentActivity implements ExampleFragment.Callback
{
    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle saveInstanceState)
    {
        super.onCreate(saveInstanceState);
        this.setContentView(R.layout.activity_container);
        if (saveInstanceState == null)
        {               
             getSupportFragmentManager().beginTransaction()
                .add(R.id.activity_container_container, new ExampleFragment())
                .addToBackStack(null)
             .commit();
        }
        getSupportFragmentManager().addOnBackStackChangedListener(new OnBackStackChangedListener()
        {
            public void onBackStackChanged()
            {
                int backCount = getSupportFragmentManager().getBackStackEntryCount();
                if (backCount == 0)
                {
                    finish();
                }
            }
        });
    }

    @Override
    public void exampleFragmentCallback()
    {
        Toast.makeText(this, "Hello!", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
    }
}

activity_container.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:orientation="vertical" >

    <FrameLayout
        android:id="@+id/activity_container_container"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent" />

</RelativeLayout>

ExampleFragment:

public class ExampleFragment extends Fragment implements View.OnClickListener
{
    public static interface Callback
    {
        void exampleFragmentCallback();
    }

    private Button btnOne;
    private Button btnTwo;
    private Button btnThree;

    private Callback callback;

    @Override
    public void onAttach(Activity activity)
    {
        super.onAttach(activity);
        try
        {
            this.callback = (Callback) activity;
        }
        catch (ClassCastException e)
        {
            Log.e(this.getClass().getSimpleName(), "Activity must implement Callback interface.", e);
            throw e;
        }
    }

    @Override
    public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container, Bundle savedInstanceState)
    {
        View rootView = inflater.inflate(R.layout.fragment_example, container, false);

        btnOne = (Button) rootView.findViewById(R.id.example_button_one);
        btnTwo = (Button) rootView.findViewById(R.id.example_button_two);
        btnThree = (Button) rootView.findViewById(R.id.example_button_three);

        btnOne.setOnClickListener(this);
        btnTwo.setOnClickListener(this);
        btnThree.setOnClickListener(this);
        return rootView;
    }

    @Override
    public void onClick(View v)
    {
        if (btnOne == v)
        {
            Toast.makeText(getActivity(), "One.", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
        }
        else if (btnTwo == v)
        {
            Toast.makeText(getActivity(), "Two.", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
        }
        else if (btnThree == v)
        {
            callback.exampleFragmentCallback();
        }
    }
}

fragment_example.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent" >

        <Button
            android:id="@+id/example_button_one"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
            android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
            android:layout_marginTop="30dp"
            android:text="@string/hello" 
            android:layout_marginLeft="20dp"
            android:layout_marginRight="20dp"/>

        <Button
            android:id="@+id/example_button_two"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_alignLeft="@+id/example_button_one"
            android:layout_alignRight="@+id/example_button_one"
            android:layout_below="@+id/example_button_one"
            android:layout_marginTop="30dp"
            android:text="@string/hello" />

        <Button
            android:id="@+id/example_button_three"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_alignLeft="@+id/example_button_two"
            android:layout_alignRight="@+id/example_button_two"
            android:layout_below="@+id/example_button_two"
            android:layout_marginTop="30dp"
            android:text="@string/hello" />

</RelativeLayout>

And that should be a valid example, it shows how you can use an Activity to display a Fragment, and handle events in that Fragment. And also how to communicate with the containing Activity.

Answer 6

You are trying to access UI elements in the onCreate() but , it is too early to access them , since in fragment views can be created in onCreateView() method. And onActivityCreated() method is reliable to handle any actions on them, since activity is fully loaded in this state.