View Binding with Fragments in Android Jetpack
Last Updated : 07 Apr, 2025
In the Previous article View Binding in Android Jetpack, it's been discussed why acquiring the ViewBinding feature in the Android project provides a lot of benefits. But when it comes to ViewBinding with fragments the scenario changes. Because the lifecycle of the Fragment is different and that of activity is different Here also things go the same as discussed in the above article the naming conventions of the fragment layout are changed to pascal case and properties of the fragment layout to camel case. For Example, fragment1.xml -> Fragment1Binding and edit_text(id) which is under the fragment's layout changes to eEditText(camel case) So in this article ViewBinding is discussed using Fragments. A sample video is given below to get an idea about what we are going to do in this article. Note that we are going to implement this project using the Kotlin language.
Step by Step Implementation
Step 1: Create a new empty activity project
Using Android Studio create an empty Activity Android Studio project refer to Android | How to Create/Start a New Project in Android Studio?.
Step 2: Enable the ViewBinding feature
Enable the ViewBinding feature by invoking the following code snippet inside the app-level build.gradle file, and click on the "Sync Now" buttons which appear on the top-right corner.
buildFeatures {
viewBinding = true
}
Step 3: Working with the activity_main.xml file
The main layout of the activity contains two buttons, to toggle fragment 1 and fragment 2, and one Framelayout to hold the fragments inside the CardView. And one Submit button to check when pressed whose fragment's data is submitted. To implement the same invoke the following code inside the activity_main.xml file.
activity_main.xml:
XML <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto" xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="match_parent" tools:context=".MainActivity" tools:ignore="HardcodedText"> <Button android:id="@+id/fragment_1B" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_marginTop="16dp" android:text="FRAGMENT 1" app:layout_constraintEnd_toStartOf="@+id/fragment_2B" app:layout_constraintHorizontal_bias="0.5" app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent" app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" /> <Button android:id="@+id/fragment_2B" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_marginTop="16dp" android:text="FRAGMENT 2" app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent" app:layout_constraintHorizontal_bias="0.5" app:layout_constraintStart_toEndOf="@+id/fragment_1B" app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" /> <androidx.cardview.widget.CardView android:id="@+id/card_view" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="256dp" android:layout_marginStart="16dp" android:layout_marginTop="16dp" android:layout_marginEnd="16dp" app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent" app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent" app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="@+id/fragment_1B"> <FrameLayout android:id="@+id/fragment_holder" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_marginStart="8dp" android:layout_marginEnd="8dp" /> </androidx.cardview.widget.CardView> <Button android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_marginStart="16dp" android:layout_marginTop="16dp" android:layout_marginEnd="16dp" android:text="SUBMIT" app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent" app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent" app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="@+id/card_view" /> </androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>
Output UI:
Step 4: Creating two fragments
Create two fragments, which include text view to represent fragment number edit text and a button. To implement the UI of each fragment you may refer to the following codes.
Fragment 1:
XML <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <!--fragment 1--> <LinearLayout 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:orientation="vertical" tools:context=".ExampleFragment1" tools:ignore="HardcodedText"> <TextView android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_marginStart="16dp" android:layout_marginTop="16dp" android:text="Fragment 1" android:textSize="18sp" /> <EditText android:id="@+id/edit_text1" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_marginStart="16dp" android:layout_marginTop="16dp" android:layout_marginEnd="16dp" android:hint="Enter Something" /> <Button android:id="@+id/done_button1" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_gravity="end" android:layout_marginTop="8dp" android:layout_marginEnd="16dp" android:text="DONE" /> </LinearLayout>
Fragment 2:
XML <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <!--fragment 2--> <LinearLayout 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:orientation="vertical" tools:context=".ExampleFragment2" tools:ignore="HardcodedText"> <TextView android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_marginStart="16dp" android:layout_marginTop="16dp" android:text="Fragment 2" android:textSize="18sp" /> <EditText android:id="@+id/edit_text2" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_marginStart="16dp" android:layout_marginTop="16dp" android:layout_marginEnd="16dp" android:hint="Enter Something" /> <Button android:id="@+id/done_button2" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_gravity="end" android:layout_marginTop="8dp" android:layout_marginEnd="16dp" android:text="DONE" /> </LinearLayout>
Step 5: Working with the Fragments.kt files
Firstly the binding variable which is nullable is assigned to null initially, and also when the view of the fragment gets destroyed, again it has to be set null (which in this case _binding). And to avoid the null check of the nullable binding object, by using the backing property of the kotlin we make another copy of the binding variable (which in this case binding).
However, if the fragment wants to access the views from the host activity, can be done using the findViewById() method.
Fragment 1:
Kotlin import android.os.Bundle import android.view.LayoutInflater import android.view.View import android.view.ViewGroup import android.widget.Button import android.widget.Toast import androidx.fragment.app.Fragment // Enter your package name here import com.adityamshidlyali.gfgarticle.databinding.Fragment1Binding class ExampleFragment1 : Fragment() { // assign the _binding variable initially to null and // also when the view is destroyed again it has to be set to null private var _binding: Fragment1Binding? = null // with the backing property of the kotlin we extract // the non null value of the _binding private val binding get() = _binding!! override fun onCreateView( inflater: LayoutInflater, container: ViewGroup?, savedInstanceState: Bundle? ): View { // inflate the layout and bind to the _binding _binding = Fragment1Binding.inflate(inflater, container, false) // retrieve the entered data by the user binding.doneButton1.setOnClickListener { val str: String = binding.editText1.text.toString() if (str.isNotEmpty()) { Toast.makeText(activity, str, Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show() } else { Toast.makeText(activity, "Please Enter Data", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show() } } // handle the button from the host activity using findViewById method val submitButton: Button = activity!!.findViewById(R.id.submit_button) submitButton.setOnClickListener { Toast.makeText(activity, "Host Activity Element Clicked from Fragment 1", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show() } // Inflate the layout for this fragment return binding.root } override fun onDestroyView() { super.onDestroyView() _binding = null } }
Fragment 2:
Kotlin import android.os.Bundle import android.view.LayoutInflater import android.view.View import android.view.ViewGroup import android.widget.Button import android.widget.Toast import androidx.fragment.app.Fragment // Enter your package name here import com.adityamshidlyali.gfgarticle.databinding.Fragment2Binding class ExampleFragment2 : Fragment() { // assign the _binding variable initially to null and // also when the view is destroyed again it has to be // set to null private var _binding: Fragment2Binding? = null // with the backing property of the kotlin // we extract // the non null value of the _binding private val binding get() = _binding!! override fun onCreateView( inflater: LayoutInflater, container: ViewGroup?, savedInstanceState: Bundle? ): View { // inflate the layout and bind to the _binding _binding = Fragment2Binding.inflate(inflater, container, false) // retrieve the entered data by the user binding.doneButton2.setOnClickListener { val str: String = binding.editText2.text.toString() if (str.isNotEmpty()) { Toast.makeText(activity, str, Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show() } else { Toast.makeText(activity, "Please Enter Data", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show() } } // handle the button from the host activity using findViewById method val submitButton: Button = activity!!.findViewById(R.id.submit_button) submitButton.setOnClickListener { Toast.makeText(activity, "Host Activity Element Clicked from Fragment 2", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show() } // Inflate the layout for this fragment return binding.root } override fun onDestroyView() { super.onDestroyView() _binding = null } }
Step 6: Working with the MainActivity.kt file
In the MainActivity.kt file only the transaction functionality of the fragments is implemented. Refer to the following code and its output for better understanding.
MainActivity.kt:
Kotlin import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity import android.os.Bundle import androidx.fragment.app.Fragment import com.adityamshidlyali.gfgarticle.databinding.ActivityMainBinding class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() { // create binding instance for the activity_main.xml private lateinit var binding: ActivityMainBinding override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) { super.onCreate(savedInstanceState) binding = ActivityMainBinding.inflate(layoutInflater) setContentView(binding.root) // when app is initially opened the Fragment 1 should be visible supportFragmentManager.beginTransaction().apply { replace(binding.fragmentHolder.id, ExampleFragment1()) addToBackStack(null) commit() } // handle the fragment 2 button to toggle the fragment 2 binding.fragment1B.setOnClickListener { changeFragment(ExampleFragment1()) } // handle the fragment 2 button to toggle the fragment 2 binding.fragment2B.setOnClickListener { changeFragment(ExampleFragment1()) } } // function to change the fragment which is // used to reduce the lines of code private fun changeFragment(fragmentToChange: Fragment): Unit { supportFragmentManager.beginTransaction().apply { replace(binding.fragmentHolder.id, fragmentToChange) addToBackStack(null) commit() } } } Output: