/proteus

Proteus : JSON LayoutInflater with Data Bindings

Primary LanguageJavaOtherNOASSERTION

: Android Layout Engine Build Status

Proteus is meant to be a drop-in replacement for Android’s LayoutInflater; but unlike the compiled XML layouts bundled in the APK, Proteus inflates layouts at runtime. With Proteus, you can control your Apps layout from the backend (no WebViews). Forget the boilerplate code to findViewById, cast it to a TextView, and then setText(). Proteus has runtime data bindings and formatters. Plugin in your own custom views and attributes and formatters.

Getting Started

gradle

// Add it in your root build.gradle at the end of repositories:
allprojects {
	repositories {
		...
		maven { url "https://jitpack.io" }
	}
}

// Add the dependency
dependencies {
        compile 'com.github.flipkart-incubator:proteus:4.1.0'
}

Include as a module

  • Clone the proteus in the project folder
git clone https://github.com/flipkart-incubator/proteus.git
  • Include the a project in you apps build.gradle file
dependencies {
  compile project('proteus:library')
}

How it works

Instead of writing layouts in XML, in proteus layouts are defined in JSON, which can be used to inflate native android UI at runtime. The JSON layouts can be hosted anywhere (on the device, on servers, etc.).

layout

{
  "type": "LinearLayout",
  "orientation": "vertical",
  "padding": "16dp",
  "children": [{
    "layout_width": "200dp",
    "gravity": "center",
    "type": "TextView",
    "text": "~{{user.profile.name}} ({{user.profile.experience}}$(number))"
  }, {
    "type": "HorizontalProgressBar",
    "layout_width": "200dp",
    "layout_marginTop": "8dp",
    "max": 6000,
    "progress": "$user.profile.experience"
  }]
}

data

{
  "user": {
    "profile": {
      "name": "John Doe",
      "experience": 4192
    }
  }
}

Java

ProteusView view = layoutBuilder.build(container, layout, data, 0, styles);
container.addView((View) view);

Get this

Setting up the Demo App

  • Install NodeJS here
  • open a terminal
  • cd into the project directory
  • run npm start
  • Start an AVD emulator
  • Install the Demo App

Ready to tinker

  • Tinker around with the layout and data
  • Hit the FAB to refresh the app.

Resources

Contributing

  1. Fork the repo
  2. Apply your changes
  3. Submit your pull request

License

Apache v2.0

Contributors

One click XML to JSON conversion plugin

Download this plugin for android studio and enable it. Once enabled, you can select any android XML layout file and go to Tools > Convert XML to JSON