How to use Extensions method in Kotlin

Introduction:

In this article, we will learn how to create & use extensions for Android development using Kotlin. We have read about Kotlin for Android development. If you are new to Kotlin, read my previous article on Kotlin.

Hello World Android Application Using Kotlin

Extensions:

Kotlin, similar to C# and Gosu, provides the ability to extend a class with new functionality without having to inherit from the class or use any type of design pattern such as Decorator. This is done via special declarations called extensions.

Coding Part:

I have detailed the article as in the following steps.

1. Creating New Project with Kotlin
2. Creating Extensions in Kotlin
3. Implementation of Extension in Kotlin

Step 1 - Creating a new project with Kotlin

1. Open Android Studio and select "Create new project". 
2. Name the project as per your wish and tick the "Kotlin checkbox support". 
3. Then, select your Activity type (For Example - Navigation Drawer Activity, Empty Activity, etc.).
   
4. Click the “Finish” button to create a new project in Android Studio.

Step 2: Creating Extensions in Kotlin

In this part, we will see how to create an extensions for Kotlin.

1. To declare an extensions function, we need to prefix its name with a receiver type, i.e. the type being extended. The following adds a swap function to MutableList

   fun MutableList<Int>.swap(index1: Int, index2: Int) {
       val tmp = this[index1] // 'this' corresponds to the list
       this[index1] = this[index2]
       this[index2] = tmp
   }

2. We will take an example to show Toast with Short duration. Traditionally, the Toast is shown like below

   Toast.makeText(this, message, Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show()

3. We can simplifies this by the using extensions in Kotlin.
4. Create a Kotlin file named as “Extensions.kt”. Then add the following code part.

   fun Context.showShortToast(message: CharSequence) {
       Toast.makeText(this, message, Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show()
   }

   Here, the base or receiver type of toast is “Context”. So, we have created a function prefixed with “Context”.
5. In the same way, I have created an extensions to show “Toast with Long duration” and “Alert Dialog with single option”. You can find the full code below.

   package com.androidmad.ktextensions
   
   import android.content.Context
   import android.support.v7.app.AlertDialog
   import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity
   import android.view.View
   import android.widget.Toast
   
   fun Context.showShortToast(message: CharSequence) {
       Toast.makeText(this, message, Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show()
   }
   
   fun Context.showLongToast(message: CharSequence) {
       Toast.makeText(this, message, Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show()
   }
   
   fun AppCompatActivity.showAlert(title: CharSequence, message: CharSequence) {
       val builder = AlertDialog.Builder(this)
               .setTitle(title)
               .setMessage(message)
               .setPositiveButton("Ok", { dialog, which ->
               })
   
       val dialog: AlertDialog = builder.create()
       dialog.show()
   }

Step 3: Implementation of Extension in Kotlin

In this section, we will see how to call the above created extensions method in android.

1. Create a layout file named as “activity_main.xml” and add the following code snippets.

   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
   <android.support.constraint.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="com.androidmad.ktextensions.MainActivity"
       tools:layout_editor_absoluteY="81dp">
   
       <Button
           android:id="@+id/btn_short"
           android:layout_width="wrap_content"
           android:layout_height="wrap_content"
           android:layout_marginTop="128dp"
           android:text="Show Short Toast"
           app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
           app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
           app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" />
   
       <Button
           android:id="@+id/btn_long"
           android:layout_width="wrap_content"
           android:layout_height="wrap_content"
           android:layout_marginBottom="208dp"
           android:text="Show Long Toast"
           app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
           app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
           app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent" />
   
       <Button
           android:id="@+id/btn_alert"
           android:layout_width="wrap_content"
           android:layout_height="wrap_content"
           android:layout_marginBottom="92dp"
           android:text="Show Alert Dialog"
           app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
           app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
           app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent" />
   
   </android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout>

2. The output of the layout file looks like below
3. We have three buttons in our screen to show Toast with Short duration, Long duration and Alert dialog with single option. Open your MainActivity.kt add click listeners for the buttons.

   // Toast with Short Duration
   showShortToast("Show Short Toast using extensions method")
   // Toast with Long Duration
   showLongToast("Show Long Toast using extensions method")
   // Alert Dialog with Single Option
   showAlert("Android Extensions method", "Show Alert Dialog")

4. Full code of the MainActivity.kt below.

   package com.androidmad.ktextensions
   
   import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity
   import android.os.Bundle
   import kotlinx.android.synthetic.main.activity_main.*
   
   class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
   
       override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
           super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
           setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)
   
           btn_short.setOnClickListener({
               showShortToast("Show Short Toast using extensions method")
           })
   
           btn_long.setOnClickListener({
               showLongToast("Show Long Toast using extensions method")
           })
   
           btn_alert.setOnClickListener({
               showAlert("Android Extensions method", "Show Alert Dialog")
           })
   
       }
   
   }

Reference:

Extensions in Kotlin

https://kotlinlang.org/docs/reference/extensions.html

Download Code:

You can download the full source code of the article in GitHub. If you like this article, do star the repo in GitHub. Hit like the article.