How to Create Dynamic GridView in Android using Firebase Firestore?

Last Updated : 17 Jan, 2021

GridView is also one of the most used UI components which is used to display items in the Grid format inside our app. By using this type of view we can display the items in the grid format. We have seen this type of GridView in most of the apps. We have also seen the implementation of GridView in our app. In this article, we will take a look at the implementation of GridView using Firebase Firestore in Android.

What we are going to build in this article?

We will be building a simple application in which we will be displaying the data in the grid format and we will load this data from Firebase Firestore inside our GridView. A sample GIF 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 Java language.

Create Dynamic GridView in Android using Firebase Firestore Sample GIF

Step by Step Implementation

Step 1: Create a new Project

To create a new project in Android Studio please refer to How to Create/Start a New Project in Android Studio. Note that select Java as the programming language.

Step 2: Connect your app to Firebase

After creating a new project navigate to the Tools option on the top bar. Inside that click on Firebase. After clicking on Firebase, you can get to see the right column mentioned below in the screenshot.

Inside that column Navigate to Firebase Cloud Firestore. Click on that option and you will get to see two options on Connect app to Firebase and Add Cloud Firestore to your app. Click on Connect now option and your app will be connected to Firebase. After that click on the second option and now your App is connected to Firebase. After connecting your app to Firebase you will get to see the below screen.

After that verify that dependency for the Firebase Firestore database has been added to our Gradle file. Navigate to the app > Gradle Scripts inside that file to check whether the below dependency is added or not. If the below dependency is not present in your build.gradle file. Add the below dependency in the dependencies section.

implementation ‘com.google.firebase:firebase-firestore:22.0.1’

After adding this dependency sync your project and now we are ready for creating our app. If you want to know more about connecting your app to Firebase. Refer to this article to get in detail about How to add Firebase to Android App.

Step 3: Working with the AndroidManifest.xml file

For adding data to Firebase we should have to give permissions for accessing the internet. For adding these permissions navigate to the app > AndroidManifest.xml and Inside that file add the below permissions to it.

XML

<!--Permissions for internet-->
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" /> 
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE" />

Step 4: Working with the activity_main.xml file

Go to the activity_main.xml file and refer to the following code. Below is the code for the activity_main.xml file.

XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> 
<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:orientation="vertical"
    tools:context=".MainActivity"> 
  
    <!--Grid View for displaying our data from Firebase-->
    <GridView
        android:id="@+id/idGVCourses"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:numColumns="2" /> 
  
</RelativeLayout>

Step 5: Now we will create a new Java class for storing our data

For reading data from the Firebase Firestore database, we have to create an Object class and we will read data inside this class. For creating an object class, navigate to the app > java > your app’s package name > Right-click on it and click on New > Java Class > Give a name to your class. Here we have given the name as DataModal and add the below code to it.

Java

public class DataModal { 
  
    // variables for storing our image and name. 
    private String name; 
    private String imgUrl; 
  
    public DataModal() { 
        // empty constructor required for firebase. 
    } 
  
    // constructor for our object class. 
    public DataModal(String name, String imgUrl) { 
        this.name = name; 
        this.imgUrl = imgUrl; 
    } 
  
    // getter and setter methods 
    public String getName() { 
        return name; 
    } 
  
    public void setName(String name) { 
        this.name = name; 
    } 
  
    public String getImgUrl() { 
        return imgUrl; 
    } 
  
    public void setImgUrl(String imgUrl) { 
        this.imgUrl = imgUrl; 
    } 
}

Step 6: Create a layout file for our item of GridView

Navigate to the app > res > layout > Right-click on it and click on New > Layout Resource File and give a name to that file. After creating that file add the below code to it. Here we have given the name as image_gv_item and add the below code to it.

XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> 
<LinearLayout 
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_gravity="center"
    android:gravity="center"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    android:padding="4dp"> 
  
    <!--Image view for displaying our image-->
    <ImageView
        android:id="@+id/idIVimage"
        android:layout_width="100dp"
        android:layout_height="100dp"
        android:layout_margin="4dp"
        android:background="@color/white"
        android:backgroundTint="@color/white"
        android:padding="3dp" /> 
  
    <!--Text view for displaying our text -->
    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/idTVtext"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_margin="2dp"
        android:padding="3dp"
        android:text="Category Text"
        android:textAlignment="center"
        android:textColor="@color/black" /> 
  
</LinearLayout>

Step 7: Now create an Adapter class for our GridView

For creating a new Adapter class navigate to the app > java > your app’s package name > Right-click on it and Click on New > Java class and name your java class as CoursesGVAdapter and add the below code to it. Comments are added inside the code to understand the code in more detail.

Java

import android.content.Context; 
import android.view.LayoutInflater; 
import android.view.View; 
import android.view.ViewGroup; 
import android.widget.ArrayAdapter; 
import android.widget.ImageView; 
import android.widget.TextView; 
import android.widget.Toast; 
  
import androidx.annotation.NonNull; 
import androidx.annotation.Nullable; 
  
import com.squareup.picasso.Picasso; 
  
import java.util.ArrayList; 
  
public class CoursesGVAdapter extends ArrayAdapter<DataModal> { 
  
    // constructor for our list view adapter. 
    public CoursesGVAdapter(@NonNull Context context, ArrayList<DataModal> dataModalArrayList) { 
        super(context, 0, dataModalArrayList); 
    } 
  
    @NonNull
    @Override
    public View getView(int position, @Nullable View convertView, @NonNull ViewGroup parent) { 
  
        // below line is use to inflate the  
        // layout for our item of list view. 
        View listitemView = convertView; 
        if (listitemView == null) { 
            listitemView = LayoutInflater.from(getContext()).inflate(R.layout.image_gv_item, parent, false); 
        } 
          
        // after inflating an item of listview item 
        // we are getting data from array list inside  
        // our modal class. 
        DataModal dataModal = getItem(position); 
          
        // initializing our UI components of list view item. 
        TextView nameTV = listitemView.findViewById(R.id.idTVtext); 
        ImageView courseIV = listitemView.findViewById(R.id.idIVimage); 
          
        // after initializing our items we are 
        // setting data to our view. 
        // below line is use to set data to our text view. 
        nameTV.setText(dataModal.getName()); 
          
        // in below line we are using Picasso to load image 
        // from URL in our Image VIew. 
        Picasso.get().load(dataModal.getImgUrl()).into(courseIV); 
  
        // below line is use to add item  
        // click listener for our item of list view. 
        listitemView.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() { 
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) { 
                // on the item click on our list view. 
                // we are displaying a toast message. 
                Toast.makeText(getContext(), "Item clicked is : " + dataModal.getName(), Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show(); 
            } 
        }); 
        return listitemView; 
    } 
}

Step 8: Working with the MainActivity.java file

Go to the MainActivity.java file and refer to the following code. Below is the code for the MainActivity.java file. Comments are added inside the code to understand the code in more detail.

Java

import android.os.Bundle; 
import android.widget.GridView; 
import android.widget.Toast; 
  
import androidx.annotation.NonNull; 
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity; 
  
import com.google.android.gms.tasks.OnFailureListener; 
import com.google.android.gms.tasks.OnSuccessListener; 
import com.google.firebase.firestore.DocumentSnapshot; 
import com.google.firebase.firestore.FirebaseFirestore; 
import com.google.firebase.firestore.QuerySnapshot; 
  
import java.util.ArrayList; 
import java.util.List; 
  
public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity { 
  
    // creating a variable for our  
    // grid view, arraylist and  
    // firebase Firestore. 
    GridView coursesGV; 
    ArrayList<DataModal> dataModalArrayList; 
    FirebaseFirestore db; 
  
    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) { 
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState); 
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main); 
          
        // below line is use to initialize our variables. 
        coursesGV = findViewById(R.id.idGVCourses); 
        dataModalArrayList = new ArrayList<>(); 
  
        // initializing our variable for firebase 
        // firestore and getting its instance. 
        db = FirebaseFirestore.getInstance(); 
         
        // here we are calling a method  
        // to load data in our list view. 
        loadDatainGridView(); 
    } 
  
    private void loadDatainGridView() { 
        // below line is use to get data from Firebase 
        // firestore using collection in android. 
        db.collection("Data").get() 
                .addOnSuccessListener(new OnSuccessListener<QuerySnapshot>() { 
                    @Override
                    public void onSuccess(QuerySnapshot queryDocumentSnapshots) { 
                        // after getting the data we are calling on success method 
                        // and inside this method we are checking if the received  
                        // query snapshot is empty or not. 
                        if (!queryDocumentSnapshots.isEmpty()) { 
                            // if the snapshot is not empty we are hiding our 
                            // progress bar and adding our data in a list. 
                            List<DocumentSnapshot> list = queryDocumentSnapshots.getDocuments(); 
                            for (DocumentSnapshot d : list) { 
                                  
                                // after getting this list we are passing 
                                // that list to our object class. 
                                DataModal dataModal = d.toObject(DataModal.class); 
                                  
                                // after getting data from Firebase  
                                // we are storing that data in our array list 
                                dataModalArrayList.add(dataModal); 
                            } 
                            // after that we are passing our array list to our adapter class. 
                            CoursesGVAdapter adapter = new CoursesGVAdapter(MainActivity.this, dataModalArrayList); 
                             
                            // after passing this array list  
                            // to our adapter class we are setting  
                            // our adapter to our list view. 
                            coursesGV.setAdapter(adapter); 
                        } else { 
                            // if the snapshot is empty we are displaying a toast message. 
                            Toast.makeText(MainActivity.this, "No data found in Database", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show(); 
                        } 
                    } 
                }).addOnFailureListener(new OnFailureListener() { 
            @Override
            public void onFailure(@NonNull Exception e) { 
                // we are displaying a toast message  
                // when we get any error from Firebase. 
                Toast.makeText(MainActivity.this, "Fail to load data..", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show(); 
            } 
        }); 
    } 
}

After adding the above code add the data to Firebase Firestore in Android.

Step 9: Adding the data to Firebase Firestore in Android

Search for Firebase in your browser and go to that website and you will get to see the below screen.

After clicking on Go to Console option. Click on your project which is shown below.

After clicking on your project you will get to see the below screen. After clicking on this project you will get to see the below screen.

After clicking on the Create Database option you will get to see the below screen.

Inside this screen, we have to select the Start in test mode option. We are using test mode because we are not setting authentication inside our app. So we are selecting Start in test mode. After selecting test mode click on the Next option and you will get to see the below screen.

Inside this screen, we just have to click on the Enable button to enable our Firebase Firestore database. After completing this process we have to add the data inside our Firebase Console. For adding data to our Firebase Console.

You have to click on Start Collection Option and give the collection name as Data. After creating a collection you have to click on Autoid option for creating the first document. Then create two fields, one filed for “name” and one filed for “imgUrl” and enter the corresponding values for them. Note that specify the image URL link in the value for the imgUrl filed. And click on the Save button. Your first image to the Data has been added.