React to Changes - Java SDK

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Realm objects accessed on a thread associated with a Looper automatically update periodically to reflect changes to underlying data.

The Android UI thread always contains a Looper instance. If you need to keep Realm objects around for long periods of time on any other thread, you should configure a Looper for that thread.

Register a Realm Change Listener

You can register a notification handler on an entire realm. Realm calls the notification handler whenever any write transaction involving that realm is committed. The handler receives no information about the change.

This is useful when you want to know that there has been a change but do not care to know specifically what changed. For example, proof of concept apps often use this notification type and simply refresh the entire UI when anything changes. As the app becomes more sophisticated and performance-sensitive, the app developers shift to more granular notifications.

public class MyActivity extends Activity {
    private Realm realm;
    private RealmChangeListener realmListener;
    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        realm = Realm.getDefaultInstance();
        realmListener = new RealmChangeListener<Realm>() {
            @Override
            public void onChange(Realm realm) {
              // ... do something with the updates (UI, etc.) ...
            }
          };
        // Observe realm notifications.
        realm.addChangeListener(realmListener);
    }
    @Override
    protected void onDestroy() {
        super.onDestroy();
        // Remove the listener.
        realm.removeChangeListener(realmListener);
        // Close the Realm instance.
        realm.close();
    }
}

class MyActivity : Activity() {
    private lateinit var realm: Realm
    private lateinit var realmListener: RealmChangeListener<Realm>
    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
        realm = Realm.getDefaultInstance()
        realmListener = RealmChangeListener {
            // ... do something with the updates (UI, etc.) ...
        }
        // Observe realm notifications.
        realm.addChangeListener(realmListener)
    }
    override fun onDestroy() {
        super.onDestroy()
        // Remove the listener.
        realm.removeChangeListener(realmListener)
        // Close the Realm instance.
        realm.close()
    }
}

Register a Collection Change Listener

You can register a notification handler on a specific collection within a realm. The handler receives a description of changes since the last notification. Specifically, this description consists of three lists of indices:

• The indices of the objects that were deleted.

• The indices of the objects that were inserted.

• The indices of the objects that were modified.

Stop notification delivery by calling the removeChangeListener() or removeAllChangeListeners() methods. Notifications also stop if:

• the object on which the listener is registered gets garbage collected.

• the realm instance closes.

Keep a strong reference to the object you're listening to for as long as you need the notifications.

Realm emits an initial notification after retrieving the collection. After that, Realm delivers collection notifications asynchronously whenever a write transaction adds, changes, or removes objects in the collection.

Unlike realm notifications, collection notifications contain detailed information about the change. This enables sophisticated and selective reactions to changes. Collection notifications provide all the information needed to manage a list or other view that represents the collection in the UI.

The following code shows how to observe a collection for changes with addChangeListener():

RealmResults<Dog> dogs = realm.where(Dog.class).findAll();
// Set up the collection notification handler.
OrderedRealmCollectionChangeListener<RealmResults<Dog>> changeListener = (collection, changeSet) -> {
    // For deletions, notify the UI in reverse order if removing elements the UI
    OrderedCollectionChangeSet.Range[] deletions = changeSet.getDeletionRanges();
    for (int i = deletions.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
        OrderedCollectionChangeSet.Range range = deletions[i];
        Log.v("EXAMPLE", range.length + " dogs deleted at " + range.startIndex);
    }
    OrderedCollectionChangeSet.Range[] insertions = changeSet.getInsertionRanges();
    for (OrderedCollectionChangeSet.Range range : insertions) {
        Log.v("EXAMPLE", range.length + " dogs inserted at " + range.startIndex);
    }
    OrderedCollectionChangeSet.Range[] modifications = changeSet.getChangeRanges();
    for (OrderedCollectionChangeSet.Range range : modifications) {
        Log.v("EXAMPLE", range.length + " dogs modified at " + range.startIndex);
    }
};
// Observe collection notifications.
dogs.addChangeListener(changeListener);

val dogs = realm.where(Dog::class.java).findAll()
// Set up the collection notification handler.
val changeListener =
    OrderedRealmCollectionChangeListener { collection: RealmResults<Dog>?, changeSet: OrderedCollectionChangeSet ->
        // For deletions, notify the UI in reverse order if removing elements the UI
        val deletions = changeSet.deletionRanges
        for (i in deletions.indices.reversed()) {
            val range = deletions[i]
            Log.v("EXAMPLE", "${range.length} dogs deleted at ${range.startIndex}")
        }
        val insertions = changeSet.insertionRanges
        for (range in insertions) {
            Log.v("EXAMPLE", "${range.length} dogs inserted at ${range.startIndex}")
        }
        val modifications = changeSet.changeRanges
        for (range in modifications) {
            Log.v("EXAMPLE", "${range.length} dogs modified at ${range.startIndex}")
        }
    }
// Observe collection notifications.
dogs.addChangeListener(changeListener)

Register an Object Change Listener

You can register a notification handler on a specific object within a realm. Realm notifies your handler:

• When the object is deleted.

• When any of the object's properties change.

The handler receives information about what fields changed and whether the object was deleted.

Stop notification delivery by calling the removeChangeListener() or removeAllChangeListeners() methods. Notifications also stop if:

• the object on which the listener is registered gets garbage collected.

• the realm instance closes.

Keep a strong reference of the object you're listening to for as long as you need the notifications.

The following code shows how create a new instance of a class in a realm and observe that instance for changes with addChangeListener():

// Create a dog in the realm.
AtomicReference<Dog> dog = new AtomicReference<Dog>();
realm.executeTransaction(transactionRealm -> {
    dog.set(transactionRealm.createObject(Dog.class, new ObjectId()));
    dog.get().setName("Max");
});
// Set up the listener.
RealmObjectChangeListener<Dog> listener = (changedDog, changeSet) -> {
    if (changeSet.isDeleted()) {
        Log.i("EXAMPLE", "The dog was deleted");
        return;
    }
    for (String fieldName : changeSet.getChangedFields()) {
        Log.i("EXAMPLE", "Field '" + fieldName + "' changed.");
    }
};
// Observe object notifications.
dog.get().addChangeListener(listener);
// Update the dog to see the effect.
realm.executeTransaction(r -> {
    dog.get().setName("Wolfie"); // -> "Field 'name' was changed."
});

// Create a dog in the realm.
var dog = Dog()
realm.executeTransaction { transactionRealm ->
    dog = transactionRealm.createObject(Dog::class.java, ObjectId())
    dog.name = "Max"
}
// Set up the listener.
val listener = RealmObjectChangeListener { changedDog: Dog?, changeSet: ObjectChangeSet? ->
    if (changeSet!!.isDeleted) {
        Log.i("EXAMPLE", "The dog was deleted")
    } else {
        for (fieldName in changeSet.changedFields) {
            Log.i(
                "EXAMPLE",
                "Field '$fieldName' changed."
            )
        }
    }
}
// Observe object notifications.
dog.addChangeListener(listener)
// Update the dog to see the effect.
realm.executeTransaction { r: Realm? ->
    dog.name = "Wolfie" // -> "Field 'name' was changed."
}

Unregister a Change Listener

You can unregister a change listener by passing your change listener to Realm.removeChangeListener(). You can unregister all change listeners currently subscribed to changes in a realm or any of its linked objects or collections with Realm.removeAllChangeListeners().

Use Realm in System Apps on Custom ROMs

Realm uses named pipes in order to support notifications and access to the realm file from multiple processes. While this is allowed by default for normal user apps, it is disallowed for system apps.

You can define a system apps by setting android:sharedUserId="android.uid.system" in the Android manifest. When working with a system app, you may see a security violation in Logcat that looks something like this:

05-24 14:08:08.984  6921  6921 W .realmsystemapp: type=1400 audit(0.0:99): avc: denied { write } for name="realm.testapp.com.realmsystemapp-Bfqpnjj4mUvxWtfMcOXBCA==" dev="vdc" ino=14660 scontext=u:r:system_app:s0 tcontext=u:object_r:apk_data_file:s0 tclass=dir permissive=0
05-24 14:08:08.984  6921  6921 W .realmsystemapp: type=1400 audit(0.0:100): avc: denied { write } for name="realm.testapp.com.realmsystemapp-Bfqpnjj4mUvxWtfMcOXBCA==" dev="vdc" ino=14660 scontext=u:r:system_app:s0 tcontext=u:object_r:apk_data_file:s0 tclass=dir permissive=0

In order to fix this you need to adjust the SELinux security rules in the ROM. This can be done by using the tool audit2allow, which ships as part of AOSP:

1. Pull the current policy from the device:

   adb pull /sys/fs/selinux/policy

2. Copy the SELinux error inside a text file called input.txt.

3. Run the audit2allow tool:

   audit2allow -p policy -i input.txt

4. The tool should output a rule you can add to your existing policy to enable the use of Realm.

An example of such a policy is provided below:

# Allow system_app to create named pipes required by Realm
# Credit: https://github.com/mikalackis/platform_vendor_ariel/blob/master_oreo/sepolicy/system_app.te
allow system_app fuse:fifo_file create;
allow system_app system_app_data_file:fifo_file create;
allow system_app system_app_data_file:fifo_file { read write };
allow system_app system_app_data_file:fifo_file open;

Change Notification Limits

Changes in nested documents deeper than four levels down do not trigger change notifications.

If you have a data structure where you need to listen for changes five levels down or deeper, workarounds include:

• Refactor the schema to reduce nesting.

• Add something like "push-to-refresh" to enable users to manually refresh data.