How do I populate a spinner with a list of objects and not just strings?

Question

Hello I'm new at Android. I want to populate a Spinner with a list of objects. I have googled how to do it but I just find examples with an array of strings.

Can any one help me?

This is my code:

Categories class:

public class Categories 
{
    @com.google.gson.annotations.SerializedName("id")
    private String mId;

    @com.google.gson.annotations.SerializedName("name")
    private String mName;

    public Categories()
    {}

    public Categories(String id, String name)
    {
        this.setId(id);
        this.setName(name);
    }

    @Override
    public String toString() 
    {
        return mName;
    }

//  ********    GET     *************
    public String getId()
    {
        return mId;
    }

    public String getName()
    {
        return mName;
    }

//  ********    SET     *************

    public final void setId(String id)
    {
        mId = id;
    }

    public final void setName(String name)
    {
        mName = name;
    }
}

This is my Activity code:

public class AgregarActividadActivity extends ActionBarActivity 
{

    private MobileServiceClient mClient;
    private MobileServiceTable<Activities> mActivitiesTable;
    private MobileServiceTable<Categories> mCategoriesTable;
    private MobileServiceTable<Projects> mProjectsTable;


    private EditText mTxtTitulo;
    private EditText mTxtDescr;
    String categryId = null;
    List<Categories> catList = new ArrayList<Categories>();

    Spinner spEstado;



    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) 
    {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.fragment_agregar_actividad);

        try 
        {
            mClient = new MobileServiceClient(
                    "https://site.azure-mobile.net/",
                    "AppKey", 
                    this);
            mActivitiesTable = mClient.getTable(Activities.class);
            mCategoriesTable = mClient.getTable(Categories.class);
        } 
        catch (MalformedURLException e) 
        {
            createAndShowDialogExc(new Exception("There was an error creating the Mobile Service. Verify the URL"), "Error");
        }

        mTxtTitulo = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.txtTitulo);
        mTxtDescr = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.txtDescripcion);
        getCategories();

        spEstado = (Spinner)this.findViewById(R.id.spEstado);

        ArrayAdapter<Categories> Adapter = new ArrayAdapter<Categories>(this,
                android.R.layout.simple_spinner_item, catList);
        Adapter.setDropDownViewResource(android.R.layout.simple_spinner_dropdown_item);
        spEstado.setAdapter(Adapter);
        spEstado.setOnItemSelectedListener(
                new AdapterView.OnItemSelectedListener() {
                    public void onItemSelected(
                            AdapterView<?> parent, 
                            View view, 
                            int position, 
                            long id) {
                        Categories item = (Categories) parent.getItemAtPosition(position);
                    }

                    public void onNothingSelected(AdapterView<?> parent) {
                    }
                }
            );

        spProjects = (Spinner)this.findViewById(R.id.spProyecto);
        ArrayAdapter<Projects> proAdapter = new ArrayAdapter<Projects>(this,
                android.R.layout.simple_spinner_item, proList);
        proAdapter.setDropDownViewResource(android.R.layout.simple_spinner_dropdown_item);
        spProjects.setAdapter(proAdapter);

    }

    private void getCategories()
    {
        mCategoriesTable.execute(new TableQueryCallback<Categories>() 
        {
            public void onCompleted(List<Categories> result, int count, Exception exception, ServiceFilterResponse response) 
            {
                if (exception == null) 
                {
                    for (Categories item : result) 
                    {
                        catList.add(item);
                    }
                } 
                else 
                {
                    createAndShowDialog(exception, "Error");
                }
            }
        });
    }
}

I get the dropdownlist with the objects, but when I select one item, it is not displayed as the selected item, when the dropdownlist is hidden.

Any idea will help me! Thank you!!

Answer 1

You need to write a CustomAdapter for this. It is similar to writing a CustomAdapter for a ListView. You can look at Custom Adapter for List View for an idea