CursorLoader usage without ContentProvider

Android SDK documentation says that startManagingCursor() method is depracated:

> This method is deprecated. Use the new CursorLoader class with LoaderManager instead; this is also available on older platforms through the Android compatibility package. This method allows the activity to take care of managing the given Cursor's lifecycle for you based on the activity's lifecycle. That is, when the activity is stopped it will automatically call deactivate() on the given Cursor, and when it is later restarted it will call requery() for you. When the activity is destroyed, all managed Cursors will be closed automatically. If you are targeting HONEYCOMB or later, consider instead using LoaderManager instead, available via getLoaderManager()

So I would like to use CursorLoader. But how can I use it with custom CursorAdapter and without ContentProvider, when I needs URI in constructor of CursorLoader?

I wrote a simple CursorLoader that does not need a content provider:

import android.content.Context;
import android.database.Cursor;
import android.support.v4.content.AsyncTaskLoader;

/**
 * Used to write apps that run on platforms prior to Android 3.0. When running
 * on Android 3.0 or above, this implementation is still used; it does not try
 * to switch to the framework's implementation. See the framework SDK
 * documentation for a class overview.
 *
 * This was based on the CursorLoader class
 */
public abstract class SimpleCursorLoader extends AsyncTaskLoader<Cursor> {
    private Cursor mCursor;

    public SimpleCursorLoader(Context context) {
        super(context);
    }

    /* Runs on a worker thread */
    @Override
    public abstract Cursor loadInBackground();

    /* Runs on the UI thread */
    @Override
    public void deliverResult(Cursor cursor) {
        if (isReset()) {
            // An async query came in while the loader is stopped
            if (cursor != null) {
                cursor.close();
            }
            return;
        }
        Cursor oldCursor = mCursor;
        mCursor = cursor;

        if (isStarted()) {
            super.deliverResult(cursor);
        }

        if (oldCursor != null && oldCursor != cursor && !oldCursor.isClosed()) {
            oldCursor.close();
        }
    }

    /**
     * Starts an asynchronous load of the contacts list data. When the result is ready the callbacks
     * will be called on the UI thread. If a previous load has been completed and is still valid
     * the result may be passed to the callbacks immediately.
     * <p/>
     * Must be called from the UI thread
     */
    @Override
    protected void onStartLoading() {
        if (mCursor != null) {
            deliverResult(mCursor);
        }
        if (takeContentChanged() || mCursor == null) {
            forceLoad();
        }
    }

    /**
     * Must be called from the UI thread
     */
    @Override
    protected void onStopLoading() {
        // Attempt to cancel the current load task if possible.
        cancelLoad();
    }

    @Override
    public void onCanceled(Cursor cursor) {
        if (cursor != null && !cursor.isClosed()) {
            cursor.close();
        }
    }

    @Override
    protected void onReset() {
        super.onReset();

        // Ensure the loader is stopped
        onStopLoading();

        if (mCursor != null && !mCursor.isClosed()) {
            mCursor.close();
        }
        mCursor = null;
    }
}

It only needs the AsyncTaskLoader class. Either the one in Android 3.0 or higher, or the one that comes with the compatibility package.

I also wrote a ListLoader which is compatible with the LoadManager and is used to retrieve a generic java.util.List collection.

Write your own loader that uses your database class instead of a content provider. The easiest way is just to take the source of the CursorLoader class from the compatibility library, and replace provider queries with queries to your own db helper class.

The SimpleCursorLoader is a simple solution, however it doesn't support updating the loader when the data changes. CommonsWare has a loaderex library that adds a SQLiteCursorLoader and supports re-query on data changes.

https://github.com/commonsguy/cwac-loaderex

A third option would be to simply override loadInBackground:

public class CustomCursorLoader extends CursorLoader {
    private final ForceLoadContentObserver mObserver = new ForceLoadContentObserver();

    @Override
	public Cursor loadInBackground() {
	    Cursor cursor = ... // get your cursor from wherever you like

	    if (cursor != null) {
	        // Ensure the cursor window is filled
	        cursor.getCount();
	        cursor.registerContentObserver(mObserver);
	    }

	    return cursor;
	}
};

This will also take care of re-querying your cursor when the database changes.

Only caveat: You'll have to define another observer, since Google in it's infinite wisdom decided to make theirs package private. If you put the class into the same package as the original one (or the compat one) you can actually use the original observer. The observer is a very lightweight object and isn't used anywhere else, so this doesn't make much of a difference.

The third option proposed by Timo Ohr, together with the comments by Yeung, provide the simplest answer (Occam's razor). Below is an example of a complete class that works for me. There are two rules for using this class.

1. Extend this abstract class and implement methods getCursor() and getContentUri().

2. Any time that the underlying database changes (e.g., after an insert or delete), make sure to call

   getContentResolver().notifyChange(myUri, null);
   

where myUri is the same one returned from your implementation of method getContentUri().

Here is the code for the class that I used:

package com.example.project;

import android.content.Context;
import android.database.Cursor;
import android.content.CursorLoader;
import android.content.Loader;

public abstract class AbstractCustomCursorLoader extends CursorLoader
  {
    private final Loader.ForceLoadContentObserver mObserver = new Loader.ForceLoadContentObserver();

    public AbstractCustomCursorLoader(Context context)
      {
        super(context);
      }

    @Override
    public Cursor loadInBackground()
      {
        Cursor cursor = getCursor();

        if (cursor != null)
          {
            // Ensure the cursor window is filled
            cursor.getCount();
            cursor.registerContentObserver(mObserver);
          }
    
        cursor.setNotificationUri(getContext().getContentResolver(), getContentUri());
        return cursor;
      }
    
    protected abstract Cursor getCursor();
    protected abstract Uri getContentUri();
  }