Data binding List of custom items

Question

How do I bind a List of custom items to a ListView or a RecyclerView? Using only Android DEFAULT DataBinding (no external library)

<layout>
    <data>
        <import type="java.util.List"/>
        <variable name="listOfString" type="List&lt;String>"/>
    </data>

    <ListView
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:?????="@{listOfString}/>  <!--Like we have ItemsSource in WPF-->

</layout>

I came from WPF background, in which there is a ItemTemplate option. Using ItemTemplate you can map data to your view purely through XML. Something like:

<ListView ItemsSource="{Binding Path=UserCollection}">
  <ListView.ItemTemplate>
    <!--Populate template with each user data-->
    <DataTemplate>
      <WrapPanel>
        <!--Bind to user.Name-->
        <TextBlock Text="{Binding Name}" FontWeight="Bold" />
        <TextBlock Text="{Binding Age}" FontWeight="Bold" />
        <TextBlock Text="{Binding Mail}" />
      </WrapPanel>
    </DataTemplate>
  </ListView.ItemTemplate>
</ListView>

Answer 1

If this can help someone, sounds to me that what you are looking for are Binding adadpters from DataBinding feature.

More info can be found here: https://developer.android.com/topic/libraries/data-binding/binding-adapters

This will allow you to define custom property that can be used inside xml and pass a list of items that you need.

@BindingAdapter("nameOfProperty")
public static void loadImage(ListView listView, List listOfString) {
  // do the actual logic here
}

This can then be used in xml like app:nameOfPropery="@{listOfString}"