onCreateView fragment on tabhost called every time I change the tab

Question

I am using tab host with fragment, the following is the code of the main activity

public class HomeActivity extends Activity{

private FragmentTabHost                 mTabHost;
private ArrayList<CustomTabIndicator>   mCustomTabIndicator;
private ArrayList<BaseFragment>         mTabFragments;


private class CustomTabIndicator {

    private int mIdResId;
    private int mTitleResId;
    private int mIconResId;

    public CustomTabIndicator(int idResId, int titleResId, int iconResId) {

        this.mIdResId = idResId;
        this.mTitleResId = titleResId;
        this.mIconResId = iconResId;
    }
}

@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {

    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.activity_home_screen);

    mTabHost = (FragmentTabHost) findViewById(android.R.id.tabhost);
    mTabHost.setup(this, getSupportFragmentManager(), R.id.realtabcontent);

    initializeTabIndicatorsAndFragments();
    addTabIndicatorsToTabHost();
}

private void initializeTabIndicatorsAndFragments() {

    mCustomTabIndicator = new ArrayList<HomeActivity.CustomTabIndicator>();

    mCustomTabIndicator.add(new CustomTabIndicator(R.string.tab_dashboard,
            R.string.tab_dashboard, R.drawable.tab_dashboard));

    mCustomTabIndicator.add(new CustomTabIndicator(R.string.tab_feed,
            R.string.tab_feed, R.drawable.tab_feed));

    mCustomTabIndicator.add(new CustomTabIndicator(R.string.tab_lists,
            R.string.tab_lists, R.drawable.tab_lists));

    mCustomTabIndicator.add(new CustomTabIndicator(R.string.tab_me,
            R.string.tab_me, R.drawable.tab_me));

    mTabFragments = new ArrayList<BaseFragment>();


    mTabFragments.add(new DashboardFragment());
    mTabFragments.add(new FeedFragment());
    mTabFragments.add(new ListsFragment());
    mTabFragments.add(new MeFragment());
}

private void addTabIndicatorsToTabHost() {

    for (int i = 0; i < mCustomTabIndicator.size(); i++) {
        mTabHost.addTab(
                mTabHost.newTabSpec(
                        getString(mCustomTabIndicator.get(i).mIdResId))
                        .setIndicator(
                                createTabView(
                                        this,
                                        mCustomTabIndicator.get(i).mTitleResId,
                                        mCustomTabIndicator.get(i).mIconResId)),
                mTabFragments.get(i).getClass(), null);
    }

}

@SuppressLint("InflateParams")
private View createTabView(final Context context, final int textStringId,
        final int imageResId) {

    View view = LayoutInflater.from(context).inflate(
            R.layout.fragment_tab_header_image_text_layout, null);

    ImageView tabIV = (ImageView) view.findViewById(R.id.tab_icon);
    tabIV.setImageResource(imageResId);
    //TextView titleTV = (TextView) view.findViewById(R.id.tab_title);
    //titleTV.setText(textStringId);
    return view;
}
} 

This is the code of one of the fragements

public class MeFragment extends BaseFragment {

private View                    mFragementView;

@Override
public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container,
        Bundle savedInstanceState) {

    Log.i("AMIRA", "MeFragment - onCreateView");
    mFragementView = inflater.inflate(R.layout.fragment_me_screen,container, false);

    initializeUIComponents();
    initializeUIComponentsData();
    initializeUIComponentsTheme();
    initializeUIComponentsAction();

    return mFragementView;

}
}

The problem now that onCreateView called every time I change the tab, and take long time to render and draw the content of fragment.

So I have tried the following code

public class MeFragment extends BaseFragment {

private View                    mFragementView;

@Override
public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container,
        Bundle savedInstanceState) {

    if (mFragementView != null) {
        return mFragementView;
    } else {    
        Log.i("AMIRA", "MeFragment - onCreateView");
        mFragementView = inflater.inflate(R.layout.fragment_me_screen,container, false);

        initializeUIComponents();
        initializeUIComponentsData();
        initializeUIComponentsTheme();
        initializeUIComponentsAction();

        return mFragementView;
    }

}
}

and i got the following exception

java.lang.IllegalStateException: The specified child already has a parent. You must call removeView() on the child's parent first.

so can anyone help here ?

Answer 1

First, about the java.lang.IllegalStateException,

You haven't initialized mFragmentView.

Say something like:

mFragmentView = (View)getActivity().findViewById(R.id.mFragmentView);

or:

mFragmentView = (View)getActivity().findFragmentById(R.id.mFragmentView);

---

Second about the Fragment changing every time you change the tab. Try this: add setRetainInstance(true); to the Fragments onAttach() or onCreateView().

---

Open for correction, as always! Regards, Edward Quixote.