When a parcelable object is passed through an intent, does it update with references to the original object?

Question

Lets say I have a Product object that has a pricetag property. I also have a List of Stores, each with its own list of Products.

Specifically, Product p has price $9.99, and a Store s which is in the Store list had p in its product list.

I have this store List in an android activity, and I pass Product p to another activity through an intent, and then change that object's price in the new Activity. Once I finish this new Activity and return to the old one, are the changes made to that object reflected in Store s's product list?

Answer 1

No the references are not maintained. A parcel is:

Container for a message (data and object references) that can be sent through an IBinder. A Parcel can contain both flattened data that will be unflattened on the other side of the IPC (using the various methods here for writing specific types, or the general Parcelable interface), and references to live IBinder objects that will result in the other side receiving a proxy IBinder connected with the original IBinder in the Parcel.

If you look at any parcelable, there is a CREATOR. That creates a new object out of the Parcel. For example:

 public static final Creator<Employee> CREATOR = new Creator<Employee>() {
    @Override
    public Employee createFromParcel(Parcel in) {
        return new Employee(in);
    }

    @Override
    public Employee[] newArray(int size) {
        return new Employee[size];
    }
};

So you if want any data back from another activity, use startActivityForResult as Lawrance mentioned.