parcelable

Android Parceling support for the Kotlinx Serialization library.

// Add to Android Intent
intent.putExtra(name = "com.example.MyModel", value = myModel, serializer = MyModel.serializer())

// Retrieve from Android Intent
val result =
    intent.getParcelableExtra(name = "com.example.MyModel", deserializer = MyModel.serializer())

check(result == myModel) // True

// Compose
val result = rememberSavable(serializer = MyModel.serializer()) { MyModel(...) }

All serialization for an Android or Multi-platform project can be handled from a single library, no need to create both custom Android Parcelers and Serializers. Use the Kotlinx Serialization library, and it will automatically work with Android's Parcel, Bundle, and Intent.

Project Status

This is an active project, however, updates may be slow and responses delayed. The core functionality of the project is already implemented, but I do not have the time or resources to constantly devote to the project. So, I will update and respond when I have time.

[!Note] Please consider making a contribution to support the development of this and my other open source projects. Thank you!

Background

I originally created this project when I was stuck in a Covid-19 quarantine lockdown during my trip to Thailand. I wanted a way to leverage kotlinx.serialization to handle the parcelable data for Android so that I didn't have to create verbose duplicate serialization logic, or leverage another Android specific library which complicated a multiplatform codebase. So I hacked up this project and it worked! Since then, I have made the project multiplatform and added additional functionality, including adding support for Compose Multiplatform.

The convenience of having to write serialization logic for models once, and then it just working regardless of the format is huge! With this library, you no longer have to write Android-specific parcelables, duplicate models, or rely on another annotation processor or compiler plugin. Simply use your existing serializable models, and use the Parcelable format whenever working with Android components (Intents, Bundles, Parcels, etc.).

Many organizations and individuals have utilized this project resulting in a peak of thousands of downloads per month. Unfortunately, fewer have made contributions. While this project is open source and free to use in accordance with its license, it takes time and resources to devote to a project like this: from ideation, creation, implementation, maintenance, bug fixing, communication, and hosting. Unfortunately, the amount of time and resources I have to maintaining this project continues to decline. I, like most people, have bills to pay and a life to live, so my time spent on this project will continue to decline unless there is incentive to keep it going. If you find this project useful and would like to keep it alive, please consider making a contribution, thank you!

Getting Started 🏁

The library is provided through Repsy.io. Checkout the releases page to get the latest version.

Repository

repositories {
    maven { url = uri("https://repo.repsy.io/mvn/chrynan/public") }
}

Dependency

Core

implementation("com.chrynan.parcelable:parcelable-core:$VERSION")

Compose

implementation("com.chrynan.parcelable:parcelable-compose:$VERSION")

Usage 👨‍💻

Set up the Parcelable object

Similar to the Json object introduced by the Kotlinx Serialization library, this library introduces a Parcelable object. The extension functions default to using the Parcelable.Default value if a Parcelable instance is not provided, but if customization is required, an instance can be created as follows:

val parcelable = Parcelable {
    serializersModule = mySerializersModule
}

Use Kotlinx Serialization

Utilize the Kotlinx Serialization to serialize your model classes. These classes can then be used with Android's Bundle, Intent, and Parcel objects.

@Serializable
data class MyModel(
    val intField: Int,
    val stringField: String,
    val nullableStringField: String? = null
)

Encode and decode models

Intents and Bundles

// Put
intent.putExtra(key, myModel, parcelable)
bundle.putParcelable(key, myModel, parcelable)

// Get
val myModel = intent.getParcelableExtra(key, parcelable)
val myModel = bundle.getParcelable(key, parcelable)

Parcels and Bundles

// To
parcelable.encodeToParcel(parcel, myModel)
val bundle = parcelable.encodeToBundle(myModel)

// From
val myModel = parcelable.decodeFromParcel(parcel)
val myModel = parcelable.decodeFromBundle(bundle)

Saver with Jetpack Compose

val model = rememberSavable(parcelable = parcelable, serializer = MyModel.serializer) { myModel }

Multiplatform

This library is a Kotlin Multi-platform library and supports Android, iOS, JVM, and JS Kotlin targets. The Parcelable and Parcel objects are available in the common source set and can be used to encode and decode models. Then, in platform specific code, the Parcels can be stored and retrieved between different components (ex: Android Intents).

// Common Code
val parcel = parcelable.encodeToParcel(serializer = MyModel.serializer(), value = myModel)

// Android Code
Bundle().readFromParcel(parcel)

Documentation 📃

More detailed documentation is available in the docs folder. The entry point to the documentation can be found here.

Sample

The sample-android module contains an Android App showcasing the use of this library and providing a means to test parceling different models.

Simply update the ExpectedModel.model value to be any Serializable class and run the application to test if the parceling worked.

Sample Screenshots

Security 🛡️

For security vulnerabilities, concerns, or issues, please responsibly disclose the information either by opening a public GitHub Issue or reaching out to the project owner.

Contributing ✍️

Outside contributions are welcome for this project. Please follow the code of conduct and coding conventions when contributing. If contributing code, please add thorough documents. and tests. Thank you!

Sponsorship ❤️

Support this project by becoming a sponsor of my work! And make sure to give the repository a ⭐

License ⚖️

Copyright 2021 chRyNaN

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License at

   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.