Android Beginner: Adapter for simple view or direct DB query?

Question

First off I'm really new to android (< 4 days).

I'm trying to wrap my head around how database data is linked to Views and widgets.

I've done a few tutorials and I've noticed that Adapters are used to link AdapterViews which are (as I understand it) Views which contain a bunch of identical subviews (eg lists, gallery, etc). So the Adapter is responsible for creating those subviews and populating the data for each one (correct me if I'm wrong).

Now let's say I have a list view which lists Hotels for example. Each row in the list has the Hotel's name and a basic rating (eg 5 star). Now when you tap on a hotel in the list a new activity shows up showing the details of that particular hotel. All the data is in a database. I understand that you have an adapter manage the data<->view link for the list, but what's the best way to then manage data for the hotel details view (which is not a list but just a couple of text views and an image for example)?

Is it best to just pass the ID in the intent and then have the details activity fetch the data from the DB on its own (in this case do I store the query in the details activity?)? Or do you get all the fields you need and put those in the intent directly? Do you need an adapter for a view which doesn't actually generate lots of similar subviews?

I guess a summary of my question is what do you use instead of an adapter when you're not dealing with adapterviews but just simple straightforward single views.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Answer 1

Is it best to just pass the ID in the intent and then have the details activity fetch the data from the DB on its own (in this case do I store the query in the details activity?)?

That is what I would recommend.

Do you need an adapter for a view which doesn't actually generate lots of similar subviews?

No. You only use an Adapter with an AdapterView (ListView, Spinner, etc.)

I guess a summary of my question is what do you use instead of an adapter when you're not dealing with adapterviews but just simple straightforward single views.

Just the Cursor from the database. Get the fields from the (one) row in the Cursor, put them in the EditText widgets, and when the user makes changes, update the row.