android: how to use getApplication and getApplicationContext from non activity / service class

Question

I'm using extending application class on Android to share my data across the entire app.

I can use getApplication() method from all my activities.

However, there are certain custom helper classes I created; for example, an XMLHelper class which does not inherit from any activity / service class.

Here the getApplication() method is not available.

How do I sort this out and what are the best design practices to solve this?

Answer 1

The getApplication() method is located in the Activity class, that's why you can't access it from your helper class.

If you really need to access your application context from your helper, you should hold a reference to the activity's context and pass it on invocation to the helper.