Implement Delete Messages Functionality in Social Media Android App

Last Updated : 23 May, 2024

This is the Part 15 of "Build a Social Media App on Android Studio" tutorial, and we are going to cover the following functionalities in this article:

We are going to delete the message in the ChatActivity.
We are going to delete text and image messages. When we click on a text then an AlertBox will come.
There will be two options to either delete that message or cancel the event. After Click on delete message will be deleted from both sides.

Step By Step Implementation

Step 1: Working with the AdapterChat.java file

We can delete a message only if we are the sender of the message. There are two methods to delete the message. You can use any one of them. In one, we have removed the value using datasnapshot and in another, we have updated the message as "This Message Was Deleted" as we see in WhatsApp.

if(dataSnapshot1.child("sender").getValue().equals(myuid)) {
// any two of below can be used
dataSnapshot1.getRef().removeValue();

// <----------------------------------->   
HashMap<String, Object> hashMap = new HashMap<>();
hashMap.put("message", "This Message Was Deleted");
dataSnapshot1.getRef().updateChildren(hashMap);
Toast.makeText(context,"Message Deleted.....",Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
}

Below is the code for the AdapterChat.java file.

Java

package com.example.socialmediaapp;

import android.app.AlertDialog;
import android.content.Context;
import android.content.DialogInterface;
import android.text.format.DateFormat;
import android.view.LayoutInflater;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.ViewGroup;
import android.widget.ImageView;
import android.widget.LinearLayout;
import android.widget.TextView;
import android.widget.Toast;

import androidx.annotation.NonNull;
import androidx.recyclerview.widget.RecyclerView;

import com.bumptech.glide.Glide;
import com.google.firebase.auth.FirebaseAuth;
import com.google.firebase.auth.FirebaseUser;
import com.google.firebase.database.DataSnapshot;
import com.google.firebase.database.DatabaseError;
import com.google.firebase.database.DatabaseReference;
import com.google.firebase.database.FirebaseDatabase;
import com.google.firebase.database.Query;
import com.google.firebase.database.ValueEventListener;

import java.util.Calendar;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Locale;

import de.hdodenhof.circleimageview.CircleImageView;

public class AdapterChat extends RecyclerView.Adapter<com.example.socialmediaapp.AdapterChat.Myholder> {
    private static final int MSG_TYPE_LEFT = 0;
    private static final int MSG_TYPR_RIGHT = 1;
    Context context;
    List<ModelChat> list;
    String imageurl;
    FirebaseUser firebaseUser;

    public AdapterChat(Context context, List<ModelChat> list, String imageurl) {
        this.context = context;
        this.list = list;
        this.imageurl = imageurl;
    }

    @NonNull
    @Override
    public Myholder onCreateViewHolder(@NonNull ViewGroup parent, int viewType) {
        if (viewType == MSG_TYPE_LEFT) {
            View view = LayoutInflater.from(context).inflate(R.layout.row_chat_left, parent, false);
            return new Myholder(view);
        } else {
            View view = LayoutInflater.from(context).inflate(R.layout.row_chat_right, parent, false);
            return new Myholder(view);
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void onBindViewHolder(@NonNull Myholder holder, final int position) {
        String message = list.get(position).getMessage();
        String timeStamp = list.get(position).getTimestamp();
        String type = list.get(position).getType();
        Calendar calendar = Calendar.getInstance(Locale.ENGLISH);
        calendar.setTimeInMillis(Long.parseLong(timeStamp));
        String timedate = DateFormat.format("dd/MM/yyyy hh:mm aa", calendar).toString();
        holder.message.setText(message);
        holder.time.setText(timedate);
        try {
            Glide.with(context).load(imageurl).into(holder.image);
        } catch (Exception e) {

        }
        if (type.equals("text")) {
            holder.message.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
            holder.mimage.setVisibility(View.GONE);
            holder.message.setText(message);
        } else {
            holder.message.setVisibility(View.GONE);
            holder.mimage.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
            Glide.with(context).load(message).into(holder.mimage);
        }

        holder.msglayput.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                AlertDialog.Builder builder = new AlertDialog.Builder(context);
                builder.setTitle("Delete Message");
                builder.setMessage("Are You Sure To Delete This Message");
                builder.setPositiveButton("Delete", new DialogInterface.OnClickListener() {
                    @Override
                    public void onClick(DialogInterface dialog, int which) {
                        deleteMsg(position);
                    }
                });
                builder.setNegativeButton("Cancel", new DialogInterface.OnClickListener() {
                    @Override
                    public void onClick(DialogInterface dialog, int which) {
                        dialog.dismiss();
                    }
                });
                builder.create().show();
            }
        });
    }

    private void deleteMsg(int position) {
        final String myuid = FirebaseAuth.getInstance().getCurrentUser().getUid();
        String msgtimestmp = list.get(position).getTimestamp();
        DatabaseReference dbref = FirebaseDatabase.getInstance().getReference().child("Chats");
        Query query = dbref.orderByChild("timestamp").equalTo(msgtimestmp);
        query.addListenerForSingleValueEvent(new ValueEventListener() {
            @Override
            public void onDataChange(@NonNull DataSnapshot dataSnapshot) {
                for (DataSnapshot dataSnapshot1 : dataSnapshot.getChildren()) {
                    if (dataSnapshot1.child("sender").getValue().equals(myuid)) {
                        // any two of below can be used
                        dataSnapshot1.getRef().removeValue();
                       /* HashMap<String, Object> hashMap = new HashMap<>();
                        hashMap.put("message", "This Message Was Deleted");
                        dataSnapshot1.getRef().updateChildren(hashMap);
                        Toast.makeText(context,"Message Deleted.....",Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
*/
                    } else {
                        Toast.makeText(context, "you can delete only your msg....", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
                    }
                }
            }

            @Override
            public void onCancelled(@NonNull DatabaseError databaseError) {

            }
        });
    }

    @Override
    public int getItemCount() {
        return list.size();
    }

    @Override
    public int getItemViewType(int position) {
        firebaseUser = FirebaseAuth.getInstance().getCurrentUser();
        if (list.get(position).getSender().equals(firebaseUser.getUid())) {
            return MSG_TYPR_RIGHT;
        } else {
            return MSG_TYPE_LEFT;
        }
    }

    class Myholder extends RecyclerView.ViewHolder {

        CircleImageView image;
        ImageView mimage;
        TextView message, time, isSee;
        LinearLayout msglayput;

        public Myholder(@NonNull View itemView) {
            super(itemView);
            image = itemView.findViewById(R.id.profilec);
            message = itemView.findViewById(R.id.msgc);
            time = itemView.findViewById(R.id.timetv);
            isSee = itemView.findViewById(R.id.isSeen);
            msglayput = itemView.findViewById(R.id.msglayout);
            mimage = itemView.findViewById(R.id.images);
        }
    }
}