Estoy acostumbrado a poner una vista especial dentro del archivo de diseño como se describe en la ListActivitydocumentación que se mostrará cuando no haya datos . Esta vista tiene la identificación "android:id/empty".

<TextView
    android:id="@android:id/empty"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:text="@string/no_data" />

Me pregunto cómo se puede hacer esto con lo nuevo RecyclerView.

En el mismo diseño donde se define RecyclerView, agregue elTextView :

<android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView
    android:id="@+id/recycler_view"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:scrollbars="vertical" />

<TextView
    android:id="@+id/empty_view"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:gravity="center"
    android:visibility="gone"
    android:text="@string/no_data_available" />

En la onCreatedevolución de llamada o en la adecuada, verifica si el conjunto de datos que lo alimenta RecyclerViewestá vacío. Si el conjunto de datos está vacío, también RecyclerViewestá vacío. En ese caso, el mensaje aparece en la pantalla. Si no, cambie su visibilidad:

private RecyclerView recyclerView;
private TextView emptyView;

// ...

recyclerView = (RecyclerView) rootView.findViewById(R.id.recycler_view);
emptyView = (TextView) rootView.findViewById(R.id.empty_view);

// ...

if (dataset.isEmpty()) {
    recyclerView.setVisibility(View.GONE);
    emptyView.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
}
else {
    recyclerView.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
    emptyView.setVisibility(View.GONE);
}

Para mis proyectos hice esta solución ( RecyclerViewcon setEmptyViewmétodo):

public class RecyclerViewEmptySupport extends RecyclerView {
    private View emptyView;

    private AdapterDataObserver emptyObserver = new AdapterDataObserver() {


        @Override
        public void onChanged() {
            Adapter<?> adapter =  getAdapter();
            if(adapter != null && emptyView != null) {
                if(adapter.getItemCount() == 0) {
                    emptyView.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
                    RecyclerViewEmptySupport.this.setVisibility(View.GONE);
                }
                else {
                    emptyView.setVisibility(View.GONE);
                    RecyclerViewEmptySupport.this.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
                }
            }

        }
    };

    public RecyclerViewEmptySupport(Context context) {
        super(context);
    }

    public RecyclerViewEmptySupport(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
        super(context, attrs);
    }

    public RecyclerViewEmptySupport(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyle) {
        super(context, attrs, defStyle);
    }

    @Override
    public void setAdapter(Adapter adapter) {
        super.setAdapter(adapter);

        if(adapter != null) {
            adapter.registerAdapterDataObserver(emptyObserver);
        }

        emptyObserver.onChanged();
    }

    public void setEmptyView(View emptyView) {
        this.emptyView = emptyView;
    }
}

Y deberías usarlo en lugar de RecyclerViewclase:

<com.maff.utils.RecyclerViewEmptySupport android:id="@+id/list1"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    />

<TextView android:id="@+id/list_empty"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:text="Empty"
    />

y

RecyclerViewEmptySupport list = 
    (RecyclerViewEmptySupport)rootView.findViewById(R.id.list1);
list.setLayoutManager(new LinearLayoutManager(context));
list.setEmptyView(rootView.findViewById(R.id.list_empty));

Aquí hay una solución que usa solo un adaptador personalizado con un tipo de vista diferente para la situación vacía.

public class EventAdapter extends 
    RecyclerView.Adapter<EventAdapter.ViewHolder> {

    private static final int VIEW_TYPE_EVENT = 0;
    private static final int VIEW_TYPE_DATE = 1;
    private static final int VIEW_TYPE_EMPTY = 2;

    private ArrayList items;

    public EventAdapter(ArrayList items) {
        this.items = items;
    }

    @Override
    public int getItemCount() {
        if(items.size() == 0){
            return 1;
        }else {
            return items.size();
        }
    }

    @Override
    public int getItemViewType(int position) {
        if (items.size() == 0) {
            return VIEW_TYPE_EMPTY;
        }else{
            Object item = items.get(position);
            if (item instanceof Event) {
                return VIEW_TYPE_EVENT;
            } else {
                return VIEW_TYPE_DATE;
            }
        }
    }

    @Override
    public ViewHolder onCreateViewHolder(ViewGroup parent, int viewType) {
        View v;
        ViewHolder vh;
        if (viewType == VIEW_TYPE_EVENT) {
            v = LayoutInflater.from(parent.getContext()).inflate(
                R.layout.item_event, parent, false);
            vh = new ViewHolderEvent(v);
        } else if (viewType == VIEW_TYPE_DATE) {
            v = LayoutInflater.from(parent.getContext()).inflate(
                R.layout.item_event_date, parent, false);
            vh = new ViewHolderDate(v);
        } else {
            v = LayoutInflater.from(parent.getContext()).inflate(
                R.layout.item_event_empty, parent, false);
            vh = new ViewHolder(v);
        }

        return vh;
    }

    @Override
    public void onBindViewHolder(EventAdapter.ViewHolder viewHolder, 
                                 final int position) {
        int viewType = getItemViewType(position);
        if (viewType == VIEW_TYPE_EVENT) {
            //...
        } else if (viewType == VIEW_TYPE_DATE) {
            //...
        } else if (viewType == VIEW_TYPE_EMPTY) {
            //...
        }
    }

    public static class ViewHolder extends ParentViewHolder {
        public ViewHolder(View v) {
            super(v);
        }
    }

    public static class ViewHolderDate extends ViewHolder {

        public ViewHolderDate(View v) {
            super(v);
        }
    }

    public static class ViewHolderEvent extends ViewHolder {

        public ViewHolderEvent(View v) {
            super(v);
        }
    }

}

Yo uso ViewSwitcher

<ViewSwitcher
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:id="@+id/switcher"
    >

    <android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView
        android:id="@+id/list"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        />

    <TextView android:id="@+id/text_empty"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:text="@string/list_empty"
        android:gravity="center"
        />

</ViewSwitcher>

en el código verificará el cursor / conjunto de datos y cambiará de vista.

void showItems(Cursor items) {
    if (items.size() > 0) {

        mAdapter.switchCursor(items);

        if (R.id.list == mListSwitcher.getNextView().getId()) {
            mListSwitcher.showNext();
        }
    } else if (R.id.text_empty == mListSwitcher.getNextView().getId()) {
        mListSwitcher.showNext();
    }
}

También puede configurar animaciones si lo desea con un par de líneas de código

mListSwitcher.setInAnimation(slide_in_left);
mListSwitcher.setOutAnimation(slide_out_right);

Dado que la respuesta de Kevin no está completa.
Esta es la respuesta más correcta si usa RecyclerAdapter's notifyItemInsertedynotifyItemRemoved para actualizar el conjunto de datos. Vea la versión de Kotlin que otro usuario agregó a continuación.

Java:

mAdapter.registerAdapterDataObserver(new RecyclerView.AdapterDataObserver() {

    @Override
    public void onChanged() {
        super.onChanged();
        checkEmpty();
    }

    @Override
    public void onItemRangeInserted(int positionStart, int itemCount) {
        super.onItemRangeInserted(positionStart, itemCount);
        checkEmpty();
    }

    @Override
    public void onItemRangeRemoved(int positionStart, int itemCount) {
        super.onItemRangeRemoved(positionStart, itemCount);
        checkEmpty();
    }

    void checkEmpty() {
        mEmptyView.setVisibility(mAdapter.getItemCount() == 0 ? View.VISIBLE : View.GONE);
    }
});

Kotlin

adapter.registerAdapterDataObserver(object : RecyclerView.AdapterDataObserver() {
    override fun onChanged() {
        super.onChanged()
        checkEmpty()
    }

    override fun onItemRangeInserted(positionStart: Int, itemCount: Int) {
        super.onItemRangeInserted(positionStart, itemCount)
        checkEmpty()
    }

    override fun onItemRangeRemoved(positionStart: Int, itemCount: Int) {
        super.onItemRangeRemoved(positionStart, itemCount)
        checkEmpty()
    }

    fun checkEmpty() {
        empty_view.visibility = (if (adapter.itemCount == 0) View.VISIBLE else View.GONE)
    }
})

RVEmptyObserver

En lugar de utilizar una personalizada RecyclerView, extender una AdapterDataObserveres una solución más simple que permite configurar una personalizada Viewque se muestra cuando no hay elementos en la lista:

Ejemplo de uso:

RVEmptyObserver observer = new RVEmptyObserver(recyclerView, emptyView)
rvAdapter.registerAdapterDataObserver(observer);

Clase:

public class RVEmptyObserver extends RecyclerView.AdapterDataObserver {
    private View emptyView;
    private RecyclerView recyclerView;

    public RVEmptyObserver(RecyclerView rv, View ev) {
        this.recyclerView = rv;
        this.emptyView    = ev;
        checkIfEmpty();
    }

    private void checkIfEmpty() {
        if (emptyView != null && recyclerView.getAdapter() != null) {
            boolean emptyViewVisible = recyclerView.getAdapter().getItemCount() == 0;
            emptyView.setVisibility(emptyViewVisible ? View.VISIBLE : View.GONE);
            recyclerView.setVisibility(emptyViewVisible ? View.GONE : View.VISIBLE);
        }
    }

    public void onChanged() { checkIfEmpty(); }
    public void onItemRangeInserted(int positionStart, int itemCount) { checkIfEmpty(); }
    public void onItemRangeRemoved(int positionStart, int itemCount) { checkIfEmpty(); }
}

En el adaptador, getItemViewTypeverifique si el adaptador tiene 0 elementos y devuelve un viewType diferente si es así.

Luego, en su onCreateViewHoldercomprobación, si viewType es el que devolvió anteriormente e infla una vista diferente. En este caso, un archivo de diseño con ese TextView

EDITAR

Si esto todavía no funciona, es posible que desee establecer el tamaño de la vista mediante programación de esta manera:

Point size = new Point();
((WindowManager)itemView.getContext().getSystemService(Context.WINDOW_SERVICE)).getDefaultDisplay().getSize(size);

Y luego, cuando infla su llamada de vista:

inflatedView.getLayoutParams().height = size.y;
inflatedView.getLayoutParams().width = size.x;

Aquí está mi clase para mostrar vista vacía, reintentar vista (cuando falla la API de carga) y cargar el progreso para RecyclerView

public class RecyclerViewEmptyRetryGroup extends RelativeLayout {
    private RecyclerView mRecyclerView;
    private LinearLayout mEmptyView;
    private LinearLayout mRetryView;
    private ProgressBar mProgressBar;
    private OnRetryClick mOnRetryClick;

    public RecyclerViewEmptyRetryGroup(Context context) {
        this(context, null);
    }

    public RecyclerViewEmptyRetryGroup(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
        this(context, attrs, 0);
    }

    public RecyclerViewEmptyRetryGroup(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyleAttr) {
        super(context, attrs, defStyleAttr);
    }

    @Override
    public void onViewAdded(View child) {
        super.onViewAdded(child);
        if (child.getId() == R.id.recyclerView) {
            mRecyclerView = (RecyclerView) findViewById(R.id.recyclerView);
            return;
        }
        if (child.getId() == R.id.layout_empty) {
            mEmptyView = (LinearLayout) findViewById(R.id.layout_empty);
            return;
        }
        if (child.getId() == R.id.layout_retry) {
            mRetryView = (LinearLayout) findViewById(R.id.layout_retry);
            mRetryView.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
                @Override
                public void onClick(View v) {
                    mRetryView.setVisibility(View.GONE);
                    mOnRetryClick.onRetry();
                }
            });
            return;
        }
        if (child.getId() == R.id.progress_bar) {
            mProgressBar = (ProgressBar) findViewById(R.id.progress_bar);
        }
    }

    public void loading() {
        mRetryView.setVisibility(View.GONE);
        mEmptyView.setVisibility(View.GONE);
        mProgressBar.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
    }

    public void empty() {
        mEmptyView.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
        mRetryView.setVisibility(View.GONE);
        mProgressBar.setVisibility(View.GONE);
    }

    public void retry() {
        mRetryView.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
        mEmptyView.setVisibility(View.GONE);
        mProgressBar.setVisibility(View.GONE);
    }

    public void success() {
        mRetryView.setVisibility(View.GONE);
        mEmptyView.setVisibility(View.GONE);
        mProgressBar.setVisibility(View.GONE);
    }

    public RecyclerView getRecyclerView() {
        return mRecyclerView;
    }

    public void setOnRetryClick(OnRetryClick onRetryClick) {
        mOnRetryClick = onRetryClick;
    }

    public interface OnRetryClick {
        void onRetry();
    }
}

actividad_xml

<...RecyclerViewEmptyRetryGroup
        android:id="@+id/recyclerViewEmptyRetryGroup">

        <android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView
            android:id="@+id/recyclerView"/>

        <LinearLayout
            android:id="@+id/layout_empty">
            ...
        </LinearLayout>

        <LinearLayout
            android:id="@+id/layout_retry">
            ...
        </LinearLayout>

        <ProgressBar
            android:id="@+id/progress_bar"/>

</...RecyclerViewEmptyRetryGroup>

La fuente está aquí https://github.com/PhanVanLinh/AndroidRecyclerViewWithLoadingEmptyAndRetry

Utilice AdapterDataObserver en RecyclerView personalizado

Kotlin:

RecyclerViewEnum.kt

enum class RecyclerViewEnum {
    LOADING,
    NORMAL,
    EMPTY_STATE
}

RecyclerViewEmptyLoadingSupport.kt

class RecyclerViewEmptyLoadingSupport : RecyclerView {

    var stateView: RecyclerViewEnum? = RecyclerViewEnum.LOADING
        set(value) {
            field = value
            setState()
        }
    var emptyStateView: View? = null
    var loadingStateView: View? = null


    constructor(context: Context) : super(context) {}

    constructor(context: Context, attrs: AttributeSet) : super(context, attrs) {}

    constructor(context: Context, attrs: AttributeSet, defStyle: Int) : super(context, attrs, defStyle) {}


    private val dataObserver = object : AdapterDataObserver() {
        override fun onChanged() {
            onChangeState()
        }

        override fun onItemRangeRemoved(positionStart: Int, itemCount: Int) {
            super.onItemRangeRemoved(positionStart, itemCount)
            onChangeState()
        }

        override fun onItemRangeInserted(positionStart: Int, itemCount: Int) {
            super.onItemRangeInserted(positionStart, itemCount)
            onChangeState()
        }
    }


    override fun setAdapter(adapter: RecyclerView.Adapter<*>?) {
        super.setAdapter(adapter)
        adapter?.registerAdapterDataObserver(dataObserver)
        dataObserver.onChanged()
    }


    fun onChangeState() {
        if (adapter?.itemCount == 0) {
            emptyStateView?.visibility = View.VISIBLE
            loadingStateView?.visibility = View.GONE
            this@RecyclerViewEmptyLoadingSupport.visibility = View.GONE
        } else {
            emptyStateView?.visibility = View.GONE
            loadingStateView?.visibility = View.GONE
            this@RecyclerViewEmptyLoadingSupport.visibility = View.VISIBLE
        }
    }

    private fun setState() {

        when (this.stateView) {
            RecyclerViewEnum.LOADING -> {
                loadingStateView?.visibility = View.VISIBLE
                this@RecyclerViewEmptyLoadingSupport.visibility = View.GONE
                emptyStateView?.visibility = View.GONE
            }

            RecyclerViewEnum.NORMAL -> {
                loadingStateView?.visibility = View.GONE
                this@RecyclerViewEmptyLoadingSupport.visibility = View.VISIBLE
                emptyStateView?.visibility = View.GONE
            }
            RecyclerViewEnum.EMPTY_STATE -> {
                loadingStateView?.visibility = View.GONE
                this@RecyclerViewEmptyLoadingSupport.visibility = View.GONE
                emptyStateView?.visibility = View.VISIBLE
            }
        }
    }
}

layout.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:orientation="vertical">

    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/emptyView"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:background="@color/white"
        android:gravity="center"
        android:orientation="vertical">

        <TextView
            android:id="@+id/emptyLabelTv"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:text="empty" />
    </LinearLayout>

    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/loadingView"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:background="@color/white"
        android:gravity="center"
        android:orientation="vertical">

        <ProgressBar
            android:id="@+id/progressBar"
            android:layout_width="45dp"
            android:layout_height="45dp"
            android:layout_gravity="center"
            android:indeterminate="true"
            android:theme="@style/progressBarBlue" />
    </LinearLayout>

    <com.peeyade.components.recyclerView.RecyclerViewEmptyLoadingSupport
        android:id="@+id/recyclerView"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent" />
</LinearLayout>

en actividad use de esta manera:

recyclerView?.apply {
        layoutManager = GridLayoutManager(context, 2)
        emptyStateView = emptyView
        loadingStateView = loadingView
        adapter = adapterGrid
    }

    // you can set LoadingView or emptyView manual
    recyclerView.stateView = RecyclerViewEnum.EMPTY_STATE
    recyclerView.stateView = RecyclerViewEnum.LOADING

Agregué una RecyclerViewalternativa ImageViewa RelativeLayout:

<RelativeLayout
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent">

    <ImageView
        android:id="@+id/no_active_jobs"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:src="@mipmap/ic_active_jobs" />

    <android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
        android:id="@+id/recyclerView"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent" />

</RelativeLayout>

y luego en Adapter:

@Override
public int getItemCount() {
    if (mOrders.size() == 0) {
        mRecyclerView.setVisibility(View.INVISIBLE);
    } else {
        mRecyclerView.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
    }
    return mOrders.size();
}

Una forma más es usar addOnChildAttachStateChangeListenerqué maneja las vistas secundarias que aparecen / desaparecen RecyclerView.

recyclerView.addOnChildAttachStateChangeListener(new RecyclerView.OnChildAttachStateChangeListener() {
            @Override
            public void onChildViewAttachedToWindow(@NonNull View view) {
                forEmptyTextView.setVisibility(View.INVISIBLE);
            }

            @Override
            public void onChildViewDetachedFromWindow(@NonNull View view) {
                forEmptyTextView.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
            }
        });

Solo en caso de que esté trabajando con un FirebaseRecyclerAdapter, esta publicación funciona como un encanto https://stackoverflow.com/a/39058636/6507009