Develop Reference

Dynamic UI Progress Updates using Interface + ExecutorService Issue

So I have a music application. I am trying to update the UI with the progress of the media player (like current time, current song, album cover) everytime the song changes. I found that using interfaces was a awesome magical way of communication between activity and fragments so I implemented an interface in my MusicManger class. My code will show what and how did it.
Two problems
1) Commented look below, ExecutorService seems to stop after one loop. No Errors in catch block (this is why I tagged with java)
2) Commented please look, All the System.out methods print but the UI doesn't update. I do believe I called the method from mainThread so it should update.
I'll show code in logical order will add titles in bold before code segment to tell you basic idea of code.
Passing UI references from fragment to MusicManager class, code below in Fragment class
public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container,
Bundle savedInstanceState) {
View view = inflater.inflate(R.layout.fragment_item_songlist, container, false);
// Set the adapter
TextView musicManagerSongName, musicManagerCurrent, musicManagerTotal;
ProgressBar musicManagerProgress;
ImageView musicManagerImageView;
mListView = (AbsListView) view.findViewById(R.id.slist);
musicManagerSongName = (TextView)view.findViewById(R.id.textView12);
musicManagerCurrent = (TextView)view.findViewById(R.id.textView10);
musicManagerTotal = (TextView)view.findViewById(R.id.textView11);
musicManagerProgress = (ProgressBar)view.findViewById(R.id.progressBar);
musicManagerImageView = (ImageView)view.findViewById(R.id.imageView2);
MainActivity.mediaPlayer.passUIReferences(musicManagerSongName, musicManagerCurrent, musicManagerTotal, musicManagerProgress, musicManagerImageView, view);
// line above is a method within MusicManager that takes the references will show code next!
ImageButton playbutton = (ImageButton)view.findViewById(R.id.playbuttonbar);
ImageButton nextButton = (ImageButton)view.findViewById(R.id.nextbuttonbar);
ImageButton backButton = (ImageButton)view.findViewById(R.id.backbuttonbar);
ImageButton toggleButton = (ImageButton)view.findViewById(R.id.shufflebuttonbar);
ImageButton pausebutton = (ImageButton)view.findViewById(R.id.pausebuttonbar);
playbutton.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.playbuttonbar);
playbutton.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
#Override
public void onClick(View v) {
try {
MainActivity.mediaPlayer.stateChange(1);
}catch(Exception e) {
}
}
});
backButton.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.backbutton1);
nextButton.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.nextbutton1);
toggleButton.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.shufflebuttonselected);
pausebutton.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.pausebutton1);
pausebutton.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
#Override
public void onClick(View v) {
try {
MainActivity.mediaPlayer.stateChange(0);
} catch (Exception e){
}
}
});
mListView.setAdapter(mAdapter);
((MainActivity) mListener).restoreActionBar();
return view;
}
As Commended above the code that is located in MusicManager class that takes references and stores them. Also shows interface implementation with MusicManager class. And the Executor service
public void passUIReferences(View... views) {
this.uiElements = views;
}
private ExecutorService executorService = Executors.newSingleThreadExecutor();
private MediaplayerUpdateInterface uiUpdateInterface;
public MediaPlayerManager(MediaplayerUpdateInterface inter) {
this.player = new MediaPlayer();
this.uiUpdateInterface = inter;
// The below line starts the single thread while loop for excutorservice and only loops and prints "this" once after I start one song then it never loops again
executorService.submit(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
while(true) {
if (player.isPlaying() && uiElements != null) {
System.out.println("this");
uiUpdateInterface.updateUI(uiElements, 0);
}
try {
Thread.sleep(500);
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
});
}
public interface MediaplayerUpdateInterface {
public void updateUI(View[] views, int type);
}
Finally some code from MainActivity class that actually is suppose to update the UI note that both println's work as expected but only once as stated above because of the executorservice issue
public static MediaPlayerManager mediaPlayer = new MediaPlayerManager(new MediaPlayerManager.MediaplayerUpdateInterface() {
#Override
public void updateUI(View[] views, int type) {
System.out.println("check1 " + type);
updateMediaplayerViews(views, type);
}
});
private static void updateMediaplayerViews(View[] views, int type)
{
switch(type) {
case 0:
System.out.println("that?");
((TextView)views[0]).setText(mediaPlayer.getCurrentSongInfo().getName().length() > 22? mediaPlayer.getCurrentSongInfo().getName().substring(0, 19)+"..." : mediaPlayer.getCurrentSongInfo().getName());
break;
}
views[views.length - 1].invalidate();
}
The view array is shown perviously! Also the last view in the array is shown as the main view for songlist fragment.
I am sorry for all the code I've tried to debug it as you can see from my println's there is just something I am unaware of going on here.

Ok so there was an error that I needed to catch to see within the following code:
private static void updateMediaplayerViews(View[] views, int type)
{
switch(type) {
case 0:
System.out.println("that?");
((TextView)views[0]).setText(mediaPlayer.getCurrentSongInfo().getName().length() > 22? mediaPlayer.getCurrentSongInfo().getName().substring(0, 19)+"..." : mediaPlayer.getCurrentSongInfo().getName());
break;
}
views[views.length - 1].invalidate();
}
The issue is I was trying to change the view from a different thread then the one which created it. Solving it was pretty long and painful but basically I made it nonstactic used more interfaces then used the famous
Mainactivity.runOnUiThread(new Runnable(....));

Adding nested views dynamically freezes the App

I am building the app, which generates and adds view dynamically. I don't know in advance what views I need to create, these can be nested layouts or simple labels, etc, depending what comes back from web services.
Everything has been well so far until I started building really complex nested layouts .I have one case where I need to add about 11 levels of Layouts dynamically. When activity starts I display ProgressDialog(ring), while views are being generated. My problem is that with this complex structure ProgressDialog freezes while views are added. This is the code, which creates the view:
private class ViewCreator implements Runnable {
public BackgroundTaskViewCreatedResponse delegate;
private View mCreatedView;
private ComponentDefinition mComponent;
private ViewCreator(ComponentDefinition component){
this.mComponent = component;
}
#Override
public void run() {
try {
if (mComponent != null){
mComponent.setLinkedData(model.getLinkedData());
mCreatedView = componentCreator.createComponent(mComponent);
}
} finally {
if (mCreatedView != null)
delegate.processFinishTask(mCreatedView);
}
}
}
Layout, which has other views in it implements BackgroundTaskViewCreatedResponse, so, when view is ready, it will be added:
#Override
public void processFinishTask(final View createdView) {
//((Activity)view.getContext()).runOnUiThread(new Runnable(){
mView.post(new Runnable(){
#Override
public void run() {
mView.addView(createdView);
}
});
}
As you can see above, I have tried to call runOnUiThread call, but this blocks the UI thread completely while view hierarchy is being generated. At the same time view.post doesn't get called out of the box, so I have made some changes to views as suggested in this SO answer. So, now my views are added, but my ProgressDialog is not running smoothly. It stops in a few occasions and then resumes. I've also tried using Android AsyncTask, but that gives the same effect as runOnUiThread
I am not very experienced with Threads, have been trying to fix this for a few days now. Please help.

You can use AsyncTask to do this/ Here is an example:
private class GenerateViews extends AsyncTask<Void,Void,Void>{
#Override
protected void onPreExecute() {
// SHOW THE SPINNER WHILE GENERATING VIEWS
spinner.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
}
#Override
protected Void doInBackground(Void... params) {
//CALL YOUR VIEW GENERATING METHOD HERE
return null;
}
#Override
protected void onPostExecute(Void result){
spinner.setVisibility(View.INVISIBLE);
}
}
You can make this class inside your class, if you want to. And then, you just call
new GenerateCalls.execute();

Android: getting error near runOnUiThread when i use it near fragment

I am new to Android development and I want to link a button with the animation. I am getting error near runOnUiThread() and getApplication(). When I add this in as an activity it is fine, but when declared in MainFragment it gives error. However when I fix the errors, it creates a method and returns false.
public class MainFragment extends Fragment {
#Override
public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container,
Bundle savedInstanceState) {
View rootView = inflater.inflate(R.layout.activity_main, container, false);
ImageButton btnFacebook = (ImageButton)rootView.findViewById(R.id.facebook2);
final Animation alpha = AnimationUtils.loadAnimation(getActivity(), R.anim.anim_alpha);
btnFacebook.setOnClickListener(new Button.OnClickListener(){
#Override
public void onClick(View arg0) {
arg0.startAnimation(alpha);
Thread thread = new Thread()
{
#Override
public void run()
{
try
{
Thread.sleep(1000);
}catch(InterruptedException e){
}
runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
startActivity(new Intent(getApplication(),FacebookActivity.class));
}
});
}
};
thread.start();
}});
return rootView;
}}
In the XML file I only have the facebook imagebutton. When I click that, it has to trigger the animation and then onclick event has to happen, but I don't know why this error is popping up:
The method runOnUiThread(new Runnable(){}) is undefined for the type new Thread(){}
And near getapplication() method
The method getApplication() is undefined for the type new Runnable(){}
If I create the two methods the error goes away, but then when I click onto the button it will not go to the facebookActivity.java file.
Can anyone tell/help what should I add to solve this issue. Thanks.

runOnUIThread(...) is a method of Activity.
Therefore, use this:
getActivity().runOnUIThread(...);
But, beware. You're dealing with asynchronous threads, so your Fragment might be detached from its Activity, resulting in getActivity() returning null. You might want to add a check if(isAdded()) or if(getActivity() != null) before executing.
Alternatively, use an AsyncTask, which handles this running on the ui thread by itself.

runOnUiThread(new Runnable(){}) is method in Activity not in the Fragment.
so you need to change
runOnUiThread(new Runnable(){})
into
getActivity().runOnUiThread(new Runnable(){})
For your requrement it is better to use Handler instead of Thread for waiting 1000 milli seconds..

Please use getActivity() instead of using getApplication() .
which returns the activity associated with a fragment.
The activity is a context.

Android: Updating gridview multiple times after x seconds

I am having a problem updating the view in android every x seconds.
To get to know how android works I am writing a small game.
It has a GameController which holds the game loop. Inside the loop, the logic is executed and afterwards the gui will be informed about the changes.
The problem is that the changes cannot be seen in the view. The view stays the same until the game loop finishes and updates then only once.
Here is my code (the important parts):
GameController.java:
IGui gui;
public void play() {
while (playing) {
getAndProcessInput();
updateGui();
try {
Thread.sleep(500);
} catch (InterruptedException ex) {
}
}
}
private void updateGui() {
gui.setPlayer(x, y);
// ...
}
GameActivity.java:
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main);
GridView gridview = (GridView) findViewById(R.id.GridView1);
TextAdapter = new TextAdapter(this);
gridview.setAdapter(textAdapter);
GameController c = new GameController();
// here, the game loop shoud start.
// what i tried:
// new Thread(c).start(); <-- causes crash
// c.play(); <-- causes view to frease until game loop is done
this.runOnUiThread(c); <-- causes view to frease until game loop is done
}
TextAdapter.java:
public class TextAdapter extends BaseAdapter implements IGui {
private final Context context;
private final String[] texts;
public TextAdapter(Context context) {
this.context = context;
texts = new String[height * width];
for (int i = 0; i < texts.length; i++) {
texts[i] = " ";
}
}
public int getCount() {
return height * width;
}
public Object getItem(int position) {
return null;
}
public long getItemId(int position) {
return position;
}
public View getView(int position, View convertView, ViewGroup parent) {
TextView tv;
if (convertView == null) {
tv = new TextView(context);
tv.setLayoutParams(new GridView.LayoutParams(25, 25));
} else {
tv = (TextView) convertView;
}
tv.setText(texts[position]);
return tv; // <-- this happens only when game loop is done, not everytime something changed
}
#Override
public void setPlayer(int x, int y) {
texts[width * y + x] = "X";
// this.notifyDataSetChanged(); <-- this does not help (view still freases)
// gridview.invalidateViews(); does not help either
}
}
I googled a lot and tried a lot as well (and I do know that similar questions where asked here already, but they did not help me either), but somehow it just does not work.
I cannot get it do work that the view and logic run on different theads in android, and if they run on the same thread the logic blocks the view.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
// edit:
If I try new Thread(c).start(); LogCat sais:
java.lang.RuntimeException: Can't create handler inside thread that has not called Looper.prepare()
And if I add Looper.prepare(); :
java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to start activity ComponentInfo{GameActivity}: java.lang.RuntimeException: Only one Looper may be created per thread
If I try this.runOnUiThread(c); there are no errors.

First, this doesn't seems like the way to crate a game, you will need to use SurfaceView, or GLSurfaceView to better do what you want.
You can also look for Cocos2d for android, it's a 2D platform (that was ported from iPhone) that makes you life easier:
http://code.google.com/p/cocos2d-android/
I muse warn you though, I tried it a couple months back, and it was not production grade yet, it did crash from time to time.
Anyway, if you still want to continue heading your way I'll try answering your question:
I think you are messing too much with the way these stuff should work. try understanding first how handlers work with threads.
Do anything you want on your thread:
new Thread(new Runnable()
{
#Override
public void run()
{
try
{
calculateGameChangesHere();
handler.sendEmptyMessage(SUCCESS);
}
catch (Exception e)
{
handler.sendEmptyMessage(FAILURE);
}
}
}).start();
When your data is ready, tell the handler to put it in a view and show it:
protected Handler handler = new Handler()
{
#Override
public void handleMessage(Message msg)
{
if (msg.what == SUCCESS)
{
setCalculatedDataToaView(); // the data you calculated from your thread can now be shown in one of your views.
}
else if (msg.what == FAILURE)
{
errorHandlerHere();//could be your toasts or any other error handling...
}
}
};
This goes to everything that requires heavy processing/networking that shouldn't block your UI thread.
Hope this helps.

Not sure what you are trying to achieve by refreshing a listView every few seconds. Anyways if you are writing some 2d games, you have to use SurfaceView , which is especially meant for continuous refreshing.

Had the same problem and solved it using a pretty simple code.
Tips:
GridView must be refreshed by the UI thread
To display every change you must keep the loop and the Sleep method away from the UI thread
Solution:
Method to update the grid (put on your Activity that you build your GridView at the first place or wherever)
public void UpdateGrid(){
//your logic
//your way to change grid values (there are tones of other ways)
CustomGridAdapter cga = new CustomGridAdapter(this, values);
gridView.setAdapter(cga);
gridView.invalidateViews();
}
Build the non UI Thread that does the work
public class DataReceiver implements Runnable {
private MainActivity mainActivity;
public DataReceiver(MainActivity ma) {
mainActivity = ma;
}
#Override
public void run() {
for (int i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
mainActivity.runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
//update the grid here
mainActivity.UpdateGrid();
}
});
//sleep here
try {
Thread.sleep(1000);
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
// TODO Auto-generated catch block
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
}

Update Textview from function Android

someone can tell me how to update a control Textview Android from a function? I have searched deep into the internet and see many people who ask the same question, I tested threads but could not work, someone has a simple working example of doing this? for example to call a function (which runs several times in a loop) and the function writes in the TextView, but the problem is that until the function is not finished running, it shows me the text.
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main);
while(condition) //here freezes the UI and the text in textview only shows when the loop ends
{
HardWork();
}
}
public void HardWork() {
txtProgreso.append("Test Line" + "\n\n");
};
Thanks in advance.

If i understood you correctly
Use AsyncTask here, So you can update textview in onProgressUpdate method
private class SomeTask extends AsyncTask<String, String, String> {
#Override
protected String doInBackground(String... params) {
while(condition) {
//do more
publishProgress("Some text value to you textview");
}
return null;
}
#Override
protected void onProgressUpdate(String... values) {
txtProgreso.append(values[0]);
}
}

I think what you're trying to ask is "how do I force my TextView to show its updated contents without returning control to the runloop?" (ie, returning out of your function).
If so, I'm afraid you're out of luck, such a thing is impossible to do with Android's UI model. The nearest thing to this that is possible is to keep track of your loop state, and set a timer that will call a function for you to update the TextView.
Here's an example. Suppose you want to put the text "this is a test" into a TextView, one character at a time:
private Handler mHandler = new Handler();
private String desiredText = new String("This is a test");
private Runnable mUpdateTextView = new Runnable() {
public void run() {
TextView textView = (TextView)findViewById(R.id.myTextView);
int lengthSoFar = textView.getText().length();
if (lengthSoFar < desiredText.length()) {
mTextView.setText(desiredText.substring(0, lengthSoFar + 1));
mHandler.postDelayed(100, mUpdateTextView);
}
}
};
protected void onStart() {
mHandler.postDelayed(100, mUpdateTextView);
}
I think some of my object visibility is incorrect here, and I don't have an Android environment handy to test on, but you get the general idea. Rather than a Handler you could also use a Timer, but it's a bit more heavyweight so it depends how often you want to be updating the UI.

You get the textview by doing the following.
TextView myTextView = (TextView)findViewById(R.id.textViewsId);
Then afterwards, you can change the TextView using the functions. For example, you can set the text using the following code.
myTextView.setText("New text example");
Are there any other updates to the control you are trying to do?