Develop Reference

Google Directions API using ExecutorService instead of AsyncTask

Every tutorial I find seems to use AsyncTask (depreciated) instead of ExecutorService. I took a java course on Udemy and they used AsyncTask for everything as well. Here is one class I'm working with:
public class FetchURL extends AsyncTask<String, Void, String> {
Context mContext;
String directionMode = "driving";
public FetchURL(Context mContext) {
this.mContext = mContext;
}
#Override
protected String doInBackground(String... strings) {
// For storing data from web service
String data = "";
directionMode = strings[1];
try {
// Fetching the data from web service
data = downloadUrl(strings[0]);
Log.d("mylog", "Background task data " + data.toString());
} catch (Exception e) {
Log.d("Background Task", e.toString());
}
return data;
}
#Override
protected void onPostExecute(String s) {
super.onPostExecute(s);
PointsParser parserTask = new PointsParser(mContext, directionMode);
// Invokes the thread for parsing the JSON data
parserTask.execute(s);
}
private String downloadUrl(String strUrl) throws IOException {
String data = "";
InputStream iStream = null;
HttpURLConnection urlConnection = null;
try {
URL url = new URL(strUrl);
// Creating an http connection to communicate with url
urlConnection = (HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();
// Connecting to url
urlConnection.connect();
// Reading data from url
iStream = urlConnection.getInputStream();
BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(iStream));
StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer();
String line = "";
while ((line = br.readLine()) != null) {
sb.append(line);
}
data = sb.toString();
Log.d("mylog", "Downloaded URL: " + data.toString());
br.close();
} catch (Exception e) {
Log.d("mylog", "Exception downloading URL: " + e.toString());
} finally {
iStream.close();
urlConnection.disconnect();
}
return data;
}
}
and I'd really like to use ExecutorService like here instead of AsyncTask. I'm beating my head against the wall and I can't seem to get the proper arguments in and this thing working.

Replace your AsyncTask with a Runnable:
public class FetchUrl implements Runnable {
public interface Callback {
void onSuccess(String data);
void onFailure(Exception e);
}
private String url;
private WeakReference<Callback> callbackWeakReference;
public FetchUrl(String url, Callback callback) {
this.url = url;
this.callbackWeakReference = new WeakReference<>(callback);
}
#Override
public void run() {
try {
String data = downloadUrl(url);
Callback callback = callbackWeakReference.get();
if (callback != null) {
callback.onSuccess(data);
}
} catch (Exception e) {
Callback callback = callbackWeakReference.get();
if (callback != null) {
callback.onFailure(e);
}
}
}
... // include your downloadUrl function
}
Then create and submit it to the ExecutorService:
FetchUrl.Callback callback = new FetchUrl.Callback() {
#Override
public void onSuccess(String data) {
// handle your data
}
#Override
public void onFailure(Exception e) {
// handle the exception
}
};
Runnable job = new FetchUrl(url, callback);
ExecutorService executorService = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(4);
executorService.submit(job);
Notice I used a WeakReference<Callback>, because code in your callback is holding a reference to Context and would cause Context leaks.
The submit() function returns a Future to control your submitted job. It's handy if you want to cancel the job or want to wait for its completion (blocking the current thread). The latter usecase would perhaps favor using Callable<Result> instead of Runnable, because the calling thread can handle the exception and there would be no use for a callback making your code more concise.
Also don't forget to call shutdown() on your ExecutorService when you no longer need it.

Access Activity Method From AsyncTask Callback Interface

I have several activities and one asyncTask that uses the same interface for callback methods as below
The interface used by all
public interface AsyncTaskCallback {
void onCookie(CookieManager cookieManager);
void onResponse(String response);
void onProgress(String... values);
void onError(Exception e);
}
AsyncTask1 is called from all activities as follows
public void exec_taskt() {
alertDialog.SetText("Sending Request...");
AsyncTask1 task1 = new AsyncTask1("https://stackoverflow.com");
task1.setCookieManager(cookiejar);
task1.setCallback(this);
task1.execute();
}
Each Activity also implements the interface
#Override
public void onCookie(CookieManager cookieManager) {
cookiejar = cookieManager;
}
#Override
public void onResponse(String response) {
try {
PostProc(response);
}catch (Exception e){ // ERROR HERE
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
#Override
public void onProgress(String... values) {
alertDialog.SetText(values[0]);
}
#Override
public void onError(Exception e) {
///SAME ERROR HERE TOO
//Toast.makeText(getContext(), e.getMessage(), Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
swipeRefreshLayout.setRefreshing(false);
}
private void PostProc(String response) {
//the response string is parsed and displayed in a recyclerview in this method
//this method is slightly different for each activity
}
AsyncTask1
public class AsyncTask1 extends AsyncTask<String, String, String> {
private String address = "";
private CookieManager mCookieManager;
private Exception mException;
private AsyncTaskCallback mCallback;
public AsyncTask1 (String page) {
this.address = page;
}
public void setCookieManager(CookieManager cm) {
this.mCookieManager = cm;
}
public void setCallback(AsyncTaskCallback cb) {
this.mCallback = (AsyncTaskCallback) cb;
}
#Override
protected String doInBackground(String... strings) {
try{
//all code here is executed without error
//code skipped for simplicity
// basically just loads the given url and then...
publishProgress("Page Loaded");
mCallback.onCookie(mCookieManager);
mCallback.onResponse(response);
return response;
} catch (Exception e) {
publishProgress("Error");
e.printStackTrace();
mCallback.onError(e);
return "";
}
#Override
protected void onProgressUpdate(String... values) {
Log.d(tag, TextUtils.join(",", values));
mCallback.onProgress(values);
super.onProgressUpdate(values);
}
}
The errors I get are marked
ERROR HERE
in the code above. and the message is as follows
android.view.ViewRootImpl$CalledFromWrongThreadException: Only the original thread that created a view hierarchy can touch its views.
My main suspect is the PostProc() method in the activity that does play with the UI component. But doesnt implementing the interface in the activity mean that part of the code runs in the main UI thread? I know you can pass the activity instance to the asyncTask and call the PostProc() method from postexecute of the asyncTask but I would like to explore an alternative way to it, since the same asynctask is accessed by other activities as well. the returns are the same for all activities. Only the PostProc Method is different.
Thanks in advance

Instead of using callback interface you can use a android.os.Handler() which is associated with the Looper.getMainLooper() to update the views like:-
AsyncTask1 task1 = new AsyncTask1(android.os.Handler(Looper.getMainLooper(), msg -> {
// handle message sent from asyncTask
return false;
}), url);
Then in task1 send the message using using the handler
public AsyncTask1 (Handler handler, String page) {
this.address = page;
this.handler = handler;
}
then ,
Message message = new Message();
message.obj = uiData;
handler.sendMessage(message);
The handler onHandleMessage will always execute on the main looper !

Null textview when it's call on a handler

I'm trying to do a setText() on a Textview (already instantiate in the onCreate()) called by a Handler and using the ruiOnUiTread() but I have a nullPointerException on the Textview.
Where can the problem come from?
I saw in the debug that the instance of the activity was not the same between the instantiation and the setText() while I do not change activity but impossible to instantiate it in the same place as the setText().
private TextView ambianceTextView;
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
ambianceTextView = findViewById(R.id.valeur_ambiance);
StarterKillerPidroid.getInstance().startApp();
}
private final Runnable retrieveData = new Runnable() {
public void run() {
try {
setText();
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
handlerRecup.postDelayed(retrieveData, 1000);
}
};
public void setText(){
runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
ambianceTextView.setText("test");
}
});
}
public void doAfterLogin() {
handlerRecup.postDelayed(retrieveData, 10000);
}
the runnable is started by a function called by a callback of an http request with Volley
public class StarterKillerPidroid {
void startApp() {
//Sending a request
PostmanPidroid.getInstance().login();
}
public void ackLogin(Boolean isValid) {
if (isValid) {
ActivityMain.getInstance().doAfterLogin();
} else {
PostmanPidroid.getInstance().login();
}
}
}
The class Postman :
public class Postman {
public void login(){
// Parameters
String email = "test#tes";
String password = "test";
// Encoding the request with parameters
JsonObjectRequest request = EncoderDecoderPidroid.getInstance()
.encodeRequestLogin(email, password);
// Sending the request
sendRequest(request);
}
void sendRequest(StringRequest message){
// Creating the queu if it's not create
if (queue == null) {
queue = Volley.newRequestQueue(context);
}
// Adding the request to the queue
queue.add(message);
}
}
When a success response is received, this callback is called :
private Response.Listener<JSONObject> callbackLogin =
new Response.Listener<JSONObject>() {
#Override
public void onResponse(JSONObject response) {
...
StarterKillerPidroid.getInstance().ackLogin(true);
}
};

Basically, this kind of problem is due to the instance. It may be possible that your textview instance is not initialized. One more thing using handler directly for updating UI thread is not a good idea. Instead of directly updating Ui with handler you should use FunctionalInterface for doing this.
FunctionalInterface is a good approach for such cases.
A functional interface is an interface that contains only one abstract method. They can have only one functionality to exhibit. From Java 8 onwards, lambda expressions can be used to represent the instance of a functional interface. ... Runnable, ActionListener, Comparable are some of the examples of functional interfaces.
Java has a predefined FunctionalInterface Callable. It goes something like this
public static void doDid(final Callable<Void> callable) {
final Handler handler = new Handler();
handler.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
try {
callable.call();
handler.postDelayed(this, every * repeattime);
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}, every * tempvalue);
}
and use this for updating UI in this way
doDid(new Callable<Void>() {
#Override
public Void call() {
textView.setText("Your text");
return null;
}
});
There is one open-source library available for Android which works like a charm is such cases called Predictor. You can download it from here and import in your project. You can also contribute in this project for saving many developers life.
Do you wanna see how predictor can do this?
Predictor.every(3).second().doDid(new Job<Void>() {
#Override
public Void run() {
textView.setText("Your text");
return null;
}
});
What can you do with predictor?
Predictor gives you several ways of handling multithreading some of them are as follows:
Predictor.every(3).second().doDid(something());
Predictor.every(5).minutes().doDid(something());
Predictor.every().hour().doDid(something());
Predictor.every().week().doDid(something());
Predictor.every().month().doDid(something());
and many more...

Try this way:
private final Runnable retrieveData = new Runnable() {
public void run() {
try {
ambianceTextView = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.valeur_ambiance);
setText();
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
handlerRecup.postDelayed(retrieveData, 1000);
}
};

How to make an Android class wait until another class completes its task?

I'm writing an Android messaging application, and 1 class is calling another class, and I wish for the calling class to wait for the callee class to complete before carrying on.
Caller Class (MessageManagement) code snippet is as follows:
private static Messenger myMessenger;
try {
Message msg = Message.obtain();
msg.arg1 = constructedMessage.length();
msg.arg2 = -1;
msg.obj = constructedMessage;
Log.d(TAG, "Calling myMessenger.send()");
myMessenger.send(msg);
Log.d(TAG, "Sent");
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
// Wait here until myMessenger completes its task
doOtherStuff();
Right now, doOtherStuff() starts and finishes before myMessenger starts. I need myMessenger to complete before doOtherStuff() starts.
I've read about wait() and notify() but I'm not sure how to implement it here, or whether it's the right choice.
Some background about the flow of the program. It's basically a messaging app that I inherited, so I'm not exactly sure of its framework. From what I can tell tracing the flow of the code:
When an SMS message is received, the SMS receiver BroadcastReceiver(SmsReceiver) handles it, getting the sender address and message body, then calling a SMS handler service(HandleSmsService), which then calls the caller class in a runnable with the following code:
HandleSmsService
public class HandleSmsService extends Service {
private String message;
private MessageManagement messageManager;
private Handler timeoutHandler = new Handler();
#Override
public void onStart(Intent intent, intent startid) {
message = intent.getExtras().getString("message");
messageManager = new MessageManagement(this);
timeoutHandler.postDelayed(runnable, 10);
}
private Runnable runnable = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
try {
messageManager.handleMessage(message);
stopSelf();
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
};
MessageManagement is my caller class, and MessageManagement.handleMessage() is the top most code snippet presented earlier.
The MessageManagement.handleMessage() apparently calls another Handler in the callee class when it calls myMessenger.send(msg). This Handler code is as follows:
private Handler smsHandler = new Handler() {
#Override
public void handleMessage(Message msg) {
// do some stuff
}
};

I'm assuming the posted code is running on the MainThread and the reason why you are using a handler is that something asynchronous is done on another thread when receiving that message.
In that case, you can't use wait on the thread, as it will lock up the UI and probably cause an application not responding error.
Without changing too much of your code, one way to do it is to nest a listener in your constructedMessage for e.g.
public class DoStuffRequest {
private OnFinishListener mOnFinishListener;
private boolean isCanceled;
private String mMessage;
public interface OnFinishListener {
public void onFinish();
}
public DoStuffRequest(String message) {
mMessage = message;
}
public OnFinishListener getOnFinishListener() {
return mOnFinishListener;
}
public void setOnFinishListener(OnFinishListener onFinishListener) {
mOnFinishListener = onFinishListener;
}
public void cancel() {
isCanceled = true;
}
public void notifyFinish() {
if (!isCanceled && mOnFinishListener != null) {
mOnFinishListener.onFinish();
}
}
public String getMessage() {
return mMessage;
}
}
then use some along the line of this to get the ball rolling:
private static Messenger myMessenger;
private DoStuffRequest mRequest;
...
private void send(String message) {
mRequest = new DoStuffRequest(message);
mRequest.setOnFinishListener(new ConstructedMessage.OnFinishListener() {
#Override
public void onFinish() {
doOtherStuff();
}
});
try {
Message msg = Message.obtain();
msg.arg1 = constructedMessage.length();
msg.arg2 = -1;
msg.obj = constructedMessage;
Log.d(TAG, "Calling myMessenger.send()");
myMessenger.send(msg);
Log.d(TAG, "Sent");
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
private void doThisIfYouWantToCancel() {
if (mRequest != null) {
mRequest.cancel();
}
}
your Handler/Service code can now call constructedMessage.finish() when the async stuff is done. Depending on what doOtherStuff() does (e.g. when manipulating the UI), you might want to do this on the MainThread (the code i've written above is NOT thread safe and i assume you are calling the listener on the MainThread).
Also remember to call constructedMessage.cancel() in case you do not want to get notified any more (e.g. you are leaving the activity/fragment).
this is just one way to do it, depending on your needs, some other methods might be a better choice.

I guess it should look something like this:
try {
Message msg = Message.obtain(handler, new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
doOtherStuff();
}
});
msg.arg1 = constructedMessage.length();
msg.arg2 = -1;
msg.obj = constructedMessage;
Log.d(TAG, "Calling myMessenger.send()");
msg.sendToTarget();
Log.d(TAG, "Sent");
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
The other way to do this using native means:
private static Messenger myMessenger = new Messenger(new Handler(new Handler.Callback() {
#Override
public boolean handleMessage(Message msg) {
// do something what you need
if (msg.getTarget() != null) {
msg.sendToTarget();
}
return false;
}
}));
try {
final Message msg = Message.obtain();
msg.setTarget(new Handler(new Handler.Callback() {
#Override
public boolean handleMessage(Message msg) {
doOtherStuff();
return false;
}
}));
msg.arg1 = constructedMessage.length();
msg.arg2 = -1;
msg.obj = constructedMessage;
Log.d(TAG, "Calling myMessenger.send()");
myMessenger.send(msg);
Log.d(TAG, "Sent");
} catch (final Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}

How to get an android service return message from a phonegap plugin

I am trying to make a plugin for Phonegap (Android) that allows my javascript to send and receive messages to / from a service.
My exact problem is, that because the messages return asynchronous, I cannot send the PluginResult to the execute function of the plugin.
This is the plugin code:
public class ServiceClient_plugin extends Plugin {
Messenger messenger_service=null;
boolean connected_to_service=false;
final Messenger messenger_receive = new Messenger(new IncomingHandler());
#Override
public PluginResult execute(String action, JSONArray data, String callbackId) {
PluginResult result = null;
try {
if (action.toUpperCase().equals("CONNECT")) {
result = ConnectService();
} else if (action.toUpperCase().equals("DISCONNECT")) {
result = DisconnectService();
} else if (action.toUpperCase().equals("IS_CONNECTED")) {
result = new PluginResult(Status.OK,connected_to_service);
} else if (action.toUpperCase().equals("COMMAND")) {
sendMSG (data.getString(0));
result = new PluginResult(Status.OK);
} else {
result = new PluginResult(Status.INVALID_ACTION);
}
} catch(JSONException e) {
result= new PluginResult(PluginResult.Status.JSON_EXCEPTION);
}
return result;
}
private PluginResult ConnectService() {
doBindService();
return new PluginResult(Status.OK);
}
private PluginResult DisconnectService() {
doUnbindService();
return new PluginResult(Status.OK);
}
class IncomingHandler extends Handler {
#Override
public void handleMessage(Message msg) {
switch (msg.what) {
case MoMe_Service.MSG_COMMAND:
Log.i("CLIENT","Received from service: " + msg.getData().getString("MSG"));
break;
default:
super.handleMessage(msg);
}
}
}
private ServiceConnection service_connection = new ServiceConnection() {
public void onServiceConnected(ComponentName className, IBinder service) {
messenger_service = new Messenger(service);
connected_to_service=true;
try {
Message msg = Message.obtain(null, My_Service.MSG_REGISTERED);
msg.replyTo = messenger_receive;
messenger_service.send(msg);
} catch (RemoteException e) {
// In this case the service has crashed before we could even
// do anything with it; we can count on soon being
// disconnected (and then reconnected if it can be restarted)
// so there is no need to do anything here.
}
}
public void onServiceDisconnected(ComponentName className) {
// This is called when the connection with the service has been
// unexpectedly disconnected -- that is, its process crashed.
messenger_service = null;
connected_to_service=false;
}
};
private void doBindService() {
// Establish a connection with the service. We use an explicit
// class name because there is no reason to be able to let other
// applications replace our component.
this.ctx.bindService(new Intent(this.ctx, My_Service.class), service_connection, Context.BIND_AUTO_CREATE);
}
private void doUnbindService() {
if (connected_to_service) {
if (messenger_service != null) {
try {
Message msg = Message.obtain(null, My_Service.MSG_UNREGISTERED);
msg.replyTo = messenger_receive;
messenger_service.send(msg);
} catch (RemoteException e) {
// There is nothing special we need to do if the service
// has crashed.
}
}
// Detach our existing connection.
this.ctx.unbindService(service_connection);
connected_to_service = false;
}
}
private void sendMSG (String message) {
try {
Message msg=Message.obtain(null, My_Service.MSG_COMMAND);
Bundle msg_bundle=new Bundle();
msg_bundle.putString("MSG", message);
msg.setData(msg_bundle);
messenger_service.send(msg);
} catch (RemoteException e) {
doUnbindService();
}
}
}
From this plugin the real trouble comes with this part of code, which handles the return messages and the plugin return (which goes to the javascript):
#Override
public PluginResult execute(String action, JSONArray data, String callbackId) {
PluginResult result = null;
try {
result = new PluginResult(Status.ok);
}
} catch(JSONException e) {
result= new PluginResult(PluginResult.Status.JSON_EXCEPTION);
}
return result;
}
class IncomingHandler extends Handler {
#Override
public void handleMessage(Message msg) {
switch (msg.what) {
case MoMe_Service.MSG_COMMAND:
msg.getData().getString("MSG")); // THIS IS THE DATA I NEED RETURNED
break;
default:
super.handleMessage(msg);
}
}
}
The only solution I can think of, is storing the response in either a database or a variable and have the javascript do a setInterval to keep checking for changes. However I am not very fond of this solution. I would like to use some sort of callback function to let the javascript know the message has returned but I have no idea how. I would greatly appreciate any help and ideas.
Thank you,
Vlad

This might be a late answer but I started to work with Cordova Plugin around 5 months ago and I just saw your question. Since you did not choose the correct answer I wanted to answer your question.
Assuming you have asynchronous process and you have a listener and methods, success and fail , lets call it onSuccess() and onFail(). As long as you send true with pluginResult.setKeepCallback(true), the process will remain as unfinished, so you can send your plugin result data later on when you are done with background process. Here is an example take a look.
#Override
public boolean execute(String action, JSONArray data, String callbackId) throws JSONException {
if (action.equals("start")) {
start();
} else {
PluginResult pluginResult = new PluginResult(PluginResult.Status.INVALID_ACTION);
callbackContext.sendPluginResult(pluginResult);
return false;
}
}
private boolean start() throws JSONException {
MyClass.startProcess(new MyInterface() {
#Override
public void onSuccess(String data) {
PluginResult result = new PluginResult(PluginResult.Status.OK, data);
result.setKeepCallback(false);
callbackContext.sendPluginResult(result);
}
#Override
public void onFail() {
PluginResult result = new PluginResult(PluginResult.Status.ERROR);
result.setKeepCallback(false);
callbackContext.sendPluginResult(result);
}
});
PluginResult.Status status = PluginResult.Status.NO_RESULT;
PluginResult pluginResult = new PluginResult(status);
pluginResult.setKeepCallback(true);
callbackContext.sendPluginResult(pluginResult);
return true;
}

The answer to my problem was actually in the the PluginResult object and success method.
I've found a plugin that had to face the same problem in order to work, and from this code i was able to figure out my answer.This is a onPhoneStatusChange plugin, which can be found here!
The mystery lies in these lines:
PluginResult res = new PluginResult(PluginResult.Status.OK, obj);
res.setKeepCallback(true);
success(res, callbackId);

The generic solution to this problem is to have the service store the response into persistent storage (like a database) and then fire off a broadcast intent. Then just have a BroadcastReciever in your ServiceClient_plugin class listening for the broadcast. This way you woun't have to keep polling to see if the data has arrived yet.

You can send PluginResult using success() function like this:
public PluginResult execute(String action, JSONArray data, String callbackId) {}
private BroadcastReceiver Wifi_Receiver = new BroadcastReceiver() {
#Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
MyClass.this.success(new PluginResult(PluginResult.Status.OK,"count"+count),callback);
}
}
here callback is callbackId of execute() function