I am trying to understand how looper.loop works, and when to use it in my code.
I have a bound service that has a runnable. Inside I have a handler that is used to hold code that updates the Ui. Here is the code.
private Runnable builder = new Runnable() {
public void run()
{
while(isThreadStarted == true)
{
if (newgps == 1)
{
Handler handler = new Handler(Looper.getMainLooper());
handler.post(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
//some code that updates UI
}
}
}
}
}
looper.prepair
}
From what I read looper. prepare has to be called before the handler is made. But I noticed I didn’t do that but this code still works. How is this possible?
I want to fix this but im not sure where to put loper.loop. Because this handler is called many many times. Would it be ok if i put looper.loop right after .prepare? Then .quit when isThreadStarted == false?
The Handler is associated with the UI thread, since you attach it to Looper.getMainLooper(). The UI thread prepares its Looperon application start, so that is nothing the application has to do itself.
By using Looper.getMainLooper(), you get Handler of main thread and you are posting on main thread. Main thread has its looper prepared by system already when it is created.
Related
I have a method that updates the icons on the Main activity, I want to run that method every 3 seconds, but when I make that, my app stops.
I put the Handler because the try-catch did not work as I guest.
// Create the Handler object (on the main thread by default)
Handler handler = new Handler();
// Define the code block to be executed
Runnable runnableCode = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
obtenerModulosActivos();
Log.d("Handlers", "Called on main thread");
}
};
// Run the above code block on the main thread after 2 seconds
handler.postDelayed(runnableCode, 3000);
That is how I use the Handler.
(the obtenerModulos() is an async method).
Any ideas of what is happening?
I'm trying to animate something when a task is completed. The problem here is I get this error message:
android.util.AndroidRuntimeException: Animators may only be run on Looper threads
at android.animation.ValueAnimator.cancel(ValueAnimator.java:1004)
at android.view.ViewPropertyAnimator.animatePropertyBy(ViewPropertyAnimator.java:965)
at android.view.ViewPropertyAnimator.animateProperty(ViewPropertyAnimator.java:921)
at android.view.ViewPropertyAnimator.alpha(ViewPropertyAnimator.java:735)
at com.design.zaton.prototypei.MainActivity$1$1.run(MainActivity.java:93)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:761)
The app worked fine before with the same exact code but now it simply doesn't. I'm really confused.
Here's where the error happens:
new Thread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
final String s = getGiphyViews(String.valueOf(mEdit.getText()));
runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
result.setText(s);
}
});
loading.animate()
.alpha(0)
.setDuration(100);
done.animate()
.scaleY(1)
.scaleX(1)
.setDuration(300);
}
}).start();
The error outlines the loading.animate() method.
Thanks in advance!
runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
//Your code
}
});
You have to execute the code in the UI Thread
Looper threads are threads in Android that permanently loop (or until you cancel them). They work in conjunction with Handlers which will post and send messages to Looper threads. Animators use heavy use of Looper threads because they perform their actions in repeated cycles. This allows the animator to not block after you press "start" so you can continue to perform other actions.
To further complicate matters, you most likely are performing animations on View objects. These can only be run on the main UI thread (which happens to be the biggest Looper thread of them all). So, you can not run these animations on separate threads like you are trying.
I think, there has been a solution for this using Handler. You can use postDelayed to minimal as 100 and run your animating tasks. In your case it would be:
new Handler().postDelayed(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
final String s = getGiphyViews(String.valueOf(mEdit.getText()));
runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
result.setText(s);
}
});
loading.animate()
.alpha(0)
.setDuration(100);
done.animate()
.scaleY(1)
.scaleX(1)
.setDuration(300);
}
}, 100);
I had this problem today and above work resolved the problem. I would love to hear from anyone if there is any problem with this method.
Kotlin
If you still want to use a delay (or not)
Handler(Looper.getMainLooper()).postDelayed({
// Your Code
}, 1000)
Put Code Where Are getting error and doing any network operations
new Handler().post(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
// add your code here
}
});
I think you can create a main handler instance in your activity and override handle message method. you can save a handler quote in your work thread.When you finished work you can use handler to send a message and you receive message in handle message method. To start animation from handler message method and so on...
I have a service that constantly polls a webservice for some options. These options basically restart a LocationManager. This restart is done using a custom event which gets fired from a method used inside a thread.
Here is my custom event
public class OptionsChangedEvent extends EventObject {
public OptionsChangedEvent(Object o){
super(o);
}
}
and the custom listener
public interface OptionsChangedListener extends EventListener {
public void optionsChanged(OptionsChangedEvent evt);
}
the thread that runs in the service and polls for new options is the following
private Thread optionsThread = new Thread() {
public void run() {
//Looper.prepare();
while(true) {
String opts = getOptsFromServer();
if(!opts.equals(currentOpts)) updateOpts(opts); //the prob is here
//Looper.loop();
Thread.sleep(10 * 1000) // sleep 10sec
}
}
}
Finally here is how I implement the listener inside my tracker.
locOpts.addOptionsChangedListener(new OptionsChangedListener() {
#Override
public void optionsChanged(OptionsChangedEvent event) {
Log.d("LOCATION_OPTIONS_CHANGED", "SUCCESS");
mLocationManager.removeUpdates(mLocationListener);
mLocationManager.requestLocationUpdates(
provider,
update,
0, mLocationListener
);
}
});
I had the following error which basically says that I need to use Looper.loop and Looper.prepare inside my thread.
12-03 11:31:39.544 26751-26843/com.test.location E/AndroidRuntime﹕ FATAL EXCEPTION: Thread-10370
Process: com.test.location, PID: 26751
java.lang.RuntimeException: Can't create handler inside thread that has not called Looper.prepare()
at android.os.Handler.<init>(Handler.java:200)
at android.os.Handler.<init>(Handler.java:114)
at android.location.LocationManager$ListenerTransport$1.<init>(LocationManager.java:221)
at android.location.LocationManager$ListenerTransport.<init>(LocationManager.java:221)
at android.location.LocationManager.wrapListener(LocationManager.java:844)
at android.location.LocationManager.requestLocationUpdates(LocationManager.java:857)
at android.location.LocationManager.requestLocationUpdates(LocationManager.java:454)
at com.test.location.trackers.LocationTracker$2.optionsChanged(LocationTracker.java:93)
at com.test.location.options.LocationTrackerOptions.notifyListeners(LocationTrackerOptions.java:22)
at com.test.location.options.LocationTrackerOptions.fromJSON(LocationTrackerOptions.java:34)
at com.test.location.MainService$5.run(MainService.java:219)
If I uncomment the Looper parts the thread works only once and I cant figure out why this happens.
update
After some investigation I found that code that needs the message queue and creates this problem. Does anyone needed to do something like this? I would like to not change my design here if it possible.
private synchronized void notifyListeners(Object obj) {
for (OptionsChangedListener listener : listeners) {
listener.optionsChanged(new OptionsChangedEvent(obj));
}
}
Do you try to update the UI in your callback method updateOpts ?
Looper prepare & loop using in other way, in case when you want to send tasks from UI thread to the backround thread, so you send message to the thread, and inside the thread process that message in handlemessage event of Handler.
try to avoid UI calls directly from your thread, maybe also try using runOnUIThread(...)
or AsyncTasks onPost to make the proper callback to the UI thread.
The solution was actually very simple. I was missing the callback function.
locOpts.addOptionsChangedListener(new OptionsChangedListener() {
#Override
public void optionsChanged(OptionsChangedEvent event) {
Log.d("LOCATION_OPTIONS_CHANGED", "SUCCESS");
mLocationManager.removeUpdates(mLocationListener);
mLocationManager.requestLocationUpdates(
provider,
update,
0, mLocationListener,
Looper.getMainLooper() // this was the problem
);
}
});
I'm using ListenableFuture from Guava, and one nice thing about them is that one pass Executor to the Futures.addCallback method, that is, ask to execute the callback on a given thread/executor.
In my Android application, I want to be able to start the asynchronous execution based on ListenableFuture in the UI thread, and schedule a callback which is also executed also on the UI thread. Therefore, I'd like to somehow submit the UI thread executor to the Futures.addCallback method mentioned above. How to achieve that?
Or, in other words, I want to have an executor for the UI thread. Is it available already in Android, or, if I have to create my own, how do I do that?
EDIT: As an extension to this question, is it possible to do same thing, but not just with UI thread, but with any particular thread, where the call to async method is made?
I would be happy to know how to achieve the same effect without resorting to the Android-specific stuff like Handler and Looper, just with pure Java.
I think I've see some implementation doing that. The basic Idea is roughly
class UiThreadExecutor implements Executor {
private final Handler mHandler = new Handler(Looper.getMainLooper());
#Override
public void execute(Runnable command) {
mHandler.post(command);
}
}
You can delegate to run anything in the main thread by passing it to a handler for the main thread.
Edit: https://github.com/square/retrofit/blob/master/retrofit/src/main/java/retrofit/android/MainThreadExecutor.java for example
Edit2: You can configure the handler like e.g. SensorManager#registerListener(..., Handler handler) allows you to do.
class HandlerThreadExecutor implements Executor {
private final Handler mHandler;
public HandlerThreadExecutor(Handler optionalHandler) {
mHandler = optionalHandler != null ? optionalHandler : new Handler(Looper.getMainLooper());
}
#Override
public void execute(Runnable command) {
mHandler.post(command);
}
}
The advantage over using the current thread's looper is that it makes it explicit which Looper you use. In your solution you take the Looper of whatever thread calls new ExecuteOnCaller() - and that's often not the thread you run code in later.
I would be happy to know how to achieve the same effect without resorting to the Android-specific stuff like Handler and Looper, just with pure Java.
Looper, Handler and the message queue behind all that logic are made of mostly pure Java. The problem with a generic solution is that you can't "inject" code to run into a thread. The thread must periodically check some kind of task queue to see if there is something to run.
If you write code like
new Thread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
while (!Thread.interrupted()) {
System.out.println("Hello");
}
}
}).start();
Then there is no way to make that thread do anything else but constantly print "Hello". If you could do that it would be like dynamically inserting a jump to other code into the program code. That would IMO be a terrible idea.
final BlockingQueue<Runnable> queue = new LinkedBlockingQueue<Runnable>();
new Thread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
try {
while (true) {
Runnable codeToRunInThisThread = queue.take();
codeToRunInThisThread.run();
}
} catch (InterruptedException ignored) {}
}
}).start();
On the other hand is a simple thread that loops forever on a queue. The thread could do other tasks in between but you have to add a manual check into the code.
And you can send it tasks via
queue.put(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
System.out.println("Hello!");
}
});
There is no special handler defined here but that's the core of what Handler & Looper do in Android. Handler in Android allows you to define a callback for a Message instead of just a Runnable.
Executors.newCachedThreadPool() and similar do roughly the same thing. There are just multiple threads waiting on code in a single queue.
As an extension to this question, is it possible to do same thing, but not just with UI thread, but with any particular thread, where the call to async method is made?
The generic answer is No. Only if there is a way to inject code to run in that thread.
Based on asnwer from #zapl, here is my implementation, which also answers the edited (extended) question: https://gist.github.com/RomanIakovlev/8540439
Figured out I'll also put it here, in case if link will rot some day:
package com.example.concurrent;
import android.os.Handler;
import android.os.Looper;
import java.util.concurrent.Executor;
/**
* When the calling thread has a Looper installed (like the UI thread), an instance of ExecuteOnCaller will submit
* Runnables into the caller thread. Otherwise it will submit the Runnables to the UI thread.
*/
public class ExecuteOnCaller implements Executor {
private static ThreadLocal<Handler> threadLocalHandler = new ThreadLocal<Handler>() {
#Override
protected Handler initialValue() {
Looper looper = Looper.myLooper();
if (looper == null)
looper = Looper.getMainLooper();
return new Handler(looper);
}
};
private final Handler handler = threadLocalHandler.get();
#Override
public void execute(Runnable command) {
handler.post(command);
}
}
My pattern to use it would be like this:
/**
* in SomeActivity.java or SomeFragment.java
*/
Futures.addCallback(myModel.asyncOperation(param), new FutureCallback<Void>() {
#Override
public void onSuccess(Void aVoid) {
// handle success
}
#Override
public void onFailure(Throwable throwable) {
// handle exception
}
}, new ExecuteOnCaller());
Use com.google.android.gms.tasks.TaskExecutors.MAIN_THREAD.
An Executor that uses the main application thread.
Source: Android docs
The tasks APIs are part of Google Play services since version 9.0.0.
For Android UI thread executor use:
ContextCompat.getMainExecutor(context)
To address your question and extended question to create an Executor that simply runs on the current thread and avoids Android classes:
class DirectExecutor implements Executor {
public void execute(Runnable r) {
r.run();
}
}
See documentation: https://developer.android.com/reference/java/util/concurrent/Executor
i want to send a Broadcast from a FromTowerThread with the following method:
void postToService(final String string){
Handler handler = new Handler();
handler.post(new Runnable(){
#Override
public void run() {
context.sendBroadcast(new Intent(string));
}
});
}
My context is 'this' (my service):
FromTowerThread ftt = new FromTowerThread(this);
(just for completeness my constructor in FromTowerThread):
public FromTowerThread(Context context){
this.context=context;
}
The Error i get is "Can't create handler inside thread that has not called Looper.prepare()".
I don't know how to fix this error, all threads i found about this topic could not help me to understand this.
Thanks in advance!
Chris
change the statement
Handler handler = new Handler();
to
Handler handler = new Handler(Looper.getMainLooper());
Post can only be done from a Handler in a thread that called Looper.prepare().
I'm assuming here that the thread that calls void postToService(final String string) is some type of background thread. Usually the UI thread does call Looper.prepare() meaning that you would have to create the Handler inside the UI thread.
but just as a general suggestion, I'm pretty sure you can just eliminate all of this and just call the broadcast straight away:
void postToService(final String string){
context.sendBroadcast(new Intent(string));
}
The Error i get is "Can't create handler inside thread that has not called Looper.prepare()".
If you are extending Thread, try extending HandlerThread instead. A HandlerThread has a Looper already. (Or you can call Looper.prepare() and Looper.loop() yourself in a regular Thread.)
Otherwise you can do a few things to use the main Thread's Looper. For instance create the Handler in the main Thread and pass it to your worker Thread or even pass a View from the UI Thread and call view.post(Runnable) to execute that Runnable on the UI Thread.