How to setText from a separate Thread in Android - java

I want to setText from within a Thread.
This is my code of the Thread:
private class GenerateThread implements Runnable {
public void run(){
// generate the first music
music = generate(prevmusic, prevmusic.length);
prevmusic = music;
// write the midi
writeMidi(music, song);
textOut.setText("Initialising...");
});
}
}
in my main code, I use
Thread t = new Thread(new GenerateThread());
t.start();
It does not allow me to setText from within the thread.
Following some posts on internet, I have tried using a handler, but that gave me errors, I think I am double defining Runnable this way.
Handler handler (before main)
private class GenerateThread implements Runnable {
public void run(){
handler.post(new Runnable() {
// generate the first music
music = generate(prevmusic, prevmusic.length);
prevmusic = music;
// write the midi
writeMidi(music, song);
textOut.setText("Initialising...");
});
}
}
How can I setText from within the Thread? Thanks!

besides runOnUiThread there is also View#post(Runnable) which I would prefer here because you don't need ugly looking references to the outer Activity (MyActivity.this.runOnUiThread()).
private class GenerateRunnable implements Runnable {
public void run() {
// this code is executed in a background thread.
// generate the first music
music = generate(prevmusic, prevmusic.length);
prevmusic = music;
// write the midi
writeMidi(music, song);
textOut.post(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
// this code is executed on the UI thread.
textOut.setText("Initialising...");
}
});
}
}
#Override
protected void onResume() {
super.onResume();
new Thread(new GenerateRunnable()).start();
}
Also don't confuse Runnable and Thread. A Runnable is just an ordinary class with a run() method. It can be and often is executed on a new Thread. If you want you can also make GenerateThread a real Thread like so:
private class GenerateThread extends Thread {
#Override
public void run() {
// code here.
}
}
// start somewhere
new GenerateThread().start();
And besides using classic Thread you could also think about using AsyncTask since that is made exactly for tasks that do something long running and need to update the UI afterwards or when there is progress.

One can only update the UI from the UI thread. runOnUiThread will allow you to run an action on the UI thread the next time it executes. You can do something like:
runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
textOut.setText("Initialising...");
}
});
EDIT:
private class GenerateThread implements Runnable {
public void run(){
// generate the first music
music = generate(prevmusic, prevmusic.length);
prevmusic = music;
// write the midi
writeMidi(music, song);
// Update the UI
MyActivity.this.runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
textOut.setText("Initialising...");
}
});
}
}

Related

How to submit a TimerTask to another Timer when it 's running

In a run method of a TimerTask object, How can I submit the timerTask itself to another Timer.
When the timerTask is running, I should do a judge and decide whether it can do some work. If it not meet the condition, I should cancel it and put it to another Timer.
Code of my TimerTask is like this:
#Override
public void run() {
try {
if (flag) {
// do something
} else {
new Timer().schedule(this, 1000 * 60);
}
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
Will it work?
You should only use one Timer and then monitor the condition from external, for example from a Thread, a Runnable or another Timer. Then stop, cancel, re-assign, start the timer as necessary from your external monitor.
Here's a TimerTask:
public class OurTask extends TimerTask {
#Override
public void run() {
// Do something
}
}
And here's the monitor:
public Monitor implements Runnable() {
private Timer mTimerToMonitor;
public Monitor(Timer timerToMonitor) {
this.mTimerToMonitor = timerToMonitor;
}
#Override
public void run() {
while (true) {
if (!flag) {
// Cancel the timer and start a new
this.mTimerToMonitor.cancel();
this.mTimerToMonitor = new Timer();
this.mTimerToMonitor.schedule(...);
}
// Wait a second
Thread.sleep(1000);
}
}
}
Note that in practice your Monitor should also be able to get canceled from outside, currently it runs infinitely.
And this is how you could call it:
Timer timer = new Timer();
timer.schedule(new OurTask(), ...);
Thread monitorThread = new Thread(new Monitor(timer));
monitorThread.start();
Also note that instead of using Runnable, Timer and Thread it could be worth taking a look into the new Java 8 stuff, especially the interface Future and classes implementing it.

How to cycle through background colors in Android / Java?

I have a list of hex colors with a duration in milliseconds for each one. I would like to fill the screen with each color for its duration, then move on to the next color.
I tried to iterate over the colors to do the following:
myView.setBackgroundColor(Color.parseColor( theColor ));
SystemClock.sleep( theDuration );
myView.setBackgroundColor(Color.parseColor( nextColor ));
SystemClock.sleep( nextDuration );
etc...
which seemed obvious to me but doesn't do anything to the view when it's running, at least in my AVD. I'm learning that it's because Android only draws at predefined times. (I tried calling "Invalidate()" as well with no luck.)
What is the best way to display all the colors consecutively?
(I realize I shouldn't be calling sleep() either, so any suggestions for that would also be appreciated.)
Thanks.
new Thread() {
#Override
public void run() {
YourActivity.this.runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
myView.setBackgroundColor(Color.parseColor( theColor ));
}
Thread.sleep( theDuration);
YourActivity.this.runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
myView.setBackgroundColor(Color.parseColor( nextColor ));
}
Thread.sleep( nextDuration );
}
}.start();
Put this in a method and call it.
There are many ways to achieve what you want. One could be to use Handler and Runnable. Assuming you know how to get current color and duration, you could do:
declare Runnable as class variable
private Runnable runnable = null;
inside onCreate(), after you set initial view, initialise Handler
final Handler handler = new Handler();
initialise runnable and change the background in run() method
runnable = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
//change the color
myView.setBackgroundColor(currentColor);
//run it again in nextDuration miliseconds
handler.postDelayed(toggle, nextDuration);
}
};
//start runnable in theDuration miliseconds
handler.postDelayed(toggle, theDuration);
You could have arrays of colors and durations and cycle through them with index variable. This is assuming that myView is a valid view.
EDIT:
To those who downvoted, read the documentation for Handler:
When you create a new Handler, it is bound to the thread / message queue of the thread that is creating it...
In other words, you are creating a handler in onCreate() of your activity, so it will be able to update your view.
This blogpost from adroid-developers website uses very similar construct as proposed above.
The Handler runs the update code as a part of your main thread, avoiding the overhead of a second thread and also making for easy access to the View hierarchy used for the user interface.
See here and here answered by CommonsWare and here - answered by Laith Alnagem.
I ended up creating a Runnable inside the my button click event handler. Everything (looping through the colors and durations plus "sleeping" based on the durations) is done in the Runnable run() method.
public void playOnClick(View v) {
Runnable runnable = new Runnable() {
public void run() {
...
}
Then I created a handler inside my UI Activity class that just changes the color of the background.
Handler handler = new Handler() {
#Override
public void handleMessage(Message msg) {
Bundle b = msg.getData();
String theColor = b.getString("color");
myView = (View) findViewById(R.id.bigView);
myView.setBackgroundColor(Color.parseColor(theColor));
}
};
Inside the run() method, he Runnable sends a message to the handler containing the background color using Bundle/Message objects:
b = new Bundle();
b.putString("color", theColor);
msg = new Message();
msg.setData(b);
handler.sendMessage(msg);

Execute method every second

I want to execude some code every second in android, but I'd like to do is in one thread (main thread). So far I have this:
locationTimer = new Timer("locationTimer", false);
locationTimer.schedule(new LocationCheckerTask(this), 0, 1000);
public class LocationCheckerTask extends TimerTask {
private GeoWatcher watcher;
public LocationCheckerTask(Context context) {
watcher = new GeoWatcher(context);
}
#Override
public void run() {
// funky stuff
}
}
Unfortunately, Timer class runs it's tasks on another thread.
Why I want to do this in a single thread?
Code in run() method will be executing really fast, so I figured I don't need another thread for it. What I want to do is to construct separate threads in run() method based on condition calculated every second. So instead of having child thread constructing another threads, I'd like to do this on the main one.
You can do this with Handler
public class Job implements Runnable{
private Handler handler;
public Job () {
handler = new Handler(Looper.getMainLooper());
loop();
}
#Override
public void run() {
// funky stuff
loop();
}
private void loop() {
handler.postDelayed(this, 1000);
}
}
use runOnUiThread(Runnable) method of Activity to run the task in UI Thread
public class LocationCheckerTask extends TimerTask {
private GeoWatcher watcher;
public LocationCheckerTask(Context context) {
watcher = new GeoWatcher(context);
}
#Override
public void run() {
runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
// funky stuff
}
});
}
}
the Handler is a perfect candidate for such tasks (dont try to combine TimerTask + runOnUiThread - it is useless as it uses a Handler under the hood)
private Runnable fiveSecondRunnable = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
if (count5 < 0) {
switchT030Sec();
} else {
tvSec5.setText(""+count5);
Log.v("5sec set", "yes");
count5--;
man.postDelayed(this, 1000);
}
}
};
and start it by calling
man.post(fiveSecondRunnable);

static runnable in Activity

I am modifying the following code in my activity:
new Handler().postDelayed(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
txtStatus.setText("hello");
}
}, 1000);
to:
static Runnable myRunnable = new Runnable() {
public void run() {
txtStatus.setText("hello");
};
new Handler().postDelayed(myRunnable, 1000);
Which obviously doesn't work, since we're referencing a non static variable.
This doesn't work either:
public void setText() {
txtStatus.setText("hello");
}
static Runnable myRunnable = new Runnable() {
public void run() {
setText(); // doesn't work
MyActivity.this.setText(); // still doesn't work
};
new Handler().postDelayed(myRunnable, 1000);
so how would my initial example be rewritten to use a static class instead of an anonymous inner class (to avoid the potential of a memory leak)?
You can use WeakReference to avoid memory leak problems. Here is some code, which illustrate this idea
public static class MyRunnable implements Runnable {
private WeakReference<Activity> activityRef;
public MyRunnable(Activity activity) {
activityRef = new WeakReference<Activity>(activity);
}
public void run() {
//some code
}
}
private MyRunnable runnable = new MyRunnable(this);
Try something like this:
private Runnable myRunnable = new Runnable() {
public void run() {
txtStatus.setText("hello");
}
};
// somewhere in code
txtStatus.postDelayed(myRunnable, 1000);
// in onPause or onDestroy
txtStatus.removeCallbacks(myRunnable);
Notes:
this avoids memory leaks, as your run will never be called after onDestroy if you call removeCallbacks
I replaced new Handler() with txtStatus, because every View has its own instance of Handler and there is no need to create additional one

updating a JProgressBar while processing

I know the subject has already been seen on many Questions and has been answered, but still, I can't get trough it.
I just want to update a progressBar while extracting some stuff of a large xml file.
I thought it was enough to have the time-consuming loop in a different thread but ?..
All I managed to get is the progressBar either not showed at all, or updated at the end, just before it's closed.
Instanced somewhere near the launch of the application, I have:
public class SomeClass {
private SomeClass () {
myXMLParser reader = new myXMLParser();
CoolStuff fromXml = reader.readTheXml();
}
}
while showing and updating a JDialog with a JProgressBar:
public class LoadingDialog extends JDialog {
private JProgressBar progressBar;
/* ... */
public void progress() {
progressBar.setValue(progressBar.getValue() + 1);
}
}
So I have this myXMLParser:
public class myXMLParser {
private LoadingDialog loadingDialog = new LoadingDialog();
public CoolStuff readTheXml() {
CoolStuff fromXml = new CoolStuff();
while(manyIterations) {
loadingDialog.progress();
fromXml.add(some() + xml() + reading());
}
return fromXml;
}
}
I have seen many things with SwingWorker and using PropertyChange events update the progressBar, but examples are always given all-in-one, with the processing and the progressbar within the same class, and with classes within classes, and since I begin in Java, I wasn't able to translate that to my situation.
Any help ?.. Any (not too obvious) advices ?
Edit: So thanks to btantlinger it worked like that:
public class SomeClass {
private SomeClass () {
myXMLParser reader = new myXMLParser();
new Thread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
CoolStuff fromXml = reader.readTheXml();
}
}).start();
}
}
public class LoadingDialog extends JDialog {
private JProgressBar progressBar;
/* ... */
public void progress() {
progressBar.setValue(progressBar.getValue() + 1);
}
}
public class myXMLParser {
private LoadingDialog loadingDialog = new LoadingDialog();
public CoolStuff readTheXml() {
CoolStuff fromXml = new CoolStuff();
while(manyIterations) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
loadingDialog.progress();
}
});
fromXml.add(some() + xml() + reading());
}
return fromXml;
}
}
You MUST update the JProgress bar on the Swing Event Dispatch Thread. You cannot modify Swing components on any other thread.
Your only other alternative would be to set the JProgress bar "indeterminate" before you start your thread where the progress bar will just go back and forth.
E.g
progBar.setIndeterminate(true);
See the SwingWorker javadoc:
http://docs.oracle.com/javase/6/docs/api/javax/swing/SwingWorker.html
If you don't want to use the SwingWorker, another option is the SwingUtilities.invokeLater method
//inside your long running thread when you want to update a Swing component
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
//This will be called on the EDT
progressBar.setValue(progressBar.getValue() + 1);
}
});
In addition to the code provided by #btantlinger, I found after testing that it required an additional line of code in order to update the progress bar on the UI thread while processing. See below.
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
progressBar.setValue((int)percentage);
//below code to update progress bar while running on thread
progressBar.update(progressBar.getGraphics());
}
});

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