Can someone explain to me 2 things about the thread code that I finally made almost working the way it should. I want to do a periodic task in the background every x seconds and be able to stop and start it at will. I coded that based on the examples I found, but I'm not sure if I made it in the right way. For the purpose of debugging, the task is displaying a time with custom showTime().
public class LoopExampleActivity extends Activity {
TextView Napis, Napis2;
Button button1,button_start,button_stop;
Handler handler = new Handler();
Boolean tread1_running = true;
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main);
Napis = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.textView1);
Napis2 = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.textView2);
button1 = (Button) findViewById(R.id.button1);
button_stop = (Button) findViewById(R.id.button_stop);
button_start = (Button) findViewById(R.id.button_start);
button_stop.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
#Override
public void onClick (View v) {
tread1_running = false;
}
});
button_start.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
#Override
public void onClick (View v) {
tread1_running = true;
}
});
thread.start();
}// endof onCreate
final Runnable r = new Runnable()
{
public void run()
{
handler.postDelayed(this, 1000);
showTime(Napis2);
}
};
Thread thread = new Thread()
{
#Override
public void run() {
try {
while(tread1_running) {
sleep(1000);
handler.post(r);
}
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
};
}
Now the questions are:
1)Will my thread quit forever if I stop it with the stop button?
2)Why can't I start it again with the start_button? If I add the tread.start() in a button, will it crash?
3) I tried a second version when I let the thread run and put a condition into the handler. The only way I can get it to work is to loop conditionaly in the handler by adding an
if (thread1_running) {
handler.postDelayed(this, 2000);
showTime(Napis2);
}
And changing the condition in a thread start to while (true) but then I have an open thread that is running all the time and I start and stop it in a handler, and it posts more and more handlers.
So, finally I get to the point it looks like that:
final Runnable r = new Runnable()
{
public void run()
{
if (thread1_running) handler.postDelayed(this, 1000);
showTime(Napis2);
}
};
Thread thread = new Thread()
{
#Override
public void run() {
try {
while(true) {
sleep(1000);
if (thread1_running) handler.post(r);
}
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
};
Is the proper way to do that is to start and stop a whole thread? Or that is the best way?
The best way to achieve something like that would be, in my humble opinion, to postDelayed(Runnable, long).
You could do something like this. Class definition:
private Handler mMessageHandler = new Handler();
private Runnable mUpdaterRunnable = new Runnable() {
public void run() {
doStuff();
showTime(Napis2);
mMessageHandler.postDelayed(mUpdaterRunnable, 1000);
}
};
And control true run/stop like this:
To start:
mMessageHandler.postDelayed(mUpdaterRunnable, 1000);
And to stop:
mMessageHandler.removeCallbacks(mUpdaterRunnable);
It's much much simpler, in my humble opinion.
Threads a described by a state machine in java.
When a thread get outs of its run method, it enters in the stopped state and can't be restarted.
You should always stop a thread by getting it out of its run method as you do, it s the proper way to do it.
If you want to "restart the thread", start a new instance of your thread class.
You should better encapsulate your thread and its running field. It should be inside your thread class and the class should offer a public method to swich the boolean. No one cares about your datastructure, hide them. :)
You should consider using runOnUIThread for your runnable, its much easier to use than handlers.
Related
I need to delete a value from SharedPreferences after 5 minutes or when the user finished to do something . So when I add that value I start this:
Activity A
Handler handler = new Handler();
handler.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
mySharedPreferences.removeValue(mContext, Utils.MY_VALUE);
}
}, Utils.TIME_BEFORE_DELETE);
and in the case users finished all I do this:
Activity B
mySharedPrefernces.removeValue(mContext, Utils.MY_VALUE);
But how can I stop the Handle into second activity?? Or is there another way to do it??
you can you boolean variable if you want to cancel this.
create public static boolean to check if the task is cancelled or not.
public static boolean isCanceled = false;
Use this in run() method
Handler handler = new Handler();
handler.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
if (!isCanceled)
mySharedPreferences.removeValue(mContext, Utils.MY_VALUE);
}
}, Utils.TIME_BEFORE_DELETE);
if you want to cancel then set:
isCanceled = true;
Runnable run = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
mySharedPreferences.removeValue(mContext, Utils.MY_VALUE);
}
};
Handler handler = new Handler();
handler.postDelayed(run, Utils.TIME_BEFORE_DELETE);
//to dismiss pending runnable
handler.removeCallbacks(run);
A better way to do: Example code
publc static final Handler handler = new Handler();
public static final Runnable runnable = new Runnable() {
public void run() {
try {
Log.d("Runnable","Handler is working");
if(i == 5){ // just remove call backs
handler.removeCallbacks(this);
Log.d("Runnable","ok");
} else { // post again
i++;
handler.postDelayed(this, 5000);
}
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
};
//now somewhere in a method
b1.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
public void onClick(View v) {
handler.removeCallbacks(runnable);
handler.postDelayed(runnable, 5000);
}
});
You can use handler.removeCallbacksAndMessages(null);. More information link
In this case you can use service with sticky flags. So you start service with intent "start_handler" and start handler also. When you need cancel handler you send the intent to stop handler and service. Or when time is passed and handler calls your code you should also stop service.
Using service with sticky flag provides possibility restoring handler. Also you need add some logic saving time when handler was run for correct restoring handler.
For that you can't use direct Runnable inside handler, you need to take one instance of it then you can do this like below,
Runnable myRunnable = new Runnable(){};
Then assign this in handler
handler.postDelayed(myRunnable);
And on no need use below line
handler.removeCallbacks(myRunnable);
new Handler().postDelayed(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
//add your code hare
finish();
}
}, 10000);
by using this way you can stop your runnable in a fix time
Hi im trying to do an app that searchs bluetooth devices that are near every 5-10 seconds, so I tried to do an endless loop but the app is getting stuck when I press the button that starts the loop:
int stopInt=2;
serachB.setOnClickListener(
new Button.OnClickListener() {
public void onClick(View v) {
do {
final Handler handler = new Handler();
handler.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
listAdapter.clear();
getPairedDevices();
startDiscovery();
}
}, 4000);
} while (stopInt>1);
}
private final Handler mMyhandler = new Handler();
private final Runnable checkBluetoothRunnable = new Runnable() {
public void run() {
//Do your work here
mMyHandler.postDelayed(this, 5000);
}
};
serachB.setOnClickListener(
new Button.OnClickListener() {
public void onClick(View v){
mMyhandler.post(checkBluetoothRunnable);
}
}
}
Change it this way:
serachB.setOnClickListener(
new Button.OnClickListener() {
public void onClick(View v) {
final Handler handler = new Handler();
handler.post(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
while(true){
listAdapter.clear();
getPairedDevices();
startDiscovery();
Thread.sleep(4000);
}
}
});
}}
You are continually creating new instances of Handler in your while loop which is going to eat up memory. I wouldn't be surprised if you were getting an OutOfMemoryError which is causing the termination. Try creating a single instance outside of your loop.
The Runnable passed to Handler runs on the UIThread since it was created on that thread. This should be avoided for lengthy operations and instead delegated to another thread.
When you create a new Handler, it is bound to the thread / message
queue of the thread that is creating it
Also, rather than using the Handler class you could potentially swap it out to use ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor which will give you a pool of threads which can then periodically execute your device discovery code.
Firstly create a ScheduledExecutorService:
ScheduledExecutorService scheduledExecutorService = Executors.newScheduledThreadPool(5);
Create an instance of your Runnable:
MyRunnable deviceDiscovery = new MyRunnable();
Then in your onClick method you kick off with scheduleAtFixedRate:
ScheduledFuture<?> future = scheduledExecutorService.scheduleAtFixedRate(deviceDiscovery, 0, 1, TimeUnit.MINUTES);
Then when you want to stop it running you need to call cancel on the ScheduledFuture:
future.cancel(true); // Set to true to say it can interrupt if already running
i have a button with onclicklistener that download a picture from internet and update progress-bar in UI thread . when users click on the button for first time , it work correctly , but if the users click on the button for seconds &... when download is not completed , a duplicate process happens .how could i get rid of this problem?
Button btnDownload = (Button) findViewById(R.id.btndownload);
final TextView txtcaption = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.txtcaption);
final ProgressBar progress = (ProgressBar) findViewById(R.id.progress);
btnDownload.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
#Override
public void onClick(View arg0) {
new Thread(new Runnable() {
OnProgressDownloadListener listener = new OnProgressDownloadListener() {
#Override
public void progressDownload(final int percent) {
new HANDLER.post(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
progress.setProgress(percent);
txtcaption.setText(percent + " %");
if (percent >= 100) {
txtcaption.setText("completed");
Toast.makeText(activity.this, "download completed", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
}
}
});
}
};
#Override
public void run() {
//my download manager
FileDownloader.download("address/file", DIR + "/file");
}
}).start();
}
});
}
An easy way to do this would be the following...
First, begin by declaring a thread...
Thread myThread
Then create a simple method that contains the thread you wish to execute when the button is pressed...
private void getPicture()
{
myThread = new Thread()
{
public void run()
{
// Place thread code here...
}
};
myThread.start();
}
Then you can do a simple check when the button is pressed and, if the thread is active, don't call the getPicture method...buttonDownload.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener()
{
#Override
public void onClick(View view)
{
if (myThread.isAlive())
{
// Thread is alive, do not launch again
}
else
{
// Thread is not running so call method...
getPicture();
}
}
});
Have a Thread variable in your class that's initialized to NULL. In your onClickListener, check the value of that variable. If its null, start a new thread and save the value of that thread in the variable. If it isn't, ignore the button press or pop up a downloading toast. Remember to set the variable back to null when your thread is completed.
I'd highly recommend using an AsyncTask for this rather than a thread, it will be cleaner.
I'm trying to make a simple little program that will increment a number once a second. In this case, I'm implementing a thread that should loop once per second and add 1 to "potato" each time it loops. This works fine until it gets back to the display method potatoDisp(). For some reason this causes my app to crash. Removing potatoDisp() from run() fixes the problem, but the display is not updated as "potato" increases.
public int potato = 0;
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
potatoDisp();
start();
}
public void potatoDisp() {
TextView text = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.textView1);
text.setText("You currently have " + potato + " potatoes");
}
public void start() {
Thread thread = new Thread(this);
thread.start();
}
#Override
public void run() {
while (true) {
try {
Thread.sleep(1000);
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
return;
}
potato++;
potatoDisp();
}
}
I'm doing this for an Android app, if that helps. I've tried searching for an answer but I'm pretty lost when it comes to the proper way to work threads.
You need a runnable / handler like this:
private Runnable potatoRun = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run () {
potatoDisp();
}
};
then change
potatoDisp();
to:
runOnUiThread(potatoRun);
You can't update the views when you're not on the UI thread.
You are probably getting an exception for updating the UI in the background. Since, potatoDisp(); is called from a background Thread but that function updates the UI it will give you problems. You need to call it with runOnUiThread().
#Override
public void run() {
while (true) {
try
{
Thread.sleep(1000);
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
return;
}
potato++;
runOnUiThread(new Runnable()
{
#Override
public void run()
{
potatoDisp();
}
});
}
}
Something like this should work.
The issue is that you are trying to update the UI (calling text.setText(...)) on a thread other than the main UI thread.
While I would suggest using a TimerTask instead of calling Thread.sleep(...), there are two main ways to edit your current code to work as expected.
-- Use a Handler
Define a Handler class that will accept messages and update your UI as needed. For example:
private final String POTATO_COUNT = "num_potatoes";
Handler handler = new Handler() {
public void handleMessage(Message msg) {
int numPotatoes = msg.getData.getInt(POTATO_COUNT);
mText.setText("You currently have " + numPotatoes + " potatoes");
}
}
Then in your code where you want to call your handler to update your text view, whether or not you are on the main UI thread, do the following:
Bundle bundle = new Bundle();
bundle.putInt(POTATO_COUNT, potato);
Message msg = new Message();
msg.setData(bundle);
handler.sendMessage(msg);
-- Call runOnUiThread(...)
#Override
public void run() {
while (true) {
try {
Thread.sleep(1000);
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
return;
}
potato++;
runOnUiThread(new Runnable()
{
public void run()
{
potatoDisp();
}
}
}
}
I think you should be using Async Task to update the UI from a thread: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/os/AsyncTask.html
I recently began working with Java and am exploring Android development. I was trying to port over one of the Java programs I made, but I am having some difficulty with getting the java Timer to function the same way in Android. I read through a number of posts and they, for the most part, indicated that it would be better to use the Handler class in android as opposed to Timer.
This was my timer in Java:
playTimer = new Timer(1000/model.getFPS(), new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
// do something
...
if( finished everything ) playTimer.stop();
}
});
And once a certain button was clicked, I would simply run "playTimer.start()" to start it.
As you can see, I had it set up so that the user could set the FPS they wanted (by simply setting the first parameter of the Timer class to 1000/model.getFPS()).
Now I've tried to do something similar in Android using handlers, but I am having some difficulty. It appears that the Handler ticks are not firing at the proper intervals. It seems that they are quite slow compared to what I need it to be. This is what I did in android so far:
public void startTimer() {
playHandler = new Handler();
startTime = System.currentTimeMillis();
playHandler.removeCallbacks(updateTimeTask);
playHandler.postDelayed(updateTimeTask, 0);
}
private Runnable updateTimeTask = new Runnable() {
public void run() {
// do something
...
if( finished everything ) playHander.cancel();
else {
playHandler.postDelayed(updateTimeTask, 1000/model.getFPS());
}
}
};
Excuse the semi-pseudocode. Can anyone shed any light? Thanks guys.
You can use a timer as below. The timer runs every second incrementing the counter. Displs the counter value in textview.
Timer runs on a different thread. SO you should set the text on the UI Thread.
The counter runs from 0 to 99. After 99 the timer is cancelled. Also cancel the timer when not required like in onPause().
public class MainActivity extends Activity {
TextView _tv,tv2;
Timer _t;
int _count=0;
/** Called when the activity is first created. */
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
_tv = (TextView) findViewById( R.id.textView1 );
_t = new Timer();
_tv.setText(R.string.app_name);
_t.scheduleAtFixedRate( new TimerTask() {
#Override
public void run() {
_count++;
runOnUiThread(new Runnable() //run on ui thread
{
public void run()
{
_tv.setText(""+_count);
if(_count==99)
{
_t.cancel();
}
}
});
}
}, 1000, 1000 ); //change this value of 1000 to whatever you need.
}
#Override
protected void onPause() {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
super.onPause();
_t.cancel();
}
}
If you decide not to use Timer (for whatever reason) you can just write a separate Thread that sleeps for x milliseconds and then wakes up and calls whatever Runnable you want it to call. That's going to be pretty precise. I have it working at the 10 millisecond level and it works quite nicely.
Just remember that it HAS to call a Runnable because a separate Thread can't have direct effect on anything on the main display thread.
public boolean keepPlayingAnimation = true
Handler h = new Handler()
Runnable updateDisplay = new Runnable(){
public void run(){
//do something in my display;
}
}
new Thread(){
public void run(){
while(keepPlayingAnimation){
try{
sleep(10);
}catch(Exception e){
}
h.post(updateDisplay);
}
}
}.start();
Just don't forget to set keepPlayingAnimation to false when you're done with this cause otherwise it will sit there running in the background for ever (or just about).
Take a look at Android Timer
It already has everything you need i guess. From ticking every 1 second to finish handly and so on.
Here is an example how to setup an TimerTask: setup
Not sure if you need such but i just remembered that i made this.