Develop Reference

How to set a delay on a method

When i currently call my method
public void flip() {
Image change = new ImageIcon(this.getClass().getResource(imageName[0])).getImage();
ImageIcon card = new ImageIcon(change);
imagelbl.setIcon(card);
}
Currently when the method is called the code runs and the method works. This is perfect however i need there to be a delay of 1 second before the method runs.
I have tried using setTimeout() but i was unsuccessful. How would i get this method to have a 1 sec delay before running?

Use the Timer class for timing.
public void callerMethod() {
System.out.println("Start");
Timer timer = new Timer();
timer.schedule(new TimerTask() {
public void run() {
delayedMethod();
}
}, 1000);
}
public void delayedMethod() {
System.out.println("Test");
}

Use Thread.sleep(1000) as the first line in flip() method.

Count up timer on Android?

I've been looking for a way to create a timer that counts up in the format of mm:ss:SS and cannot for the life of me find a way of doing it. I had a timer running through a Handler and a Runnable but the timing was off and it took around 2.5 seconds to do a "second". I'll also need this timer be able to countdown too!
Can anyone give me any resources or code snippets to research on this as it is a big part of the app I'm coding.
Here's a bit of the code that I was using
private Handler handler = new Handler();
private Runnable runnable = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
/* do what you need to do */
testMethod();
/* and here comes the "trick" */
handler.postDelayed(this, 10);
}
};
public void testMethod()
{
// Log.d("Testing", "Test");
final TextView timeLabel = (TextView)findViewById(R.id.timeString);
count++;
seconds = (int)(count / 100);
final String str = ""+count;
runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
timeLabel.setText("" + seconds);
// Log.d("Time", "" + count);
}
});
}
Ta!

Make small custom class by extending CountDownTimer class and then add integer or long type and then increment it, since each tick is 1 second (integer) in this case
public class TimeCounter extends CountDownTimer {
// this is my seconds up counter
int countUpTimer;
public TimeCounter(long millisInFuture, long countDownInterval) {
super(millisInFuture, countDownInterval);
countUpTimer=0;
}
#Override
public void onTick(long l) {
//since each tick interval is one second
// just add 1 to this each time
myTextView.setText("Seconds:"+countUpTimer);
countUpTimer = countUpTimer+1;
}
#Override
public void onFinish() {
//reset counter to 0 if you want
countUpTimer=0;
}
}
TimeCounter timer = new TimeCounter(whenToStopInSeconds*1000, 1000);
This should get you started, in your case use long instead integer
countUpTimer = countUpTimer+1000 countUpTimer type and do time parsing as suits you

Rather than using the Handler, I'd recommend using the java.util.Timer and the java.util.TimerTask APIs. Use the Timer's void scheduleAtFixedRate() method which basically executes tasks after a fixed interval of time. The Handler's method most likely uses a fixed-delay execution.
Timer's Documentation
TimerTask's Documentation

Andengine TimerHandler and detecting collisions

I'm developing a game where LittleMan can move from block to block, and certain blocks are moving. I'm trying to detect when he moves to a new moving block, if that block is beneath him or if it has moved. I'm using Andengine's TimerHandler to check every 0.1 seconds but it is not working. Here's the code:
private void OnMovingBlock(final int CurrentPosRow, final int CurrentPosColumn) {
this.getEngine().registerUpdateHandler(new TimerHandler(0.1f, true, new ITimerCallback() {
#Override
public void onTimePassed(final TimerHandler pTimerHandler) {
if (LittleManPos[0] == CurrentPosRow && LittleManPos[1] == CurrentPosColumn) {
if (!LittleMan.collidesWith(MapRectangles[CurrentPosRow][CurrentPosColumn])) {
RestartScene();
}
}
}
}));
}
It seems he can move to the block and sit there with it moving in and out beneath him but it doesn't call RestartScene() UNTIL I move him again. Any idea where I am going wrong? Or is there another way to do this?

Why don't create a Timer?
TimerTask task = new TimerTask(){
#Override
public void run(){
// your code goes here
}
};
Timer timer = new Timer();
timer.sechedule(task, 0, 100); // 100 --> 0.1 second
To cancel the Timer, call timer.cancel();.

Timer Task Only Runs Once

How do I make my Timer Task run more than once? This is really bothering me..
timer = new Timer();
timer.schedule(new Client(), 1000);
public void run() {
try {
System.out.println("sent data");
socketOut.write(0);
} catch (Exception e) {
// disconnect client on their side
Game.destroyGame();
timer.cancel();
timer.purge();
}
}
I want this timer to run for an infinite amount of time until the Exception occurs.

When the Javadoc says that it repeats with a specific delay, the delay is the initial delay before the TimerTask starts and not for how long the TimerTask will run. You can repeat the task every period milliseconds. Look at the schedule method. Below is a simple example that repeats every 2 seconds, indefinitely. In the example, the call:
timer.schedule(new RemindTask(seconds), 0, seconds * 1000);
tells timer to run the RemindTask every seconds seconds (*1000 because the time here is really in miliseconds), with an initial delay of 0 - i.e. start the RemindTask right away and then keep repeating at regular intervals.
import java.util.Timer;
import java.util.TimerTask;
public class Main {
static Timer timer;
static int i = 0;
class RemindTask extends TimerTask {
private int seconds;
public RemindTask(int seconds) {
this.seconds = seconds;
}
public void run() {
i+= seconds ;
System.out.println(i + " seconds!");
}
}
public Main(int seconds) {
timer = new Timer();
timer.schedule(new RemindTask(seconds), 0, seconds * 1000);
}
public static void main(String args[]) {
new Main(2);
System.out.format("Task scheduled.%n");
}
}

Looks like to me you're running a GUI program (I'm assuimg SWING, because your other question you were using SWING). So here's a bit of advice. Use a javax.swing.Timer for Swing program.
"How do I make my Timer Task run more than once? "
javax.swing.Timer has methods .stop() and .start() and .restart(). A basic implementation of the Timer object is something like this
Timer timer = new Timer(delay, new ActionListener(){
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
// do something
}
});
timer.start();
You can do anything you want in the actionPerformed and it will fire an event every how many ever milliseconds you provide to the delay. You can have a button call .start() or .stop()
See this answer for a simple implementation of Timer imitating a sort of stop watch for a Boggle game

To calculate the total time elapsed using threads in java

I have this java code using Threads to calculate the time elapsed once the start button is hit till the stop button is not hit.
I want to do this using Threads only
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
// This will count the elapsed time between running time of two threads.
class ThreadGame {
JButton button;
MyAction my_action;
public static void main(String[] args) {
ThreadGame tg = new ThreadGame();
}
public ThreadGame() {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Calculate time - Game");
button = new JButton("Start");
button.addActionListener(new MyAction());
frame.add(button);
frame.setSize(400, 400);
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
}
class MyAction implements ActionListener {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
String text = (String) e.getActionCommand();
final Timer timer = new Timer();
if (text.equals("Start")) {
button.setText("Stop");
Thread start_time = new Thread() {
public void run() {
timer.startTime();
}
};
start_time.start();
try {
start_time.join();
} catch (Exception e1) {
}
} else {
Thread stop_time = new Thread() {
public void run() {
timer.stopTime();
}
};
Thread get_time = new Thread() {
public void run() {
timer.getElapsedTime();
System.out.println(timer.elapsed);
}
};
stop_time.start();
try {
stop_time.join();
} catch (Exception e2) {
}
get_time.start();
button.setText("Start");
}
}
}
class Timer {
public double startTime = 0.0;
public double stopTime = 0.0;
public boolean running = false;
public double elapsed = 0.0;
public void startTime() {
this.startTime = System.nanoTime();
this.running = true;
}
public void stopTime() {
this.stopTime = System.nanoTime();
this.running = false;
}
// Elasped time in seconds
public double getElapsedTime() {
// double elapsed;
if (running) {
elapsed = ((System.nanoTime() - startTime) / 1000);
} else {
elapsed = ((stopTime - startTime) / 1000);
}
return elapsed;
}
}
}
EDIT: I have understand the problem: timer scope was the problem.
EDIT 2: Ok, it looks like I have to use suspend and resume in one thread only.

The problem is that the start button press is starting a different Timer object than the stop-button button press is stopping because the Timer object is created every time when the actionPerformed(...) method is called.
The Timer needs to be a field in your MyAction class. You also don't need all of the thread start/joins because the Timer object is very simple and fast.
Really, you can just use a startTimeMillis long field instead of a timer. Something like:
class MyAction implements ActionListener {
private long startTimeMillis;
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
String text = (String) e.getActionCommand();
if (text.equals("Start")) {
startTimeMillis = System.currentTimeMillis();
...
} else {
System.out.println(System.currentTimeMillis() - startTimeMillis);
}
}
}

Your problem is caused by the scope of timer. This should be a private instance variable, not a local method variable. Further, wrapping calls to startTime and endTime in a thread's run method isn't gaining you anything, because these are incredibly short-lived calls. But that's not the real problem here.
There's no reason to be running Timer in its own thread. That is, without using a specialized real-time operating system, using threads to solve the problem of measuring the duration between two events is just plain wrong.
You might think that you could create a thread with a loop that increments a msec variable after a Thread.sleep(1). Don't do this! This kind of timing is also just plain wrong. Your computer uses a preemptive multitasking model which means there's no guarantee that your thread will execute on a regular interval. That is, there is nothing requiring that Thread.sleep(1) will sleep for some maximum duration. The guarantee is that your thread will sleep for a minimum of 1ms. This means there's no way to determine clock error if you're managing a clock yourself in software, and this error is not insignificant. Just don't do it!! Time should always be measured by your operating system, preferably using an interrupt-based timer (which is how System.nanoTime works on most, if not all platforms).
Instead of using a thread, just call your startTime and stopTime methods directly from your original thread.
Try this:
class ThreadGame {
JButton button;
MyAction my_action;
private final Timer timer = new Timer();
public static void main(String[] args) {
ThreadGame tg = new ThreadGame();
}
public ThreadGame() {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Calculate time - Game");
button = new JButton("Start");
button.addActionListener(new MyAction());
frame.add(button);
frame.setSize(400, 400);
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
}
class MyAction implements ActionListener {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
String text = (String) e.getActionCommand();
if (text.equals("Start")) {
timer.startTime();
button.setText("Stop");
} else {
timer.stopTime();
button.setText("Start");
}
}
}
class Timer {
public double startTime = 0.0;
public double stopTime = 0.0;
public boolean running = false;
public double elapsed = 0.0;
public void startTime() {
this.startTime = System.nanoTime();
this.running = true;
}
public void stopTime() {
this.stopTime = System.nanoTime();
this.running = false;
}
// Elasped time in seconds
public double getElapsedTime() {
return (this.startTime-this.stopTime)*1000000000.0;
}
}
}
If you want to learn how to use threads, try writing an application that solves a problem for which threads are a good fit. For example, write a small Swing application that lets you download a file from the web. As the file is downloading, update a progress bar in your UI. The download should happen in a worker thread separately from the UI thread, otherwise the UI will block during the download's progress.
Another example problem is to write a threaded ray tracer (here's an example tutorial written in C++).
If you want something simpler, write a Swing clock. Use a loop within a separate thread to update the UI at a periodic interval, but do not use the loop to manage what time it is. Again, don't try to keep time in the loop, just let the OS keep the time, and use the loop to schedule when the UI gets updated with the current OS time.

You're never calling getElapsedTime() that updates elapsed field.

You are creating a new Timer when ever you click the button. Make timer a class variable of your MyAction
The code below should be sufficient to get elapsed time.
class MyAction implements ActionListener {
final Timer timer = new Timer();
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
String text = (String) e.getActionCommand();
if (text.equals("Start")) {
button.setText("Stop");
timer.startTime();
} else {
timer.stopTime();
System.out.println(timer.elapsed);
button.setText("Start");
}
}
}

Simply do this...
- Call System.currentTimeMillis() at the Starting of threads.
- Then again call System.currentTimeMillis() at the end of threads.
- Subtract the end with starting value to get the Elapsed time...
/////////////////EDITED///////////////////////
Make sure that the method trying to manipulate(ie. read and write) the variable holding the System.currentTimeMillis() must be synchronized, with synchronized keyword, so that Race Condition doesn't occur according to Brian's Law...
If you are writing a variable that might next be read by another thread, or reading a variable that might have last been written by another thread, you must use synchronization, and further, both the reader and the writer must synchronize using the same monitor lock.