Finish() not working sometimes - android

Normally while calling finish(), we are expected to call onPause(), onStop() and onDestroy(). Most of the times it is working fine. But sometimes finish() only calls onPause() i.e. onStop() and onDestroy() are not calling sometimes. Why it is like so? What happens finish() for not calling onStop() and onDestroy(). I have put log in finish() method Activity.java. But in working and non working conditions logs are same. Please help.

According to developer docs, onStop() and onDestroy() are Killable:
Note the "Killable" column in the above table -- for those methods that are marked as being killable, after that method returns the process hosting the activity may killed by the system at any time without another line of its code being executed. Because of this, you should use the onPause() method to write any persistent data (such as user edits) to storage.
So onStop() and onDestroy() may or maynot be called, it depends on how system handle it.

When calling finish() on an activity, the method onDestroy() is executed this method can do things like:
Dismiss any dialogs the activity was managing.
Close any cursors the activity was managing.
Close any open search dialog
Also, onDestroy() isn't a destructor. It doesn't actually destroy the object. It's just a method that's called based on a certain state. So your instance is still alive and very well* after the superclass's onDestroy() runs and returns.Android keeps processes around in case the user wants to restart the app, this makes the startup phase faster. The process will not be doing anything and if memory needs to be reclaimed, the process will be killed
finish() Call this when your activity is done and should be closed. The ActivityResult is propagated back to whoever launched you via onActivityResult().
finish()

Related

What can we do to ensure that onDestroy() gets called?

I have a line of code that I should call after my activity is destroyed, so I override onDestroy() method and I call it inside. Like this:
#override
public void onDestroy(){
//my code here
super.onDestroy()
}
Now I noticed that the this line of code is not always executed when my activity finishes.
I read about this and some said don't depend on onDestroy() method to call something.
My question is I need to call the code from onDestroy() and I want it to always work. Any thoughts on this? And why onDestroy() is found in the first place if we cant depend on it to execute?
It is not a good idea to depend on onDestroy() for your cleanup works. It is better to perform these operation in onPause() or onStop(). These are the callback methods which the system calls whenever your activity goes out of view.
Now I noticed that the this line of code is not always executed when my activity finishes.
Either:
onDestroy() is called, or
You crashed with an unhandled exception, or
Your process was terminated (e.g., user revoked a runtime permission from Settings, Android needed RAM in a hurry)
I read about this and some said don't depend on onDestroy() method to call something.
Correct. onDestroy() is for cleanup of things assuming that your app is continuing to run normally. However, if your app is no longer running normally (you crashed) or your app is gone (process terminated), onDestroy() is not relevant.
I need to call the code from onDestroy() and I want it to always work. Any thoughts on this?
You will need to reconsider those two requirements, as they cannot both be true. Either initialize in onStart() and clean up in onStop(), or live with the fact that your cleanup code may not be called. Even the onStop() scenario is not completely guaranteed — in a multi-window environment, the user could revoke a runtime permission in Settings while your app is still visible — but we're getting into fairly unlikely scenarios.
There is no guarantee onDestroy it will ever be called, but i had rely on onPause to check if the Activity is finishing by calling if( isFinishing() ) // activity is about to finish yet this might not work properly.
I had rethink of my logic to not rely onDestroy at all.
boolean isFinishing ()
Check to see whether this activity is in the process of finishing,
either because you called finish() on it or someone else has requested
that it finished. This is often used in onPause() to determine whether
the activity is simply pausing or completely finishing.
https://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Activity.html#isFinishing%28%29
These are the system calls for the method they will crash when they are called explicitly by the programmer...

Does onDestory() is ensured to be called after finish()?;

I always think finish() will fire onDestory() immediately.But in 4.3 it seems not the truth.
I just want to know in which condition it'll happend ?
sorry,I can't put all my code on here.
It confused me a few hours,and I can't find any useful info about it.
From the docs:
onPause() is the last method that's guaranteed to be called before the process can be killed—if the system must recover memory in an emergency, then onStop() and onDestroy() might not be called. Therefore, you should use onPause() to write crucial persistent data (such as user edits) to storage.
It doesn't matter if you used finish() or the system killed your Activity on its own. If the system "wants" to recover memory, there's no guarantee that onDestroy() or onStop() will be called.
First, this answer assumes that you are referring to Android's Activity class and its finish() method and onDestroy() lifecycle method.
Second, it depends upon your definition of "sure":
Your process could be terminated in between finish() and onDestroy(), for reasons independent of whatever is triggering the call to finish()
A device manufacturer or ROM modder could introduce some screwy change that would break the connection between finish() and onDestroy()
The battery could go dead in between finish() and onDestroy()
Etc.
No, there is no guarantee onDestroy() will be called.
The same goes for onStop()
What you want instead is onPause()
This is true for all versions of Android, going back to 1.0 to the very latest. The Activity lifecycle can be initially very confusing for beginners. But it's not the beginner's fault, it's the fault of the framework designers.
Another mistake beginners make is to assume that onResume() is about resuming the Activity, when in fact it's the UI thread that is resuming while it is in its Activity. This is another point that the documentation goes over and over again, but really, it would have been a lot simpler if the android team had called that method something less ambiguous to begin with.
according to: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Activity.html
Will allways be called,
onDestroy():
the final call you receive before your activity is destroyed. This can happen either because the activity is finishing (someone called finish() on it, or because the system is temporarily destroying this instance of the activity to save space. You can distinguish between these two scenarios with the isFinishing() method.

Is ondestroy not always called?

I have put some cache cleaning code in onDestroy of my activity but most of the time the code is not executed unless I explicitly finish the activity via finish().
Edit: Just read onDestroy is called only with finish() or if the system is low on resources. So where do I need to put my cache cleaning code? If I put it in onPause() and the user goes back to the app, the cache is cleared. I am actually storing important temporary files in the cache that should not be deleted in onPause.
From Android developer documentation:
protected void onDestroy ()
Added in API level 1 Perform any final cleanup before an activity is
destroyed. This can happen either because the activity is finishing
(someone called finish() on it, or because the system is temporarily
destroying this instance of the activity to save space. You can
distinguish between these two scenarios with the isFinishing() method.
Note: do not count on this method being called as a place for saving
data! For example, if an activity is editing data in a content
provider, those edits should be committed in either onPause() or
onSaveInstanceState(Bundle), not here. This method is usually
implemented to free resources like threads that are associated with an
activity, so that a destroyed activity does not leave such things
around while the rest of its application is still running. There are
situations where the system will simply kill the activity's hosting
process without calling this method (or any others) in it, so it
should not be used to do things that are intended to remain around
after the process goes away.
You can move your code to onPause() or onStop()
try to use onstop
like this
#Override
protected void onStop() {
super.onStop();
//write your code here
}
ondestroy is mostly called when the system completely removes the activity from memory, or when a user kills the activity, you want to save your data in on pause, as that will always be called before the destroy.

android: Why onDestroy not be called when i call finish?

In my code i call finish on a activity but the onDestroy method of this activity not be called. would anyone can tell me why? when the onDestroy method will be called?
onDestroy() is called only when system is low on resources(memory, cpu time and so on) and makes a decision to kill your activity/application or when somebody calls finish() on your activity.
So, to test your code() you can make a test button, that will call finish() on your activity.
I believe you don't need to call all this stuff in onDestroy() until adap is not a critical resource. And even in that case android system has mechanisms to properly dispose them.
For More Details you can Refer Here

Android : On application exit?

I understand when an activity closes, onDestroy() is called. But this is not done always right? Sometimes, onPause() is called.
So suppose I want to clear some memory when an activity closes, where exactly do I do it? Since onDestory may not be called, I cannot keep it there either right?
Elaborating:
I have 2 activities A1 and A2. A1 is hsown in the startup of the app. A1 calls A2 later. Suppose I create a class object in onCreate() of Activity A1. This object must be deleted when the I exit the app, i.e when the app is no longer visible. Is the best place to do this onDestroy() or onStop() of A1?
I guess onPause() may not be the right place, because onPause() will be called when A1 calls A2 and I dont want to delete the object then.
-Kiki
I think you mean onPause(), there is no onSuspend() method. If your activity closes cleanly, it will call onStop() and onDestroy().
If the system is running low on memory and wants to kill your activity, then onPause() is guaranteed to be called before your process is killed, but that's the only guarantee. The methods onStop() and onDestroy() may not be called. So you should cleanup in onPause().
However... don't forget that your activity can transition many times between onResume() and onPause(), so you don't want to do too much allocations and cleanups in those two methods, they should be quick.
You have to decide how best to cleanup in onPause(), and what you actually have to do, if your activity needs to do something before it is killed off during low memory situations.
Google's docs say to do things that need to be done before exit in onPause(), because yes, in low memory situations onDestroy() may not be called.
I don't think that onSuspend() exists. It is not mentioned inside the documentation. Maybe you are referring to onStop().
When onStop() is called, the activity is no more visible but not yet destroyed. The termination really takes places after the onDestroy() call, whether it is terminated by a call to finish() or memory requirements from Android as the documentation says. Then, the right place to free memory in my opinion is onDestroy().
If you have to stop CPU-intensive operations that are related to user interaction, do it in onPause().

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