I'm working on an app that synchronizes some graphic UI events with an audio track. Right now you need to press a button to set everything in motion, after onCreate exits. I'm trying to add functionality to make the audio/graphical interaction start 10 seconds after everything is laid out.
My first thought is, at the end of onCreate, to make the UI thread sleep for 10000 miliseconds using the solution here and then to call button.onClick(). That seems like really bad practice to me, though, and nothing came of trying it anyway. Is there a good way to implement this autostart feature?
Never ever put sleep/delay on UI-thread. Instead, use Handler and its postDelayed method to get it done inside onCreate, onStart or onResume of your Activity. For example:
#Override
protected void onResume() {
super.onResume();
new Handler().postDelayed(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
//do whatever you want here
}
}, 10000L); //the runnable is executed on UI-thread after 10 seconds of delay
}
Handler handler=new Handler();
Runnable notification = new Runnable()
{
#Override
public void run()
{
//post your code............
}
};
handler.postDelayed(notification,10000);
Yes, putting the UI thread to sleep isnt a good idea.
Try this
private final ScheduledExecutorService worker = Executors.newSingleThreadScheduledExecutor();
worker.schedule(task, 10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
Related
I have the Problem that my Android app does not delay a second (or 10 seconds), if I use the postDelayed method..
Basically I would like my program to wait one second after I clicked the button, then update the text on my textview ("READY"), wait another 2 seconds, then update the textview again ("SET") and then it should start another activity (not yet implemented :-) ).
With my code, the programm starts and after I click the button the textview shows the last text ("SET") immediately.. It just does not wait.
What am i doing wrong?
Here is my code:
public class MyCounterActivity extends Activity {
private long mInternval = 100000;
private Handler mHandler;
private Runnable mStatusChecker = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
//updateInterval(); //change interval
startRepeatingTask();
}
};
void startRepeatingTask(){
mHandler.postDelayed(mStatusChecker, mInternval);
//mStatusChecker.run();
}
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_gym_counter);
final TextView tv1 = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.fullscreen_content);
final Button startButton = (Button) findViewById(R.id.startbutton);
startButton.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
#Override
public void onClick(View v) {
final long up;
EditText textUp = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.editTextUp);
up = Integer.parseInt(textUp.getText().toString());
Handler handler = new Handler();
handler.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
//
}
},1000);
Log.d("after 1 runnable", "whaaat");
tv1.setText("Ready");
handler.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
//
}
}, 2000);
Log.d("after 2nd runnable", "whaaat 2");
//startRepeatingTask();
tv1.setText("SET");
}
});
}
I also tried to run it with the runOnUiThread() (within the onClick(View v) but with with the same result). I expected it to wait 1 second (startRepeatingTask()) and then runs the loop and waits several seconds...
runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
startRepeatingTask();
for (int u = 0; u < up; u++){
startRepeatingTask();
}
}
}
});
Hope my description makes sense :-).
Thank you for your help!
EDIT:
I was now able to find a solution for my first problem. The answer from #mad in this post helpded me: How to start a different activity with some delay after pressing a button in android?
(Thats probably the same thing that #laalto tried to tell me. Thanks for the hint!)
In the onClick()
tv1.setText("READY");
mHandler.postDelayed(mDelay1, 2000);
And then the Runnable
private Runnable mDelay1 = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
if (tv1.getText()=="READY")
tv1.setText("SET");
}
};
BUT:
If i want to refresh the text on my Textview after every second, how do i do that? I cant just call mHandler.postDelayed() several times.. Any help is appreciated.
When you call postDelayed(), it just places the Runnable in a queue and returns immediately. It does not wait for the runnable to be executed.
If you need something to happen after a delay, put the code in the run() method of the runnable.
Whenever you call something like Thread.start(), handler.postDelayed, view.postDelayed, AsynchTask, TimerTask .. you enter the world of threading or you might call it parallel computing.
So there can be multiple threads ("codes") running at the same time.
When you are inside your Activity it is running in a Thread that is calld UI-thread or main thread. All graphics is handled in that thread and that thread alone.
Do NEVER wait in the UI-thread!
Example: you have a button that switches color from say gray to yellow on pressing it. Now you enter a Thread.sleep(10000); - waiting 10 seconds at the start of your onClick.
You will then see that the button stays yellow (=pressed) for 10 seconds even if you only pressed very shortly. Also: if you overdo it android os will become angry and post the user if he wants to force-close your app.
So what happens on handler.postDelayed?
Android will very quickly open a thread that runs in the background parallel to your UI thread. So in some nanoseconds it has done that and will execute the next command in UI thread (in the example above it is Log.d). In the background it will wait and count the millis until time is up. Then any code that is inside the runnable.run method will again be executed in the ui-thread after the wait.
Note also: postDelayed will not be super precise with the wait time as usually the ui-thread is quite buisy and when the wait time is up it may have something else to do. Your runnable code will be added to a queue and executed when ui-thread is ready again. All this happens without you having anything to do about it.
Also:
Remember to work with try/catch inside the runnable.run as many things can happen while waiting - for example user could press Home button closing your app - so the ui-element you wanted to change after the wait could already been destroyed.
I am displaying image on when clicking on a Button using interface but the image ic_launcher.png does not show up on the Button after some time the image_all.png is only shown.
How should I show my first image for some time using sleep and then show image2?
Should I show both the images on the same button but with time delay.
Any help would be appreciated.
try{
button1.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.ic_launcher);
Thread.sleep(1000);
} catch(Exception e){
}
button1.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.images_all);
When you use Thread.sleep(1000); you're actually "stopping" the UI thread, because you're calling sleep(1000); on the UI thread. This causes your application to halt completely for 1 second in your case.
So this isn't such a good idea :-)
Instead you should use something like a Handler for instance. A Handler can be called with a specified delay, so that the action will first be performed after the specified delay. And most importantly, the Handler doesn't "block" the UI thread, as the Thread.sleep(1000); does.
So using a Handler your code, could look something like this instead:
button1.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.ic_launcher);
Handler uiHandler = new Handler();
uiHandler.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
button1.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.images_all);
}
}, 1000);
Notice the 1000 in the end of postDelayed() which tells the Handler to post this "message" after 1000 milliseconds instead of immediately.
On a side-note: It's not good practice to "eat" the Exceptions like you do in your try-catch.
You should be able to see the R.drawable.ic_launcher change occur. My thoughts about this are around how you're doing the Thread.sleep(). Android isn't fond of performing blocking tasks (such as Thread.sleep) in the UI Thread. When you call the setBackgroundResource and then sleep, the thread that would update the UI is sleeping and cannot perform the update. This is how I would do it instead:
button1.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.ic_launcher);
Handler handler = new Handler();
handler.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
button1.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.images_all);
}
}, 1000);
I have been developing iOS apps for quite a time and now i have switched to android. I have a requirement in which I have to start timer(In think in Android, I need to use handler) when view appears(onResume) and invalidate timer(stop handler) when view disappears(onPause). I am able to create runnable Handler but not able to stop it.
My code is:
protected void AutoRefresh() {
try{
handler.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
new LongOperation().execute("");
}
AutoRefresh();
}, 60000);
}
catch(Exception ex){
}
}
Now, how can I stop this this handler thread when view disappears. Please also comment, if its not the right way to do timer implementation in android.
when view appears(onResume) and invalidate timer(stop handler) when
view disappears(onPause). I am able to create runnable Handler but not
able to stop it.
Keep a reference to the Runnable you use:
private Runnable mRefresh = new Runnable() {
public void run() {
new LongOperation().execute("");
}
AutoRefresh();
}
//...
protected void AutoRefresh() {
handler.postDelayed(mRefresh, 60000);
}
and in onPause remove it like this:
handler.removeCallbacks(mRefresh);
Keep in mind that this will not remove the currently Runnable that is being executed(if any) so in the LongOperation's onPostExecute method you might want to check if the Activity is still available before refreshing the UI or doing any other interaction with the Activity.
Please also comment, if its not the right way to do timer
implementation in android.
You seem to need to do an action at a certain interval of time and using a Handler is the way to do it, I don't think a timer is what you need.
I've encountered a very weird feature.
When I'm trying to run an animation on the main thread, it does not start.
When I run said animation using
getView().post(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
getView().startAnimation(a);
}
});
It does start.
I've printed the CurrentThread before starting the animation and both print main.
Obviously, I am missing something here, as both should start the animation on the main thread...
My guess is that as post adds the task to the queue, it starts at a more "correct time", but I would love to know what happens here at more depth.
EDIT:
Let me clear things up - my question is, why starting the animation on post causes it to start, when starting the animation on the main thread does not.
post :post causes the Runnable to be added to the message queue,
Runnable : Represents a command that can be executed. Often used to run code in a different Thread.
run () : Starts executing the active part of the class' code. This method is called when a thread is started that has been created with a class which implements Runnable.
getView().post(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
getView().startAnimation(a);
}
});
code : getView().startAnimation(a);
in your code,
post causes the Runnable (the code will be run a in different thread) to add the message queue.
So startAnimation will be fired in a new thread when it is fetched from the messageQueue
[EDIT 1]
Why do we use a new thread instead of UI thread (main thread)?
UI Thread :
When application is started, Ui Thread is created automatically
it is in charge of dispatching the events to the appropriate widgets
and this includes the drawing events.
It is also the thread you interact with Android widgets with
For instance, if you touch the a button on screen, the UI thread
dispatches the touch event to the widget which in turn sets its
pressed state and posts an invalidate request to the event queue. The
UI thread dequeues the request and notifies the widget to redraw
itself.
What happens if a user press a button which will do longOperation ?
((Button)findViewById(R.id.Button1)).setOnClickListener(
new OnClickListener() {
#Override
public void onClick(View v) {
final Bitmap b = loadImageFromNetwork();
mImageView.setImageBitmap(b);
}
});
The UI freezes. The program may even crash.
public void onClick(View v) {
new Thread(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
final Bitmap b = loadImageFromNetwork();
mImageView.setImageBitmap(b);
}
}).start();
}
It breaks the android rule that never update UI directly from worker thread
Android offers several ways to access the UI thread from other threads.
Activity.runOnUiThread(Runnable)
View.post(Runnable)
View.postDelayed(Runnable, long)
Handler
Like below,
View.post(Runnable)
public void onClick(View v) {
new Thread(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
final Bitmap b = loadImageFromNetwork();
mImageView.post(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
mImageView.setImageBitmap(b);
}
});
}
}).start();
}
Handler
final Handler myHandler = new Handler(Looper.getMainLooper());
(new Thread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
final Bitmap b = loadImageFromNetwork();
myHandler.post(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
mImageView.setImageBitmap(b);
}
});
}
})).start();
}
For more info
http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2009/05/painless-threading.html
http://www.aviyehuda.com/blog/2010/12/20/android-multithreading-in-a-ui-environment/
Is this being done on onCreate or onCreateView? If so, the app might not be in a state where the View is attached to the window. A lot of algorithms based on View metrics may not work since things like the View's measurements and position may have not been calculated. Android animations typically require them to run through UI math
View.post actually queues the animation on the View's message loop, so once the view gets attached to the window, it executes the animation instead of having it execute manually.
You are actually running things on the UI thread, but at a different time
Have a look here for a good answer. view.post() is the same as handler.post() pretty much. It goes into the main thread queue and gets executed after the other pending tasks are finished. If you call activity.runOnUiThread() it will be called immediately on the UI thread.
The problem I think could be the life-cycle method where you are calling the post() method. Are you doing it in onCreate()? if so look at what I found in the activity's onResume() documentation:
onResume()
Added in API level 1 void onResume () Called after
onRestoreInstanceState(Bundle), onRestart(), or onPause(), for your
activity to start interacting with the user. This is a good place to
begin animations, open exclusive-access devices (such as the
camera), etc.
https://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Activity.html#onResume()
So, as Joe Plante said, maybe the view is not ready to start animations at the moment you call post(), so try moving it to onResume().
PD: Actually if you do move the code to onResume() then I think you can remove the post() call since you are already in the ui-thread and the view should be ready to start animations.
This is my first question here, so please forgive me if I disobeyed any of the forum rules.
I need my program to wait for 3 seconds and then change the Content View
My code is:
setContentView(R.layout.logout);
new Thread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run(){
try {
synchronized(this){
wait(3000);
}
}
catch(InterruptedException ex){
}
}
}).start();
setContentView(R.layout.main);
The program works with no errors, but there is no waiting. When it gets to this part, it just shows the "main" layout without showing the "logout" layout at all.
What is wrong in my approach?
As people noted, don't sleep on or otherwise block the UI thread, but you seem to be aware of this with the new thread you create.
Now for why it doesn't behave as you want:
Right now, you call setContentView(), start a new thread, call setContentView() a second time on the UI thread -- this happens in quick succession with no delay/wait/sleep inbetween. The wait(3000) happens in the new thread you started -- so that new thread starts, waits for 3000ms, then exits. It's an expensive no-op.
You would need to make the second call to setContentView() from inside that new thread's run() method to get the desired effect. Also, you should use sleep() instead of wait() -- wait() is a low-level tool for synchronizing threads while sleep() is the usual "don't continue for X amount of time".
Let me propose a better way:
An arguably nicer and much lighter approch is using Handler.postDelayed() -- this allows you to invoke a Runnable on the UI thread after a delay:
setContentView(R.layout.logout);
new Handler().postDelayed(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
setContentView(R.layout.main);
}
}, 3000);
Edit to reply to your comment:
Define and find the button before the Runnable as a final variable, this way you can access it later from inside the Runnable.
Please note that to reference the this instance of the surrounding class from inside an anonymous inner class (your new Runnable()), you need to prefix it with the class name of the surrounding class (your Activity class):
final View submitButton = findViewById(R.id.submit_button);
setContentView(R.layout.logout);
new Handler().postDelayed(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
setContentView(R.layout.main);
// adapt to your actual Activity class name:
submitButton.setOnClickListener(YourClassName.this);
}
}, 3000);
wait() doesn't wait for a certain amount of time, but rather has the current Thread wait for this to do a notify() for a maximum amount of time. What you are looking for, is Thread.sleep().
And at the moment the only thing that will be waiting, is the additional thread you are spawning, not the activity itself. That's why I'd suggest you look at Handler.postDelayed(), CountDownTimer or AsyncTask. Handling threads is very low-level.
Your code not work to sleep UI thread.To sleep UI thread try this code
new Handler().postDelayed(new Runnable()
{
public void run()
{
setContentView(R.layout.main);
}
}, 3000);
Try using Sleep() instead of Wait()
android.os.SystemClock.sleep(3000)
As far as i can understand the wait is happening in the new thread where as you are calling setContentView(R.layout.main) in the current thread.
Try
setContentView(..)
synchronized(this) {
this.wait(1000);
}
setContentView(..)
Please note sleeping or waiting in the UI thread is not a best practice though.