I am developing an Android application and I want to call a function every 40ms. To do so, I implemented a Handler and a Runnable. I chose this two objects thanks to the post How to run a method every X seconds. But I am not sure this is the right way to perform what I am doing :
In my application, I am playing a video, I want to "launch" the Handler when starting the video, "put it on hold" when pausing the video, starting it again when resuming the video and so on.
So far, I am using mHandler.removeCallbacks(mRunnable); to detain it. But to start it or resume it, I don't know if I should use mHandler.post(mRunnable); mHandler.postDelay(mRunnable, DELAY) or mRunnable.run();. I succeed making them all work but the behaviour is never as expected...
Here is the code I use to set up the Handler...
public void setUpdatePositionHandler() {
mHandler = new Handler();
mRunnable = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
if (mVideoView.getCurrentPosition() > mVideoView.getDuration()) {
if (mVideoView.getCurrentPosition() > 1000) {
mVideoView.seekTo(1); // go back to beginning
mVideoView.pause();
mPlayButton.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
mStampIndex = 0;
mLastPosition = 0;
Log.i(TAG, "removeCallbacks() from runnable");
mHandler.removeCallbacks(this);
} else {
//mHandler.postDelayed(this, DELAY);
}
} else {
if (!mStamps.isEmpty()) {
onPositionUpdate(mStamps);
}
mHandler.postDelayed(this, DELAY);
}
}
};
Note that I don't feel really sure of what I implemented so far, and that any ressources that would help me understand better would be welcome :) (I already read the documentations of the 2 classes and read several documents or posts on the subjects, but I think I am missing something.)
Thank you for your help
Is it the correct way ?
if it will not produce any problem and it meets your requirements then yes
but your question should be is it the best practice?
i prefer to write it like the following
public void setUpdatePositionHandler() {
mHandler = new Handler();
mRunnable = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
if (mVideoView.getCurrentPosition() > mVideoView.getDuration()) {
if (mVideoView.getCurrentPosition() > 1000) {
mVideoView.seekTo(1); // go back to beginning
mVideoView.pause();
mPlayButton.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
mStampIndex = 0;
mLastPosition = 0;
Log.i(TAG, "removeCallbacks() from runnable");
mHandler.removeCallbacks(this);
} else {
//mHandler.postDelayed(this, DELAY);
}
} else {
if (!mStamps.isEmpty()) {
onPositionUpdate(mStamps);
}
}
}
mHandler.postDelayed(mRunnable, DELAY);
};
be noted the above code will work only once expect if you make CountDownTimer or you can use Thread.sleep() with a normal loop and AsyncTask in order to not block your code because if so the application will not be responding and then your app will be crached
I have a button that when clicked calls sendFile() to send a file to a server. In the function I am creating a thread, then sending the file in the thread. My question is what happens to the thread after the file is sent? Will the old threads continue to run as I create more threads?
void sendFile(File f) {
Thread mythread = new Thread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
// code to send the file
}
}
mythread.start();
}
From here
A thread can die in two ways: either from natural causes, or by being
killed (stopped). A thread dies naturally when its run method exits
normally. For example, the while loop in this method is a finite
loop--it will iterate 100 times and then exit. public void run() {
int i = 0;
while (i < 100) {
i++;
System.out.println("i = " + i);
} } A thread with this run method dies naturally after the loop and the run method complete.
So when run finishes the thread would die i.e stop !!
I finally got my app working, i just have one issue which i would like to correct.
I have a button which controls a thread that runs a couple function in the background. The functions in the background eventually stop the thread whenever a certain value is reached. What i am having issues doing is pressing that same button again to just stop the thread manually. Currently I can only start the thread and wait for itself to finish. I am able to do other things in the app, so the thread is running on its own, i just want to kill it manually.
public void onMonitorClick(final View view){
if (isBLEEnabled()) {
if (!isDeviceConnected()) {
// do nothing
} else if (monitorvis == 0) {
showMonitor();
DebugLogger.v(TAG, "show monitor");
//monitorStop = 4;
Kill.runThread(); // I want a function here that would kill the
// thread below, or is there something that
// can be modified in runThread()?
// I did try Thread.Iteruppted() without luck
shutdownExecutor();
} else if (monitorvis == 1) {
hideMonitor();
DebugLogger.v(TAG, "hide monitor");
monitorStop = 0;
runThread(); //The running thread that works great on its own
}
}
else {
showBLEDialog();
}
}
private void runThread() {
new Thread() {
int i;
public void run() {
while (monitorStop != 3) { //This is where the thread stops itself
try {
runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
((ProximityService.ProximityBinder) getService()).getRssi();
rssilevel = ((ProximityService.ProximityBinder) getService()).getRssiValue();
mRSSI.setText(String.valueOf(rssilevel) + "dB");
detectRange(rssilevel);
}
});
Thread.sleep(750);
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
}.start();
}
On first look, you could simply set monitorStop = 3, which would cause the thread to eventually stop after it's timeout completes.
The problem with this, is that I presume if you push the button again or your code modifies monitorStop at some point in the future, then the thead you wanted dead, might stay alive. ie: monitorStop will need to stay equal to three for at least 750ms to assure the thread will comlete it's loop and die.
The correct way to do this would be to create your thread as a new class with it's own monitorStop parameter. When you create the thread, you would keep a reference to it and modify the thread's monitorStop parameter. This way the thread would finish without interruption. If you wanted to create a new thread, then this would not affect the old thread from finishing appropriately.
The app I'm making requires that a bit of code be executed whenever the value of a particular variable changes from 0 to 1.
The handler example below is the method I'm currently using to do this (I copied it from someone else).
I have a feeling it's not a proper method though because having just three of these handlers in my app causes the UI to be fairly unresponsive, and causes the device (a phone) to become quite hot.
As you can see, I've put 10ms delays in the handlers to try to deal with this.
Isn't there something more like OnClickListener that can listen at all times for a variable value change without putting such stress on the CPU?
I'm pretty new to Java and Android so a simple example would be very much appreciated.
final Handler myHandler1 = new Handler();
new Thread(new Runnable()
{
#Override
public void run()
{
while (true)
{
try
{
Thread.sleep(10);
myHandler1.post(new Runnable()
{
#Override
public void run()
{
if (myVariable == 1)
{
myVariable = 0;
//do stuff
}
}
});
} catch (Exception e) {}
}
}
}).start();
You must set your variable via a setter method. Then, you can be reactive to that change.
public void setMyVariable(int value) {
this.myVariable = value;
if (myVariable == 1) {
doSomethingWhen1();
} else if (myVariable == 0) {
doSomethingWhen0();
}
}
A more elegant way to do that will be an observer pattern, Here you can find more detailed documentation about it.
You must certainly avoid while(true) loops on mobile device, it will drain your battery and you are also blocking the UI thread. That's the reason why your UI is unresponsive and your cellphone it's quite hot.
I have an AsyncTask that fetches some data and then updates the UI with this new data. It has been working fine for months, but I recently added a feature that displays a notification when there is new data. Now when my app is launched through the notification, sometimes I get this exception and onPostExecute is not called.
This is what happens when the app is launched:
1) Expand the UI and find views
2) Cancel the alarm (through AlarmManager) that checks for new data and reset the alarm. (This is so that if the user disables the alarm it is cancelled before the next time he/she reboots.)
3) Start the AsyncTask. If the app was launched from the notification, pass in a little bit of the data and then cancel the notification.
I'm stuck on what could be causing this exception. It seems that the exception is from the AsyncTask code, so I'm not sure how I can fix it.
Thanks!
Here is the exception:
I/My App( 501): doInBackground exiting
W/MessageQueue( 501): Handler{442ba140} sending message to a Handler on a dead thread
W/MessageQueue( 501): java.lang.RuntimeException: Handler{442ba140} sending message to a Handler on a dead thread
W/MessageQueue( 501): at android.os.MessageQueue.enqueueMessage(MessageQueue.java:179)
W/MessageQueue( 501): at android.os.Handler.sendMessageAtTime(Handler.java:457)
W/MessageQueue( 501): at android.os.Handler.sendMessageDelayed(Handler.java:430)
W/MessageQueue( 501): at android.os.Handler.sendMessage(Handler.java:367)
W/MessageQueue( 501): at android.os.Message.sendToTarget(Message.java:348)
W/MessageQueue( 501): at android.os.AsyncTask$3.done(AsyncTask.java:214)
W/MessageQueue( 501): at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask$Sync.innerSet(FutureTask.java:252)
W/MessageQueue( 501): at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.set(FutureTask.java:112)
W/MessageQueue( 501): at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask$Sync.innerRun(FutureTask.java:310)
W/MessageQueue( 501): at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:137)
W/MessageQueue( 501): at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1068)
W/MessageQueue( 501): at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:561)
W/MessageQueue( 501): at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:1096)
EDIT: Here is my onCreate method in my main activity (the one opened by the notification). There are some onClickListeners that I omitted to save space. I don't think they should have any effect, since the buttons they are attached to are not being pressed.
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState); // Call the parent
setContentView(R.layout.main); // Create the UI from the XML file
// Find the UI elements
controls = (SlidingDrawer) findViewById(R.id.drawer); // Contains the
// buttons
// comic = (ImageView) findViewById(R.id.comic); // Displays the comic
subtitle = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.subtitleTxt); // Textbox for the
// subtitle
prevBtn = (Button) findViewById(R.id.prevBtn); // The previous button
nextBtn = (Button) findViewById(R.id.nextBtn); // The next button
randomBtn = (Button) findViewById(R.id.randomBtn); // The random button
fetchBtn = (Button) findViewById(R.id.comicFetchBtn); // The go to specific id button
mostRecentBtn = (Button) findViewById(R.id.mostRecentBtn); // The button to go to the most recent comic
comicNumberEdtTxt = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.comicNumberEdtTxt); // The text box to Zooming image view setup
zoomControl = new DynamicZoomControl();
zoomListener = new LongPressZoomListener(this);
zoomListener.setZoomControl(zoomControl);
zoomComic = (ImageZoomView) findViewById(R.id.zoomComic);
zoomComic.setZoomState(zoomControl.getZoomState());
zoomComic.setImage(BitmapFactory.decodeResource(getResources(), R.drawable.defaultlogo));
zoomComic.setOnTouchListener(zoomListener);
zoomControl.setAspectQuotient(zoomComic.getAspectQuotient());
resetZoomState();
// enter the new id
imm = (InputMethodManager) getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE); // Used to hide the soft keyboard
Log.i(LOG_TAG, "beginning loading of first comic");
int notificationComicNumber = getIntent().getIntExtra("comic", -1);
Log.i(LOG_TAG, "comic number from intent: " + notificationComicNumber);
if (notificationComicNumber == -1) {
fetch = new MyFetcher(this, zoomComic, subtitle, controls, comicNumberEdtTxt, imm, zoomControl);
fetch.execute(MyFetcher.LAST_DISPLAYED_COMIC);
} else {
fetch = new MyFetcher(this, zoomComic, subtitle, controls, comicNumberEdtTxt, imm, zoomControl);
fetch.execute(notificationComicNumber);
((NotificationManager) getSystemService(Context.NOTIFICATION_SERVICE)).cancelAll();
}
Log.i(LOG_TAG, "ending loading of new comic");
Log.i(LOG_TAG, "first run checks beginning");
// Get SharedPreferences
prefs = getSharedPreferences("prefs", Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
// Check if this is the first run of the app for this version
if (prefs.getBoolean("firstRun-" + MAJOR_VERSION_NUMBER, true)) {
prefs.edit().putBoolean("firstRun-" + MAJOR_VERSION_NUMBER, false).commit();
firstRunVersionDialog();
}
// Check if this is the first run of the app
if (prefs.getBoolean("firstRun", true)) {
prefs.edit().putBoolean("firstRun", false).commit();
firstRunDialog();
}
Log.i(LOG_TAG, "First run checks done");
// OnClickListener s for the buttons omitted to save space
EDIT 2: I've been digging through Android source code tracking down where the exception is coming from. This is lines 456 and 457 of sendMessageAtTime in Handler:
msg.target = this;
sent = queue.enqueueMessage(msg, uptimeMillis);
And this is enqueueMessage from MessageQueue:
final boolean enqueueMessage(Message msg, long when) {
if (msg.when != 0) {
throw new AndroidRuntimeException(msg
+ " This message is already in use.");
}
if (msg.target == null && !mQuitAllowed) {
throw new RuntimeException("Main thread not allowed to quit");
}
synchronized (this) {
if (mQuiting) {
RuntimeException e = new RuntimeException(
msg.target + " sending message to a Handler on a dead thread");
Log.w("MessageQueue", e.getMessage(), e);
return false;
} else if (msg.target == null) {
mQuiting = true;
}
msg.when = when;
//Log.d("MessageQueue", "Enqueing: " + msg);
Message p = mMessages;
if (p == null || when == 0 || when < p.when) {
msg.next = p;
mMessages = msg;
this.notify();
} else {
Message prev = null;
while (p != null && p.when <= when) {
prev = p;
p = p.next;
}
msg.next = prev.next;
prev.next = msg;
this.notify();
}
}
return true;
}
I'm a little confused about what mQuiting is, but it looks like the previous time enqueueMessage was called msg.target was null.
This is due to a bug in AsyncTask in the Android framework. AsyncTask.java has the following code:
private static final InternalHandler sHandler = new InternalHandler();
It expects this to be initialized on the main thread, but that is not guaranteed since it will be initialized on whichever thread happens to cause the class to run its static initializers. I reproduced this issue where the Handler references a worker thread.
A common pattern that causes this to happen is using the class IntentService. The C2DM sample code does this.
A simple workaround is to add the following code to the application's onCreate method:
Class.forName("android.os.AsyncTask");
This will force AsyncTask to be initialized in the main thread. I filed a bug on this in the android bug database. See http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=20915.
To generalize Jonathan Perlow's solution to the bug he identified specifically, I use the following in any class that uses AsyncTask. The looper/handler/post is how you can run something on the UI thread anywhere in an Android app without passing down a handle to an activity or other context. Add this static initialization block inside the class:
{ // https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4280330/onpostexecute-not-being-called-in-asynctask-handler-runtime-exception
Looper looper = Looper.getMainLooper();
Handler handler = new Handler(looper);
handler.post(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
try {
Class.forName("android.os.AsyncTask");
} catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
});
}
We had run into the problem when trying to get unit tests to run. I found a workaround for that, but hadn't specifically identified the problem. We only knew that trying to use AsyncTask<> in Android JUnit test caused onPostExecute() not to be called. Now we know why.
This post shows how to run multithreaded async code in an Android JUnit test:
Using CountDownLatch in Android AsyncTask-based JUnit tests
For use with non-UI unit tests, I created a simple subclass of android.test.InstrumentationTestCase. It has an "ok" flag and a CountDownLatch. reset() or reset(count) creates a new CountDownLatch({1,count}). good() sets ok=true, count--, and calls.countDown() on the latch. bad() sets ok=false, and counts down all the way. waitForIt(seconds) waits for timeout or the coundown latch to zero. Then it calls assertTrue(ok).
Then tests are like:
someTest() {
reset();
asyncCall(args, new someListener() {
public void success(args) { good(); }
public void fail(args) { bad(); }
});
waitForIt();
}
Because of the AsyncTask static initialization bug, we had to run our actual tests inside a Runnable passed to runTestOnUiThread(). With proper static initialization as above, this shouldn't be necessary, unless the call being tested needs to run on the UI thread.
The other idiom I now use is to test whether the current thread is the UI thread and then run the requested action on the proper thread regardless. Sometimes, it makes sense to allow the caller to request sync vs. async, overriding when necessary. For instance, network requests should always be run on a background thread. In most cases, AsyncTask thread pooling is perfect for this. Just realize that only a certain number will run at once, blocking additional requests. To test whether the current thread is the UI thread:
boolean onUiThread = Looper.getMainLooper().getThread() == Thread.currentThread();
Then use a simple subclass (just doInBackground() and onPostExecute() are needed) of AsyncTask<> to run on a non-UI thread or handler.post() or postDelayed() to run on the UI thread.
Giving the caller the option to run sync or async looks like (getting a locally valid onUiThread value not shown here; add local booleans as above):
void method(final args, sync, listener, callbakOnUi) {
Runnable run = new Runnable() { public void run() {
// method's code... using args or class members.
if (listener != null) listener(results);
// Or, if the calling code expects listener to run on the UI thread:
if (callbackOnUi && !onUiThread)
handler.post(new Runnable() { public void run() {listener()}});
else listener();
};
if (sync) run.run(); else new MyAsync().execute(run);
// Or for networking code:
if (sync && !onUiThread) run.run(); else new MyAsync().execute(run);
// Or, for something that has to be run on the UI thread:
if (sync && onUiThread) run.run() else handler.post(run);
}
Also, using AsyncTask can be made very simple and concise. Use the definition of RunAsyncTask.java below, then write code like this:
RunAsyncTask rat = new RunAsyncTask("");
rat.execute(new Runnable() { public void run() {
doSomethingInBackground();
post(new Runnable() { public void run() { somethingOnUIThread(); }});
postDelayed(new Runnable() { public void run() { somethingOnUIThreadInABit(); }}, 100);
}});
Or simply:new RunAsyncTask("").execute(new Runnable(){public void run(){ doSomethingInBackground(); }});
RunAsyncTask.java:
package st.sdw;
import android.os.AsyncTask;
import android.util.Log;
import android.os.Debug;
public class RunAsyncTask extends AsyncTask<Runnable, String, Long> {
String TAG = "RunAsyncTask";
Object context = null;
boolean isDebug = false;
public RunAsyncTask(Object context, String tag, boolean debug) {
this.context = context;
TAG = tag;
isDebug = debug;
}
protected Long doInBackground(Runnable... runs) {
Long result = 0L;
long start = System.currentTimeMillis();
for (Runnable run : runs) {
run.run();
}
return System.currentTimeMillis() - start;
}
protected void onProgressUpdate(String... values) { }
protected void onPostExecute(Long time) {
if (isDebug && time > 1) Log.d(TAG, "RunAsyncTask ran in:" + time + " ms");
v = null;
}
protected void onPreExecute() { }
/** Walk heap, reliably triggering crash on native heap corruption. Call as needed. */
public static void memoryProbe() {
System.gc();
Runtime runtime = Runtime.getRuntime();
Double allocated = new Double(Debug.getNativeHeapAllocatedSize()) / 1048576.0;
Double available = new Double(Debug.getNativeHeapSize()) / 1048576.0;
Double free = new Double(Debug.getNativeHeapFreeSize()) / 1048576.0;
long maxMemory = runtime.maxMemory();
long totalMemory = runtime.totalMemory();
long freeMemory = runtime.freeMemory();
}
}
I had the same problem on a device with Android 4.0.4 with the IntentService and solved it as sdw said with the Class.forName("android.os.AsyncTask"). The same didn't happen on Android 4.1.2, 4.4.4 or 5.0. I wonder if this Google resolved Martin West issue from 2011.
I added this code on my Application onCreate and it worked:
if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT <= Build.VERSION_CODES.JELLY_BEAN) {
try {
Class.forName("android.os.AsyncTask");
} catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
It would be nice to know if the version of Android need to be changed to something else.
AsyncTask.execute() must be executed on UI thread, i.e. inside Activity.
I have the same problem, it seems to happen when the AsyncTask is running during a suspend/resume.
EDIT:
Yeah, didnt think I had but I used this http://developer.android.com/guide/appendix/faq/commontasks.html#threading
to always start the AsyncTask on the UI thread and the problem has gone.
The problem appeared after I added the licensing function, siggghhhhh
Thanks
Even though this doesn't directly answer the OP's question, I think it will be useful for people searching for the solution of the same problem when running tests.
Overall, Peter Knego's answer sums it up well.
My problem was specifically with running a test on a class outside an Activity that made use of Android's AsyncTask for an API call. The class works in the application, since it is used by an Activity, but I wanted to run a test making an actual API call from the test.
While Jonathan Perlow's answer worked, I didn't like introducing changes to my application due solely to a test.
So, in the case of a test runTestOnUiThread can be used (#UiThreadTest cannot be used, since you cannot wait for a result in a test that uses that annotation).
public void testAPICall() throws Throwable {
this.runTestOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
underTest.thisMethodWillMakeUseOfAnAsyncTaskSomehow();
}
});
// Wait for result here *
// Asserts here
}
Sometimes though, especially in functional tests, Jonathan Perlow's answer seems to be the only one that works.
* Take a look here to see how to pause a test waiting for a result.