In an effort to learn Android I am writing a small app. The first thing I am trying to do is login via a remote API.
I would like to show a "loading" dialog when the call is being made (in case he user in using mobile internet). Researching this has shown two possible methods.
One is to use a ProgressDialog and a private class that extends Thread, the other is using a private class that extends AsyncTask.
Which is best/more appropriate for this task?
I have tried using the ProgressDialog version but am struggling. I have put the function making the http request in the extended Thread run() method, but am unsure on how to pass the response data (JSON) back into my activity.
Any and all help gratefully received.
The best way possible is to use an AsyncTask with a ProgressDialog. You should extend AsyncTask and implement all the methods you need:
onPreExecute() - here you initialize your ProgressDialog and show() it
doInBackground() - here you do your work
onPostExecute() - here you call dismiss() on ProgressDialog to hide it
(optional) onProgressUpdate() - here you can change the progress of your ProgressDialog if it's determinate
There is a get() method in AsyncTask class that lets you retrieve the result of the work. Also you can implement an interface between the AsyncTask and calling Activity to return the result. Hope this helps.
Efforts come with rewards :) Egor is right, AsyncTask is the best way to do it. But
You have to know that Activity is working on the UI thread and threads not. So the only way to share things is via handler. Here an example:
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main);
progress = (ProgressBar) findViewById(R.id.progressBar1);
handler= new Handler();
}
public void startProgress(View view) {
// Do something long
Runnable runnable = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
for (int i = 0; i <= 10; i++) {
final int value = i;
try {
Thread.sleep(2000);
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
handler.post(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
progress.setProgress(value);
}
});
}
}
};
new Thread(runnable).start();
}
Related
I need to process some data when the user click the button in one activity, so the screen looks like the app stops for 2-3 seconds. It isn't a lot but I want to give the user information that everything is ok and IMO the best way will be the progressbar which is visible only when data are processed.
I found the code of ProgressBar and it looks like this:
<ProgressBar
android:id="#+id/loadingdata_progress"
style="?android:attr/progressBarStyle"
android:layout_width="50dp"
android:layout_height="50dp"
android:layout_alignBottom="#+id/fin2_note"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
android:indeterminate="true"
android:visibility="invisible" />
and inserted it on the middle of my layout.
And to try if the progressbar works, I put this code
loadingimage= (ProgressBar) findViewById(R.id.loadingdata_progress);
loadingimage.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
into onCreate method and everything looks fine.
Then I recreated the code to show this progressbar only if the data is processed.
After click the user invoke this method
public void fin2_clickOnFinalization(View v)
{
loadingimage= (ProgressBar) findViewById(R.id.loadingdata_progress);
loadingimage.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
// code where data is processing
loadingimage.setVisibility(View.INVISIBLE);
}
and nothing appear on the screen. I don't know where is the mistake. If I found the progress bar by id, It's strange for me that I can control it in onCreate method but in onclick method it's out of my control.
Your UI thread cannot show progress bar cause it is busy due to your data processing. Try to use this kind of code :
public void fin2_clickOnFinalization(View v) {
new YourAsyncTask().execute();
}
private class YourAsyncTask extends AsyncTask<Void, Void, Void> {
#Override
protected Void doInBackground(Void... args) {
// code where data is processing
return null;
}
#Override
protected void onPostExecute(Void result) {
loadingimage.setVisibility(View.INVISIBLE);
super.onPostExecute(result);
}
#Override
protected void onPreExecute() {
super.onPreExecute();
loadingimage.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
}
}
EDIT:
AsyncTask let you run code in separate thread and make app more responsive, just put time-consuming code inside doInBackground.
You're not giving the UI time to refresh. Your "data processing" code is running on the UI thread, blocking any visible changes. By the time the system gets control to refresh the display, you've already set it back to invisible.
To fix this, move your processing code to a separate thread or AsyncTask. Then you can set the progress bar to visible, start the task, and have it turn itself invisible once it's done.
I'd recommend AsyncTask for this purpose about 90% of the time on Android, since it comes stock with useful callbacks. The developer guide for it(in the Javadoc linked above) is pretty explicit, and outlines all the steps you need to take.
AsyncTask is too heavily-weighted for such task.
A better much solution
Handler handler = new Handler(getMainLooper());
handler.post(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
loadingimage.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
}
});
Or even simpler (does essentially the same thing as solution above)
runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
loadingimage.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
}
});
You can try to create a global ProgressDialog not in the layout but in your activity like:
public class MyActivity {
ProgressDialog progress = null;
protected void onCreate(...) {
progressDialog = new ProgressDialog(this);
progressDialog.setCancelable(false);
progressDialog.setTitle("Progress");
}
public void fin2_clickOnFinalization(View v)
{
progress.show();
// code where data is processing
progress.dismiss();
}
}
Hope i it helps
I have an activity class as below.
public class LoginActivity extends Activity implements OnClickListener {
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main);
button1 = (ImageView) findViewById(R.id.button1);
button1.setOnClickListener(this);
}
#Override
public void onClick(View v) {
loader = (ProgressBar) findViewById(R.id.loader);
Thread processThread = new Thread(loaderThread);
loader.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
processThread.start();
try {
Thread.currentThread().join();
Log.i("Activity","gone past join()");
loader.setVisibility(View.INVISIBLE);
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
private Runnable loaderThread = new Runnable() {
public void run() {
ServiceCaller serviceCaller = new ServiceCaller();
boolean status = serviceCaller.checkProcess(url);
}
};
}
Further Question [EDITED]
Here is the scenario. The main activity class creates a thread on a click. The then created thread fetches some data from the server. It is a time consuming task. So a progress bar is displayed on the UI. Currently I am using AsyncTask (not shown here) to accomplish server data retrieval. But the real challenge is wait for the background task to complete and get the value from it. What I am looking for is:
wait until server calls are made and get the results. Meanwhile show the progress bar.
Any thoughts? Apologies in case I confuse you.
Thanks in advance!
You must have a look at AsyncTask
http://developer.android.com/reference/android/os/AsyncTask.html
http://www.vogella.com/articles/AndroidPerformance/article.html
and you can show the ProgressBar in onPreExecute()
do the task in doInBackground()
and hide the ProgressBar in onPostExecute()
Join method blocks the current thread. In your case Onclick method is called in UI thread, so all UI operations are blocked. It is never a good idea to block Ui thread.
So you probably should use either a Handler or Asynctask to keep updating Progressbar
I have this lines of code:
1) m_ProgressDialog = ProgressDialog.show(m_Context, "", m_Context.getString(R.string.dictionary_loading));
2) //important code stuff: interact with db, change some textview values (= 2-3 seconds if i'm unlucky)
3) m_ProgressDialog.dismiss();
But what happens is that phase 2) happens before 1).. which is wrong. First UI freezes then dialog appears..
phase 2) is some code that interacts with DB, might also change some textViews..but since this might take a while i decided to show that progress dialog so that user would know that really important stuff is going on. I cant use Async for these operations since UI code & db code is mengled, it will only complicate my life
How can i force dialog to show at request ??.. to me it seams that code presented just adds it in a "To do list when i have some free time & i dont have time now" stack..
You are doing your work on the ui thread. You should use a separate thread for this to keep the UI (progress bar) responsive. Have a look at AsynchTask.
Do not use UiThread for background operations it lead to freeze of screen.You have to use separate thread like Asyc Task.
do like below
in
onCreate()
{
dialog.show();
new DownloadFilesTask().excute()
}
class DownloadFilesTask extends AsyncTask<Void,Void,Void>
{
protected Long doInBackground(URL... urls) {
//Background operation
}
return null;
}
protected void onProgressUpdate(Integer... progress) {
}
protected void onPostExecute(Long result) {
runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
//Update you Ui here
dialog.dismiss();
}
});
}
}
For most of cases if you want to simply have 2 methods, ShowLoading() and HideLoading() just use this
public static void ShowLoading()
{
HideLoading();
myLoadingThread = new Thread(new ThreadStart(LoadingThread));
myLoadingThread.Start();
}
private static void LoadingThread()
{
Looper.Prepare();
myProgressDialog = new ProgressDialog(myActivity,
Resource.Style.AppTheme_Dialog);
myProgressDialog.SetMessage("Loading..."); // Or a #string...
myProgressDialog.SetIcon(Resource.Drawable.your_loading_icon);
myProgressDialog.SetProgressStyle(ProgressDialogStyle.Spinner);
myProgressDialog.SetCancelable(false);
myProgressDialog.Show();
Looper.Loop();
}
public static void HideLoading()
{
if (myProgressDialog != null)
{
myProgressDialog.Dismiss();
myProgressDialog = null;
}
if (myLoadingThread != null)
myLoadingThread.Abort();
}
Now I declare and explain the followings variables I used on my code sample, one of them is global, yes, if you don't like to use global vars, or you want to have 2 loading dialogs at a time (wtf...) look for another solution. This is just the simplest way, most friendly and free of weird code with nested methods, new classes and inheritance everywhere for such a simple thing:
private Thread myLoadingThread;
private ProgressDialog myProgressDialog;
// Some people will hate me for this, but just remember
// to call myActivity = this; on each OnStart() of your app
// and end with all your headaches
public Activity myActivity;
I'm trying to create a ProgressDialog for an Android-App (just a simple one showing the user that stuff is happening, no buttons or anything) but I can't get it right. I've been through forums and tutorials as well as the Sample-Code that comes with the SDK, but to no avail.
This is what I got:
btnSubmit.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
public void onClick(View view) {
(...)
ProgressDialog pd = new ProgressDialog(MyApp.this);
pd.setProgressStyle(ProgressDialog.STYLE_HORIZONTAL);
pd.setMessage("Working...");
pd.setIndeterminate(true);
pd.setCancelable(false);
// now fetch the results
(...long time calculations here...)
// remove progress dialog
pd.dismiss();
I've also tried adding pd.show(); and messed around with the parameter in new ProgressDialog resulting in nothing at all (except errors that the chosen parameter won't work), meaning: the ProgressDialog won't ever show up. The app just keeps running as if I never added the dialog.
I don't know if I'm creating the dialog at the right place, I moved it around a bit but that, too, didnt't help. Maybe I'm in the wrong context? The above code is inside private ViewGroup _createInputForm() in MyApp.
Any hint is appreciated,
you have to call pd.show before the long calculation starts and then the calculation has to run in a separate thread. A soon as this thread is finished, you have to call pd.dismiss() to close the prgoress dialog.
here you can see an example:
the progressdialog is created and displayed and a thread is called to run a heavy calculation:
#Override
public void onClick(View v) {
pd = ProgressDialog.show(lexs, "Search", "Searching...", true, false);
Search search = new Search( ... );
SearchThread searchThread = new SearchThread(search);
searchThread.start();
}
and here the thread:
private class SearchThread extends Thread {
private Search search;
public SearchThread(Search search) {
this.search = search;
}
#Override
public void run() {
search.search();
handler.sendEmptyMessage(0);
}
private Handler handler = new Handler() {
#Override
public void handleMessage(Message msg) {
displaySearchResults(search);
pd.dismiss();
}
};
}
I am giving you a solution for it,
try this...
First define the Progress Dialog in the Activity before onCreate() method
private ProgressDialog progressDialog;
Now in the onCreate method you might have the Any button click on which you will change the Activity on any action. Just set the Progress Bar there.
progressDialog = ProgressDialog.show(FoodDriveModule.this, "", "Loading...");
Now use thread to handle the Progress Bar to Display and hide
new Thread()
{
public void run()
{
try
{
sleep(1500);
// do the background process or any work that takes time to see progress dialog
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Log.e("tag",e.getMessage());
}
// dismiss the progress dialog
progressDialog.dismiss();
}
}.start();
That is all!
Progress Dialog doesn't show because you have to use a separated thread. The best practices in Android is to use AsyncTask ( highly recommended ).
See also this answer.
This is also possible by using AsyncTask. This class creates a thread for you. You should subclass it and fill in the doInBackground(...) method.
I have an application that is performing HTTP Requests (specifically calling the FogBugz API) when the user clicks certain buttons. Right now, I am just creating a service when the application starts, and then calling different methods in that service to complete requests. However, when I do this, there is the usual hang in the UI thread. I have looked at AsyncTask, but am not sure it will do what I want to accomplish. Because I need to instantly parse the XML that the HTTP Request returns, I need to have a process that is able to return this data to the UI thread. Will ASyncTask be able to accomplish this, or is there some other way?
public static InputStream makeRequest(String httpRequest)
{
In a separate thread, run HTTP Request, get back and process, return inputstream
}
This method is called by several others to perform HttpRequests. Once the inputstream is returned, the other methods parse for specific information.
The simplest way to do it would just be to do something like
//Body of your click handler
Thread thread = new Thread(new Runnable(){
#Override
public void run(){
//code to do the HTTP request
}
});
thread.start();
That will cause the code inside the run() method to execute in a new thread of execution. You can look into an async task if you like although I've personally never used it. This is a quick and simple way to get things done.
With regards to passing information back, I would use a Handler object which effectively allows you to set up a message queue for a given thread and pass messages to it which cause the execution of specific code. The reason you need to do this is because Android will not let any thread other than the UI thread update the actual UI.
Does that address your question? I know my first pass didn't fully address all of your issues.
Edit Basically, what you do is define a handler object in your Activity like
private Handler handler_ = new Handler(){
#Override
public void handleMessage(Message msg){
}
};
You also create static int constants that help tell the handler what to do. You basically use those to allow for several different types of messages to be passed to one instance of a handler. If there is only going to be one message that is passed back, then you don't have to worry about that.
For example
private static final int UPDATE_UI = 1;
To send a message to the handler you call
handler_.sendMessage(Message.obtain(handler_, UPDATE_UI, inputStreamInstance));
From the handler:
private Handler handler_ = new Handler(){
#Override
public void handleMessage(Message msg){
switch(msg.what){
case UPDATE_UI:
InputStream is = (InputStream)msg.obj;
//do what you need to with the InputStream
break;
}
}
};
Alternatively, where the inputStreamInstance is added to the Message object, you can pass any object you like so if you wanted to parse it into some kind of container object or something like that, you could do that as well. Just cast it back to that object from within the handler.
Try using AsyncTask. Goto this Link for more:
private class SyncIncoData extends AsyncTask<String, String, String> {
ProgressBar pb;
ProgressBar pbar;
#Override
protected String doInBackground(String... urls) {
for (int i = 0; i <= 100; i++) {
publishProgress(i);
}
return null;
}
#Override
protected void onPreExecute() {
super.onPreExecute();
pb = (ProgressBar) findViewById(R.id.progressBarsync4);
pb.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
}
#Override
protected void onPostExecute(String result) {
pb = (ProgressBar) findViewById(R.id.progressBarsync4);
pb.setVisibility(View.INVISIBLE);
}
#Override
protected void onProgressUpdate(String... values) {
pbar = (ProgressBar) findViewById(R.id.progressBarpbar);
pbar.setProgress(Integer.parseInt(values[0]));
super.onProgressUpdate(values);
}
}
Write the program for http request inside doinbackgroud()