In my activity class i want to perform a series of long calculations that require around 5 sec to complete when i press a button. So in order to do that i have create a new class which does all the calculations in its run method(since it implements Runnable) and when finished i set a variable to true to indicate that. In the code that checks the if the button is pressed i start a new Thread passing my class in it and then cheking whether the run method has finished or not. If it finished i then print the data. The problem with this is that when i check if the calculations have finished they actually havent so it pass that line of code and never prints the data. I have tried to do the Async Class method but still i think it wont work. Is there a way to create the thread when i press the button and keep checking if had finished so i can print the data? Which piece of code in an Activity is actually get executed over and over again? Thanks for any information.
if(v.equals(this.button)) {
EditText param1 = (EditText)findViewById(R.id.param1);
EditText param2 = (EditText)findViewById(R.id.param2);
calculations = new MathCalc(param1.getText().toString(), param2.getText().toString());
new Thread(calculations).start();
while(!calculations.isReady());
Intent intent = new Intent(this,Show.class);
intent.putExtra("show1", calculations.getResult());
startActivity(intent);
}
This is want i want to achieve.
The AsyncTask is the right tool for this. The typical use case for the AsyncTask is that you want to do something small in the background and leave feedback through the UI before, during and/or after the task is done.
Be aware that running things in the background can get you in trouble if the user quits and restarts your activity a lot, since the background task will not end when the Activity is removed from screen.
An example activity is shown below. You could add the onPreExecute and onProgress methods to the AsynchTask to give the user feedback before and during the calculation.
public class CalcActivity extends Activity {
private Button button;
private TextView resultView;
public void onCreate() {
button = (Button) findViewById(R.id.my_button);
resultView = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.result);
button.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
public void onClick(View v) {
button.setEnabled(false);
AsyncCalculation calc = new AsyncCalculation();
calc.execute();
}
});
}
public class AsyncCalculation extends AsyncTask<Void, Void, Integer> {
#Override
protected Integer doInBackground(Void... params) {
int result = 0;
// Do some calculation
return result;
}
#Override
protected void onPostExecute(Integer result) {
// Set the result, start another activity or do something else
resultView.setText("The result was " + result);
button.setEnabled(true);
}
}
}
I don't see how this won't work with AsyncTask. You basically need to override two methods - doInBackground() and onPostExecute().
You're guaranteed that onPostExecute() will be invoked on the UI thread after the background computation finishes. You also don't have to worry how to update the UI Thread from another thread.
Here's a good example.
Use
Button someButton = (Button) findViewById(R.id.favouriteButton);
someButton.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener(){
#Override
public void onClick(View v) {
Thread thread = new Thread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
while(!isDone){
doAlotOfCalculations();
}
}
});
thread.start();
}
});
private void doAlotOfCalculations(){
...
if(whenDone){
isDone = true;
}
....
}
Which piece of code in an Activity is actually get executed over and
over again?
There is no such a thing.
It is just onResume which executes every time you start(restart) this activity
Related
I have this code:
fab.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
#Override
public void onClick(View v) {
if(!clicked){
clicked = true;
fab.setImageResource(R.drawable.ic_media_stop);
char[] userInput = et.getText().toString().toLowerCase().toCharArray();
compareToMap(userInput);
}else{
clicked = false;
fab.setImageResource(R.drawable.ic_media_play);
}
}
});
When the floating action button is clicked, I want it to change to a stop symbol and then execute the function afterwards. What is happening is that the code is being executed before the image on the button changes. The image only changes once all of the code has been executed from the compareToMap function even though it is placed before it in the code. Is there a way to make sure that the image changes before the compareToMap function executes?
Note: The compareToMap function contains Thread.sleep methods which is causing the UI to block (I think), but shouldn't the image change before that function is executed?
At this moment the UI didn't load yet. If you want to do some work after the UI is loaded you can use the class Handler.
long postDelay = 100; //The delay (in milliseconds) until the Runnable will be executed
Handler handler = new Handler();
handler.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
//Code that you want to execute after the UI is loaded
compareToMap(userInput);
}
}, postDelay);
Note: You can't use Thread.sleep on the UI main thread. You can learn more here. https://developer.android.com/guide/components/processes-and-threads.html.
You can use AsyncTask to execute the compareToMap(userInput) method, this will run the compareToMap method in a separated thread and the UI will not be blocked; something like this :
fab.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
#Override
public void onClick(View v) {
fab.setImageResource(!clicked ? R.drawable.ic_media_stop : R.drawable.ic_media_play);
if (!clicked) {
// Cancel the executing AsyncTask if there's one already running
if (mAsyncTask != null) {
mAsyncTask.cancel(true);
}
mAsyncTask = new AsyncTask<String, Void, Void>() {
#Override
protected Void doInBackground(String... params) {
compareToMap(userInput);
return null;
}
};
mAsyncTask.execute();
}
clicked != clicked;
}
});
More info about AsyncTasks here or you can check this tutorial.
For my app I want to disable/change a specific button that is pressed.
I have an onclick method called btnClicked which simplified looks like this:
Public class MainActivity extends Activity{
Button myBytton;
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
myBytton = (Button)findViewById(R.id.buttonCall);
}
public void btnClicked(View view)
{
myBytton.setText("loading");
myBytton.setEnabled(false);
myBytton.setClickable(false);
// Do a call to an external api
callApi();
}
public void callApi(){
// run querys
if(succesullyCalledApi){
vibrator.vibrate(500);
// I tried commenting out the below part,
// it is than visible that the phone vibrates before it
// has changed the text (atleast a quarter of a second).
myBytton.setText("search");
myBytton.setEnabled(true);
myBytton.setClickable(true);
}
}
}
In the callApi method is a vibrate method which vibrates after the function gets a result.
Also if there is a result in the callApi myButton will be enabled and the text changed to search.
What happens is the following:
I click on the button, the phone vibrates first and afterwards it changes its text.
my question.
Why did callApi / vibrate run before myBytton.setText ?
what NigelK said is true.
When you arrive in the btnClicked method all the instructions are made on the UI thread. Therefore when you ask the System to vibrate, it will be blocked for XX time depending on the time you passed to the method vibrator.vibrate(XX);.
In order to avoid this "freeze" you need to make the vibration on another Thread.
Here is what it will look like :
Public class MainActivity extends Activity
{
Button myBytton;
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState)
{
myBytton = (Button)findViewById(R.id.buttonCall);
}
public void btnClicked(View view)
{
myBytton.setText("loading");
myBytton.setEnabled(false);
myBytton.setClickable(false);
// Do a call to an external api
callApi();
}
public void callApi()
{
// run querys
if(succesullyCalledApi)
{
// here you create and run the Thread.
// put anything you want to do inside the run method
new Thread(
new Runnable()
{
public void run()
{
// here you start the vibration
vibrator.vibrate(500);
}
}
).start();
// I tried commenting out the below part,
// it is than visible that the phone vibrates before it
// has changed the text (atleast a quarter of a second).
myBytton.setText("search");
myBytton.setEnabled(true);
myBytton.setClickable(true);
}
}
}
And that's it. It will launch another Thread that will handle the vibration and not freeze your UI thread.
EDIT
Here is the AsyncTask version :
The three elements asked when you extend AsyncTask are :
The type of the parameters you pass to the doInBackground() method
The Type of the elements that are passed in the onProgressUpdate() method.
The Type of the element returned by the doInBackground() method that is also the parameter of the onPostExecute() method.
This is what it looks like :
public class MyTask extends AsyncTask<Void, Integer, Boolean>
{
private Button mButton;
public MyTask(Button button)
{
mButton = button;
}
// Here everything will run on a background Thread
protected Boolean doInBackground(Void... voids)
{
boolean succesullyCalledApi = false;
// do your long querys here
// ...
return succesullyCalledApi;
}
// Here everything will run on the UI Thread
protected void onProgressUpdate(Integer... progress) {
// here you can make some update to the UI like updating a
// progress bar
}
// Here everything will run on the UI Thread
protected void onPostExecute(Boolean succesullyCalledApi)
{
if(succesullyCalledApi)
{
mButton.setText("search");
mButton.setEnabled(true);
mButton.setClickable(true);
// here you start the vibration
vibrator.vibrate(500);
}
}
}
And in your callApi() method you only have to to this :
public void callApi()
{
new MyTask(myButton).execute();
}
EDIT 2
In order to retrieve the query back to your main Thread (or UI Thread) all you have to do is ... nothing.
You are in the UI Thread when the onPostExecute() method is called.
But I assume that you want to retrieve the query back to your MainActivity. To do so :
Pass MainActivity in parameter of MyTask constructor,
Create a method in MainActivity named processQuery() (or whatever you want),
Finally call this method in the onPostExecute() method.
Here are some snippets :
Public class MainActivity extends Activity
{
Button myBytton;
...
public void callApi()
{
// add this to the constructor
new MyTask(this, myButton).execute();
}
// I put String here but adapt it to your query Type.
public void processQuery(String query)
{
// process your query here.
}
}
public class MyTask extends AsyncTask<Void, Integer, Boolean>
{
private Button mButton;
private MainActivity mMainActivity;
public MyTask(MainActivity mainActivity, Button button)
{
mButton = button;
mMainActivity = mainActivity;
}
...
// Here everything will run on the UI Thread
protected void onPostExecute(Boolean succesullyCalledApi)
{
if(succesullyCalledApi)
{
// process your query
mMainActivity.processQuery("THE QUERY YOUR WANT TO PROCESS");
mButton.setText("search");
mButton.setEnabled(true);
mButton.setClickable(true);
// here you start the vibration
vibrator.vibrate(500);
}
}
}
There probably is a better way to do this but this one is simple and work :)
Hope it helps.
Cheers
This is because your call to the API is being done on the UI thread. Even though you have made changes to the UI, the screen won't refresh until the processing invoked from the button clicked event completes. Call your API on a new thread or via an Async Task to get the behaviour you want.
Because you are doing all stuff at the UI Thread. You must use an AsyncTask for your long running operations.
Try below implementation:
public void callApi() {
MyTask myTask = new MyTask();
myTask.execute();
}
private class MyTask extends AsyncTask<Void, Void, Boolean> {
protected void doInBackground(Void... params) {
// This runs on a separate background thread
boolean succesullyCalledApi = false;
// run querys
// do your long running query here and return its result.
return succesullyCalledApi;
}
protected void onPostExecute(Boolean succesullyCalledApi) {
// this runs on UI Thread
if(succesullyCalledApi){
vibrator.vibrate(500);
myBytton.setText("search");
myBytton.setEnabled(true);
myBytton.setClickable(true);
} else {
// You should better think this part also. what will happen if result is false?
}
}
}
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 use AsyncTask to change text of TextView like this:
private class LongOperation extends AsyncTask<String, Void, String> {
#Override
protected String doInBackground(String... urls) {
String response = "";
for (String url : urls) {
response += url;
}
return response;
}
#Override
protected void onPostExecute(String result) {
textView.setText(result);
}
}
Everything will fine if I call it in OnClick event:
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
textView = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.txt);
Button button = (Button)this.findViewById(R.id.button);
button.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
#Override
public void onClick(View v) {
new LongOperation().execute(new String[]{"Hello"});
}
});
}
But the problem when I called it in my thread, the program forced close
this.closeButton.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
#Override
public void onClick(View v) {
Thread t= new Thread(){
#Override
public void run(){
try{
//Do something
//Then call AsyncTask
new LongOperation().execute(new String[]{"Hello"});
}catch(Exception e){}
}
};
t.start();
}
});
Where am I wrong? I dont' understand how difference call AsyncTask in thread or not.
I recommend you consult the AsyncTask documentation and Processes and Threads for a better understanding of how it works. Essentially, you should create your AsyncTask subclass on the main thread.
When you call AsyncTask.execute(), your provided, AsyncTask.onPreExecute is called on the main thread, so you can do UI setup.
Next AsyncTask.doInBackground method is called, and runs in its own thread.
Finally, when your AsyncTask.doInBackground method completes, a call is made to AsyncTask.onPostExecute on the main thread, and you can do any UI cleanup.
If you need to update the UI from within your AsyncTask.doInBackground method, call AsyncTask.publishProgress, which will invoke onProgressUpdate in the main thread.
When you call it from the UI thread, the associated Context is the running Activity. When you call it from a regular thread, there is no valid Context associated with that thread. AsyncTask executes in its own thread, you shouldn't be creating its own thread. If that is actual code, then you have missunderstood the point of AsyncTask. Search for tutorials on how to use it.
Adding to what the others have said: I think you can use AsyncTask to launch off a task in another thread, even if you start the AsyncTask from a different thread than the UI already.
But in that case, the only way you'll only be able to modify the UI indirectly, for example: pass the handler of the current Activity somehow to this AsyncTask instance, and send messages to it (handler messages get processed on the UI thread). Or use broadcast intents that the Activity catches and updates the UI accordingly, etc. These solutions seem to be overkills though.
This question is not only limit for Button or this setter.
For example, here a button listener:
runButton.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
public void onClick(View v) {
runButton.setEnabled(false);
runScript();//This function will take a long time!!
}
});
When this button is clicked, I want it be disabled immediately. However, practically, I see this button won't get disabled until all the methods finished, that is after the method runScript() finishes, the button actually turns grey.
So, could anyone tell me how to make the button disabled right after that line?
What happens is the runScript method blocks the UI thread. What you want to do inside your onClick method is disable the button then run the script in a different thread, like so
runButton.setEnabled(false);
new Thread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
runScript();//This function will take a long time!!
}
}).start();
More information found here:
http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/fundamentals/processes-and-threads.html
As a general rule of thumb, you want to avoid doing anything that may take a long time on the UI thread. What you can do in your click listener is spawn a new thread that does the long-running method in the background. The android AsyncTask class provides a lot of support methods for having background threads that can send updates back to the UI via progress events.
Try calling runButton.invalidate() immediately after setEnabled(false) method
Also
You should not have long running methods in the UI thread transfer runScript() to an asynch task. Button state will get updated faster
runButton.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
public void onClick(View v) {
runButton.setEnabled(false);
MyTask asyncTask = new MyTask();
asyncTask.execute();
}
});
private class MyTask extends AsyncTask<void, void, String> {
protected String doInBackground(void) {
runScripts();
//set to something relevant to your app
String result ="";
return result;
}
protected void onPostExecute(String result) {
//do something
}
}
I