Develop Reference

Android - Button icon loads after function call instead of before

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.

Asynctask and queue OR delay in execution

Scenario:
The user has a list of items, let's say 10 items. Each item has an Operation button, which calls an AsyncTask which makes a web call. When a call is made, the item displays a spinner during the execution of the task
Problem:
Some of the users abuse this, and press quickly more Operation buttons, quicklt one after another, executing the web calls too often. So I want to be able to somehow, execute each of the AsyncTasks one after another with a delay of 2 seconds between executions. I do not want to switch to something else from AsyncTask if possible. So basically if there are 3 Operation buttons pressed, the execution should be:
-> Operation 1
-> 2 seconds delay
-> Operation 2
-> 2 seconds delay
-> Operation 3
-> ....
What would be the best way to do this in Android?
LE:
I have just realized something, for executing my task I ran the following code:
myTask = new MyTask();
if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.HONEYCOMB) {
myTask.executeOnExecutor(AsyncTask.THREAD_POOL_EXECUTOR);
} else {
myTask.execute();
}
Well, I've been using this code for a lot of time now, knowing that after honeycomb the tasks were not executed in parallel anymore without using an Executor. So it seems that only doing a simple myTask.execute() and adding a Thread.sleep() makes my AsyncTasks execute, one after another just as expected.

You will need to maintain a list of the operations that needs to be performed.
on click of the button add the task in the list, call a method which check the list for the task and executes it if there is no other task is running..
in onPostExecute method call the same method to check if there is any other task / operation that needs to be performed..
It may not be the full code you require... but may give you some idea..
public class TestActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
private static boolean isTaskRunning =false;
static ArrayList<CustomTask> customTaskList = new ArrayList();
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_test);
}
public void onBtnClick(View view)
{
// create custom task with required values and actions
CustomTask customTask = new CustomTask();
customTaskList.add(customTask);
checkAndExecuteTask();
}
private static void checkAndExecuteTask()
{
//checks if there is any task in the list and is there any other running task
if(customTaskList.size()>0 && !isTaskRunning) {
new MyAsync(customTaskList.get(0)).execute();
}
}
static class MyAsync extends AsyncTask<Void,Void,Void>
{
CustomTask currentCustomTask;
public MyAsync(CustomTask customTask)
{
currentCustomTask = customTask;
}
#Override
protected void onPreExecute() {
super.onPreExecute();
isTaskRunning= true;
}
#Override
protected Void doInBackground(Void... voids) {
// do your stuff
return null;
}
#Override
protected void onPostExecute(Void aVoid) {
super.onPostExecute(aVoid);
customTaskList.remove(currentCustomTask);
isTaskRunning =false;
checkAndExecuteTask(); // task is completed so check for another task and execute (if any).
}
}
class CustomTask
{
// create class with required fields and method
}
}

There are a number of ways you can do this in android.
One way is to use a handler.
What you need to do is to, create a seperate thread and run handler.postDelayed in it.
private void startWebCall() {
Thread thread = new Thread() {
public void run() {
Looper.prepare();
final Handler handler = new Handler();
handler.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
// Do your web calls here
handler.removeCallbacks(this);
Looper.myLooper().quit();
}
}, 2000);
Looper.loop();
}
};
thread.start();
}
You should call above method whenever user clicks a item.
Another way that I can think of is using an IntentService
An IntentService is a service that is used for doing asynchronous tasks in background. It maintains a queue of the tasks it needs to do. It is different from the above approach in the sense that it executes these tasks in a sequential order. So when you make requests to it to make web calls it will queue them, make the first call and then after it finishes it will make the second call. So the different web calls will not execute in parallel. They will execute in a sequential order but in a different thread. Also it is a service so it can run even in the background, i.e if user closes the app.
This is a good tutorial to get start with IntentService.
AsyncTaks should be generally avoided unless the work one needs to do is quite trivial. This blog explains its pitfalls.

Visibility of ProgressBar

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

Android activity to handle multi threading

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

AsyncTask cannot work in thread android

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.