Develop Reference

How can I control a timer in android?

I want to make an application about mini game.
Detail : In 2 seconds you must to answer a question if you don't answer or the answer is wrong -> Game Over . But if your answer is true the Timer will reset become 0 and countdown again with diffirent question.
I have already seen many code about timer in website but I don't understand clearly about it :(
So I want to ask : How can i set up a timer run only 2 seconds and how can i reset it and continue with a new question ?
Please help me.

you can use CountDownTimer in android like this:
public class Myclass {
myTimer timer =new myTimer(2000,1000);
public void creatQuestion(){
timer.start();
//method you init question and show it to user
}
public void getUserAnswer(/*evry thing you expected*/)
{
//if answer is true call timer.start()
//else call timer.onFinish(); to run onfinish in timer
}
public class myTimer extends CountDownTimer {
public myTimer(long millisInFuture, long countDownInterval) {
super(millisInFuture, countDownInterval);
}
#Override
public void onTick(long millisUntilFinished) {
// you can update ui here
}
#Override
public void onFinish() {
this.cancel();
//fire game over event
}
}
}
i hope it make you satisfy

I've done something similar using Thread/Runnable.
Thread t = new Thread(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
final long startTime = getTime();
final long maxEndTime = startTime + 2000L;
try {
while (shouldContinueWaiting()) {
if (getTime() > maxEndTime) {
throw new TimeoutException();
}
sleep();
}
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
handleInterrupt();
} catch (TimeoutException e) {
handleTimeout();
}
}
boolean shouldContinueWaiting() {
// Has the user already answered?
}
void handleInterrupt() {
// The user has answered. Dispose of this thread.
}
void handleTimeout() {
// User didn't answer in time
}
void sleep() throws InterruptedException {
Thread.sleep(SLEEP_DURATION_IN_MILLIS);
}
void getTime() {
return System.currentTimeMillis();
}
then you can start/restart the thread by:
t = new Thread(same as above...);
t.start();
and stop by:
t.interrupt();

We want to use the Timer class.
private Timer timer;
When you're ready for the timer to start counting -- let's say it's after you press a certain button -- do this to start it:
timer = new Timer();
timer.scheduleAtFixedRate(incrementTime(), 0, 100);
The first line is us creating a new Timer. Pretty standard. The second line, however, is the one I wanted you to see.
incrementTime() is a method that is called at the end of every "tick" of the clock. This method can be called whatever you want, but it has to return an instance of TimerTask. You could even make an anonymous interface if you want, but I prefer moving it off into its own section of code.
The 0 is our starting location. We start counting from here. Simple.
The 100 is how large a "tick" of the clock is (in milliseconds). Here, it's every 100 milliseconds, or every 1/10 of a second. I used this value at the time of writing this code because I was making a stopwatch application and I wanted my clock to change every 0.1 seconds.
As for your project, I'd suggest making the timer's task be your question switch method. Make it happen every 2000 milliseconds, or 2 seconds.

You can use a Handler.
Handler h = new Handler();
h.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
//this will happen after 2000 ms
}
}, 2000);

Maybe this can help you:
Handler handler = new Handler();
handler.post(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
// FIRE GAME OVER
handler.postDelayed(this, 2000); // set time here to refresh textView
}
});
You can fire your game over after 2000 milliseconds.
If you get the question correct -> remove callback from handler and reset it when the next question starts.

I cant make myHandler run

What I want to do is just a basic implementation of handler example. I have a TextView on the mainActivity, and once the page loads the handler is supposed to run and show the user value coming from SystemClock.uptimeMillis. But ıt doesn't work more than once. How can I make this code run?
public class MainActivity extends Activity {
long uptoMS=0L;
TextView tv;
Handler handler=new Handler();
long swaptime=0L;
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
tv=(TextView)findViewById(R.id.textView1);
uptoMS=SystemClock.uptimeMillis();
tv.setText(String.valueOf(uptoMS));
handler.post(runner);
}
private Runnable runner=new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
swaptime+=uptoMS;
tv.setTag(String.valueOf(swaptime));
handler.post(this);
}
};
}

See this below example
scheduler(){
TimerTask tasknew = new TimerSchedulePeriod();
Timer timer = new Timer();
// scheduling the task at interval
timer.schedule(tasknew,100, 100);
}
// this method performs the task
public void run() {
System.out.println("timer working");
}

timer = new Timer();
refreshTask = new TimerTask() {
#Override
public void run() {
swaptime+=uptoMS;
tv.setTag(String.valueOf(swaptime));
handler.post(this);
}
};
timer.schedule(refreshTask,
100, 100);

Well, there some problems with your code.
Firstly, you use setTag() instead of setText(), so the value will never update.
tv.setTag(String.valueOf(swaptime));
Secondly, you get uptoMS once in onCreate(), and then you use it in every "handler loop". I don't know what you try to achive but it's unlike that you want this.
Thirdly, you instantly repost your Runnable, so the main thread's message queue will be busy. You should give some break instead of instant reposting. For example you can wait 100 ms between the updates, so the TextView will be updated 10 times in every second.
handler.postDelayed(this, 100);
And finally, however others suggest you using Timer, just ignore them. Handler is the Android way to achieve tasks like this.

Finish an activity after a time period

I am trying to develop a game like matching small pictures.My problem is that i want to finish the game after a time period.For instance in level 1 we have 10 seconds to match picture.I want to display remaining time also.I will be thankful for any help.

Since you also want to show the countdown, I would recommend a CountDownTimer. This has methods to take action at each "tick" which can be an interval you set in the constructor. And it's methods run on the UI Thread so you can easily update a TextView, etc...
In it's onFinish() method you can call finish() for your Activity or do any other appropriate action.
See this answer for an example
Edit with more clear example
Here I have an inner-class which extends CountDownTimer
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
this.requestWindowFeature(Window.FEATURE_NO_TITLE);
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.some_xml);
// initialize Views, Animation, etc...
// Initialize the CountDownClass
timer = new MyCountDown(11000, 1000);
}
// inner class
private class MyCountDown extends CountDownTimer
{
public MyCountDown(long millisInFuture, long countDownInterval) {
super(millisInFuture, countDownInterval);
frameAnimation.start();
start();
}
#Override
public void onFinish() {
secs = 10;
// I have an Intent you might not need one
startActivity(intent);
YourActivity.this.finish();
}
#Override
public void onTick(long duration) {
cd.setText(String.valueOf(secs));
secs = secs - 1;
}
}

#nKn described it pretty well.
However, if you do not want to mess around with Handler. You always can delay the progress of the system code by writing:
Thread.sleep(time_at_mili_seconds);
You probably need to surround it with try-catch, which you can easily add via Source-> Surround with --> Try & catch.

You can use postDelayed() method of Handler...pass a Thread and specific time after which time the Thread will be executed as below...
private Handler mTimerHandler = new Handler();
private Runnable mTimerExecutor = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
//here, write your code
}
};
Then call postDelayed() method of Handler to execute after your specified time as below...
mTimerHandler.postDelayed(mTimerExecutor, 10000);

Updating UI on button click after a certain time

I have a TextView. I want to update its text (append a "1") after 1 second of a button click.
public class HaikuDisplay extends Activity {
Method m;
Timer t;
/** Called when the activity is first created. */
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main);
t = new Timer();
m = HaikuDisplay.class.getMethod("change");
}
//Event handler of the button
public void onRefresh(View view)
{
//To have the reference of this inside the TimerTask
final HaikuDisplay hd = this;
TimerTask task1 = new TimerTask(){
public void run(){
/*
* I tried to update the text here but since this is not the UI thread, it does not allow to do so.
*/
//Calls change() method
m.invoke(hd, (Object[])null);
}
};
t.schedule(task1, 1000);
}
public void change()
{
//Appends a "1" to the TextView
TextView t = (TextView)findViewById(R.id.textView1);
t.setText(t.getText() + "1");
}
//Event handler of another button which updates the text directly by appending "2".
//This works fine unless I click the first button.
public void onRefresh1(View view)
{
TextView t = (TextView)findViewById(R.id.textView1);
t.setText(t.getText() + "2");
}
}
Consider all Exceptions be handled.
On first click, m.invoke gives InvocationTargetException. But it calls the method change() on successive invokes without any Exceptions(verified by logging). But it does not update the text. Where am I wrong?
Also, I see in the debugger that it creates a new Thread every time I click the button. That is fine. But why isn't it removing the previous Threads though their execution has been completed?

Do something like this
public void onRefresh1(View v) {
// You can have this in a field not to find it every time
final EditText t = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.textView1);
t.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
t.append("1");
}
}, 1000);
}

new Handler().postDelayed(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
// Update UI
}
}, 1000);
implement this on button click
UPDATE:
There are some other answers. dtmilano suggested another solution which is almost same to mine except he is calling the postDelayed method of View class and In my answer I used postDelayed method of handler class.
from the api reference of android the postDelayed method of Handler says
The runnable will be run on the thread to which this handler is
attached.
and the postDelayed method of View says
The runnable will be run on the user interface thread.
This is the only difference between these two solution. in my answer instead of creating new Handler every time you can use any other handler instance. Then the runnable will be run on that thread where that specific handler is declared. And if the postDelayed of EditText is used the the runnable method will be run on the user Interface Thread.
Now the performance issue, both has the same performance (If anybody can prove me wrong with reference I will be happy)

That's looking awful convoluted - have you considered using CountDownTimer instead?
new CountDownTimer(1000, 1000) {
public void onTick(long millisUntilFinished) {
// no-op
}
public void onFinish() {
change();
}
}.start();
This should call change (and hence change the text) on the UI thread, avoiding reflection and threading errors.

Hi Use the following code for that. Hope this will help you .
new java.util.Timer().schedule(
new java.util.TimerTask() {
#Override
public void run() {
// your code here
}
},
1000
);
Have a look of this question also.
display data after every 10 seconds in Android
You can try with this also.
private Handler handler = new Handler();
private Runnable runnable = new Runnable() {
public void run() {
doStuff();
/*
* Now register it for running next time
*/
handler.postDelayed(this, 1000);
}
};
**EDIT 3**
Try with this once you are need to enable once (i mean if you put your code in yourmethod()== this will get automatically call 1 seconds once.
private Timer timer;
TimerTask refresher;
// Initialization code in onCreate or similar:
timer = new Timer();
refresher = new TimerTask() {
public void run() {
yourmethod();
};
};
// first event immediately, following after 1 seconds each
timer.scheduleAtFixedRate(refresher, 0,100);

Android - Service - On Start Command Called only once

In my activity oncreate method, i have called a service using OnStartCommand(). My requirement is when the user is on the same Activity (when the Activity is visible), a set of code should run repeatedly. (Example .. I should make a web service call and get the response and do some action based on it after regular intervals).
I have put this set of code in this method.
#Override
public int onStartCommand(Intent i, int flags , int startId){
// Code to be repeated
return Service.START_STICKY;
}
But, this is getting executed only once. How to make it run repeatedly from the time the user came to this page till he leaves this page ??

CountDownTimer.cancel() method seems to be not working.
I would recommend you to use Timer instead. It's much more flexible and can be cancelled at any time. It may be something like that:
public class MainActivity extends Activity {
TextView mTextField;
long elapsed;
final static long INTERVAL=1000;
final static long TIMEOUT=5000;
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main);
mTextField=(TextView)findViewById(R.id.textview1);
TimerTask task=new TimerTask(){
#Override
public void run() {
elapsed+=INTERVAL;
if(elapsed>=TIMEOUT){
this.cancel();
displayText("finished");
return;
}
//if(some other conditions)
// this.cancel();
displayText("seconds elapsed: " + elapsed / 1000);
}
};
Timer timer = new Timer();
timer.scheduleAtFixedRate(task, INTERVAL, INTERVAL);
}
private void displayText(final String text){
this.runOnUiThread(new Runnable(){
#Override
public void run() {
mTextField.setText(text);
}});
}
}

You can use Timer for the fixed-period execution of a method.
See here is a tutorial on this:
http://steve.odyfamily.com/?p=12