sleep/wait in android apps - android

I had an activity which calls a thread for 10times one after another. However, if the network is slow or too much information loaded, force close will occur. Will adding sleep in each thread help to solve this problem? or is there any other ways to solve it?
public void run() {
if(thread_op.equalsIgnoreCase("xml")){
readXML();
}
else if(thread_op.equalsIgnoreCase("getImg")){
getWallpaperThumb();
}
handler.sendEmptyMessage(0);
}
private Handler handler = new Handler() {
#Override
public void handleMessage(Message msg) {
int count = 0;
if (!myExampleHandler.filenames.isEmpty()){
count = myExampleHandler.filenames.size();
}
count = 5;
if(thread_op.equalsIgnoreCase("xml")){
pd.dismiss();
thread_op = "getImg";
btn_more.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.btn_more);
}
else if(thread_op.equalsIgnoreCase("getImg")){
setWallpaperThumb();
index++;
if (index < count){
Thread thread = new Thread(GalleryWallpapers.this);
thread.start();
}
}
}
};

First step should be to check the stack trace which will give the offending line and cause. You can use Logcat for that.

Are you getting the Application not responding dialog (ANR) or does your app force close?
ANR appears when the UI looper thread takes too long to return from a call. Having 10 or 100 threads should not cause any problem as long as the handleMessage function returns in a timely fashion.
If you really want to limit the number of threads that should be running in one go look up ExecutorService
ExecutorService executorService = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(5);
executorService.submit(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
// This is your thread
}
});
You can submit all 10 jobs to the executor service and they'll run one after another with a maximum of 5 running simultaneously.

Related

Running a Method for a Certain Number of Time

So I have this method called PredictionEngine(int) that I want to run a certain number of time with a certain time-delay between each run. The method goes like this:
private void PredictionEngine(int delay) throws Exception {
final Handler handler = new Handler();
handler.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
enableStrictMode();
String val = null;
try {
if (tHighPass == 0 && tLowPass == 0 && tKalman == 1) {
//Magic
} else {
//Magic
}
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
enableStrictMode();
new DropboxTask(side_output, "Result", val).execute();
}
}, delay);
}
As obvious, I am running a network operation in the main thread as this is a research app and no client is ever going to use it.
I want this whole function to run for say a 100 times with a certain delay, say 2 seconds. The initial thought was to do this:
for(loop 100 times){
PredictionEngine(int)
Thread.sleep(2000); //sorry for StackOverflow programming.
}
However I don't want to block the main thread as I am reading some sensor data there. Any ideas for the same would be very helpful!
Thanks.
The best way to solve this is by using rxJava library, because it allow to create, modify and consume streams of events. You can implement everything in a few lines of code and modify it so operatioin will be performed in background as well.
Observable.interval(1, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
.take(100)
// switch execution into main thread
.subscribeOn(AndroidSchedulers.mainThread())
.subscribe(t -> {
doSomethingOnMainThread();
});
On the other hand, there is another solution- you can use Handler, which is usually bein used for thread communication. It has method .postDelayed() allowing you to postpone execution of task. Handler can be conveniently used along with HandlerThread. But, rxJava is more convenient and simple way to solve your problem.
While creating your Handler, you can provide a looper as one of the constructors parameters that is based on different thread then the main thread:
HandlerThread thread = new HandlerThread("Thread name", android.os.Process.THREAD_PRIORITY_BACKGROUND);
thread.start();
Looper looper = thread.getLooper();
Handler handler = new MyHandler(looper);
Messages received by MyHandler will be processed on a separated thread, leaving the UI thread clear from interferences.
To loop on the task periodically, use something like:
for (int i=0; i<100; i++){
handler.postDelayed(new Runnable(){
...
...
...
}, i*delay);
}
This way, in case you decide that the periodic tasks need to be canceled, you will always be able to invoke:
handler.removeCallbacksAndMessages(null);
I tried to solve the issue as follows without blocking the main Thread
I created the worker thread for looping and still running the predictionEngine() on main thread
MyThread t = new MyThread(2000, 3000); // delay and sleep
t.startExecution();
Worker thread class looks as follows
class MyThread extends Thread{
private int delay;
long sleep;
MyThread(int delay, long sleep){
this.delay = delay;
this.sleep = sleep;
}
#Override
public void run() {
for(int i = 0; i < 100; i++){
try {
MainActivity.this.runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
predictEngine(delay);
}
});
Log.i("Mtali","About to pause loop before next predict");
sleep(sleep);
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
void startExecution(){
start();
}
}
Hop this helps!

How to return to main thread Android

I have a simple Activity with two buttons "On" and "Off". I want start changing color of background in cycle with button "On" and stop this with button "Off". Also I need to have red color by click on "Off" button. I have wrote simple programm and everything is fine, but I can't understand one thing. Why the last color not always red? If I use code in main threads cycle
Thread.sleep(100);
or
Thread.sleep(1000);
I always have red color, but if I set
Thread.sleep(10);
I have random last color. Why??
Thank you !!
I have this code:
public class MyActivity extends Activity {
final Handler myHandler = new Handler();
private int randColor;
final Runnable updateColor = new Runnable() {
public void run() {
final Random random = new Random();
randColor = Color.rgb(random.nextInt (255), random.nextInt (255), random.nextInt (255));
mRelativeLayout.setBackgroundColor(randColor);
}
};
private ColorChanger myThread;
class ColorChanger extends Thread {
private volatile boolean mIsStopped = false;
#Override
public void run() {
super.run();
do
{
if (!Thread.interrupted()) {
myHandler.post(updateColor);
}
else
{
return;
}
try{
Thread.sleep(100);
}catch(InterruptedException e){
return;
}
}
while(true);
}
public void stopThis() {
this.interrupt();
}
}
private RelativeLayout mRelativeLayout;
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_my);
mRelativeLayout = (RelativeLayout)findViewById(R.id.relativeLayout);
}
public void onflagClick(View view) {
myThread = new ColorChanger();
myThread.start();
}
public void onflagoffClick(View view) throws InterruptedException {
myThread.interrupt();
if(myThread.isAlive())
{
try {
myThread.join();
} catch(InterruptedException e){
}
}
else
{
mRelativeLayout.setBackgroundColor(getResources().getColor(R.color.redColor));
}
mRelativeLayout.setBackgroundColor(getResources().getColor(R.color.redColor));
}
}
I agree with the previous answer-ers, but propose a different solution.
First let me say that I recommend you stop using Runnables. In general posting a Runnable to a Handler is less efficient then sending a Message, although there are very rare exceptions to this rule.
Now, if we send Messages, what should we do? What we basically want to do is keep doing whatever we're doing until a condition is hit. A great way to do this is to write a Message Handler that receives a Message, does our work (setting the color), checks if we should keep going, and if so schedules a new Message in the future to do more work. Let's see how we might do this.
Assume the code below is inside an Activity.
private static final int MSG_UPDATE_COLOR = 1;
private static final int DELAY = 10; //10 millis
private final Object mLock = new Object();
private boolean mContinue = true;
Handler mHandler = new Handler() {
#Override
public void handleMessage(Message msg) {
switch (msg.what) {
case MSG_UPDATE_COLOR:
synchronized (mLock) {
if (mContinue) {
setColor(Color.rgb(random.nextInt (255), random.nextInt (255), random.nextInt (255)));
mHandler.sendEmptyMessageDelayed(MSG_UPDATE_COLOR, DELAY);
} else {
setColor(Color.RED);
}
}
break;
}
}
}
}
public void onflagClick(View view) {
mHandler.sendEmptyMessage(MSG_UPDATE_COLOR);
}
public void onflagoffClick(View view) throws InterruptedException {
synchronized (mLock) {
mContinue = false;
}
// cancel any pending update
mHandler.removeMessages(MSG_UPDATE_COLOR);
// schedule an immediate update
mHandler.sendEmptyMessage(MSG_UPDATE_COLOR);
}
Okay, so, what is happening here. We've created a Handler that will do all the color updates. We kick that off when our start event happens. Then the Message schedules a new message (and therefore color update) in ten milliseconds. When the stop event happens we reset a flag that the message handler reads to determine if a new update should be scheduled. We then unschedule all update messages because it might be scheduled for several milliseconds in the future and instead send an immediate message that does the final color update.
For bonus points we eliminate the use of a second thread which saves resources. Looking carefully I've used synchronized blocks, but these are actually unnecessary because everything is happening on the main thread. I included these just in case someone was changing mContinue from a background thread. Another great point of this strategy is that all color updates happen in one place in the code so it is easier to understand.
When you post to Handler, it will run your Runnable at some given time in the future. It is not immediate. It also works in a queue so the more times you post to Handler you are going to stack up the commands that will all get executed in order eventually.
You're facing a race condition because with Thread.sleep(10), the program is most likely stacking up a lot of Runnables to execute. They will run regardless of whether or not your Thread is running because they've been queued up to run on the main thread. Thread.sleep(100) or Thread.sleep(1000) doesn't have this issue simply because you're giving the system enough time to execute all color commands. However, it is still possible to have this issue if you pressed the off button at just the right time.
As DeeV told you, Handler sends Runnables to a Looper that is basically a Thread looping inside processing messages or runnables in each loop. You are queuing messaged to the main Looper and then you are sleeping your worker Thread. Its possible that you are sending for example 2 runnables in a row between each loop of your worker thread, but the main looper has only executed the last one so you cannot see each color as you want.
If you want a simple solution to make it work, you can use an Object or a CountDownLatch to synchronize your main Looperwith your worker Thread.
For example: Just before you will sleep your worker Thread you can do the next thing myLockObject.wait()
Then, you should change post(Runnable) to sendMessage(Message). In handleMessage from your Handler you can do myLockObject.notify() (Keep in mind that handleMessage will be executed inside the Looper that you have created your Handler or you can specify any Looper you want explicity). To obtain a new Message you should use myHandler.obtainMessage().
This will make your worker Thread wait your main Looperto process your runnable just before you wait X time until you post next color. Obviously you should create your new Object as a field of your Activity for example:
private myLockObject = new Object()

Android Inception (A thread within a thread)

I have one function which queries a network server with a few "ping pongs" back and forth, and have written a custom handler to handle the message communication between my main UI thread and the communication thread (I was using AsyncTask for this, but as the program got more complex, I have decided to remove the communication code to its own class outside of the main activity).
Triggering a single instance of this thread communication from onCreate works perfectly, no problem.
I want this query to run on a regular timed basis -- in the background -- for the entire time the app is in use, so I've set up another thread called pollTimer, which I'm trying to use to call the OTHER thread at a regularly scheduled basis.
Obviously, it's crashing, or I wouldn't be posting this.
Is there a way to get a thread within a thread? Or put differently, trigger a thread from another thread?
Timer pollTimer = new Timer();
private void startPollTimer(){
pollTimer.scheduleAtFixedRate(new TimerTask(){
public void run(){
Log.d(TAG,"timer dinged");
//if the following is commented out, this "dings" every 6 seconds.
//if its not commented out, it crashes
threadedPoll();
}
}, 3120, 6000);
}
private void threadedPoll() {
testThread(asciiQueries,WorkerThreadRunnable.typeLogin);
}
edit: it would probably help to include the "testThread" function, which works by itself when called from onCreate, but does not make it when called from the Timer.
"WorkerThreadRunnable" is the massive chunk of code in its own class that has replaced the mess of having AsyncTask handle it inside the main activity.
private Handler runStatHandler = null;
Thread workerThread = null;
private void testThread(String[] threadCommands, int commandType){
if(runStatHandler == null){
runStatHandler = new ReportStatusHandler(this);
if(commandType == WorkerThreadRunnable.typeLogin){
workerThread = new Thread(new WorkerThreadRunnable(runStatHandler,threadCommands, WorkerThreadRunnable.typeLogin));
}
workerThread.start();
return;
}
//thread is already there
if(workerThread.getState() != Thread.State.TERMINATED){
Log.d(TAG,"thread is new or alive, but not terminated");
}else{
Log.d(TAG, "thread is likely deaad, starting now");
//there's no way to resurrect a dead thread
workerThread = new Thread(new WorkerThreadRunnable(runStatHandler));
workerThread.start();
}
}
You seem to be well on the way already - the nice thing about handlers, though, is that they aren't limited to the UI thread - so if you have a Handler declared by one thread, you can set it up to take asynchronous instructions from another thread
mWorkerThread = new WorkerThread()
private class WorkerThread extends Thread {
private Handler mHandler;
#Override
public void run() {
mHandler = new Handler(); // we do this here to ensure that
// the handler runs on this thread
}
public void doStuff() {
mHandler.post(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
// do stuff asynchronously
}
}
}
}
Hopefully that helps... if I'm totally off base on your problem let me know
Wots wrong with a sleep() loop? Why do you have pagefuls of complex, dodgy code when you could just loop in one thread?

MultiThreading issues while programing for android

I am developing on Android but the question might be just as valid on any other Java platform.
I have developed a multi-threaded app. Lets say I have a first class that needs to do a time-intensive task, thus this work is done in another Thread.
When it's done that same Thread will return the time-intensive task result to another (3rd) class.
This last class will do something and return it's result to the first-starting class.
I have noticed though that the first class will be waiting the whole time, maybe because this is some kind of loop ?
Also I'd like the Thread-class to stop itself, as in when it has passed it's result to the third class it should simply stop. The third class has to do it's work without being "encapsulated" in the second class (the Thread one).
Anyone knows how to accomplish this ?
right now the experience is that the first one seems to be waiting (hanging) till the second and the third one are done :(
If you want to use threads rather than an AsyncTask you could do something like this:
private static final int STEP_ONE_COMPLETE = 0;
private static final int STEP_TWO_COMPLETE = 1;
...
private doBackgroundUpdate1(){
Thread backgroundThread = new Thread() {
#Override
public void run() {
// do first step
// finished first step
Message msg = Message.obtain();
msg.what = STEP_ONE_COMPLETE;
handler.sendMessage(msg);
}
}
backgroundThread.start();
}
private doBackgroundUpdate2(){
Thread backgroundThread = new Thread() {
#Override
public void run() {
// do second step
// finished second step
Message msg = Message.obtain();
msg.what = STEP_TWO_COMPLETE;
handler.sendMessage(msg);
}
}
backgroundThread.start();
}
private Handler handler = new Handler(){
#Override
public void handleMessage(Message msg) {
switch(msg.what){
case STEP_ONE_COMPLETE:
doBackgroundUpdate2();
break;
case STEP_TWO_COMPLETE:
// do final steps;
break;
}
}
}
You would kick it off by calling doBackgroundUpdate1(), when this is complete it sends a message to the handler which kicks off doBackgroundUpdate2() etc.
Tiger ,
TiGer wrote:
When it's done that same Thread will
return the time-intensive task result
to another (3rd) class
Since thread runs asynchronously so your non-thread class can't be synced with your thread
Though to perform some action on an Activity you need an AsyncTask not A Thread
TiGer wrote:
maybe because this is some kind of
loop ?
Tiger do read more about Threads and concurrency
So the only answer I have for you now is ASYNCTASK
EDIT:
Also I'd like the Thread-class to stop
itself
Read this post's how-do-you-kill-a-thread-in-java
In ordinary Java, you would do this:
class MyTask implements Runnable {
void run() {
for (int i = 0; i < Integer.MAX; i++) {
if (i = Integer.MAX -1) {
System.out.println("done");
}
}
}
}
class MyMain {
public static void main(String[] argv) {
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
Thread t = new Thread(new MyTask());
t.start();
}
System.out.println("bye");
}
}
... that kicks off 10 threads. Notice that if you accidentally invoke t.run() instead of t.start(), your runnable executes in the main thread. Probably you'll see 'bye' printed before 10 'done'. Notice that the threads 'stop' when the the run() method of the Runnable you gave to them finishes.
I hope that helps you get your head around what it is you've got to co-ordinate.
The tricky part with concurrency is getting threads to communicate with each other or share access to objects.
I believe Android provides some mechanism for this in the form of the Handler which is described in the developer guide under designing for responsiveness.
An excellent book on the subject of concurrency in Java is Java Concurency in Practice.
if you want use AsyncTask rather then thread in android
I have resolve it using ASyncTask and Handler in Android the aim is that one task is execute after compilation of one task hear is code that show First load animation on view after compilation of that process it will goes on another page
class gotoparent extends AsyncTask<String,String,String>
{
#Override
protected String doInBackground(String... params) {
runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
Animation animation= AnimationUtils.loadAnimation(getApplicationContext(),R.anim.rotete);
lin2.startAnimation(animation);
}
});
return null;
}
#Override
protected void onPostExecute(String s) {
super.onPostExecute(s);
new Handler().postDelayed(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
Intent i=new Intent(getApplicationContext(),ParentsCornor.class);
startActivity(i);
}
}, 1200);
}
}

How to implement a paint-update loop?

I want to create a paint and update loop in android for game animation on a canvas but I am having trouble as I can't seem to get the threading to work appropriately. It seems to crash almost immediately. Here is what I have tried:
// Create the thread supplying it with the runnable object
Thread thread = new Thread(runnable);
// Start the thread in oncreate()
thread.start();
class runner implements Runnable {
// This method is called when the thread runs
long wait = 1000;
public void run() {
update();
}
public void update()
{
try{
Thread.currentThread();
//do what you want to do before sleeping
Thread.sleep(wait);//sleep for 1000 ms
//do what you want to do after sleeping
}
catch(InterruptedException ie){
//If this thread was interrupted by another thread
}
run();
}
}
Also when I drop the wait down lower it crashes faster.
Is there a more appropriate way to approach this?
Changed to this:
class runner implements Runnable {
// This method is called when the thread runs
long wait = 10;
boolean blocked = false;
public void run() {
if(!blocked){
blocked = true;
paint();
}
}
public void paint()
{
update();
}
public void update()
{
try{
Thread.currentThread();
//do what you want to do before sleeping
Thread.sleep(wait);//sleep for 1000 ms
//do what you want to do after sleeping
}
catch(InterruptedException ie){
//If this thread was interrupted by another thread
}
paint();
}
}
This results in the same error... :/
Well the first thing I notice is that run calls update and update calls run. This is going to cause a NO PUN INTENDED Stack Overflow. They call each other until the stacks fills up. Then it should crash.
You are missing your 'loop'.
You should NOT call run manually on an already started thread.
public void run()
{
while (true)
{
// do whatever
Thread.sleep(wait);
}
}
I would not actually use the above either, I'd use a Timer or Android equivalent. You should get the concept from this though.

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