Develop Reference

How to update a textview frequently with a spesific time delay?

I need to update a TextView frequently with a specific time delay in the android studio. The code is below. Thank you.
Edit: I also need to end the loop with a button click or with an "if" control.
//INFLATION CALCULATION !!!
/**
* This method calculates Inflation value.
*/
public void calculateInflation() {
mHandler.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
inflation = (cpi-cpiIni)/cpiIni*100;
displayInflation();
cpiIni = cpi;
}
}, delay*12);
}

Call the same method inside the runnable in order to keep the loop going
Use a flag in order to be able to stop the loop: shouldCalculate
private boolean shouldCalculate = true; // set to false when you want to end the loop
public void calculateInflation() {
mHandler.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
if (shouldCalculate) {
inflation = (cpi-cpiIni)/cpiIni*100;
displayInflation();
cpiIni = cpi;
calculateInflation();
}
}
}, delay*12);
}

private Runnable updateTimerThread = new Runnable() {
public void run() {
inflation = (cpi-cpiIni)/cpiIni*100;
displayInflation();
cpiIni = cpi;
customHandler.postDelayed(this, 0);
}
};
public void startTimer() {
//timer
startTime = SystemClock.uptimeMillis();
customHandler.postDelayed(updateTimerThread, 0);
}
public void stopTimer() {
//timer stops
customHandler.removeCallbacks(updateTimerThread);
//timer ends
}
make a reference of runnable thread , start it using startTimer() and remove thread using stopTimer() as you said on a button click or up on a specific conditions .Also you can change the postDelayed milliseconds as ur wish

Try below code. This will do the trick. If you find any problem please let me know.
public void calculateInflation() {
mHandler.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
inflation = (cpi-cpiIni)/cpiIni*100;
displayInflation();
cpiIni = cpi;
if(shouldRepeat)
calculateInflation();
}
}, delay*12);
}
And second approach can be CountDownTimer. Make a method as shown in below code
public void timerTask(final int loopTime){
//Loop time is the actual time for repeatation
new CountDownTimer(loopTime, 1000) {
public void onTick(long millisUntilFinished) {
//this tells you one second is passed
}
public void onFinish() {
//here on time finish you need to define your task
inflation = (cpi-cpiIni)/cpiIni*100;
displayInflation();
cpiIni = cpi;
//call the same method again for looping
timerTask(loopTime);
}
}.start();
}

Simplest way. Here updateRunnable calls itself with delay. Make updateRunnable as global variable to access from anywhere.
Runnable updateRunnable = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
inflation = (cpi-cpiIni)/cpiIni*100;
displayInflation();
cpiIni = cpi;
handler.postDelayed(this, UPDATE_TIME);
}
};
Start handler. Here we start handler immediately without delay.
handler.postDelayed(updateRunnable, 0)
Stop handler
handler.removeCallbacks(updateRunnable)
By the way don't forget to stop handler on onDestroy()

Can I pause a program for a while? [duplicate]

I want to make a pause between two lines of code, Let me explain a bit:
-> the user clicks a button (a card in fact) and I show it by changing the background of this button:
thisbutton.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.icon);
-> after let's say 1 second, I need to go back to the previous state of the button by changing back its background:
thisbutton.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.defaultcard);
-> I've tried to pause the thread between these two lines of code with:
try {
Thread.sleep(1000);
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
// TODO Auto-generated catch block
e.printStackTrace();
}
However, this does not work. Maybe it's the process and not the Thread that I need to pause?
I've also tried (but it doesn't work):
new Reminder(5);
With this:
public class Reminder {
Timer timer;
public Reminder(int seconds) {
timer = new Timer();
timer.schedule(new RemindTask(), seconds*1000);
}
class RemindTask extends TimerTask {
public void run() {
System.out.format("Time's up!%n");
timer.cancel(); //Terminate the timer thread
}
}
}
How can I pause/sleep the thread or process?

One solution to this problem is to use the Handler.postDelayed() method. Some Google training materials suggest the same solution.
#Override
public void onClick(View v) {
my_button.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.icon);
Handler handler = new Handler();
handler.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
my_button.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.defaultcard);
}
}, 2000);
}
However, some have pointed out that the solution above causes a memory leak because it uses a non-static inner and anonymous class which implicitly holds a reference to its outer class, the activity. This is a problem when the activity context is garbage collected.
A more complex solution that avoids the memory leak subclasses the Handler and Runnable with static inner classes inside the activity since static inner classes do not hold an implicit reference to their outer class:
private static class MyHandler extends Handler {}
private final MyHandler mHandler = new MyHandler();
public static class MyRunnable implements Runnable {
private final WeakReference<Activity> mActivity;
public MyRunnable(Activity activity) {
mActivity = new WeakReference<>(activity);
}
#Override
public void run() {
Activity activity = mActivity.get();
if (activity != null) {
Button btn = (Button) activity.findViewById(R.id.button);
btn.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.defaultcard);
}
}
}
private MyRunnable mRunnable = new MyRunnable(this);
public void onClick(View view) {
my_button.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.icon);
// Execute the Runnable in 2 seconds
mHandler.postDelayed(mRunnable, 2000);
}
Note that the Runnable uses a WeakReference to the Activity, which is necessary in a static class that needs access to the UI.

You can try this one it is short
SystemClock.sleep(7000);
WARNING: Never, ever, do this on a UI thread.
Use this to sleep eg. background thread.
Full solution for your problem will be:
This is available API 1
findViewById(R.id.button).setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
#Override
public void onClick(final View button) {
button.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.avatar_dead);
final long changeTime = 1000L;
button.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
button.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.avatar_small);
}
}, changeTime);
}
});
Without creating tmp Handler. Also this solution is better than #tronman because we do not retain view by Handler.
Also we don't have problem with Handler created at bad thread ;)
Documentation
public static void sleep (long ms)
Added in API level 1
Waits a given number of milliseconds (of uptimeMillis) before returning. Similar to sleep(long), but does not throw InterruptedException; interrupt() events are deferred until the
next interruptible operation.
Does not return until at least the specified number of milliseconds has elapsed.
Parameters
ms to sleep before returning, in milliseconds of uptime.
Code for postDelayed from View class:
/**
* <p>Causes the Runnable to be added to the message queue, to be run
* after the specified amount of time elapses.
* The runnable will be run on the user interface thread.</p>
*
* #param action The Runnable that will be executed.
* #param delayMillis The delay (in milliseconds) until the Runnable
* will be executed.
*
* #return true if the Runnable was successfully placed in to the
* message queue. Returns false on failure, usually because the
* looper processing the message queue is exiting. Note that a
* result of true does not mean the Runnable will be processed --
* if the looper is quit before the delivery time of the message
* occurs then the message will be dropped.
*
* #see #post
* #see #removeCallbacks
*/
public boolean postDelayed(Runnable action, long delayMillis) {
final AttachInfo attachInfo = mAttachInfo;
if (attachInfo != null) {
return attachInfo.mHandler.postDelayed(action, delayMillis);
}
// Assume that post will succeed later
ViewRootImpl.getRunQueue().postDelayed(action, delayMillis);
return true;
}

I use this:
Thread closeActivity = new Thread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
try {
Thread.sleep(3000);
// Do some stuff
} catch (Exception e) {
e.getLocalizedMessage();
}
}
});

I use CountDownTime
new CountDownTimer(5000, 1000) {
#Override
public void onTick(long millisUntilFinished) {
// do something after 1s
}
#Override
public void onFinish() {
// do something end times 5s
}
}.start();

You probably don't want to do it that way. By putting an explicit sleep() in your button-clicked event handler, you would actually lock up the whole UI for a second. One alternative is to use some sort of single-shot Timer. Create a TimerTask to change the background color back to the default color, and schedule it on the Timer.
Another possibility is to use a Handler. There's a tutorial about somebody who switched from using a Timer to using a Handler.
Incidentally, you can't pause a process. A Java (or Android) process has at least 1 thread, and you can only sleep threads.

This is what I did at the end of the day - works fine now :
#Override
public void onClick(View v) {
my_button.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.icon);
// SLEEP 2 SECONDS HERE ...
final Handler handler = new Handler();
Timer t = new Timer();
t.schedule(new TimerTask() {
public void run() {
handler.post(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
my_button.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.defaultcard);
}
});
}
}, 2000);
}

In addition to Mr. Yankowsky's answers, you could also use postDelayed(). This is available on any View (e.g., your card) and takes a Runnable and a delay period. It executes the Runnable after that delay.

This is my example
Create a Java Utils
import android.app.ProgressDialog;
import android.content.Context;
import android.content.Intent;
public class Utils {
public static void showDummyWaitingDialog(final Context context, final Intent startingIntent) {
// ...
final ProgressDialog progressDialog = ProgressDialog.show(context, "Please wait...", "Loading data ...", true);
new Thread() {
public void run() {
try{
// Do some work here
sleep(5000);
} catch (Exception e) {
}
// start next intent
new Thread() {
public void run() {
// Dismiss the Dialog
progressDialog.dismiss();
// start selected activity
if ( startingIntent != null) context.startActivity(startingIntent);
}
}.start();
}
}.start();
}
}

Or you could use:
android.os.SystemClock.sleep(checkEvery)
which has the advantage of not requiring a wrapping try ... catch.

If you use Kotlin and coroutines, you can simply do
GlobalScope.launch {
delay(3000) // In ms
//Code after sleep
}
And if you need to update UI
GlobalScope.launch {
delay(3000)
GlobalScope.launch(Dispatchers.Main) {
//Action on UI thread
}
}

I know this is an old thread, but in the Android documentation I found a solution that worked very well for me...
new CountDownTimer(30000, 1000) {
public void onTick(long millisUntilFinished) {
mTextField.setText("seconds remaining: " + millisUntilFinished / 1000);
}
public void onFinish() {
mTextField.setText("done!");
}
}.start();
https://developer.android.com/reference/android/os/CountDownTimer.html
Hope this helps someone...

class MyActivity{
private final Handler handler = new Handler();
private Runnable yourRunnable;
protected void onCreate(#Nullable Bundle savedInstanceState) {
// ....
this.yourRunnable = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
//code
}
};
this.handler.postDelayed(this.yourRunnable, 2000);
}
#Override
protected void onDestroy() {
// to avoid memory leaks
this.handler.removeCallbacks(this.yourRunnable);
}
}
And to be double sure you can be combined it with the "static class" method as described in the tronman answer

Android Button click Handler

I have a button(in say Activity 1), which when clicked should start a service (eg Service 1). But there must be a delay of 5 seconds before the service starts. I achieved this using SystemClock.sleep(5000) in the onStartCommand of the service. This worked properly.
Now I want to add the functionality that if the button is clicked again(even before the 5 seconds end), the service WILL NOT BE STARTED.
Any ideas how to do this?
(Edit : Please read the entire question before marking it as a duplicate. Thanks)

You can use handler with post delayed to achieve your goal. Make your button disable and enable it after five seconds along with starting your service. You can implement the following code:
button.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
#Override
public void onClick(View view) {
button.setEnabled(false);
new Handler().postDelayed(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
//start your service here
button.setEnabled(true);
}
}, 5000);
}
});
Above code will disable your button for 5 second and will start your service after 5 second.

I'd use a util class similar to the following. Pass it in a runnable and a delay in ms and you can call stop() on it to cancel before it has run. You can also call restart() if you want to restart your timer. I use it for things like auto showing/hiding controls on an immersive view.
public class DelayableRunnable{
int mDelay = 0;
Handler mHandler = new Handler();
Runnable mRunnable;
boolean mIsRunning = false;
public DelayableRunnable(Runnable runnable, int delay){
mRunnable = runnable;
mDelay = delay;
}
public void setNewDelay(int delay){
mDelay = delay;
}
public void start(){
if(mIsRunning) {
stop();
}
mHandler.postDelayed(mRunnable, mDelay);
mIsRunning = true;
}
public void stop(){
mHandler.removeCallbacks(mRunnable);
mIsRunning = false;
}
public void restart(){
stop();
start();
}
}

You can use Handler.postDelayed function for delayed actions in Android enviroment (better than plan java methods)
final Handler handler = new Handler(); // or use existed one your_view.getHandler()
handler.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
//start your service
}
}, 5000 /* 5s * 1000ms */);
Or simpler use you view function (work same as above):
your_view.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
//start your service
}
}, 5000 /* 5s * 1000ms */);

A facility for threads to schedule tasks for future execution in a background thread. Tasks may be scheduled for one-time execution, or for repeated execution at regular intervals void schedule (TimerTask task,long delay) Schedules the specified task for execution after the specified delay.
new Timer().schedule(new TimerTask() {
#Override
public void run() {
alertDialog.dismiss();
startActivity(new Intent(****.this,*********.class));
}
},5000);

Android: execute code in regular intervals

I need to perform some code in regular intervals (connect to a server and pull data from MySQL database every minute). For this purpose I have a Sync class:
public class Sync {
static private Handler handler = new Handler();
Runnable task;
public Sync(Runnable task, long time) {
this.task = task;
handler.removeCallbacks(task);
handler.postDelayed(task, time);
}
}
and in my Activity I have:
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
...
Sync sync = new Sync(call,60*1000);
...
}
final private Runnable call = new Runnable() {
public void run() {
//This is where my sync code will be, but for testing purposes I only have a Log statement
Log.v("test","this will run every minute");
}
};
I have tried this with a shorter time period for testing, but It only runs once. When it Logs the message for the first time, its also the last. Does anyone see what Im doing erong here? Thanks!

You can do that using the below code,
Hope it helps!
final Handler handler = new Handler();
Runnable runnable = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
try{
//do your code here
}
catch (Exception e) {
// TODO: handle exception
}
finally{
//also call the same runnable to call it at regular interval
handler.postDelayed(this, 1000);
}
}
};
//runnable must be execute once
handler.post(runnable);

First you have to declare handler globally
Second you have to use post Delay method again in runnable to trigger it again.
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main);
Sync sync = new Sync(call,60*1000);
}
final private Runnable call = new Runnable() {
public void run() {
//This is where my sync code will be, but for testing purposes I only have a Log statement
Log.v("test","this will run every minute");
handler.postDelayed(call,60*1000);
}
};
public final Handler handler = new Handler();
public class Sync {
Runnable task;
public Sync(Runnable task, long time) {
this.task = task;
handler.removeCallbacks(task);
handler.postDelayed(task, time);
}
}
}

handler.postDelayed(task, time); will only execute once, if you want the code to trigger at regular intervals I would suggest a Timer and a TimerTask instead of a Handler and a Runnable.
TimerTasks can be set to run once, every x seconds, or with a fixed period e.g. x seconds - however long it took to run last time.

An alternative way, using ScheduledExecutorService's scheduleAtFixedRate:
private final ScheduledExecutorService scheduler = Executors.newScheduledThreadPool(1);
public void beepEvery10Seconds() {
final Runnable beeper = new Runnable() {
public void run() { System.out.println("beep"); }
};
final ScheduledFuture<?> beeperHandle = scheduler.scheduleAtFixedRate(beeper, 0, 10, SECONDS);
}

private void doSomethingRepeatedly() {
timer.scheduleAtFixedRate( new TimerTask() {
public void run() {
try{
//Your code
}
catch (Exception e) {
// TODO: handle exception
}
}
}, 0, 10000);
}

Repeat a task with a time delay?

I have a variable in my code say it is "status".
I want to display some text in the application depending on this variable value. This has to be done with a specific time delay.
It's like,
Check status variable value
Display some text
Wait for 10 seconds
Check status variable value
Display some text
Wait for 15 seconds
and so on. The time delay may vary and it is set once the text is displayed.
I have tried Thread.sleep(time delay) and it failed. Any better way to get this done?

You should use Handler's postDelayed function for this purpose. It will run your code with specified delay on the main UI thread, so you will be able to update UI controls.
private int mInterval = 5000; // 5 seconds by default, can be changed later
private Handler mHandler;
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle bundle) {
// your code here
mHandler = new Handler();
startRepeatingTask();
}
#Override
public void onDestroy() {
super.onDestroy();
stopRepeatingTask();
}
Runnable mStatusChecker = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
try {
updateStatus(); //this function can change value of mInterval.
} finally {
// 100% guarantee that this always happens, even if
// your update method throws an exception
mHandler.postDelayed(mStatusChecker, mInterval);
}
}
};
void startRepeatingTask() {
mStatusChecker.run();
}
void stopRepeatingTask() {
mHandler.removeCallbacks(mStatusChecker);
}

To anyone interested, here's a class I created using inazaruk's code that creates everything needed (I called it UIUpdater because I use it to periodically update the UI, but you can call it anything you like):
import android.os.Handler;
/**
* A class used to perform periodical updates,
* specified inside a runnable object. An update interval
* may be specified (otherwise, the class will perform the
* update every 2 seconds).
*
* #author Carlos Simões
*/
public class UIUpdater {
// Create a Handler that uses the Main Looper to run in
private Handler mHandler = new Handler(Looper.getMainLooper());
private Runnable mStatusChecker;
private int UPDATE_INTERVAL = 2000;
/**
* Creates an UIUpdater object, that can be used to
* perform UIUpdates on a specified time interval.
*
* #param uiUpdater A runnable containing the update routine.
*/
public UIUpdater(final Runnable uiUpdater) {
mStatusChecker = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
// Run the passed runnable
uiUpdater.run();
// Re-run it after the update interval
mHandler.postDelayed(this, UPDATE_INTERVAL);
}
};
}
/**
* The same as the default constructor, but specifying the
* intended update interval.
*
* #param uiUpdater A runnable containing the update routine.
* #param interval The interval over which the routine
* should run (milliseconds).
*/
public UIUpdater(Runnable uiUpdater, int interval){
UPDATE_INTERVAL = interval;
this(uiUpdater);
}
/**
* Starts the periodical update routine (mStatusChecker
* adds the callback to the handler).
*/
public synchronized void startUpdates(){
mStatusChecker.run();
}
/**
* Stops the periodical update routine from running,
* by removing the callback.
*/
public synchronized void stopUpdates(){
mHandler.removeCallbacks(mStatusChecker);
}
}
You can then create a UIUpdater object inside your class and use it like so:
...
mUIUpdater = new UIUpdater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
// do stuff ...
}
});
// Start updates
mUIUpdater.startUpdates();
// Stop updates
mUIUpdater.stopUpdates();
...
If you want to use this as an activity updater, put the start call inside the onResume() method and the stop call inside the onPause(), so the updates start and stop according to the activity visibility.

I think the new hotness is to use a ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor. Like so:
private final ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor executor_ =
new ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor(1);
this.executor_.scheduleWithFixedDelay(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
update();
}
}, 0L, kPeriod, kTimeUnit);

There are 3 ways to do it:
Use ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor
A bit of overkill since you don't need a pool of Thread
//----------------------SCHEDULER-------------------------
private final ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor executor_ =
new ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor(1);
ScheduledFuture<?> schedulerFuture;
public void startScheduler() {
schedulerFuture= executor_.scheduleWithFixedDelay(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
//DO YOUR THINGS
pageIndexSwitcher.setVisibility(View.GONE);
}
}, 0L, 5*MILLI_SEC, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
}
public void stopScheduler() {
pageIndexSwitcher.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
schedulerFuture.cancel(false);
startScheduler();
}
Use Timer Task
Old Android Style
//----------------------TIMER TASK-------------------------
private Timer carousalTimer;
private void startTimer() {
carousalTimer = new Timer(); // At this line a new Thread will be created
carousalTimer.scheduleAtFixedRate(new TimerTask() {
#Override
public void run() {
//DO YOUR THINGS
pageIndexSwitcher.setVisibility(INVISIBLE);
}
}, 0, 5 * MILLI_SEC); // delay
}
void stopTimer() {
carousalTimer.cancel();
}
Use Handler and Runnable
Modern Android Style
//----------------------HANDLER-------------------------
private Handler taskHandler = new android.os.Handler();
private Runnable repeatativeTaskRunnable = new Runnable() {
public void run() {
//DO YOUR THINGS
}
};
void startHandler() {
taskHandler.postDelayed(repeatativeTaskRunnable, 5 * MILLI_SEC);
}
void stopHandler() {
taskHandler.removeCallbacks(repeatativeTaskRunnable);
}
Non-Leaky Handler with Activity / Context
Declare an inner Handler class which does not leak Memory in your Activity/Fragment class
/**
* Instances of static inner classes do not hold an implicit
* reference to their outer class.
*/
private static class NonLeakyHandler extends Handler {
private final WeakReference<FlashActivity> mActivity;
public NonLeakyHandler(FlashActivity activity) {
mActivity = new WeakReference<FlashActivity>(activity);
}
#Override
public void handleMessage(Message msg) {
FlashActivity activity = mActivity.get();
if (activity != null) {
// ...
}
}
}
Declare a runnable which will perform your repetitive task in your Activity/Fragment class
private Runnable repeatativeTaskRunnable = new Runnable() {
public void run() {
new Handler(getMainLooper()).post(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
//DO YOUR THINGS
}
};
Initialize Handler object in your Activity/Fragment (here FlashActivity is my activity class)
//Task Handler
private Handler taskHandler = new NonLeakyHandler(FlashActivity.this);
To repeat a task after fix time interval
taskHandler.postDelayed(repeatativeTaskRunnable , DELAY_MILLIS);
To stop the repetition of task
taskHandler .removeCallbacks(repeatativeTaskRunnable );
UPDATE: In Kotlin:
//update interval for widget
override val UPDATE_INTERVAL = 1000L
//Handler to repeat update
private val updateWidgetHandler = Handler()
//runnable to update widget
private var updateWidgetRunnable: Runnable = Runnable {
run {
//Update UI
updateWidget()
// Re-run it after the update interval
updateWidgetHandler.postDelayed(updateWidgetRunnable, UPDATE_INTERVAL)
}
}
// SATART updating in foreground
override fun onResume() {
super.onResume()
updateWidgetHandler.postDelayed(updateWidgetRunnable, UPDATE_INTERVAL)
}
// REMOVE callback if app in background
override fun onPause() {
super.onPause()
updateWidgetHandler.removeCallbacks(updateWidgetRunnable);
}

Timer works fine. Here, I use Timer to search text after 1.5s and update UI. Hope that helps.
private Timer _timer = new Timer();
_timer.schedule(new TimerTask() {
#Override
public void run() {
// use runOnUiThread(Runnable action)
runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
search();
}
});
}
}, timeInterval);

Using kotlin and its Coroutine its quite easy, first declare a job in your class (better in your viewModel) like this:
private var repeatableJob: Job? = null
then when you want to create and start it do this:
repeatableJob = viewModelScope.launch {
while (isActive) {
delay(5_000)
loadAlbums(iImageAPI, titleHeader, true)
}
}
repeatableJob?.start()
and if you want to finish it:
repeatableJob?.cancel()
PS: viewModelScope is only available in view models, you can use other Coroutine scopes such as withContext(Dispatchers.IO)
More information: Here

Timer is another way to do your work but be quiet sure to add runOnUiThread if you are working with UI.
import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
import java.util.Calendar;
import java.util.Timer;
import java.util.TimerTask;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.View.OnClickListener;
import android.widget.Button;
import android.widget.CheckBox;
import android.widget.TextView;
import android.app.Activity;
public class MainActivity extends Activity {
CheckBox optSingleShot;
Button btnStart, btnCancel;
TextView textCounter;
Timer timer;
MyTimerTask myTimerTask;
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
optSingleShot = (CheckBox)findViewById(R.id.singleshot);
btnStart = (Button)findViewById(R.id.start);
btnCancel = (Button)findViewById(R.id.cancel);
textCounter = (TextView)findViewById(R.id.counter);
btnStart.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener(){
#Override
public void onClick(View arg0) {
if(timer != null){
timer.cancel();
}
//re-schedule timer here
//otherwise, IllegalStateException of
//"TimerTask is scheduled already"
//will be thrown
timer = new Timer();
myTimerTask = new MyTimerTask();
if(optSingleShot.isChecked()){
//singleshot delay 1000 ms
timer.schedule(myTimerTask, 1000);
}else{
//delay 1000ms, repeat in 5000ms
timer.schedule(myTimerTask, 1000, 5000);
}
}});
btnCancel.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener(){
#Override
public void onClick(View v) {
if (timer!=null){
timer.cancel();
timer = null;
}
}
});
}
class MyTimerTask extends TimerTask {
#Override
public void run() {
Calendar calendar = Calendar.getInstance();
SimpleDateFormat simpleDateFormat =
new SimpleDateFormat("dd:MMMM:yyyy HH:mm:ss a");
final String strDate = simpleDateFormat.format(calendar.getTime());
runOnUiThread(new Runnable(){
#Override
public void run() {
textCounter.setText(strDate);
}});
}
}
}
and xml is...
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:paddingBottom="#dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
android:paddingLeft="#dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
android:paddingRight="#dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
android:paddingTop="#dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
android:orientation="vertical"
tools:context=".MainActivity" >
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_gravity="center_horizontal"
android:autoLink="web"
android:text="http://android-er.blogspot.com/"
android:textStyle="bold" />
<CheckBox
android:id="#+id/singleshot"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Single Shot"/>
Another Way to use CountDownTimer
new CountDownTimer(30000, 1000) {
public void onTick(long millisUntilFinished) {
mTextField.setText("seconds remaining: " + millisUntilFinished / 1000);
}
public void onFinish() {
mTextField.setText("done!");
}
}.start();
Schedule a countdown until a time in the future, with regular notifications on intervals along the way. Example of showing a 30 second countdown in a text field:
For Details

Try following example it works !!!
Use [Handler] in onCreate() method which makes use of postDelayed() method that Causes the Runnable to be added to the message queue, to be run after the specified amount of time elapses that is 0 in given example. 1
Refer this code :
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState)
{
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main);
//------------------
//------------------
android.os.Handler customHandler = new android.os.Handler();
customHandler.postDelayed(updateTimerThread, 0);
}
private Runnable updateTimerThread = new Runnable()
{
public void run()
{
//write here whaterver you want to repeat
customHandler.postDelayed(this, 1000);
}
};

You can use a Handler to post runnable code. This technique is outlined very nicely here: https://guides.codepath.com/android/Repeating-Periodic-Tasks

Based on the above post concerning the ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor, I came up with a utility that suited my needs (wanted to fire a method every 3 seconds):
class MyActivity {
private ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor mDialogDaemon;
private void initDebugButtons() {
Button btnSpawnDialogs = (Button)findViewById(R.id.btn_spawn_dialogs);
btnSpawnDialogs.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
btnSpawnDialogs.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
#Override
public void onClick(View view) {
spawnDialogs();
}
});
}
private void spawnDialogs() {
if (mDialogDaemon != null) {
mDialogDaemon.shutdown();
mDialogDaemon = null;
}
mDialogDaemon = new ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor(1);
// This process will execute immediately, then execute every 3 seconds.
mDialogDaemon.scheduleAtFixedRate(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
// Do something worthwhile
}
});
}
}, 0L, 3000L, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
}
}

In my case, I had to execute a process if one of these conditions were true: if a previous process was completed or if 5 seconds had already passed. So, I did the following and worked pretty well:
private Runnable mStatusChecker;
private Handler mHandler;
class {
method() {
mStatusChecker = new Runnable() {
int times = 0;
#Override
public void run() {
if (times < 5) {
if (process1.isRead()) {
executeProcess2();
} else {
times++;
mHandler.postDelayed(mStatusChecker, 1000);
}
} else {
executeProcess2();
}
}
};
mHandler = new Handler();
startRepeatingTask();
}
void startRepeatingTask() {
mStatusChecker.run();
}
void stopRepeatingTask() {
mHandler.removeCallbacks(mStatusChecker);
}
}
If process1 is read, it executes process2. If not, it increments the variable times, and make the Handler be executed after one second. It maintains a loop until process1 is read or times is 5. When times is 5, it means that 5 seconds passed and in each second, the if clause of process1.isRead() is executed.

For people using Kotlin, inazaruk's answer will not work, the IDE will require the variable to be initialized, so instead of using the postDelayed inside the Runnable, we'll use it in an separate method.
Initialize your Runnable like this :
private var myRunnable = Runnable {
//Do some work
//Magic happens here ↓
runDelayedHandler(1000) }
Initialize your runDelayedHandler method like this :
private fun runDelayedHandler(timeToWait : Long) {
if (!keepRunning) {
//Stop your handler
handler.removeCallbacksAndMessages(null)
//Do something here, this acts like onHandlerStop
}
else {
//Keep it running
handler.postDelayed(myRunnable, timeToWait)
}
}
As you can see, this approach will make you able to control the lifetime of the task, keeping track of keepRunning and changing it during the lifetime of the application will do the job for you.