Android Question Where do I have to activate Service_Start?

[JOTHA]

Hello community
I want to check a timestamp on a label every minute and do this with the following code:

Sub Service_Start(StartingIntent As Intent)
StartServiceAt(Null, DateTime.Now + 60 * 1000, True)
B4XPages.MainPage.Layout_50.L50_Button1_Click
End sub

Where do I have to activate Service_Start?

 

[Computersmith64]

You need to call StartService([service name]) - probably from your Main activity Activity_Create.

- Colin.

 

[JOTHA]

Hi Colin,
thank you for your hint.

probably from your Main activity Activity_Create

If i call it from "Main / Sub Activity_Create(FirstTime As Boolean)" the Logfile says:

** Receiver (starter) OnReceive **
The Starter service should never be started from a receiver.
** Service (starter) Start **
-+-+-+- 1 Minute ist vorbei +-+-+-+-+-

 

[Computersmith64]

Oh - you didn't mention it is the Starter Service. It will start automatically, so you don't need to do anything.

https://www.b4x.com/android/forum/threads/starter-service-consistent-single-entry-point.57599/

Having said that, you should probably not be doing that from the Starter Service. I'd create a new service & put your code in that, then start that service from Activity_Create. The reason being that the Starter Service runs for as long as the app is running, so you shouldn't be calling StartServiceAt on itself. If you really want to run that functionality from Starter Service, then I guess you could use a timer.

(Sorry - another edit): Or if you are just updating a label on a layout (& by the looks of it it's your main layout) every minute, then why not just use a timer. Set it up in Activity_Create, start it in Activity_Resume & stop it in Activity_Pause.

- Colin.

 

[DonManfred]

Starter Service - Consistent & Single Entry Point

One of the challenges that developers of any non-small Android app need to deal with, is the multiple possible entry points. During development in almost all cases the application will start from the Main activity. Many programs start with code similar to: Sub Activity_Create (FirstTime As...

www.b4x.com

Starting at boot or starting scheduled. Both should not be use in starter service!

The starter service should never be explicitly started. This means that if you want to start a service at boot then add a different service.

 

[JOTHA]

I thought that a timer would consume too much resources in the app, so I wanted to do it through the StartService.

 

[Erel]

I thought that a timer would consume too much resources in the app, so I wanted to do it through the StartService.

1. A timer will have zero effect on the app performance.
2. I can guess that StartServiceAt has a million times more overhead than a timer.

 

[JOTHA]

Hello Erel, thank you for your expert advice.

A timer will have zero effect on the app performance.

In this case I will use a timer that will check every minute whether a certain time has been reached on a label and then click a button.

Can I keep restarting the timer with "loop"?

 

[Erel]

Can I keep restarting the timer with "loop"?

I'm not sure that I understand. Post some code.

If you want to use a loop then use Sleep:

Sub CheckForSomething
 Do While True
   'check for something
   Sleep(60000)
Loop
End Sub

Call it once.

 

[JOTHA]

If you want to use a loop then use Sleep:

... that ist the best solution!
Easy and smart - Thank you Erel!