Question

I am using this code to create an Alarm in a activity that can be launched by the user.

The Alarm sends an intent that launches a broadcast reciever and then a service.

private void setGameAlerts(){
                //Setting alarm to fire off NEW_GAME intent every 24 hours.
                 String alarm = Context.ALARM_SERVICE;
                Calendar calendar = Calendar.getInstance();

                calendar.set(Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY, 8);
                calendar.set(Calendar.MINUTE, 0);
                calendar.set(Calendar.SECOND,0);
                calendar.set(Calendar.MILLISECOND, 0);



                AlarmManager am = (AlarmManager)getActivity().getSystemService(alarm);
                    Intent intent = new Intent("NEW_ITEM");
                    PendingIntent sender = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(getActivity(), 0, intent, 0);

                    am.setRepeating(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP,calendar.getTimeInMillis() , AlarmManager.INTERVAL_DAY, sender);

                     Log.e("RELEASE LIST", "ALARM Set For 1 day from " + calendar.getTimeInMillis());

For some reason EVERYTIME the activity is launched it Automatically sends this intent and the service is launched. is there something wrong with my code that is causing this to happen other than the alarm going off everyday at 8 oclock?

Answer 1

It looks to me like you’re setting it for 8am TODAY, not 8am tomorrow. For example, if I run this code:

    Calendar calendar = Calendar.getInstance();

    calendar.set(Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY, 8);
    calendar.set(Calendar.MINUTE, 0);
    calendar.set(Calendar.SECOND,0);
    calendar.set(Calendar.MILLISECOND, 0);

    Log.i("Test", "Current time: " + System.currentTimeMillis() );
    Log.i("Test", "Calendar time: " + calendar.getTimeInMillis() );

    calendar.add(Calendar.DATE, 1);

    Log.i("Test", "Calendar time with a day added: " + calendar.getTimeInMillis() );

I get the result:

10-06 23:26:50.050: INFO/Test(8890): Current time: 1317968810056
10-06 23:26:50.050: INFO/Test(8890): Calendar time: 1317913200000
10-06 23:26:50.050: INFO/Test(8890): Calendar time with a day added: 1317999600000

The calendar time is a number less than the current time, so therefore that calendar entry is in the past. It might make some sense that Android would immediately send the intent for an event that has past. If you add a day to it, or specify a date in your Calendar object, it should work.

Note that this numerical dates are simply the standard Unix time with milliseconds added on. If you drop the last three digits and put the number into a Unix time converter, you’ll be able to check that the numbers you’re working with make sense. Eg: use 1317999600 with the Unix time converter and you’ll get 10am EST, which is 8am PST (my time zone).

I hope that helps!