Question

I have an application where a user can backup/restore his files to/from a server.

During the restore operation, before downloading each file, I check if the file already exists (assuming I know the original path).

boolean fileExists(String path);

If the file exists, I want to ask the user if he wishes to download and rename, download and replace, or skip the current file.

This could be a custom AlertDialog for example (using AlertDialog.Builder and an xml layout).

So the code would be something similar to:

static final int DECISION_NO_ANSWER = -1;
static final int DECISION_RENAME = 0;
static final int DECISION_REPLACE = 1;
static final int DECISION_SKIP = 2;

int userDecision;

for (RestoreFile file : ListOfFiles) {
    userDecision = DECISION_NO_ANSWER;
    if (fileExists(file.getOriginalPath())){
        OptionsDialog.show();
        // wait for answer
    }

    switch(userDecision){
        // handle different cases and update ProgressBar
    }
}

Of course this code should be running in a separate thread.

If I use an AsyncTask here’s how I would wait for the answer:

while(userDecision == DECISION_NO_ANSWER){
    try {
        Thread.sleep(30);
    } catch (InterruptedException e) {}
}

If I use a Thread I could use wait() and notify(). I would have to use a Handler to update the ProgressBar.

So which is better (AsyncTask or Thread) ? or is there a third better solution?

Answer 1

An asynctask is run in a thread, like everything. you can use wait and notify, with a handler or the onProgressUpdate to notify the progressBar and everything.