Question

I’m developing a Service for Android, that must run in background, executing a function each 100 seconds. That’s the source code (example)

package com.example

import ....

public class Servizio extends Service {

    public IBinder onBind(Intent intent) {

    }

    public void onCreate() {

    }

    public void onDestroy() {

    //here put the code that stop the timer cycle

    }

    public void onStart(Intent intent, int startid) {

    //i want to begin here the timercycle that each 100 s call myCycle()

    }

    public void myCycle() {

    //code that i can't move on other class!!!

    }

}

How I can do that? Now the service execute myCycle() just one time, beacause I put a calling in onStart().

Answer 1

Use a Timer with a TimerTask. To execute your method every 100 seconds, you can use the following in your onStart method. Be aware that this method creates a new thread.

new Timer().schedule(new TimerTask() {
     @Override
     public void run() {
         myCycle();
     }
}, 0, 100000);

Alternatively, use an android.os.Handler as described in this article: Updating the UI from a Timer. It is better than a Timer because it runs in the main thread, avoiding the overhead of a second thread.

private Handler handler = new Handler();
Runnable task = new Runnable() {
    @Override
    public void run() {
        myCycle();
        handler.postDelayed(this, 100000);
    }
};
handler.removeCallbacks(task);
handler.post(task);