Passing data from activity to Widget? - Android Software Development

Hi.
I've been researching for many days. and i am really out of ideas.
First. I am new to all this.
Okay. my project:
I have:
- 1 Activity
- 1 Widget
So. my app is the widget itself. when you click the widget, it opens up the activity, the activity consists of a + and - button and a textview. the textview is on 0. when you click on +, you add up +1 to the textview and vica versa with the -.
So, what i want, in the activitys "onPause()", i want it to save the value and transfer it to the widget, i tried to send a broadcast, but that didnt work properly (i wanted to save the value in a hidden textview, but appwidget cant read values of TextViews -.-').
Also i tried some sql stuff.. didnt work either (appwidget doesnt support?)
Tried so save as a file on sd, didnt work (appwidget doesnt support?)

I couldnt use the broadcast thing because my app is made like this:
appwidget:
public void onUpdate(Context context,AppWidgetManager mgr,int[] appWidgetIds){
SetUp(context, mgr, appWidgetIds);
}
public void SetUp(Context c, AppWidgetManager mgr, int[] appWidgetIds){
//do stuff.....
}
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
//If i get the number here, i cant really do anything with it, because i cant really save my value anywhere?
}

Bump. no one can help ?
I tried with the intent.putextra, but wont work.
If anyone wants to help me at msn, pm me. (eventually lightly paid)

Hi
Have you figured how to do it yet? I'm having the exact same problem and I'm unable to find any kind of solution.
Thank you!

Related

[Q] Review for my game/app

I´v published my first app on the Android Market. However I have little people in my direct suroundings who have Android Phones so hopefully there are a few people here who can help me by telling my what my application misses.
e.g. I think my app uses little battery power. So maybe anyone can confirm this to me?
becouse i am new to the forum (or .. well not new, but little posts) I can not put the link to my app here. Search on Triton Bubble Breaker on Appbrain or Market to download.
It is a bubble breaker game. Why I developed it when there are other alternatives on the market already? Because I missed the feeling I got when playing it on a old phone for the first time. Wanted to make it faster, simpler, free and maybe add some extra features (that should not be disturbing the simplicity of the game)
(when you are a coder.. I have (maybe a simple) question. When the game is finished I like to save the Score. However I can not do this from a DrawView? only from the main activity, so that i have to use menu buttons to call saving the score... is there a way to save data from view/drawview? )
Thanks in advance, and i wander what you think of my first attempt building a android app.
Good work! Very impressive for a first app!
for saving stuff, use these commands:
(put this at the begining of your class)
public static final String PREFERENCE_FILENAME = "AppGamePrefs";
(put this where you need it, usually located where you are doing the saving)
SharedPreferences gameSettings = getSharedPreferences("MyGamePreferences", MODE_PRIVATE);
SharedPreferences.Editor prefEditor = gameSettings.edit();
(get saved data like this)
score=gameSettings.getInt("score", 0); //"score" is the saved variables name, 0 is the default value incase the variable "score" has not been saved yet
(save like this)
prefEditor.putInt("score", points); // saves to variable "score" with value of variable points (you can change the putInt to putString, putBoolean, etc.)
(this finalizes the save VERY IMPORTANT)
prefEditor.commit();
Hope that helps, keep up the good work!
thanx for the reply. Starting writing in Java (?) was getting used to. I did had some experience with coding in Matlab (if that can be labled programming )
I have tried your advice, I have come across the same code on other fora and samples from google. Only problem is that it doesn't work in the class I am programming in, the drawview class.
In essence my program is setup like this:
public class activity extends Activity
...
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
...
setContentView(drawView);
...
}
.. some other functions for the menu (from which i can do the code for storing data!)
then it goes into the drawView.
Here my program just draws and draws, until there is a touch on the screen, then it will calculate the new situation. But at a given moment, the game is finished. Then i will draw the finish screen (in the same drawview). I can not get out of this drawview. So i can not do setContentView(results_layout) or something like that. And i can not call the code for saving data because that can not be defined in that class (according to Eclipse).
public class DrawView extends View implements OnTouchListener {
...
@Override protected void onDraw(Canvas canvas) {
Draw everything
...
if game_end = true then {
drawResults
save-code here gives error
}
...
}
public boolean onTouch(View view, MotionEvent event) {
calculate everyting
...
game_end = check_game_end(); //return true or false
}
this is my code in essence. Ofcourse it not all, but this i hope you get my idea/problem.
Thanx for the response again

AppWidget problem when process is running

So I'm programming a application with a widget.
On my widget I got a button that starts an activity with a PendingIntent. This activity that's getting launched isn't my main activity.
Now when I'm doing it like this I get a Strange problem:
- Launching App as normal over appdrawer -> main activity opens up
- Pressing Home or Back button
- Add widget to homescreen
- Click button on widget -> nothing happens!
If I force stop my application before adding the widget to the homescreen, a click on the button on the widget opens up the activity like it should. Now I can also launch my main activity, pause it and the widget still works. So the widget only fully works if I my application isn't running in the background while adding the widget.
Has anyone of you experienced something like that?
Thank you in advance!
it is really dependent on how your onClickListener is added to the button. ive had problems where the first widget i create doesnt have the onClickListener attached but the second one will. do you mind sharing your code that you use to attach the onClickListener?
here is mine:
Code:
/** Called when the activity is first created. */
@Override
public void onUpdate(Context context, AppWidgetManager appWidgetManager, int[] appWidgetIds) {
Toast.makeText(context, "onUpdate()", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
//super.onUpdate(context, appWidgetManager, appWidgetIds);
//attach an onClick intent to the layout
final Intent onClick = new Intent(context, GITextCloud.class);
onClick.setAction(LAUNCH_GMAIL_GAPPS);
PendingIntent onClickPending = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(context, 0, onClick, 0);
RemoteViews rv1 = new RemoteViews(context.getPackageName(), R.layout.gitc_html);
rv1.setOnClickPendingIntent(R.id.full_widget, onClickPending);
for (int appWidgetId : appWidgetIds) {
appWidgetManager.updateAppWidget(appWidgetId, rv1);
}
}
My code is really almost the same. Just that I need PendingIntent.getActivity instead of getBroadcast.
what flags do you set for your intent? cause if your activity is already running and thats when the button wont work it could be that you need a Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_BROUGHT_TO_FRONT or some other flags in the PendingIntent
try setting onClick.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK) or what ever your Intent is called. i think the fact that your widget and your app are going to be seperate programs means they must start in different threads. cause not all widgets need an Activity running to function
I got it now! I somehow managed to screw up my remoteviews, they didn't got updated properly.
Anyway, thanks a lot for your answers

[Q] How to keep layouts inflated after activity restarts

Hi guys,
On a button click I am inflating a layout like so:
Code:
public void plusLayout(View v) {
// inflating layout here:
LinearLayout ll1 = (LinearLayout) findViewById(R.id.main_layout);
// this layout is being inflated:
View newView = getLayoutInflater().inflate(R.layout.layout_to_be_added, null);
// add layout
ll1.addView(newView);
}
But when the activity restarts, the inflated layouts are gone.
I'd like the layouts to stay there.
(The user can click a button to remove the layout by hand).
I must be missing something trivial here right?
Cheers,
Daan
Which way is it restarted?
If the complete app is restarted, a new layout will be set in the onCreate method.
nikwen said:
Which way is it restarted?
If the complete app is restarted, a new layout will be set in the onCreate method.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah when you press back button and start the app again or completely kill it.
It also happens on orientation change as the activity get restarted then as well.
But I think you can override that in the manifest somewhere.
DaanJordaan said:
Yeah when you press back button and start the app again or completely kill it.
It also happens on orientation change as the activity get restarted then as well.
But I think you can override that in the manifest somewhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah ok.
The point is: If you open the app or turn your device, the onCreate method is called. There you set a completely new layout. You would need to save that the layout is inflated (you could use a SharedPreferences entry) and inflate it in the onCreate method. If you just want it to appear again after turning the device, use the onSaveInstanceState method and the onRestoreInstanceState method. That would be better practice.
Look at the activity lifecycle.
Just so I'm sure I get this right :
The user launches the app, the layouts are not inflated
He presses a button which calls your plusLayout() method, so the layouts are now inflated
The user quits the activity and restarts it, the layouts are not inflated anymore but you want them to.
Is that correct ?
If it is, 2 ways I can think of :
Overriding savedInstanceState() & onRestoreInstanceState() :
First, declare a private Boolean before the onCreate() of your activity :
Code:
private Boolean isInflated = false;
Then, set it to true in the onClick() of your button, and override savedInstanceState and onRestoreInstanceState like so :
Code:
@Override
public void onSaveInstanceState(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onSaveInstanceState(savedInstanceState);
// Save state changes to the savedInstanceState.
// This bundle will be passed to onCreate if th activity is
// killed and restarted.
savedInstanceState.putBoolean("inflate", isInflated);
}
Code:
@Override
public void onRestoreInstanceState(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onRestoreInstanceState(savedInstanceState);
// Restore UI state from the savedInstanceState.
// This bundle has also been passed to onCreate.
Boolean myBoolean = savedInstanceState.getBoolean("inflate");
if (myBoolean == true)
plusLayout(myView);
}
Using the sharedPreferences
Same logic, different way to save the boolean :
Before onCreate(), declare a private boolean and a private SharedPreferences :
Code:
private Boolean isInflated = false;
private SharedPreferences prefs = getSharedPreferences("MY_PREFS");
in the onClick of your button :
Code:
isInflated = true;
Editor e = prefs.edit();
e.putBoolean("inflate", isInflated);
e.commit();
Then, in your onCreate(), retrieve the stored value and if it's true, call your plusLayout() method :
Code:
Boolean doInflate = prefs.getBoolean("inflate", false // this is the default value);
if (doInflate == true)
plusLayout(myView);
nikwen said:
Ah ok.
The point is: If you open the app or turn your device, the onCreate method is called. There you set a completely new layout. You would need to save that the layout is inflated (you could use a SharedPreferences entry) and inflate it in the onCreate method. If you just want it to appear again after turning the device, use the onSaveInstanceState method and the onRestoreInstanceState method. That would be better practice.
Look at the activity lifecycle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay I'm working on that at the moment.
Whenever a layout is created an (int) "counter" get incremented.
I will save this "counter" in the SharedPreferences.
When the app starts layouts get created "counter" times.
Is this good practice?
It seems so strange that there isn't an easier way to save layout/activity states.
Edit:
Androguide.fr said:
Just so I'm sure I get this right :
The user launches the app, the layouts are not inflated
He presses a button which calls your plusLayout() method, so the layouts are now inflated
The user quits the activity and restarts it, the layouts are not inflated anymore but you want them to.
Is that correct ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is correct. Big thanks for the examples.
DaanJordaan said:
Okay I'm working on that at the moment.
Whenever a layout is created an (int) "counter" get incremented.
I will save this "counter" in the SharedPreferences.
When the app starts layouts get created "counter" times.
Is this good practice?
It seems so strange that there isn't an easier way to save layout/activity states.
Edit:
That is correct. Big thanks for the examples.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would use his snippets. They are good (as always). Decide which one to use by what I have given above:
Just for turning:
onSaveInstanceState and onRestoreSavedInstanceState
For turning and reopening:
Shared preferences

Button2 doesnt work until Button1 is clicked

Hi All!
I'm new here and new to the Android Eclipse/development side and I'm having a bit of a problem with a java script.
I have a small advertising app with 2 buttons (looking to expand to 4 but that's a different thread), one for Facebook (Button1) and one for Twitter (Button2) and Button2 won't work until Button1 is clicked. It works fine except for that.
Any ideas on solutions? Aggravating me a bit lol
Thanks!!
We will need to see your layout XML and java code to help out.
not sure how i'd do that atm cos im a new member? i know that some admin members get pi**y when you dont wrap any code for formatting reasons??
i've got ready and i can imagine a senior member such as yourself will notice the mistake straight away.
Use pastebin http://pastebin.com/
not sure how to use it, just tried and i got the same message about not being able to post things outside links until 10 posts and so on? even tried pasting the raw text and still wouldnt let me
any suggestions?
thanks
Or use the CODE tags: [CODE ] and [/CODE ], but without the extra spaces.
adamj1910 said:
not sure how to use it, just tried and i got the same message about not being able to post things outside links until 10 posts and so on? even tried pasting the raw text and still wouldnt let me
any suggestions?
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take http off or www and just paste it as text
pastebin.com/4Q0g9ryg
pastebin.com/rHvFePNM
hopefully that should work?
thanks!
You had your button definition in the wrong place for your twitter button
Code:
package com.MYAPP.MYAPP;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.net.Uri;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.Button;
public class MainActivity extends Activity {
/** Called when the activity is first created. */
[user=439709]@override[/user]
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main); //Set the screen's view to your xml file
Button facebookbutton = (Button) findViewById(R.id.button1); // Retrieve the button from the XML file
facebookbutton.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() { //Add a listener for when the button is pressed
[user=439709]@override[/user]
public void onClick(View v) {
sendToFacebook();
}
});
Button twitterbutton = (Button) findViewById(R.id.button2); // Retrieve the button from the XML file
twitterbutton.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() { //Add a listener for when the button is pressed
[user=439709]@override[/user]
public void onClick(View v) {
sendToTwitter();
}
});
}
protected void sendToFacebook() {
String url = "https://www.facebook.com"; // You could have this at the top of the class as a constant, or pass it in as a method variable, if you wish to send to multiple websites
Intent i = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW); // Create a new intent - stating you want to 'view something'
i.setData(Uri.parse(url)); // Add the url data (allowing android to realise you want to open the browser)
startActivity(i); // Go go go!
}
protected void sendToTwitter() {
String url = "https://www.twitter.com"; // You could have this at the top of the class as a constant, or pass it in as a method variable, if you wish to send to multiple websites
Intent i = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW); // Create a new intent - stating you want to 'view something'
i.setData(Uri.parse(url)); // Add the url data (allowing android to realise you want to open the browser)
startActivity(i); // Go go go!
}
}
Thanks for that ill give that a try!!! Really appreciate it
Sent from my GT-I9305 using xda app-developers app
it works!!! would i just repeat that for any additional buttons, same format;
Button onclicklistener etc etc etc
Button onclicklistener etc etc etc
protected void
protected void
and so on
does it work like that?
thanks!
Yes, just besure you place the code in your onCreate method for defining your buttons
Ill remember that haha thanks again really appreciate it!! =D
Sent from my GT-I9305 using xda app-developers app
zalez said:
Yes, just besure you place the code in your onCreate method for defining your buttons
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey zalez
I just tried adding a youtube button in the exact same format obviously changing the button source and so on, eclipse couldn't find any problems so I ran it and it just crashed the app on the avd and on a real device?
Sent from my GT-I9305 using xda app-developers app
There are multiple ways. I like setting a listener, then using an onClick method with switch-case statements for every button.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 4
you've lost me lol i understand the onclick but switch cases? if you check my .xml and .java from pastebin or the .java that another member posted further up ^ ^ ^ ^ that might show where im going wrong?
edit *** i just googled the switch case thing and ive seen it before, just not sure how i'd implement it into my .java?
thanks
bump?
adamj1910 said:
you've lost me lol i understand the onclick but switch cases? if you check my .xml and .java from pastebin or the .java that another member posted further up ^ ^ ^ ^ that might show where im going wrong?
edit *** i just googled the switch case thing and ive seen it before, just not sure how i'd implement it into my .java?
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I'm away. I'll look up an example from one of my apps later.
Basically, just make an onClickListener. You are then required to use that interface and implement the onClick method. Do that, you have an empty method, with a parameter like View v.
Then, make a switch statement for v.getId(), and do cases for the buttons (use their XML IDs!) that you have.
Hope that's kind of clear?
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 4
bassie1995 said:
Sorry, I'm away. I'll look up an example from one of my apps later.
Basically, just make an onClickListener. You are then required to use that interface and implement the onClick method. Do that, you have an empty method, with a parameter like View v.
Then, make a switch statement for v.getId(), and do cases for the buttons (use their XML IDs!) that you have.
Hope that's kind of clear?
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's actually starting to make sense! But it's just putting that into a script, not really my strong point yet, I'm more of a designer lol
It would be good if you could find some examples for URL buttons, it'd really help. Thanks!
There shouldn't have been any issues adding more. I would need to see your updated java code. Using switch cases is a good idea but at this point, if I was you, I would avoid it for now until you get the hang of the basics. Also, a log cat would be beneficial in debugging.

[Q] Need Help with a problem

I am using one edit text view and one OK button to input a large amount of user data during a setup function but can't figure out how to pause the thread execution unit the OK button is pressed. I don't want to have to register and use a ton of different buttons and listeners to call individual functions for each user input and so far I've found out the hard way that a while look will lock the UI thread and running the loop in a separate thread will not make the program wait. Any Ideas?
public class SetupMenuActivity extends Activity
{
private TextView setupPrompt;
boolean okButtonPressed = false;
@override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState)
{
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.setup_menu);
setup();
}
private OnClickListener okButtonListener = new OnClickListener()
{
@override
public void onClick(View v)
{
okButtonPressed = true;
}
};
private void setup()
{
Button okButton = (Button) findViewById(R.id.okButton);
okButton.setOnClickListener(okButtonListener);
setupPrompt = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.setupPrompt);
setupPrompt.setText("Please Enter Your Name");
// Make program wait for ok button clicked
setupPrompt.setText("Please Enter a Name for your Account");
}
}
What else could the user click/etc that you want to prevent from happening? If you want to block another button, then you can either do button.setClickable(false) or even button.setVisibility(View.GONE) until the ok button is clicked. Instead blocking the whole thread doesn't make much sense
The only two things the user can interact with is the button and the edit text box. I want to prevent the changing of the setupPrompt text view until the Ok button is pressed. The easy way to do it would be to put it into the onClickListener but there is a whole series of the prompts and waiting for user input so I'm trying to avoid creating a ton of different button listeners for each piece of user input.
TShipman1981 said:
The only two things the user can interact with is the button and the edit text box. I want to prevent the changing of the setupPrompt text view until the Ok button is pressed. The easy way to do it would be to put it into the onClickListener but there is a whole series of the prompts and waiting for user input so I'm trying to avoid creating a ton of different button listeners for each piece of user input.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The way you think this would work is not right, you have to think through it again, sorry . In Android, you can almost never wait for user events (because they might not happen). Instead, you have to do what you can during setup and everything that can only happen after a certain event has to be in the onEvent method (for instance onClick). What you can do to make it less complex is one method which is called only from the onClickListener. The method keeps track of how many times it has been called with an int step instance variable. That method has to execute what should happen at each step.
SimplicityApks said:
The way you think this would work is not right, you have to think through it again, sorry . In Android, you can almost never wait for user events (because they might not happen). Instead, you have to do what you can during setup and everything that can only happen after a certain event has to be in the onEvent method (for instance onClick). What you can do to make it less complex is one method which is called only from the onClickListener. The method keeps track of how many times it has been called with an int step instance variable. That method has to execute what should happen at each step.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah Agreed with Simp. I would honestly make one method with all the info you need then get all the info and call it only when the button is clicked. If I knew a bit more of what your trying to accomplish I might be able to help you code it more efficiently.

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