android-activity interview questions
Top android-activity frequently asked interview questions
I want to create a transparent Activity on top of another activity.
How can I achieve this?
Source: (StackOverflow)
I couldn't find any examples of how to send messages between an activity and a service, and I have spent far too many hours figuring this out. Here is an example project for others to reference.
This example allows you to start or stop a service directly, and separately bind/unbind from the service. When the service is running, it increments a number at 10 Hz. If the activity is bound to the Service, it will display the current value. Data is transferred as an Integer and as a String so you can see how to do that two different ways. There are also buttons in the activity to send messages to the service (changes the increment-by value).
Screenshot:
AndroidManifest.xml:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
package="com.exampleservice"
android:versionCode="1"
android:versionName="1.0">
<application android:icon="@drawable/icon" android:label="@string/app_name">
<activity android:name=".MainActivity"
android:label="@string/app_name">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
</intent-filter>
</activity>
<service android:name=".MyService"></service>
</application>
<uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="8" />
</manifest>
res\values\strings.xml:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
<string name="app_name">ExampleService</string>
<string name="service_started">Example Service started</string>
<string name="service_label">Example Service Label</string>
</resources>
res\layout\main.xml:
<RelativeLayout
android:id="@+id/RelativeLayout01"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" >
<Button
android:id="@+id/btnStart"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Start Service" >
</Button>
<Button
android:id="@+id/btnStop"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:text="Stop Service" >
</Button>
</RelativeLayout>
<RelativeLayout
android:id="@+id/RelativeLayout02"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" >
<Button
android:id="@+id/btnBind"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Bind to Service" >
</Button>
<Button
android:id="@+id/btnUnbind"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:text="Unbind from Service" >
</Button>
</RelativeLayout>
<TextView
android:id="@+id/textStatus"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Status Goes Here"
android:textSize="24sp" />
<TextView
android:id="@+id/textIntValue"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Integer Value Goes Here"
android:textSize="24sp" />
<TextView
android:id="@+id/textStrValue"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="String Value Goes Here"
android:textSize="24sp" />
<RelativeLayout
android:id="@+id/RelativeLayout03"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" >
<Button
android:id="@+id/btnUpby1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Increment by 1" >
</Button>
<Button
android:id="@+id/btnUpby10"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:text="Increment by 10" >
</Button>
</RelativeLayout>
src\com.exampleservice\MainActivity.java:
package com.exampleservice;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.ComponentName;
import android.content.Context;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.content.ServiceConnection;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.os.Handler;
import android.os.IBinder;
import android.os.Message;
import android.os.Messenger;
import android.os.RemoteException;
import android.util.Log;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.View.OnClickListener;
import android.widget.Button;
import android.widget.TextView;
public class MainActivity extends Activity {
Button btnStart, btnStop, btnBind, btnUnbind, btnUpby1, btnUpby10;
TextView textStatus, textIntValue, textStrValue;
Messenger mService = null;
boolean mIsBound;
final Messenger mMessenger = new Messenger(new IncomingHandler());
class IncomingHandler extends Handler {
@Override
public void handleMessage(Message msg) {
switch (msg.what) {
case MyService.MSG_SET_INT_VALUE:
textIntValue.setText("Int Message: " + msg.arg1);
break;
case MyService.MSG_SET_STRING_VALUE:
String str1 = msg.getData().getString("str1");
textStrValue.setText("Str Message: " + str1);
break;
default:
super.handleMessage(msg);
}
}
}
private ServiceConnection mConnection = new ServiceConnection() {
public void onServiceConnected(ComponentName className, IBinder service) {
mService = new Messenger(service);
textStatus.setText("Attached.");
try {
Message msg = Message.obtain(null, MyService.MSG_REGISTER_CLIENT);
msg.replyTo = mMessenger;
mService.send(msg);
}
catch (RemoteException e) {
// In this case the service has crashed before we could even do anything with it
}
}
public void onServiceDisconnected(ComponentName className) {
// This is called when the connection with the service has been unexpectedly disconnected - process crashed.
mService = null;
textStatus.setText("Disconnected.");
}
};
@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main);
btnStart = (Button)findViewById(R.id.btnStart);
btnStop = (Button)findViewById(R.id.btnStop);
btnBind = (Button)findViewById(R.id.btnBind);
btnUnbind = (Button)findViewById(R.id.btnUnbind);
textStatus = (TextView)findViewById(R.id.textStatus);
textIntValue = (TextView)findViewById(R.id.textIntValue);
textStrValue = (TextView)findViewById(R.id.textStrValue);
btnUpby1 = (Button)findViewById(R.id.btnUpby1);
btnUpby10 = (Button)findViewById(R.id.btnUpby10);
btnStart.setOnClickListener(btnStartListener);
btnStop.setOnClickListener(btnStopListener);
btnBind.setOnClickListener(btnBindListener);
btnUnbind.setOnClickListener(btnUnbindListener);
btnUpby1.setOnClickListener(btnUpby1Listener);
btnUpby10.setOnClickListener(btnUpby10Listener);
restoreMe(savedInstanceState);
CheckIfServiceIsRunning();
}
@Override
protected void onSaveInstanceState(Bundle outState) {
super.onSaveInstanceState(outState);
outState.putString("textStatus", textStatus.getText().toString());
outState.putString("textIntValue", textIntValue.getText().toString());
outState.putString("textStrValue", textStrValue.getText().toString());
}
private void restoreMe(Bundle state) {
if (state!=null) {
textStatus.setText(state.getString("textStatus"));
textIntValue.setText(state.getString("textIntValue"));
textStrValue.setText(state.getString("textStrValue"));
}
}
private void CheckIfServiceIsRunning() {
//If the service is running when the activity starts, we want to automatically bind to it.
if (MyService.isRunning()) {
doBindService();
}
}
private OnClickListener btnStartListener = new OnClickListener() {
public void onClick(View v){
startService(new Intent(MainActivity.this, MyService.class));
}
};
private OnClickListener btnStopListener = new OnClickListener() {
public void onClick(View v){
doUnbindService();
stopService(new Intent(MainActivity.this, MyService.class));
}
};
private OnClickListener btnBindListener = new OnClickListener() {
public void onClick(View v){
doBindService();
}
};
private OnClickListener btnUnbindListener = new OnClickListener() {
public void onClick(View v){
doUnbindService();
}
};
private OnClickListener btnUpby1Listener = new OnClickListener() {
public void onClick(View v){
sendMessageToService(1);
}
};
private OnClickListener btnUpby10Listener = new OnClickListener() {
public void onClick(View v){
sendMessageToService(10);
}
};
private void sendMessageToService(int intvaluetosend) {
if (mIsBound) {
if (mService != null) {
try {
Message msg = Message.obtain(null, MyService.MSG_SET_INT_VALUE, intvaluetosend, 0);
msg.replyTo = mMessenger;
mService.send(msg);
}
catch (RemoteException e) {
}
}
}
}
void doBindService() {
bindService(new Intent(this, MyService.class), mConnection, Context.BIND_AUTO_CREATE);
mIsBound = true;
textStatus.setText("Binding.");
}
void doUnbindService() {
if (mIsBound) {
// If we have received the service, and hence registered with it, then now is the time to unregister.
if (mService != null) {
try {
Message msg = Message.obtain(null, MyService.MSG_UNREGISTER_CLIENT);
msg.replyTo = mMessenger;
mService.send(msg);
}
catch (RemoteException e) {
// There is nothing special we need to do if the service has crashed.
}
}
// Detach our existing connection.
unbindService(mConnection);
mIsBound = false;
textStatus.setText("Unbinding.");
}
}
@Override
protected void onDestroy() {
super.onDestroy();
try {
doUnbindService();
}
catch (Throwable t) {
Log.e("MainActivity", "Failed to unbind from the service", t);
}
}
}
src\com.exampleservice\MyService.java:
package com.exampleservice;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Timer;
import java.util.TimerTask;
import android.app.Notification;
import android.app.NotificationManager;
import android.app.PendingIntent;
import android.app.Service;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.os.Handler;
import android.os.IBinder;
import android.os.Message;
import android.os.Messenger;
import android.os.RemoteException;
import android.util.Log;
public class MyService extends Service {
private NotificationManager nm;
private Timer timer = new Timer();
private int counter = 0, incrementby = 1;
private static boolean isRunning = false;
ArrayList<Messenger> mClients = new ArrayList<Messenger>(); // Keeps track of all current registered clients.
int mValue = 0; // Holds last value set by a client.
static final int MSG_REGISTER_CLIENT = 1;
static final int MSG_UNREGISTER_CLIENT = 2;
static final int MSG_SET_INT_VALUE = 3;
static final int MSG_SET_STRING_VALUE = 4;
final Messenger mMessenger = new Messenger(new IncomingHandler()); // Target we publish for clients to send messages to IncomingHandler.
@Override
public IBinder onBind(Intent intent) {
return mMessenger.getBinder();
}
class IncomingHandler extends Handler { // Handler of incoming messages from clients.
@Override
public void handleMessage(Message msg) {
switch (msg.what) {
case MSG_REGISTER_CLIENT:
mClients.add(msg.replyTo);
break;
case MSG_UNREGISTER_CLIENT:
mClients.remove(msg.replyTo);
break;
case MSG_SET_INT_VALUE:
incrementby = msg.arg1;
break;
default:
super.handleMessage(msg);
}
}
}
private void sendMessageToUI(int intvaluetosend) {
for (int i=mClients.size()-1; i>=0; i--) {
try {
// Send data as an Integer
mClients.get(i).send(Message.obtain(null, MSG_SET_INT_VALUE, intvaluetosend, 0));
//Send data as a String
Bundle b = new Bundle();
b.putString("str1", "ab" + intvaluetosend + "cd");
Message msg = Message.obtain(null, MSG_SET_STRING_VALUE);
msg.setData(b);
mClients.get(i).send(msg);
}
catch (RemoteException e) {
// The client is dead. Remove it from the list; we are going through the list from back to front so this is safe to do inside the loop.
mClients.remove(i);
}
}
}
@Override
public void onCreate() {
super.onCreate();
Log.i("MyService", "Service Started.");
showNotification();
timer.scheduleAtFixedRate(new TimerTask(){ public void run() {onTimerTick();}}, 0, 100L);
isRunning = true;
}
private void showNotification() {
nm = (NotificationManager)getSystemService(NOTIFICATION_SERVICE);
// In this sample, we'll use the same text for the ticker and the expanded notification
CharSequence text = getText(R.string.service_started);
// Set the icon, scrolling text and timestamp
Notification notification = new Notification(R.drawable.icon, text, System.currentTimeMillis());
// The PendingIntent to launch our activity if the user selects this notification
PendingIntent contentIntent = PendingIntent.getActivity(this, 0, new Intent(this, MainActivity.class), 0);
// Set the info for the views that show in the notification panel.
notification.setLatestEventInfo(this, getText(R.string.service_label), text, contentIntent);
// Send the notification.
// We use a layout id because it is a unique number. We use it later to cancel.
nm.notify(R.string.service_started, notification);
}
@Override
public int onStartCommand(Intent intent, int flags, int startId) {
Log.i("MyService", "Received start id " + startId + ": " + intent);
return START_STICKY; // run until explicitly stopped.
}
public static boolean isRunning()
{
return isRunning;
}
private void onTimerTick() {
Log.i("TimerTick", "Timer doing work." + counter);
try {
counter += incrementby;
sendMessageToUI(counter);
}
catch (Throwable t) { //you should always ultimately catch all exceptions in timer tasks.
Log.e("TimerTick", "Timer Tick Failed.", t);
}
}
@Override
public void onDestroy() {
super.onDestroy();
if (timer != null) {timer.cancel();}
counter=0;
nm.cancel(R.string.service_started); // Cancel the persistent notification.
Log.i("MyService", "Service Stopped.");
isRunning = false;
}
}
Source: (StackOverflow)
In an Android application, how do you start a new activity (GUI) when a button in another activity is clicked, and how do you pass data between these two activities?
Source: (StackOverflow)
I've been playing around with the Android SDK, and I am a little unclear on saving an application's state. So given this minor re-tooling of the 'Hello, Android' example:
package com.android.hello;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.widget.TextView;
public class HelloAndroid extends Activity {
/** Called when the activity is first created. */
@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
mTextView = new TextView(this);
if (savedInstanceState == null) {
mTextView.setText("Welcome to HelloAndroid!");
} else {
mTextView.setText("Welcome back.");
}
setContentView(mTextView);
}
private TextView mTextView = null;
}
I thought that might be all one needed to do for the simplest case, but it always gives me the first message, no matter how I navigate away from the app.
I'm sure it's probably something simple like overriding onPause or something like that, but I've been poking away in the documentation for 30 minutes or so and haven't found anything obvious, so I would appreciate any help.
Source: (StackOverflow)
EDIT
The activity hosting this fragment has its onActivityResult called when the camera activity returns
My fragment starts an activity for result with the intent sent for the camera to take a picture. The picture application loads fine, takes a picture, and returns. The onActivityResult however is never hit. I've set break points but nothing is triggered. Can a fragment have onActivityResult? I'd think so since its a provided function. Thoughts on why this isn't being triggered?
ImageView myImage = (ImageView)inflatedView.findViewById(R.id.image);
myImage.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
@Override
public void onClick(View view) {
Intent cameraIntent = new Intent(android.provider.MediaStore.ACTION_IMAGE_CAPTURE);
startActivityForResult(cameraIntent, 1888);
}
});
@Override
public void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
if( requestCode == 1888 ) {
Bitmap photo = (Bitmap) data.getExtras().get("data");
((ImageView)inflatedView.findViewById(R.id.image)).setImageBitmap(photo);
}
}
Source: (StackOverflow)
My program does some network activity in a background thread. Before starting, it pops up a progress dialog. The dialog is dismissed on the handler. This all works fine, except when screen orientation changes while the dialog is up (and the background thread is going). At this point the app either crashes, or deadlocks, or gets into a weird stage where the app does not work at all until all the threads have been killed.
How can I handle the screen orientation change gracefully?
The sample code below matches roughly what my real program does:
public class MyAct extends Activity implements Runnable {
public ProgressDialog mProgress;
// UI has a button that when pressed calls send
public void send() {
mProgress = ProgressDialog.show(this, "Please wait",
"Please wait",
true, true);
Thread thread = new Thread(this);
thread.start();
}
public void run() {
Thread.sleep(10000);
Message msg = new Message();
mHandler.sendMessage(msg);
}
private final Handler mHandler = new Handler() {
@Override
public void handleMessage(Message msg) {
mProgress.dismiss();
}
};
}
Stack:
E/WindowManager( 244): Activity MyAct has leaked window com.android.internal.policy.impl.PhoneWindow$DecorView@433b7150 that was originally added here
E/WindowManager( 244): android.view.WindowLeaked: Activity MyAct has leaked window com.android.internal.policy.impl.PhoneWindow$DecorView@433b7150 that was originally added here
E/WindowManager( 244): at android.view.ViewRoot.<init>(ViewRoot.java:178)
E/WindowManager( 244): at android.view.WindowManagerImpl.addView(WindowManagerImpl.java:147)
E/WindowManager( 244): at android.view.WindowManagerImpl.addView(WindowManagerImpl.java:90)
E/WindowManager( 244): at android.view.Window$LocalWindowManager.addView(Window.java:393)
E/WindowManager( 244): at android.app.Dialog.show(Dialog.java:212)
E/WindowManager( 244): at android.app.ProgressDialog.show(ProgressDialog.java:103)
E/WindowManager( 244): at android.app.ProgressDialog.show(ProgressDialog.java:91)
E/WindowManager( 244): at MyAct.send(MyAct.java:294)
E/WindowManager( 244): at MyAct$4.onClick(MyAct.java:174)
E/WindowManager( 244): at android.view.View.performClick(View.java:2129)
E/WindowManager( 244): at android.view.View.onTouchEvent(View.java:3543)
E/WindowManager( 244): at android.widget.TextView.onTouchEvent(TextView.java:4664)
E/WindowManager( 244): at android.view.View.dispatchTouchEvent(View.java:3198)
I have tried to dismiss the progress dialog in onSaveInstanceState, but that just prevents an immediate crash. The background thread is still going, and the UI is in partially drawn state. Need to kill the whole app before it starts working again.
Source: (StackOverflow)
In my Android application, when I rotate the device (slide out the keyboard) then my Activity is restarted (onCreate is called). Now, this is probably how it's supposed to be, but I do a lot of initial setting up in the onCreate method, so I need either:
- Put all the initial setting up in another function so it's not all lost on device rotation or
- Make it so
onCreate is not called again and the layout just adjusts or
- Limit the app to just portrait so that
onCreate is not called.
Source: (StackOverflow)
Is it possible to start an activity on the stack, clearing the entire history before it?
The situation
I have an activity stack that either goes A->B->C or B->C (screen A selects the users token, but many users only have a single token).
In screen C the user may take an action which makes screen B invalid, so the application wants to take them to screen A, regardless of whether it is already in the stack. Screen A should then be the only item on the stack in my application.
Notes
There are many other similar questions, but I haven't found anything that answers this exact question. I tried calling getParent().finish() - this always results in a null pointer exception. FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TOP only works if the activity is already on the stack.
Source: (StackOverflow)
I have implemented a ListView in my Android application. I bind to this ListView using a custom subclass of the ArrayAdapter class. Inside the overridden ArrayAdapter.getView(...) method, I assign an OnClickListener. In the onClick method of the OnClickListener, I want to launch a new activity. I get the exception:
Calling startActivity() from outside of an Activity context requires the
FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK flag. Is this really what you want?
How can I get the Context that the ListView(the current Activity) is working under?
Source: (StackOverflow)
I currently have an Activity that when it gets displayed a Notification will also get displayed in the Notification bar.
This is so that when the User presses home and the Activity gets pushed to the background they can get back to the Activity via the Notification.
The problem arises when a User presses the back button, my Activity gets destroyed but the Notification remains as I want the user to be able to press back but still be able to get to the Activity via the Notification. But when a USER tries this I get Null Pointers as its trying to start a new activity rather than bringing back the old one.
So essentially I want the Back button to act the exact same as the Home button and here is how I have tried so far:
@Override
public boolean onKeyDown(int keyCode, KeyEvent event) {
if (Integer.parseInt(android.os.Build.VERSION.SDK) < 5
&& keyCode == KeyEvent.KEYCODE_BACK
&& event.getRepeatCount() == 0) {
Log.d("CDA", "onKeyDown Called");
onBackPressed();
}
return super.onKeyDown(keyCode, event);
}
public void onBackPressed() {
Log.d("CDA", "onBackPressed Called");
Intent setIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MAIN);
setIntent.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_HOME);
setIntent.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
startActivity(setIntent);
return;
}
However the above code still seems to allow my Activity to be destroyed, How can I stop my Activity from being destroyed when the back button is pressed?
Source: (StackOverflow)
In Android I have some activities, let's say A, B, C.
In A I use this code to open B:
Intent intent = new Intent(this, B.class);
startActivity(intent);
In B I use this code to open C:
Intent intent = new Intent(this, C.class);
startActivity(intent);
When the user taps a button in C I want to go back to A and clear the back stack (close both B and C). So when the user use the back button B and C will not show up, I've been trying the following:
Intent intent = new Intent(this, A.class);
intent.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TOP);
startActivity(intent);
But B and C are still showing up if I use the back button when I'm back in activity A. How can I avoid this?
Source: (StackOverflow)
I've successfully implemented onRetainNonConfigurationInstance() for my main Activity to save and restore certain critical components across screen orientation changes.
But it seems, my custom views are being re-created from scratch when the orientation changes. This makes sense, although in my case it's inconvenient because the custom view in question is an X/Y plot and the plotted points are stored in the custom view.
Is there a crafty way to implement something similar to onRetainNonConfigurationInstance() for a custom view, or do I need to just implement methods in the custom view which allow me to get and set its "state"?
Source: (StackOverflow)
I am using
Window w = getWindow();
w.setTitle("My title");
to change title of my current Activity but it does not seem to work.
Can anyone guide me on how to change this?
Source: (StackOverflow)
How can I define the transition between two activities for Android 1.5 and later?
I would like an activity to fade in.
Source: (StackOverflow)