Inflate Layout NullPointerException

Question

I want to inflate a layout when the player is death (a game over layout). I tried it like this:

View GameOverDialog;

LayoutInflater myInflater = (LayoutInflater)getApplicationContext().getSystemService(getApplicationContext().LAYOUT_INFLATER_SERVICE);
GameOverDialog = myInflater.inflate(R.layout.lose, null, false);
rlGame.addView(GameOverDialog);
GameOverDialog.setVisibility(View.GONE);

And when the player dies:

private void lose(){
    GameOverDialog.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
}

I also use a Handler so I can send a message when the player dies:

final static int DEATH = 0, LOSE = 1;

final Handler handler = new Handler() {
    @Override
    public void handleMessage(Message msg) {
        if (msg.what == DEATH) {
            //play music
            postDelayed(new Runnable() {
                @Override
                public void run() {
                    Message msg = handler.obtainMessage();
                    msg.what = LOSE;
                    handler.sendMessage(msg);
                }
            }, 1000);
        }
        if (msg.what == LOSE) {
            lose();
        }
        super.handleMessage(msg);
    }
};

But when the Handler calls the lose() method, the application crashes and I get a NullPointerException. I hope someone can help me :).

Thanks in advance!
Joeri.

EDIT

Full class:

public class Game extends Activity {

final static int DEATH = 0, LOSE = 1;
RelativeLayout rlGame;
GamePanel game_panel;
private int ScreenWidth, ScreenHeight;
View GameOverDialog;
ImageView retry, quit;
TextView textRetry, textQuit;

final Handler handler = new Handler() {
    @Override
    public void handleMessage(Message msg) {
        if (msg.what == DEATH) {
            //play music
            postDelayed(new Runnable() {
                @Override
                public void run() {
                    Message msg = handler.obtainMessage();
                    msg.what = LOSE;
                    handler.sendMessage(msg);
                }
            }, 1000);
        }
        if (msg.what == LOSE) {
            lose();
        }
        super.handleMessage(msg);
    }
};

@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    // TODO Auto-generated method stub
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.game);

    rlGame = (RelativeLayout) findViewById(R.id.rlGame);
    DisplayMetrics dm = new DisplayMetrics();
    this.getWindowManager().getDefaultDisplay().getMetrics(dm);

    final int height = dm.heightPixels;
    final int width = dm.widthPixels;

    game_panel = new GamePanel(getApplicationContext(), width, height, rlGame);
    rlGame.addView(game_panel);

    LayoutInflater myInflater = (LayoutInflater)getApplicationContext().getSystemService(getApplicationContext().LAYOUT_INFLATER_SERVICE);
    GameOverDialog = myInflater.inflate(R.layout.lose, null, false);
    rlGame.addView(GameOverDialog);
    retry = (ImageView) GameOverDialog.findViewById(R.id.retry);
    retry.setOnTouchListener(new TouchButton(retry, textRetry));
    quit = (ImageView) GameOverDialog.findViewById(R.id.quit);
    quit.setOnTouchListener(new TouchButton(quit, textQuit));
    textRetry = (TextView)GameOverDialog.findViewById(R.id.textRetry);
    textQuit = (TextView)GameOverDialog.findViewById(R.id.textQuit);
    GameOverDialog.setVisibility(View.GONE);
}

@Override
public void onBackPressed() {
}

@Override
protected void onStop() {
    super.onStop();
}

private void lose() {
    GameOverDialog.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
}

}

I also tried to set visibility to VISIBLE in the onBackPressed method, this worked, I don't know why, but in the handler goes something wrong I think...

Answer 1

Avoid using getApplicationContext() when you don't have to:

game_panel = new GamePanel(this, width, height, rlGame);
rlGame.addView(game_panel);

LayoutInflater myInflater = (LayoutInflater)
        getSystemService(Context.LAYOUT_INFLATER_SERVICE);

Edit:

As per your comment (next time, please just update your question), it seems that the handleMessage is called before onCreate where your variable is set. So set your listener after the field is initialized:

Handler handler;

@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    ...
    // Init field
    GameOverDialog = myInflater.inflate(R.layout.lose, null, false);
    // Set the handler
    handler = new Handler() {
        @Override
        public void handleMessage(Message msg) {
            if (msg.what == DEATH) {
                //play music
                postDelayed(new Runnable() {
                    @Override
                    public void run() {
                        Message msg = handler.obtainMessage();
                        msg.what = LOSE;
                        handler.sendMessage(msg);
                    }
                }, 1000);
            }
            if (msg.what == LOSE) {
                lose();
            }
            super.handleMessage(msg);
        }
    };
    ...
}