Best way to periodically executing AsyncTasks in Android

Question

I am getting data from the server using AsyncTask. I need to update the data periodically.

Whats the best way to do it?

score 5 · Accepted Answer · edited Nov 12 '12 at 20:59

5

You could use Timer class to schedule periodic task using TimerTask instead of AsyncTask

See :

http://developer.android.com/reference/java/util/Timer.html

http://developer.android.com/reference/java/util/TimerTask.html

And to update your UI you should follow this good tutorial :

http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2007/11/stitch-in-time.html

edited Nov 12 '12 at 20:59

Kevin Grant

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answered Sep 01 '10 at 12:59

Mathieu

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score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 01 '10 at 12:17

4

Set an alarm with AlarmManager and call your AsyncTask in your AlarmReceiver class.

answered Sep 01 '10 at 12:17

Macarse

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Hi Macarse, Thanx for the answer. But can u tell me how can I call my AsyncTask class which is an inner class of my activity? – Kunal P.Bharati Sep 01 '10 at 12:25
it should be defined as `public static class` and call it with: `(new YourActivity.YourAsyncTask()).execute();` – Macarse Sep 01 '10 at 12:39

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 12 '12 at 21:06

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Just to state one of the possibilities. You could also use ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor class. It has, generally, more possibilities then TimerTask.

answered Nov 12 '12 at 21:06

Prizoff

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score 0 · Answer 4 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:06

To elaborate upon macarse's response, you can indeed "set an alarm with AlarmManager and call your AsyncTask in your AlarmReceiver class."

The concern I raised in the linked post still stands: I don't know if there are any life cycle issues associated with instantiating an AsyncTask from a WakefulBroadcastReceiver, i.e., I don't know if the above solution can lead to MyAsyncTask being killed prematurely.

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Sep 01 '10 at 11:30

You can do it either on your onProgressUpdate() or on onPostExecute() based on your requirement.

onProgressUpdate(Progress...), invoked on the UI thread after a call to publishProgress(Progress...). The timing of the execution is undefined. This method is used to display any form of progress in the user interface while the background computation is still executing. For instance, it can be used to animate a progress bar or show logs in a text field.

onPostExecute(Result), invoked on the UI thread after the background computation finishes. The result of the background computation is passed to this step as a parameter.

http://developer.android.com/intl/de/reference/android/os/AsyncTask.html

Best way to periodically executing AsyncTasks in Android

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