A simple coding blog for new graduates

Here is a simple way to implement a thread into your program.  I usually use it when I want to scan something every few seconds or something.  The onStart and onStop will start and kill your thread.  The sendEmptyMessage is what you use in the thread to update your UI.   All of these methods will go below your onCreate(Bundle whatever) function.

You don’t have to call anything in the onCreate function to make it run.  In this example it will start running when the program starts, however you could call startScan() where ever you want

@Override
public void onStart(){
    startScan();
    super.onStart();
}

@Override
public void onStop(){
    isRunning = false;
    super.onStop();
}

public void startScan() {
    new Thread() {
        public void run() {
            while (isRunning) {
                try{
                    Thread.sleep(2000); // How long the thread will wait in milliseconds.  Not 100% accurate

                    if(!isRunning) {
                    break;
                    }
                    // Do stuff here
                    hRefresh.sendEmptyMessage(REFRESH SCREEN);
                }catch(Exception e){
                }
            }
        }
    }.start();
}

// Refresh handler, necessary for updating the UI in a/the thread
Handler hRefresh = new Handler(){
    public void handleMessage(Message msg) {
        switch(msg.what){
        case REFRESH_SCREEN:
        //Do stuff in here that you want updated in the screen
        break;
        default:
        break;
        }
    }
};

Find this helpful? Know a better way of implementing a simple thread? Please feel free to share. Do you need this code uploaded into a sample project? If there is a demand I can start creating basic empty projects that illustrate the code in action. Enjoy!