ANDROID TUTORIAL

Services

JANUARY 21, 2016

TRIEU NGO HUY (DIRECK2B)
[email protected]

Contents
1.

What is services?................................................................................................................................... 2

2.

Example ................................................................................................................................................. 6

Page 1

ANDROID TUTORIAL
RESOURCES
1. What is services?
A service is a component that runs in the background to perform long-running operations
without needing to interact with the user and it works even if application is destroyed. A service
can essentially take two states
State

Description

Started

A service is started when an application component, such as an activity,

starts it by calling startService(). Once started, a service can run in the
background indefinitely, even if the component that started it is
destroyed.

Bound

A service is bound when an application component binds to it by

calling bindService(). A bound service offers a client-server interface that
allows components to interact with the service, send requests, get
results, and even do so across processes with interprocess
communication (IPC).

A service has life cycle callback methods that you can implement to monitor changes in
the service's state and you can perform work at the appropriate stage. The following diagram on
the left shows the life cycle when the service is created with startService() and the diagram on the
right shows the life cycle when the service is created with bindService(): (image courtesy :
android.com )

Page 2

 To create an service, you create a Java class that extends the Service base class or one of
its existing subclasses. The Service base class defines various callback methods and the most
important are given below. You don't need to implement all the callbacks methods. However, it's
important that you understand each one and implement those that ensure your app behaves the
way users expect.
Callback

Description

onStartCommand()

The system calls this method when another component, such as an

activity, requests that the service be started, by
callingstartService(). If you implement this method, it is your

Page 3

responsibility to stop the service when its work is done, by

calling stopSelf() or stopService() methods.

onBind()

The system calls this method when another component wants to

bind with the service by calling bindService(). If you implement this
method, you must provide an interface that clients use to
communicate with the service, by returning an IBinder object. You
must always implement this method, but if you don't want to allow
binding, then you should return null.

onUnbind()

The system calls this method when all clients have disconnected
from a particular interface published by the service.

onRebind()

The system calls this method when new clients have connected to
the service, after it had previously been notified that all had
disconnected in its onUnbind(Intent).

onCreate()

The system calls this method when the service is first created
using onStartCommand() or onBind(). This call is required to
perform one-time set-up.

onDestroy()

The system calls this method when the service is no longer used
and is being destroyed. Your service should implement this to clean
up any resources such as threads, registered listeners, receivers,
etc.

The following skeleton service demonstrates each of the life cycle methods
package com.tutorialspoint;

import android.app.Service;
import android.os.IBinder;
import android.content.Intent;

Page 4

import android.os.Bundle;

public class HelloService extends Service {

/** indicates how to behave if the service is killed */

int mStartMode;

/** interface for clients that bind */

IBinder mBinder;

/** indicates whether onRebind should be used */

boolean mAllowRebind;

/** Called when the service is being created. */

@Override
public void onCreate() {

/** The service is starting, due to a call to startService() */

@Override
public int onStartCommand(Intent intent, int flags, int startId) {
return mStartMode;
}

/** A client is binding to the service with bindService() */

@Override
public IBinder onBind(Intent intent) {
return mBinder;
}

/** Called when all clients have unbound with unbindService() */

@Override

Page 5

public boolean onUnbind(Intent intent) {

return mAllowRebind;
}

/** Called when a client is binding to the service with bindService()*/

@Override
public void onRebind(Intent intent) {

/** Called when The service is no longer used and is being destroyed */
@Override
public void onDestroy() {

}
}

2. Example
This example will take you through simple steps to show how to create your own Android
Service. Follow the following steps to modify the Android application we created in Hello World
Example chapter:
Step

Description

You will use Android StudioIDE to create an Android application and name it as My
Application under a package com.example.My Application as explained in the Hello
World Example chapter.

Modify main activity file MainActivity.java to

add startService() andstopService() methods.

Create a new java file MyService.java under the package com.example.My

Application. This file will have implementation of Android service related methods.

Define your service in AndroidManifest.xml file using <service.../> tag. An application

can have one or more services without any restrictions.

Page 6

Modify the default content of res/layout/activity_main.xml file to include two

buttons in linear layout.

No need to change any constants in res/values/strings.xml file. Android studio take

care of string values

Run the application to launch Android emulator and verify the result of the changes
done in the application.

Following is the content of the modified main activity filesrc/com.example.My

Application/MainActivity.java. This file can include each of the fundamental life cycle methods. We
have added startService() andstopService() methods to start and stop the service.
package com.example.My Application;

import android.os.Bundle;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.view.View;

public class MainActivity extends Activity {

@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
}

@Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.activity_main, menu);
return true;
}

// Method to start the service

Page 7

public void startService(View view) {

startService(new Intent(getBaseContext(), MyService.class));
}

// Method to stop the service

public void stopService(View view) {
stopService(new Intent(getBaseContext(), MyService.class));
}
}

Following is the content of src/com.example.My Application/MyService.java. This file can

have implementation of one or more methods associated with Service based on requirements.
For now we are going to implement only two methods onStartCommand() and onDestroy()
package com.example.My Application;

import android.app.Service;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.os.IBinder;
import android.widget.Toast;

public class MyService extends Service {

@Override
public IBinder onBind(Intent arg0) {
return null;
}

@Override
public int onStartCommand(Intent intent, int flags, int startId) {
// Let it continue running until it is stopped.
Toast.makeText(this, "Service Started", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
return START_STICKY;
}

Page 8

@Override
public void onDestroy() {
super.onDestroy();
Toast.makeText(this, "Service Destroyed", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
}
}

Following will the modified content of AndroidManifest.xml file. Here we have added
<service.../> tag to include our service:
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
package="com.example.MyApplication"
android:versionCode="1"
android:versionName="1.0" >

<uses-sdk
android:minSdkVersion="13"
android:targetSdkVersion="22" />

<application
android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"
android:label="@string/app_name"
android:theme="@style/AppTheme" >

<activity
android:name=".MainActivity"
android:label="@string/title_activity_main" >

<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER"/>
</intent-filter>

Page 9

</activity>

<service android:name=".MyService" />

</application>
</manifest>

Following will be the content of res/layout/activity_main.xml file to include two buttons:

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools" android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:paddingLeft="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
android:paddingRight="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
android:paddingTop="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
android:paddingBottom="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin" tools:context=".MainActivity">

<TextView
android:id="@+id/textView1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Example of services"
android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
android:textSize="30dp" />

<TextView
android:id="@+id/textView2"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Tutorials point "
android:textColor="#ff87ff09"
android:textSize="30dp"
android:layout_above="@+id/imageButton"

Page 10

android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
android:layout_marginBottom="40dp" />

<ImageButton
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:id="@+id/imageButton"
android:src="@drawable/abc"
android:layout_centerVertical="true"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true" />

<Button
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:id="@+id/button2"
android:text="Start Services"
android:onClick="startService"
android:layout_below="@+id/imageButton"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true" />

<Button
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Stop Services"
android:id="@+id/button"
android:onClick="stopService"
android:layout_below="@+id/button2"
android:layout_alignLeft="@+id/button2"
android:layout_alignStart="@+id/button2"
android:layout_alignRight="@+id/button2"
android:layout_alignEnd="@+id/button2" />

</RelativeLayout>

Page 11

 Following will be the content of res/values/strings.xml to define two new constants:

<resources>
<string name="app_name">My Application</string>
<string name="menu_settings">Settings</string>
<string name="title_activity_main">MainActivity</string>
</resources>

Let's try to run our modified Hello World! application we just modified. I assume you had
created your AVD while doing environment setup. To run the app from Android studio, open one
of your project's activity files and click Run icon from the tool bar. Android Studio installs the
app on your AVD and starts it and if everything is fine with your set-up and application, it will
display following Emulator window

Page 12

 Now to start your service, let's click on Start Service button, this will start the service and
as per our programming in onStartCommand() method, a messageService Started will appear on
the bottom of the the simulator as follows

To stop the service, you can click the Stop Service button.

Page 13

Source link
1. Content: http://www.tutorialspoint.com/android/android_resources.htm

Page 14

ANDROID TUTORIAL
Services
Direck2b
This document created by TRIEU NGO HUY (DIRECK2B), please link to me when youre intend to
use this document in some where else.

NGO HUY TRIEU (Direck2b)

[email protected]

Page 15