Background process with Timer without interrupting UI - blackberry

I have a background process which calculates the latitude and longitude of a location. Then i use a timer task to run every few seconds to get this calculated latitude and longitude and display on a RichMapField.
I need to display this latitude and longitude on the map, but it is not getting displayed because of the timer.
Could someone please tell me how i can handle this situation.
Edit:
Just give a better understanding: below is my code:
the timer scheduled for every 5 seconds:
timer.scheduleAtFixedRate(new TimerTask() {
public void run()
{
currentLocation.run();
}}, 0, 5000);
public Runnable currentLocation = new Runnable()
{
public void run() {
double[] coordinates = new double[3];
coordinates[0]= 47.674131297119935;
coordinates[1]= 9.384496898485185;
coordinates[2]= 475.678;
addToMap(coordinates);
}
};
public void addToMap(double[] coordinates)
{
MapLocation location1 = new MapLocation(coordinates[0],coordinates[1],"My Location2",null);
int location1ID = data.add((Mappable)location1,"My");
data.tag(location1ID, "Location1");
MapLocation location2 = new MapLocation(coordinates[0],coordinates[1],"My Location2",null);
int location2ID = data.add((Mappable)location2,"My");
data.tag(location2ID, "Location2");
}

Related

Update interval value for continuous GPS location

I am working on a BlackBerry Application that is supposed to update the location at fixed intervals. The interval value can be selected/changed from a slider. It varies between 1 minute, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 30 minutes etc. On the very first load (Start App), location interval is 30 seconds. After this, I store the slider value in a persistent store and location is updated accordingly with the set interval. Background thread running to update location is as follows:
private boolean startLocationUpdate()
{
boolean retval = false;
try
{
LocationProvider locationProvider = LocationProvider.getInstance(null);
if ( locationProvider == null )
{
Runnable showGpsUnsupportedDialog = new Runnable()
{
public void run()
{
Dialog.alert("GPS is not supported on this platform, exiting...");
//System.exit( 1 );
}
};
UiApplication.getUiApplication().invokeAndWait( showGpsUnsupportedDialog ); // Ask event-dispatcher thread to display dialog ASAP.
}
else
{
locationProvider.setLocationListener(new LocationListenerImpl(), interval, -1, -1);
retval = true;
}
}
catch (LocationException le)
{
System.err.println("Failed to instantiate the LocationProvider object, exiting...");
System.err.println(le);
System.exit(0);
}
return retval;
}
private class LocationListenerImpl implements LocationListener
{
public void locationUpdated(LocationProvider provider, Location location)
{
if(location.isValid())
{
double longitude = location.getQualifiedCoordinates().getLongitude();
double latitude = location.getQualifiedCoordinates().getLatitude();
updateLocationScreen(latitude, longitude);
}
}
public void providerStateChanged(LocationProvider provider, int newState)
{
}
}
private void updateLocationScreen(final double latitude, final double longitude)
{
UiApplication.getUiApplication().invokeAndWait(new Runnable()
{
public void run()
{
double lat = latitude;
double longi = longitude;
lblLatitude.setText(Double.toString(lat));
spacing.setText(", ");
lblLongitude.setText(Double.toString(longi));
}
});
}
Along with this, there is a "Refresh" button available that will start acquiring a location update immediately once clicked. This button calls a method is another class to acquire the location. The method is as follows:
try {
Criteria myCriteria = new Criteria();
myCriteria.setCostAllowed(false);
LocationProvider myLocationProvider = LocationProvider.getInstance(myCriteria);
double heading = 0;
double velocity = 0;
try {
Location myLocation = myLocationProvider.getLocation(6000);
if(myLocation.isValid())
{
double longitude = myLocation.getQualifiedCoordinates().getLongitude();
double latitude = myLocation.getQualifiedCoordinates().getLatitude();
}
UiApplication.getUiApplication().invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
//Dialog.alert("Location Updated");
}
});
setLocation(myLocation.getQualifiedCoordinates(),velocity,heading);
} catch ( InterruptedException iex ) {
System.out.println(iex.getMessage());
} catch ( LocationException lex ) {
System.out.println(lex.getMessage());
}
} catch ( LocationException lex ) {
System.out.println(lex.getMessage());
}
Problems I am facing:
1) Interval value not changing. I am implementing the change by picking the value from the persistent store as:
if (PersistentStoreHelper.persistentHashtable.containsKey("gpsInterval"))
{
String intervalValue=((String) PersistentStoreHelper.persistentHashtable.get("gpsInterval"));
MyScreen.interval=Integer.parseInt(intervalValue);
}
This is never empty as navigation to this page inserts a value of 30 minutes to it.
2) Once the "Refresh" button is clicked, the background thread seems to be cancelled. It no longer runs at any interval value.
I read that there is only one instance of the location provider created and with "Refresh" it is cancelled after acquiring the location and thus the background thread stops. Is this true? If yes, how can I achieve my desired result.
EDIT: The gpsInterval value is read as follows:
if (PersistentStoreHelper.persistentHashtable.containsKey("gpsInterval"))
{
String intervalValue=((String)PersistentStoreHelper.persistentHashtable.get("gpsInterval"));
interval=Integer.parseInt(intervalValue);
}
else
{
interval=10;
}
Saving the Interval
So, first of all, make sure that when you let the user change the update interval, via the slider, you properly save it to the PersistentStore. The code should look something like this:
// NOTE: I would recommend persisting the slider value as an Integer, not a String,
// but, the original code used String, so that's what this uses
hashtable.put("gpsInterval", (new Integer(intervalSlider.getValue())).toString());
PersistentObject po = PersistentStore.getPersistentObject(APP_BUNDLE_ID);
po.setContents(hashtable);
po.commit();
Since you didn't post that code, I just wanted to be sure that it was being saved to the persistent store correctly.
Updating the Location Provider / Listener
The other issue, that is a problem, is that you kick off the location updates in startLocationUpdate() with this code:
locationProvider.setLocationListener(new LocationListenerImpl(), interval, -1, -1);
That uses the value of the interval variable at the instant that setLocationListener() is called. If you later update the interval variable,
String intervalValue=((String) PersistentStoreHelper.persistentHashtable.get("gpsInterval"));
MyScreen.interval=Integer.parseInt(intervalValue);
this will have no effect on the location listener. It will keep updating with the original interval value, not the new one. You would have to call setLocationListener() again, with the new value of interval. With your code, you should probably just call startLocationUpdate() again:
String intervalValue=((String) PersistentStoreHelper.persistentHashtable.get("gpsInterval"));
MyScreen.interval=Integer.parseInt(intervalValue);
startLocationUpdate();
Refresh Problem
I'm not 100% sure, but my guess would be that in your existing code that's used when the Refresh button is pressed, you are changing to a different LocationProvider with different criteria. That's probably why the first one is cancelled.
Try changing your startLocationUpdate() method to save the provider as a member variable:
/** this is the one location provider used by this class! */
private LocationProvider _locationProvider;
private boolean startLocationUpdate()
{
boolean retval = false;
try
{
_locationProvider = LocationProvider.getInstance(null);
then, in your refresh code, use the same location provider to get the current location:
double heading = 0;
double velocity = 0;
try {
Location myLocation = _locationProvider.getLocation(6000);
if(myLocation.isValid())
Note: if you really do want to setCostAllowed(false), that's fine. Do that the first time that you assign the _locationProvider member variable. And use that provider/criteria both for normal periodic location updates, and your Refresh button handler. I think the key is to use the same provider, not create a new one with different criteria.

Error in location :getLocation() method cannot be called from event thread

What I want to do is have the a map open with the click of a buttonfield with two Criterias, the user must either specify the location and then the image must be added to the location otherwise the Image must be added to the users current location.
The problem I am having is adding both criterias into an if statement in a thread / new thread or even in a FieldChangeListener.
The error I keep getting is:
Error in location :javax.microedition.location.LocationException:
getLocation() method cannot be cal[0.0] led from event thread [0.0]
Error in location :getLocation() method cannot be called from event
thread
My code:
FieldChangeListener Listener = new FieldChangeListener() {
public void fieldChanged(Field field, int context) {
ButtonField buttonClicked = (ButtonField) field;
if ((buttonClicked.getLabel()).equals("Push")) {
CustomMapField mMapField;
Coordinates mCoordinates;
BlackBerryCriteria blackBerryCriteria = null;
BlackBerryLocation blackBerryLocation = null;
BlackBerryLocationProvider blackBerryLocationProvider = null;
double Doublelat = 0.0;
double Doublelng = 0.0;
blackBerryCriteria = new BlackBerryCriteria();
if(GPSInfo.isGPSModeAvailable(GPSInfo.GPS_MODE_CELLSITE)){
blackBerryCriteria.setMode(GPSInfo.GPS_MODE_CELLSITE);
}else if(GPSInfo.isGPSModeAvailable(GPSInfo.GPS_MODE_ASSIST)){
blackBerryCriteria.setMode(GPSInfo.GPS_MODE_ASSIST);
}else if(GPSInfo.isGPSModeAvailable(GPSInfo.GPS_MODE_AUTONOMOUS)){
blackBerryCriteria.setMode(GPSInfo.GPS_MODE_AUTONOMOUS);
}else{
blackBerryCriteria.setCostAllowed(true);
blackBerryCriteria.setPreferredPowerConsumption(Criteria.POWER_USAGE_LOW);
} try {
blackBerryLocationProvider = (BlackBerryLocationProvider) BlackBerryLocationProvider.getInstance(blackBerryCriteria);
blackBerryLocation = (BlackBerryLocation) blackBerryLocationProvider.getLocation(60);
QualifiedCoordinates qualifiedCoordinates = blackBerryLocation.getQualifiedCoordinates();
Doublelat = qualifiedCoordinates.getLatitude();
Doublelng = qualifiedCoordinates.getLongitude();
mCoordinates = new Coordinates(Doublelat, Doublelng, 0);
mMapField = new CustomMapField();
mMapField.mIcon = Bitmap.getBitmapResource("coin_silver.png");
mMapField.moveTo(mCoordinates);
mMapField.setZoom(1);
add(mMapField);
}catch(Exception e){
System.out.println("Debug 5");
System.out.println("Error in location :"+e.toString());
System.out.println("Error in location :"+e.getMessage());
}
}
}
};
public class CustomMapField extends MapField {
Bitmap mIcon;
XYRect mDest;
public void moveTo(Coordinates coordinates) {
super.moveTo(coordinates);
mDest = null;
}
protected void paint(Graphics graphics) {
super.paint(graphics);
if (null != mIcon) {
if (null == mDest) {
XYPoint fieldOut = new XYPoint();
convertWorldToField(getCoordinates(), fieldOut);
int imgW = mIcon.getWidth();
int imgH = mIcon.getHeight();
mDest = new XYRect(fieldOut.x - imgW / 2,
fieldOut.y - imgH, imgW, imgH);
}
graphics.drawBitmap(mDest, mIcon, 0, 0);
}
}
}
The error Is with the following line add(mMapField);
Doublelat = qualifiedCoordinates.getLatitude();
Doublelng = qualifiedCoordinates.getLongitude();
mCoordinates = new Coordinates(Doublelat, Doublelng, 0);
mMapField = new CustomMapField();
mMapField.mIcon=Bitmap.getBitmapResource("coin_silver.png");
mMapField.moveTo(mCoordinates);
mMapField.setZoom(1);
add(mMapField);
/*MapView mapView = new MapView();
mapView.setLatitude(finalintlat);
mapView.setLongitude(finalintlng);
mapView.setZoom(10);
MapsArguments mapsArgs = new MapsArguments(mapView);
Invoke.invokeApplication(Invoke.APP_TYPE_MAPS, mapsArgs);
Please advise me more in detail how to do so, and please give an example; I can't understand how as "mMapField" is a custom MapField and "mapView" is a class Mapview (please see my code snippet above).
Obtaining a location is a time-consuming task, it can take as much as 1 minute even with good satellite visibility, although newer berries have improved a lot the time-to-first-fix (TTFF).
Time consuming tasks, like opening connections, or obtaining a fix, should not be performed in the event thread, because this thread has to respond to user events, and if you hog it, then the GUI frozens. And everything running inside fieldChanged runs in the event thread. So it is a good thing RIM implemented a thread detection in its new BlackBerryLocationProvider and throws exceptions, now you are aware of the bad design and can take corrective measures.
You have several options to get a fix asynchronously:
Use LocationListener.
Spawn a new thread.
Preemtively obtain a fix long before you need it (or at regular intervals), then you'll have it quickly available when the button is pressed, (either retrieving it from somewhere you previously saved it or calling LocationProvider.getLastKnownLocation).
You should use Invoke.invokeApplication(Invoke.APP_TYPE_MAPS, new MapsArguments(mMapField)); in place of add(mMapField);

How to alert vibrate loop with 10 seconds on Blackberry?

I have a screen. I want alert vibrate with 10th seconds, 20th seconds, 30th seconds....
How can I do that ?
Thanks for reading
Here's a simple static method that uses a Timer to accomplish this. You pass in the amount of times to vibrate and the period between vibrations. The phone will vibrate for 100ms every repeatPeriodSeconds for repeatCount times.
public static void repeatVibrate(final int repeatCount, int repeatPeriodSeconds)
{
TimerTask task = new TimerTask()
{
private int repeats = 0;
#Override
public void run()
{
++repeats;
Alert.startVibrate(100);
if(repeats >= repeatCount)
{
cancel();
}
}
};
Timer timer = new Timer();
timer.scheduleAtFixedRate(task, 0, repeatPeriodSeconds * 1000L);
}
Here's the documentation of the relevant classes: Alert, Timer, TimerTask
This helps you:
public class LoadingScreen extends MainScreen
{
Timer timer;
TimerTask timerTask;
public LoadingScreen()
{
setTitle("Loading Screen");
callTheTimer();
}
public void callTheTimer()
{
timer=new Timer();
timerTask=new TimerTask()
{
public void run()
{
Alert.startVibrate(500);
}
};
timer.scheduleAtFixedRate(timerTask, 0, 3000);//For 10 secs give 10000; I am testing this for every 3 secs;
}
}
Before push new screen or closing the current screen give timertask.cancel();

How to display clock count down whole the application on Blackberry?

I make and display an clock count down with this code
LabelField time;
long mille=0;
Timer timer=null;TimerTask task=null;
public Timerscreen() {
mille=1000*60*1;
time=new LabelField();
add(time);
timer=new Timer();
task=new TimerTask() {
public void run() {
synchronized (UiApplication.getEventLock()) {
if(mille!=0){
SimpleDateFormat date=new SimpleDateFormat("mm:ss") ;
System.out.println("================="+date.formatLocal(mille)+"====================="+Thread.activeCount());
time.setText(date.formatLocal(mille));
mille=mille-1000;
}else{
time.setText("00:00");
mille=1000*60*1;
timer.cancel();
UiApplication.getUiApplication().invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
Dialog.inform("Time expaired");
}
});
}
}
}
};
timer.schedule(task,0, 1000);
And when I push a new screen , I want to this clock still display and count down.
How can I do that ?
It is not possible to add a single ui field or manager into two managers or screens.. every ui field or manager must have at most one parent (screen or manager).
So if you need a LabelField which will hold and show time on different screens, then you only need to implement some sort of listener which will listen for the time changes.. and for every changes you have to update the screen and the LabelField with the new value. You have already implemented a TimerTask which will provide you updated data.
[Edited - added later]
you can check the following codes, not tested but something like this will solve your problem...
class MyTimerUtil {
TimerListener listener = null;
public MyTimerUtil() {
}
public void setTimerListener(TimerListener listener) {
this.listener = listener;
}
public void startTimer() {
final int interval = 1000;
Timer timer = new Timer();
TimerTask task = new TimerTask() {
public void run() {
// add your codes..
// notify others
if (listener != null) {
listener.timeChanged();
}
}
};
timer.schedule(task, 0, interval);
}
}
interface TimerListener {
public void timeChanged();
}
class ScreeA extends MainScreen implements TimerListener {
public void timeChanged() {
// add Codes here on time changed event
}
}
in the above snippet, you can implement TimerListener interface in any screen instance and can get update on every time changed event by the MyTimerUtil class. For that, you have to set an instance of ScreeA (which implements TimerListener) via setTimerListener() of the MyTimerUtil class.
Also need to start the timer by calling startTimer() method.

Blackberry - change latitude and longitude on the device to test app

I want to test my app on the device. Is it possible to hard code the latitude and longitude values somewhere in the device settings so the app reads those instead of the current location?
I want to test my app for different locations other than my current location.
In the BB simulator you can go to Simulate > GPS Location. Click the Add button and enter in a name, latitude and longitude. Click save and the simulator will start feeding your new location to the apps. Note that whatever location is displayed in the drop down is the one that will be reported by the simulator.
Inside GPS mockup
If you have access to your application code, you can always create a mockup implementation for LocationProvider so it will read location and speed data from file or RecordStore and return it as a Location, something like
public class MockupLocationProvider extends LocationProvider {
public MockupLocationProvider() {
//prepare a file or RecordStore with locations here
}
public Location getLocation(int arg0) throws LocationException,
InterruptedException {
//read data from file or RecordStore
double latitude = 321;
double longitude = 34;
float altitude = 21;
//create and return location
Location result = new GPSLocation(latitude,
longitude, altitude);
return result;
}
public int getState() {
// mockup location provider always available
return LocationProvider.AVAILABLE;
}
public void reset() {
// your code
}
public void setLocationListener(LocationListener listener,
int interval, int timeout, int maxAge) {
// your code
}
}
and mockup for your Location
public class GPSLocation extends Location {
double _latitude, _longitude;
float _altitude, _horAcc = 0, _verAcc = 0, _speed;
public GPSLocation(double lat, double lon, float alt) {
init(lat, lon, alt);
}
public GPSLocation(double lat, double lon, float alt, float spd) {
init(lat, lon, alt);
_speed = spd;
}
private void init(double lat, double lon, float alt) {
_latitude = lat;
_longitude = lon;
_altitude = alt;
}
public QualifiedCoordinates getQualifiedCoordinates() {
QualifiedCoordinates c = new QualifiedCoordinates(_latitude,
_longitude, _altitude, _horAcc, _verAcc);
return c;
}
public float getSpeed() {
return _speed;
}
public String toString() {
String result = "Lat:" + String.valueOf(_latitude) + "|Lon:"
+ String.valueOf(_longitude) + "|Alt:"
+ String.valueOf(_altitude);
return result;
}
}
Then somewhere on the screen
MockupLocationProvider gpsProvider = new MockupLocationProvider();
GPSLocation loc = (GPSLocation)gpsProvider.getLocation(0);
add(new RichTextField(loc.toString()));
Outside GPS mockup
Another option is to generally mockup GPS signals.
Steps are:
configure device gps receiver for
bluetooth (for ex.)
setup some
opensource gps server on your desktop
to produce location data over
bluetooth
change configuration/code
of gps server to mockup location data
Other options
There is a possibility to uncontrolled change of location gps data by shielding gps receiver with some radio-material (like alluminium foil or so) :)

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