Android: Alarms and IntentServices

Question

After lots of research on implementing IntentServices and Alarms together, I've come up with this. I don't know exactly what happens with this code so I need help in knowing exactly what is going on.

public class MainActivity{
  
  //....

    public void onNewItemAdded(String[] _entry){
            
            //...

  	        Intent intent = new Intent(MainActivity.this, UpdateService.class);
	        startService(intent);
    }

  //....
}

public class AlarmReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver {
	@Override
	public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
		// TODO Auto-generated method stub
		Intent startIntent = new Intent(context, UpdateService.class);
		context.startService(startIntent);
      }
    public static final String ACTION_REFRESH_ALARM = "com.a.b.ACTION_REFRESH_ALARM";
}

public class UpdateService extends IntentService{
  //...
  @Override
	public void onCreate() {
		super.onCreate();
		alarmManager = (AlarmManager) getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE);
		String ALARM_ACTION = AlarmReceiver.ACTION_REFRESH_ALARM;
		Intent intentToFire = new Intent(ALARM_ACTION);
		alarmIntent = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(this, 0, intentToFire, 0);
	}

	@Override
	protected void onHandleIntent(Intent intent) {
		Context context = getApplicationContext();
		SharedPreferences prefs = PreferenceManager
				.getDefaultSharedPreferences(context);
		int updateFreq = Integer.parseInt(prefs.getString(
				PreferencesActivity.PREF_UPDATE_FREQ, "60"));
		boolean autoUpdateChecked = prefs.getBoolean(
				PreferencesActivity.PREF_AUTO_UPDATE, false);
		if (autoUpdateChecked) {
			int alarmType = AlarmManager.ELAPSED_REALTIME_WAKEUP;
			long timeToRefresh = SystemClock.elapsedRealtime() + updateFreq
					* 60 * 1000;
			alarmManager.setInexactRepeating(alarmType, timeToRefresh,
					updateFreq * 60 * 1000, alarmIntent);
		} 
		else {
			alarmManager.cancel(alarmIntent);
		}
		refreshKeywords();
	}
 }

My aim is to get the refreshKeywords() method to be called every minute. Also, what happens if the onNewItemAdded() method is called more than once?

Sorry if this question is stupid, I'm a beginner.

Answer 1

If you wish you to call refreshKeywords()method to be called every minutes why do you use AlarmManager like this,

  private void ServiceRunningBackground() {

    if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.KITKAT)
    {
        final int restartAlarmInterval = 6000;
        final int resetAlarmTimer = 2*1000;
        final Intent restartIntent = new Intent(this, MyService.class);
        restartIntent.putExtra("ALARM_RESTART_SERVICE_DIED", true);
        final AlarmManager alarmMgr = (AlarmManager)getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE);
        Handler restartServiceHandler = new Handler()
        {
            @Override
            public void handleMessage(Message msg) {
                PendingIntent pintent = PendingIntent.getService(getApplicationContext(), 0, restartIntent, 0);
                alarmMgr.set(AlarmManager.ELAPSED_REALTIME, SystemClock.elapsedRealtime() + restartAlarmInterval, pintent);
                sendEmptyMessageDelayed(0, resetAlarmTimer);
            }
        };
        restartServiceHandler.sendEmptyMessageDelayed(0, 0);
    }
}

Just call this method where ever you want and set the time accordingly