How to set Alarm t Start Service in DialogPreference

Question

I am using a Custom DialogPreference but I want to start a service when user sets the time.. i.e start a alarmmanager to work.. But when I type my code in onTimeSet() method it does not allow to add alarm service there.

public class Timer extends DialogPreference {
    protected int lastHour=0;
    protected int lastMinute=0;
    protected boolean is24HourFormat;
    protected TimePicker picker=null;
    protected TextView timeDisplay;

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    DatagramSocket d1;
    InetAddress ip;

    public Timer(Context ctxt) {
        this(ctxt, null);
    }

    public Timer(Context ctxt, AttributeSet attrs) {
        this(ctxt, attrs, 0);
    }

    public Timer(Context ctxt, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyle) {
        super(ctxt, attrs, defStyle);

        is24HourFormat = DateFormat.is24HourFormat(ctxt);
        setPositiveButtonText("Set");
        setNegativeButtonText("Cancel");
    }

    @Override
    public String toString() {
        if(is24HourFormat) {
            return ((lastHour < 10) ? "0" : "")
                    + Integer.toString(lastHour)
                    + ":" + ((lastMinute < 10) ? "0" : "")
                    + Integer.toString(lastMinute);
        } else {
            int myHour = lastHour % 12;
            return ((myHour == 0) ? "12" : ((myHour < 10) ? "0" : "") + Integer.toString(myHour))
                    + ":" + ((lastMinute < 10) ? "0" : "") 
                    + Integer.toString(lastMinute) 
                    + ((lastHour >= 12) ? " PM" : " AM");
        }
    }

    @Override
    protected View onCreateDialogView() {
        picker=new TimePicker(getContext().getApplicationContext());
        return(picker);
    }

    @Override
    protected void onBindDialogView(View v) {
        super.onBindDialogView(v);
        picker.setIs24HourView(is24HourFormat);
        picker.setCurrentHour(lastHour);
        picker.setCurrentMinute(lastMinute);
    }

    @Override
    public void onBindView(View view) {
        View widgetLayout;
        int childCounter = 0;
        do {
            widgetLayout = ((ViewGroup) view).getChildAt(childCounter);
            childCounter++;
        } while (widgetLayout.getId() != android.R.id.widget_frame); 
        ((ViewGroup) widgetLayout).removeAllViews();
        timeDisplay = new TextView(widgetLayout.getContext());
        timeDisplay.setText(toString());
        ((ViewGroup) widgetLayout).addView(timeDisplay);
        super.onBindView(view);
    }

    @Override
    protected void onDialogClosed(boolean positiveResult) {
        super.onDialogClosed(positiveResult);

        if (positiveResult) {
            picker.clearFocus();
            lastHour=picker.getCurrentHour();
            lastMinute=picker.getCurrentMinute();

            String time=String.valueOf(lastHour)+":"+String.valueOf(lastMinute);

            if (callChangeListener(time)) {
                persistString(time);
                timeDisplay.setText(toString());




            }
        }
    }

    @Override
    protected Object onGetDefaultValue(TypedArray a, int index) {
        return(a.getString(index));
    }

    @Override
    protected void onSetInitialValue(boolean restoreValue, Object defaultValue) {
        String time=null;

        if (restoreValue) {
            if (defaultValue==null) {
                time=getPersistedString("00:00");
            }
            else {
                time=getPersistedString(defaultValue.toString());
            }
        }
        else {
            if (defaultValue==null) {
                time="00:00";
            }
            else {
                time=defaultValue.toString();
            }
            if (shouldPersist()) {
                persistString(time);
            }
        }

        String[] timeParts=time.split(":");
        lastHour=Integer.parseInt(timeParts[0]);
        //lastMinute=Integer.parseInt(timeParts[1]);
    }

    public void onTimeSet(TimePicker view, int hourOfDay, int minute) {
        // Do something with the time chosen by the user




    }


}

Answer 1

You need to create an instance of alarm manager and then create an intent for your service class and a pending intent that will be based off a Calendar time so create an instance of calendar and assign it the time your user sets than set the Alar Manager to that Calendar.getInstance() as the code below shows.

AlarmManager alarmManager = (AlarmManager) getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE);
    Intent intent = new Intent(this, AlarmReceiver.class);
    PendingIntent alarmIntent = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(this, 0, intent, 0);
    alarmManager.set(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP, Calendar.getInstance().getTimeInMillis(), alarmIntent);