Android widget is not calling service onStart

Question

I'm quite new to android development and I want to create a widget for my application. Unfortunately I just can't get it working. I want my widget to start a service. The service should contain all the logic like updating textfields depending on data read of files of the internal storage. I have to update my widget every minute since I want to display a remaining time. For this I thought of an AlarmManager.

I used this as a reference: http://www.helloandroid.com/tutorials/mastering-android-widget-development-part4

Heres what I tried so far: The AppWidgetProvider:

public class WidgetCtrl extends AppWidgetProvider {
public static String WIDGET_UPDATE = "WIDGET_UPDATE";
public static int UPDATE_RATE = 60 * 1000;
private SessionData sessionData = SessionData.getInstance();
private BaseCtrl baseCtrl = BaseCtrl.getInstance();

@Override
public void onUpdate(Context context, AppWidgetManager appWidgetManager,
        int[] appWidgetIds) {

    // Service Intent
    Intent serviceIntent = new Intent(context, UpdateWidgetService.class);
    serviceIntent.setAction(UpdateWidgetService.UPDATE);
    PendingIntent servicePendingIntent = PendingIntent.getService(context,
            0, serviceIntent, 0);
    // send Service intent
    try {
        servicePendingIntent.send();
    } catch (CanceledException e) {
        // TODO Auto-generated catch block
        e.printStackTrace();
    }

    // start alarm manager for all widget instances
    for (int appWidgetId : appWidgetIds) {
        setAlarm(context, appWidgetId, UPDATE_RATE);
    }
    super.onUpdate(context, appWidgetManager, appWidgetIds);
}

@Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {

    if (WIDGET_UPDATE.equals(intent.getAction())) {
        Toast.makeText(context, "onReceiver()", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
    }

    super.onReceive(context, intent);

}

@Override
public void onDisabled(Context context) {
    context.stopService(new Intent(context, UpdateWidgetService.class));
    super.onDisabled(context);
}


public static void setAlarm(Context context, int appWidgetId, int updateRate) {
    Intent serviceIntent = new Intent(context, UpdateWidgetService.class);
    serviceIntent.setAction(UpdateWidgetService.UPDATE);
    PendingIntent servicePendingIntent = PendingIntent.getService(context,
            0, serviceIntent, 0);

    AlarmManager alarms = (AlarmManager) context
            .getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE);
    if (updateRate >= 0) {
        alarms.setRepeating(AlarmManager.ELAPSED_REALTIME,
                SystemClock.elapsedRealtime(), updateRate, servicePendingIntent);
    } else {
        // on a negative updateRate stop the refreshing
        alarms.cancel(servicePendingIntent);
    }
}

}

The Service:

public class UpdateWidgetService extends Service {
public static String UPDATE = "update";
private SessionData sessionData = SessionData.getInstance();
private BaseCtrl baseCtrl = BaseCtrl.getInstance();
private Context ctx;


@Override
public void onStart(Intent intent, int startId) {
    ctx = getApplicationContext();
    int appWidgetId = intent.getExtras().getInt(
            AppWidgetManager.EXTRA_APPWIDGET_ID);

    // TODO update information and display      

    AppWidgetManager appWidgetManger = AppWidgetManager.getInstance(ctx);
    int[] allWidgetIds = intent.getIntArrayExtra(AppWidgetManager.EXTRA_APPWIDGET_IDS);

    ComponentName currWidget = new ComponentName(ctx, WidgetCtrl.class);

    RemoteViews remoteViews = new RemoteViews(ctx.getPackageName(), R.layout.widget);
    remoteViews.setTextViewText(R.id.widget_text, "test");

    final Intent updateIntent = new Intent(ctx, UpdateWidgetService.class);
    final PendingIntent pending = PendingIntent.getService(ctx, 0, updateIntent, 0);
    final AlarmManager alarm = (AlarmManager) ctx.getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE);
    alarm.cancel(pending);
    long interval = 60;
    alarm.setRepeating(AlarmManager.ELAPSED_REALTIME, SystemClock.elapsedRealtime(),interval, pending);

    appWidgetManger.updateAppWidget(appWidgetId, remoteViews);
    super.onStart(intent, startId);
}


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

}

The problem I have is that it seems like the Service never gets called. I set breakpoints in the onStart method of the service but I never get there. Can someone help?

Please also tell me if you suggest a different structure for my program.

EDIT: I forgot to add the manifest code. Between the application tags I have this code right behind the receiver object for the widget:

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

Is this correct?

I really hope someone can give me a solution or a hint.

I my applicatin I remove onstartcommand http://stackoverflow.com/a/27674551/2782457 — nguyenvangiangbn, Dec 28 '14 at 07:51

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 12 '12 at 14:14

3

OK, finally found the problem:

In the manifest I had to add the full path to the service.

So I had to change .UpdateWidgetService to com.example.UpdateWidgetService.

I hope this might help some others to save a few hours of searching ;)

answered Dec 12 '12 at 14:14

friday

1,358
1
14
23

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 19 '18 at 20:20

I forgot to add service in manifest. After few hours of juggling with my appwidget code. Finally, I found my minor mistake. The following manifest addition helped me a lot in listing the data in remote views.

    <service
        android:name="np.com.bpb.capstoneroomtest2.widget.JobWidgetRemoteViewsService"
        android:exported="false"
        android:permission="android.permission.BIND_REMOTEVIEWS" >
    </service>
</application><!--Just before closing this tag, add your service-->

I hope, my experience will help you.

Android widget is not calling service onStart

2 Answers2