Boolean not updated before onPostExecute runs

Question

I have a problem with returning the result value to onPostExecute() of an onBackground() function in the Async Class of Android.

What I want to do is to search for a specified contact name in a database using socket.io and then when I find it; return true to onPostExecute so that I can do something there when the contact has been found. If nothing has been found, false shall be returned and something else should be done in onPostExecute(). I set the boolean global value "success" to true or false respectively and try to pass this value to onPostExecute(), but for some reason the value is assigned AFTER onPostExecute() is called ... must have something to do with asynchronous operation, but since I am not an expert, I hope someone can give me some hint on how to do it right so that the boolean value is updated, BEFORE onPostExecute() checks the value.

This is my code:

public class AsynchronicTask extends AsyncTask<Object, Void, Boolean> {

SocketIO socket = null;
AsyncObject asyncObject = null;
Boolean success = false;

@Override
protected Boolean doInBackground(final Object... argument) {
    this.asyncObject = (AsyncObject) argument[0];

    try {
        System.out.println("Trying to connect to: "
                + asyncObject.getURL());
        socket = new SocketIO(asyncObject.getURL());
        socket.connect(new IOCallback() {

            @Override
            public void onConnect() {
                JSONObject queriedUsername = new JSONObject();
                try {
                    queriedUsername.put("Username", asyncObject.getQueryInput());
                } catch (JSONException e) {
                    e.printStackTrace();
                }

                socket.emit("clientRequestSearchUsername", queriedUsername);
            }

            @Override
            public void onDisconnect() {
            }

            @Override
            public void onError(SocketIOException arg0) {
            }

            @Override
            public void onMessage(String arg0, IOAcknowledge arg1) {
            }

            @Override
            public void onMessage(JSONObject arg0, IOAcknowledge arg1) {
            }

            @Override
            public void on(final String message, IOAcknowledge argIO,
                    final Object ... arg) {
                if (message.equals(asyncObject.getServerMessage())) {
                    if (arg[0].equals("null")) {
                        Log.e("ERROR", "No Result Found");
                        success = false;
                    } else {
                        success = true;
                        Log.d("DEBUG", "RESULT OK!");
                    }
                };
            }
        });

    } catch (MalformedURLException e) {
        Log.e("error", "Wrong Server URL");
        e.printStackTrace();
    }

return success;
}

@Override
protected void onPostExecute(Boolean result) {
    Log.d("DEBUG", result.toString());

    // Give reply when username query has finished
     if (result.equals(true)){
     Log.d("DEBUG", "Contact found, adding to contactlist");
     // Populate data in contactViewAdapter
     asyncObject.getContactListAdapter().populateAdapter(asyncObject.getQueryInput());
     Toast.makeText(asyncObject.getContext(), "Contact added", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
     } 
     else { 
         Log.d("DEBUG", "No Success adding contact, no contact found");
         Toast.makeText(asyncObject.getContext(), "Username not existent, no contact added", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show(); 
     }  
 }
 }

Answer 1

It happens because doInBackground(...) returns value before method on of new IOCallback() is called. SocketIO establishes the connection in its background thread that's why it need some time for this action. Your solution: don't use AsyncTask. Just create something like this:

void yourMethod (AsyncObject asyncObject, YourListener listener) {
    System.out.println("Trying to connect to: " + asyncObject.getURL());
    socket = new SocketIO(asyncObject.getURL());
    socket.connect(new IOCallback() {

        @Override
        public void onConnect() {
            JSONObject queriedUsername = new JSONObject();
            try {
                queriedUsername.put("Username", asyncObject.getQueryInput());
            } catch (JSONException e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
            }

            socket.emit("clientRequestSearchUsername", queriedUsername);
        }

        @Override
        public void onDisconnect() {
        }

        @Override
        public void onError(SocketIOException arg0) {
        }

        @Override
        public void onMessage(String arg0, IOAcknowledge arg1) {
        }

        @Override
        public void onMessage(JSONObject arg0, IOAcknowledge arg1) {
        }

        @Override
        public void on(final String message, IOAcknowledge argIO,
                final Object ... arg) {
            if (message.equals(asyncObject.getServerMessage())) {
                boolean success;
                if (arg[0].equals("null")) {
                    Log.e("ERROR", "No Result Found");
                    success = false;
                } else {
                    success = true;
                    Log.d("DEBUG", "RESULT OK!");
                }
                listener.ready(success);
            }
        }
    }
}

Code of YourListener:

public interface YourListener {

    public void ready(boolean value);
}

And just call this method in your class:

yourMethod(asyncObject, new YourListener() {
    @Override
    public void ready(boolean value) {
            // copy here your code from onPostExecute
        }
    });