Keep both pendingIntents with the same requestCode

Question

I am developing an alarm application in Android. The flow is really simple, Im just creating a PendingIntent and then I call the setExact() method in the AlarmManager much like below.

        Intent myIntent = new Intent(context, BroadcastReceiver.class);
        pendingIntent = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(context, 0, myIntent, 0);

        AlarmManager alarmManager = (AlarmManager) context.getSystemService(ALARM_SERVICE);
        alarmManager.setExactAndAllowWhileIdle(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP, 
        System.currentTimeMillis() + difference, pendingIntent);

After some tests I realized that with the above snippet I can set only one alarm because I set the requestCode of the pendingIntent to zero, and if I set another alarm with the requestCode set to 0 then it will overwrite the previous one. Is there a way to fix this without changing the requestCode? I was thinking maybe the flags can help me but I didn't find a flag that doesn't overwrite the previous pendingIntent.

I know that the obvious solution is to change 0 to another int and then keep track of all my ints, picking one that is not used. That solution would be fine if I was just starting the project, however I am already in the middle and I use as request codes predefined Enums. It is very difficult to change this mechanic and keep track of individual ints thats why I am asking if there is a way of not overwriting a pendingIntent when a new one with the same requestCode is registered. Thank you in advance.

I am asking if there exists a certain type of flag that will be able to differentiate them — Libathos, Aug 02 '17 at 12:39

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 07 '17 at 11:10

4

You can make the Intents unique be setting a different ACTION on each one. Then you could still use the same requestCode and would have different PendingIntents.

You'll need to keep track of the ACTIONs you use if you want to be able to cancel the alarms later.

answered Aug 07 '17 at 11:10

David Wasser

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Or you can use `setData` method. See [docs](http://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/Intent.html#filterEquals%28android.content.Intent%29) – Vadim Kotov Jan 09 '20 at 12:58

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 02 '17 at 12:43

2

I am asking if there exists a certain type of flag that will be able to differentiate them

There is not, and it makes sense because this is already the purpose of the requestCode parameter.

For information, these are your options regarding flags:

You will have to change your mechanism to make it possible to have different requestCodes for Pending Intents. It may be a lot of work, but it is what you have to do.

answered Aug 02 '17 at 12:43

Tim

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Actually, no. You don't have to use different `requestCode`s if you make the `Intent`s all unique. You can do that by setting different ACTION or different DATA in each `Intent`. – David Wasser Aug 07 '17 at 11:11
@David excellent, I didn't know. If OP removes the accept I will delete my answer – Tim Aug 07 '17 at 11:15

Keep both pendingIntents with the same requestCode

2 Answers2