hello, Guy!

hello\

how can I help you today?

InputMethodService

(and hello EGHDK -- Guy beat you by a couple of seconds!)

Guy: I know of InputMethodService, though I haven't written one

I need to make custom emoji IMAGE not unicode text with a keyboard

um, few apps will know what to do with that

how can I send an image by clicking the keyboard

yes I knwo

I need to build one

then what is the point of doing it, if it will not work reliably?

it is cliking the custom keyboard and sending an image

cant share intent because it isnt an activity

again, what is the point of writing a soft keyboard that will not work?

a client wants one :(

after researching I got to a dead end

then you should find another client

LOL.

thanks anyway

the InputConnectionMethods for supplying replacement text support a CharSequence

you're welcome to try passing over a SpannedString that contains ImageSpan widgets

but unless the app the user is using *specifically* is expecting that sort of thing, the image will be ignored by the app

making the whole exercise pointless

I understand

and I do not know enough about InputMethodEditor to know when commitText() and setComposingText() get used

I apologize for not being of greater assistance to you

let me take a question from EGHDK, and I will be back with you in a bit

EGHDK: your turn! do you have a question?

just wanted to make sure. thanks again :)

Yeah mark. More of a java-ish question. Is there any way to make sure that someone has to override a method AND call the super implementation?

not through Java syntax

I think at io, they announced an annotation for it. but I don't really know too much about annotations.

that's a possibility, though I haven't paid too much attention to those custom annotations

in the case of methods like `onPause()`, where if you fail to chain to the superclass you get a `SuperNotCalledException`, they are presumably using some flag

so they have some boolean wasSuperCalled=false, set that to true in the super's onPause(), and check wasSuperCalled after calling your onPause()

if it is still false, you did not chain to the superclass, and so they throw the exception

gotcha. thats very helpful. thanks.

I'm sure I could look through your changelog... but have you made any book additions for io? anything regarding gcm?

not recently

other than to say "I

er

other than to say "I am not maintaining this chapter much"

I do need to either get it caught up with GCM 3.0 or nuke the chapter outright

gotcha. seems like they basically fixed gcm. no more of those workarounds people had to use.

you have boundless optimism :-)

hahaha

so a question about singleton. I was reading the design patterns book and in a bullet point they say "be careful if you are using multiple class loaders; this could defeat the Singleton implementation and result in multiple instances"

I don't understand that sentence, and was wondering if it makes any sense to you

oh, yes, it makes sense

fortunately, 95% of the time, we don't worry about classloaders in Android

what specifically would you like to know?

I guess... what a class loader is?

as the name suggests, it loads classes

Is that just the moment when it loads a class?

But isn't a constructor a loader?

no

a classloader is responsible for reading in a class definition (e.g., out of a JAR file in a classic desktop/server Java environment)

and creating the corresponding Class object, and otherwise making the class available for use

Hm. guess I'll look into it a bit more, because that doesn't seem to make too much sense to me.

let's draw an analogy

you're using a Web browser right now

the Web page that we are doing this chat in probably has some JavaScript in it

that JavaScript lives in a file on a server

the only reason why the JavaScript is executing in your browser is because something did the HTTP request to load it, then set it up in a JavaScript interpreter/runtime environment

without that "script loader", the JavaScript would sit on the server, forever lonely and unused

a classloader in Java fills the same sort of role, minus the network I/O, for loading in Java classes to the runtime environment

Hm. So you said you really don't encounter them in android, so it's probably not a big deal to worry about. Again, I'm just unsure of how often a class loader is used. Is a class loader used every time you "load" a class? So anytime you reference it, or create an object of it?

"you really don't encounter them in android" -- no, I said you don't really *worry* about them in Android

"Is a class loader used every time you "load" a class? So anytime you reference it, or create an object of it?" -- yes

classically, with Dalvik, Java classes would not be loaded until referenced

now, with ART, I don't really know where and how the classloader concept comes into play

hello, Miguel!

Hello Everyone

Thanks. Thats helpful. So it's just when it gets loaded. Maybe I was overthinking it.

Hello Mark, I just subscribed to the CommonsWare program so I am new here

EGHDK: let me take a question from Miguel, and I'll be back with you in a bit

Miguel: thanks for subscribing! how can I help you today?

Thanks Mark

I developed a streaming client application in android using a service

all works as expected but, I have the problem that as soon the activity is destroyed, my service stops

I read about startservice vs bindservice but still my service stops

and this is hard to test because it could happen after 5 minutes or after 1 hour

so its randomly

well, services don't live forever

that's why most media players use a foreground service, as they are part of the foreground user experience

ok but I am a heavy spotify user and I spotify almost never stops to stream

does Spotify have an icon in the status bar, from a Notification?

I would like to make my service last forever as Spotify

yes, and actually have some buttons in the notification there like play, next

they are using a foreground service, most likely

ok so would you say I should use a foreround service for my purpose?

*foreground service

again, most media players use a foreground service

there is a section on foreground services in the chapter on Notifications in the book, as you need a Notification to have a foreground service

see page 758 of Version 6.7 of the book

ideally, your Notification provides the same sorts of media controls as you see Spotify and other media players offer in their notifications

let me take another question from EGHDK, and I will be back with you shortly

ok I will read about that in the book and see if I can make it work... May I ask you another related question?

ok

EGHDK: do you have another question?

EGHDK: if you come up with another question, ping me here on the chat so I can give you a turn

Miguel: back to you!

ok I am reading about that in the pdf but I would like to know something else

Miguel: go ahead

another issue I have with my current application is that if the application is running and streaming the music and someone call to the phone, the service stops/pause (no sure what happens exactly) and the phone rings

if the user does not answer and just ignore the call, the music from my application continue

so no problem

but if the person answer the call

and finish the call

he must go to my application by hand and press play to resume

I tested with Spotify, and the music continue after I finish the incoming call

how I can do the same with my service?

well, first, please consider the length of the call in your plans

automatically resuming playback after a short call seems fine

automatically resuming playback after a longer call is risky

as the environment around the user may have changed

and it may not be appropriate to play back music at that point

particularly when it might be through a phone speaker, versus a headset or something

that being said, you will want to look at the audio focus APIs: http://developer.android.com/training/managing-...

so that is actually that Android OS decide or I must configure my service to handle that situation?

a little of both

ok I will take a look on that link after reading the pdf

also, see http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/media...

I have not used these APIs, so other than I know this is the right area, I do not know the details of how best to handle your case

if either of you has a question, go right ahead

ok thanks

how long you will be here?

the chat runs for another ~15 minutes

they run an hour each

Mark, when is the next chat available?

the next one is 9am US Eastern tomorrow

the calendar for the chats is on the Warescription site (https://wares.commonsware.com)

ok I see, it is in the calendar

ok

usually, they are Tuesdays and Thursdays

it varies somewhat based on my travel schedule

Mark! Now it works!

I kill my activity and the streaming continues!

but even with a Foreground Service, Android OS can kill the service any moment right?

yes, though a foreground service is usually pretty durable

it will depend on how much system RAM there is on the device

but a foreground service can often run for days

which probably is longer than you need it

ok great! that is what I was looking for

and that's a wrap for today's chat

the transcript will be posted to https://commonsware.com/office-hours/ shortly

thanks Mark, I will be back tomorrow for more questions

thanks

sounds good

have a pleasant day!

you too