IntentService connected to Server listening

Question

I coded an IntentService where I send a command line. Is related to an activity where I'm trying to program a Console. The activity's purpose is to do a 'command prompt' where I can send and receive to/from the server.

The Service's action is:

1. COnnect to the server
2. Send command line
3. Get response
4. Retrieve response to user

The main problem is that every time I send a command line, the Service has to reconnect to the server. (Cause every time I'm starting the whole Service)How can I avoid this step?

I would like to "keep alive" the service waiting for a command line to send, without the need of reconnect every time I execute its action.

Is there any way to do it action-responsive? I mean, I start the service and every time I set its action (setAction) and put the line I want (putExtra). Then I have to start the service again?

Good night. Tomorrow I'll be back :)

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Due to its "one shot" design, using an IntentService isn't a good approach IMO.

If you don't want to start the service each time you send a command, then I'd suggest you 'bind' to a standard Service (see Bound Services). If you bind to the Service in your Activity's onResume() method and unbind in onPause() your Activity will be able to directly call methods in the Service.

You will, of course, have to create your own worker Thread in your Service to handle any work involving your network connection however. If you want any tips on how to do that, look at the source code for IntentService - it's fairly straight-forward.

Answer 2

Don't use an IntentService. Per the documentation:

the service is started as needed, handles each Intent in turn using a worker thread, and stops itself when it runs out of work.

Instead, you should consider using a normal Service (calling stopSelf()) when you want to stop the service (and your connection to the server). Or, if you'd like the connection to the server to have the same lifecycle as the activity, you can create a bound service: it will start when your activity binds to it and then stop when the last activity is unbound.