Android Broadcast Receiver, not Receiving?

Question

Got an issue with my BroadcastReceiver not ever being fired. Here's the definition of the receiver:

    public class UIUpdater extends BroadcastReceiver {
        private final Handler handler;
        public UIUpdater(Handler handler)
        {
            this.handler = handler;
        }

        @Override
        public void onReceive(final Context context, final Intent intent)
        {           
            String action = intent.getAction();
            Log.i("MAIN", " >>> ACTION <<< : " + action);

            if(action.equalsIgnoreCase("PROGRESSINIT"))
            {
                int size = intent.getIntExtra("PROGRESSSIZE", 0);
                updatePopulateProgressSize(size);
            }

            handler.post(new Runnable(){
                @Override
                public void run(){
                    updatePopulateProgress(intent.getIntExtra("PROGRESS", 0));                  
                }
            });
        }
    }

Here's the Manifest :

    <receiver android:name="com.goosesys.gaggle.Main$UIUpdater">
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="com.goosesys.gaggle.populate"/>
        </intent-filter>
    </receiver>

And here's where I attempt to use it:

    JSONArray array = new JSONArray(xmppBack.getPayload());

    Intent intent = new Intent(Constants.BC_POPULATE);
    intent.setAction(Constants.BC_PROGRESSINIT);
    intent.putExtra(Constants.BC_PROGRESSSIZE, array.length());
    GaggleApplication.getContext().sendBroadcast(intent);

Oh, and the constants:

public static final String BC_POPULATE              = "com.goosesys.gaggle.populate";
public static final String BC_PROGRESSINIT          = "PROGRESSINIT";
public static final String BC_PROGRESSSIZE          = "PROGRESSSIZE";
public static final String BC_PROGRESSINC           = "PROGRESSINC";

Thing is, I've stepped through each and every part and all is fine, no errors, no leaks, no problems. Just that the onReceive is never popped :(

I'm new to broadcastreceivers, please be gentle ;)

Cheers in advance!

Answer 1

Had you looked at LogCat, you would have found a warning or error, with a stack trace complaining about the fact that Android cannot create an instance of UIUpdater . That is for two reasons:

1. It is not a static inner class, and so the framework cannot create an instance of it (instances can only be created by the outer Main class instance)

2. It does not have a zero-argument constructor, and that's what the framework will use

Also, this is not a good use case for a regular system broadcast like this. Please use an in-process event bus ( LocalBroadcastManager , Square's Otto, greenrobot's EventBus, etc.). That will improve performance (no IPC), improve security (right now, anyone can hack your receiver), and may simplify your code (if you use Otto or EventBus).

Answer 2

You need to register your receiver somewhere. Usually in onCreate method, i do it like :

registerReceiver(new UIUpdater(mhandler), new IntentFilter());