CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javaandroidsockets
Z. Charles Dziura
Z. Charles Dziura

Reputation: 933

Proper way to create and connect to a Socket in Android

I'm getting to a point in the development of an Android app where I've reached a stumbling block: how to create, manage, and connect to a Socket in Android.

My app needs to keep a persistent TCP connection to the server in order to exchange JSON formatted strings back and forth. After reading up on the subject, I've determined the best way forward is to create a Service when the app starts up (by extending the Application class and starting the Service in onCreate()), then read from/write to the Socket as needed. But how do I do that?

I obviously know how to create a Service and how to create and work with a Socket. But I don't know the best way to interact with one in an Android environment. Should I create an AsyncTask whenever I want to write data? Should I use Intents? Any help on the subject would be wonderful. And if my question isn't clear, I'll be more than happy to clarify anything.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 229

Answers (2)

Z. Charles Dziura
Z. Charles Dziura

Reputation: 933

Apparently I was thinking about this problem incorrectly. What I need is to implement a "Bound Service", which will give my Activity an interface to interact with in order to send and receive messages.

Here's a link to the tutorial I found which gives an excellent overview of how to do this.

Upvotes: 0

Ben Barkay
Ben Barkay

Reputation: 5632

Within the service, you can simply listen as you would in a regular Java application. This means you can safely wait for IO as you normally would.

You will have to use Intent when you wish to notify your activities about new data arrival using sendBroadcast and receiving it to your activities by either registering a BroadcastReceiver using registerReceiver or modifying your manifest file.

This is a good tutorial that may help you with broadcasting for Service <-> Activity communication.

Upvotes: 1

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