android http post as a service

Question

can any one please tell me how to make this code work in the background and what is the difference when i make the code work in the background as in "do in background" and a service and which approach should i take

thanks to all in advance

this is the code:

public void  SticketFunction(double book, double libadd, long time){
        Log.v("log_tag", "%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SticketFunction()");
        //HttpClient
        HttpClient nnSticket = new DefaultHttpClient();
        //Response handler
        ResponseHandler<String> res = new BasicResponseHandler();

        HttpPost postMethod = new HttpPost("http://www.books-something.com");


        try {
            List<NameValuePair> nameValuePairs = new ArrayList<NameValuePair>(5);

            nameValuePairs.add(new BasicNameValuePair("book", book+""));

            nameValuePairs.add(new BasicNameValuePair("libAss", libass+""));

            nameValuePairs.add(new BasicNameValuePair("Time", time+""));

            nameValuePairs.add(new BasicNameValuePair("name", "jack"));
            //Encode and set entity
            postMethod.setEntity(new UrlEncodedFormEntity(nameValuePairs, HTTP.UTF_8));
            //Execute 
            //manSticket.execute(postMethod);
            String response =Sticket.execute(postMethod, res).replaceAll("<(.|\n)*?>","");
            if (response.equals("Done")){

                //Log.v("log_tag", "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SticketFunction got a DONE!");

            }
            else Log.v("log_tag", "!!!!!!!?????????? SticketFunction Bad or no response: " + response);

        } catch (ClientProtocolException e) {  
            // TODO Auto-generated catch block 
            //Log.v("log_tag", "???????????????????? SticketFunction Client Exception");
        } catch (IOException e) {  
            // TODO Auto-generated catch block
            //Log.v("log_tag", "???????????????????? IO Exception");
        } 
    }

}

Answer 1

The benefit of running a task in a Service is that it is not destroyed if the user backs out of the calling Activity.

You could look into extending IntentService and implementing onHandleIntent, which automatically does work on a separate thread.

When using a Service (or IntentService)in this situation, you would pass the NameValuePair values in a Bundle. You would also need to save the Response data to persistent storage (database, preferences, etc), for later retrieval in an Activity.

Alternatively, you can run an AsyncTask in a regular Service (implementing onStartCommand), or in the calling Activity.

Answer 2

You do not need a service for this. I believe you could use the AsyncTask if you don't want to block your application while doing the HTTP request. It provides a handy interface for showing results on the ui.

Another option is using the Handler class.

AsyncTask