Android四大组件之一Service（服务）

 

 

A Service is an application component that can perform long-running operations in the background and does not provide a user interface. Another application component can start a service and it will continue to run in the background even if the user switches to another application. Additionally, a component can bind to a service to interact with it and even perform interprocess communication (IPC). For example, a service might handle network transactions, play music, perform file I/O, or interact with a content provider, all from the background.

A service can essentially take two forms:

Started

A service is "started" when an application component (such as an activity) starts it by calling startService(). Once started, a service can run in the background indefinitely, even if the component that started it is destroyed. Usually, a started service performs a single operation and does not return a result to the caller. For example, it might download or upload a file over the network. When the operation is done, the service should stop itself.

Bound

A service is "bound" when an application component binds to it by calling bindService(). A bound service offers a client-server interface that allows components to interact with the service, send requests, get results, and even do so across processes with interprocess communication (IPC). A bound service runs only as long as another application component is bound to it. Multiple components can bind to the service at once, but when all of them unbind, the service is destroyed.

Although this documentation generally discusses these two types of services separately, your service can work both ways—it can be started (to run indefinitely) and also allow binding. It's simply a matter of whether you implement a couple callback methods: onStartCommand() to allow components to start it and onBind() to allow binding.

Regardless of whether your application is started, bound, or both, any application component can use the service (even from a separate application), in the same way that any component can use an activity—by starting it with an Intent. However, you can declare the service as private, in the manifest file, and block access from other applications. This is discussed more in the section about Declaring the service in the manifest.

Caution: A service runs in the main thread of its hosting process—the service does not create its own thread and does not run in a separate process (unless you specify otherwise). This means that, if your service is going to do any CPU intensive work or blocking operations (such as MP3 playback or networking), you should create a new thread within the service to do that work. By using a separate thread, you will reduce the risk of Application Not Responding (ANR) errors and the application's main thread can remain dedicated to user interaction with your activities.

The Basics

To create a service, you must create a subclass of Service (or one of its existing subclasses). In your implementation, you need to override some callback methods that handle key aspects of the service lifecycle and provide a mechanism for components to bind to the service, if appropriate. The most important callback methods you should override are:

onStartCommand()

The system calls this method when another component, such as an activity, requests that the service be started, by calling startService(). Once this method executes, the service is started and can run in the background indefinitely. If you implement this, it is your responsibility to stop the service when its work is done, by calling stopSelf() or stopService(). (If you only want to provide binding, you don't need to implement this method.)

onBind()

The system calls this method when another component wants to bind with the service (such as to perform RPC), by calling bindService(). In your implementation of this method, you must provide an interface that clients use to communicate with the service, by returning an IBinder. You must always implement this method, but if you don't want to allow binding, then you should return null.

onCreate()

The system calls this method when the service is first created, to perform one-time setup procedures (before it calls either onStartCommand() or onBind()). If the service is already running, this method is not called.

onDestroy()

The system calls this method when the service is no longer used and is being destroyed. Your service should implement this to clean up any resources such as threads, registered listeners, receivers, etc. This is the last call the service receives.

If a component starts the service by calling startService() (which results in a call to onStartCommand()), then the service remains running until it stops itself with stopSelf() or another component stops it by calling stopService().

If a component callsbindService() to create the service (and onStartCommand() is not called), then the service runs only as long as the component is bound to it. Once the service is unbound from all clients, the system destroys it.

The Android system will force-stop a service only when memory is low and it must recover system resources for the activity that has user focus. If the service is bound to an activity that has user focus, then it's less likely to be killed, and if the service is declared to run in the foreground (discussed later), then it will almost never be killed. Otherwise, if the service was started and is long-running, then the system will lower its position in the list of background tasks over time and the service will become highly susceptible to killing—if your service is started, then you must design it to gracefully handle restarts by the system. If the system kills your service, it restarts it as soon as resources become available again (though this also depends on the value you return from onStartCommand(), as discussed later). For more information about when the system might destroy a service, see the Processes and Threadingdocument.

In the following sections, you'll see how you can create each type of service and how to use it from other application components.

 

 

 

Service LifeCycle

If someone calls Context.startService() then the system will retrieve the service (creating it and calling its onCreate() method if needed) and then call its onStartCommand(Intent, int, int) method with the arguments supplied by the client. The service will at this point continue running until Context.stopService() or stopSelf() is called. Note that multiple calls to Context.startService() do not nest (though they do result in multiple corresponding calls to onStartCommand()), so no matter how many times it is started a service will be stopped once Context.stopService() or stopSelf() is called; however, services can use their stopSelf(int) method to ensure the service is not stopped until started intents have been processed.

Clients can also use Context.bindService() to obtain a persistent connection to a service.  This likewise creates the service if it is not already running (calling onCreate() while doing so), but does not call onStartCommand().  The client will receive the IBinder object that the service returns from itsonBind(Intent) method, allowing the client to then make calls back to the service.  The service will remain running as long as the connection is established (whether or not the client retains a reference on the service's IBinder).  Usually the IBinder returned is for a complex interface that has beenwritten in aidl. 

A service can be both started and have connections bound to it.  In such a case, the system will keep the service running as long as either it is startedor there are one or more connections to it with theContext.BIND_AUTO_CREATE flag.  Once neither of these situations hold, the service'sonDestroy() method is called and the service is effectively terminated.  All cleanup (stopping threads, unregistering receivers) should be complete upon returning from onDestroy().

 

public class ExampleService extends Service {  
    int mStartMode;       // indicates how to behave if the service is killed   
    IBinder mBinder;      // interface for clients that bind   
    boolean mAllowRebind; // indicates whether onRebind should be used   
  
    @Override  
    public void onCreate() {  
       // The service is being created   
    }  
     @Override  
     public int onStartCommand(Intent intent, int flags, int startId) {  
       // The service is starting, due to a call to startService()   
        return mStartMode;  
     }  
     @Override  
    public IBinder onBind(Intent intent) {  
        // A client is binding to the service with bindService()   
        return mBinder;  
    }  
    @Override  
    public boolean onUnbind(Intent intent) {  
         // All clients have unbound with unbindService()   
        return mAllowRebind;  
   }  
   @Override  
    public void onRebind(Intent intent) {  
         // A client is binding to the service with bindService(),   
      // after onUnbind() has already been called   
    }  
     @Override  
    public void onDestroy() {  
       // The service is no longer used and is being destroyed   
   }  
 }