Thank you, Kostya - for sending me in the right direction. I now understand that the NullPointer Exception (I asked about) should be expected by any Service, as the Android system may restart it with a null intent - on purpose. However, after I have done some debugging using DDMS, I am unable to reproduce this behavior. when I stop a process, the service (in the process) always seems to be restarted by redelivering the originally used intent, regardless of whether START_STICKY, START_STICKY_COMPATIBILITY or START_REDELIVER_INTENT was returned from onStartCommand().
Interested developers should also read http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2010/02/service-api-changes-starting-with.html Terry. On 15 Des, 18:05, Terry <[email protected]> wrote: > I followed your advice, and used DDMS to stop the process of an app in > question. > Interestingly, it did not crash, but the Service was restarted > properly, without any error messages shown to the user. > The value START_STICKY is being (and has always been) returned from > method onStartCommand(). > So the problem is caused by something else - I guess. > > Terry > > On Dec 15, 2:43 pm, Kostya Vasilyev <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > > Well, maybe you should return START_NOT_STICKY, or > > START_REDELIVER_INTENT, or add an if statement checking for null - it > > just depends on the service. > > > Read the docs, run your own experiments with DDMS, then decide what is > > the right thing to do for your code. > > > The DDMS Perspective in Eclipse is under Window / Open Perspective / > > Other... / DDMS. The Devices tab lets you terminate your own apps's > > processes. > > > -- Kostya > > > 15 ÄÅËÁÂÒÑ 2011šÇ. 17:28 ÐÏÌØÚÏ×ÁÔÅÌØ Terry <[email protected]> ÎÁÐÉÓÁÌ: > > > > And what is the DDMS tab in Eclipse? > > > > Terry > > > > On Dec 15, 2:00špm, Terry <[email protected]> wrote: > > >> Thank, Kostya. > > > >> So, you mean that I should return START_STICKY_COMPATIBILITY to avoid > > >> this problem? > > > >> But the actual problem then probably lies somewhere else, which may > > >> cause the process to fail/stop in the first place. > > >> It could be some Exception. Why are they not registered? > > > >> Terry > > > >> On 15 Des, 11:59, Kostya Vasilyev <[email protected]> wrote: > > > >> >http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Service.html#onSta..., > > >> > int, int) > > >> > <http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Service.html#onSta...> > > > >> > š>> > > >> > intent šThe Intent supplied to|startService(Intent) > > >> > <http://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/Context.html#s...>|, > > >> > as given. *This may be null *if the service is being restarted after > > >> > its > > >> > process has gone away, and it had previously returned anything > > >> > except|START_STICKY_COMPATIBILITY > > >> > <http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Service.html#START...>|. > > > >> > << > > > >> > I believe the above statement is not quite correct about when the > > >> > intent > > >> > may be null, please see this as well: > > > >> >http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Service.html#START... > > > >> > You can try reproducing the issue on your development device by using > > >> > the DDMS tab in Eclipse in killing the service's process. When Android > > >> > restarts the service a bit later, check the intent. > > > >> > -- Kostya > > > >> > 15.12.2011 14:36, Terry ?????: > > > >> > > Occationally users report a NullPointerException Error at > > >> > > MyService.onStartCommand() for some of my apps. > > >> > > I never see this error when I try to debug the apps, and I wonder why > > >> > > this happens. > > >> > > I have studied the code both for the methods onStartCommand() and > > >> > > onCreate() for the services in question, but I seem unable to find > > >> > > the > > >> > > cause of the problem. I suspect that the actual reason for the crash > > >> > > lies elsewhere. > > > >> > > Here is the stack trace, which seems to be identical for all crashes > > >> > > on ALL of the apps in question: > > > >> > > java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to start service > > >> > > xxxx.xxxx.xxxx.MyService@405274c8 with null: > > >> > > java.lang.NullPointerException > > >> > > at android.app.ActivityThread.handleServiceArgs(ActivityThread.java: > > >> > > 2481) > > >> > > at android.app.ActivityThread.access$2800(ActivityThread.java:145) > > >> > > at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java: > > >> > > 1118) > > >> > > at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:99) > > >> > > at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:150) > > >> > > at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:4369) > > >> > > at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method) > > >> > > at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:507) > > >> > > at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit > > >> > > $MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:846) > > >> > > at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:604) > > >> > > at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method) > > >> > > Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException > > >> > > at xxxx.xxxx.xxxx.MyService.onStartCommand(MyService.java:279) > > >> > > at android.app.ActivityThread.handleServiceArgs(ActivityThread.java: > > >> > > 2464) > > > >> > > As the Google error report system does not include device type or > > >> > > Android os version, I do not know if this occurs only one some > > >> > > specific devices or os version. > > > >> > > Has anyone got an idea as to what is happening? > > > >> > > Thank you. > > >> > > Terry > > > >> > -- > > >> > Kostya Vasilyev > > > > -- > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > > > Groups "Android Developers" group. > > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > > [email protected] > > > For more options, visit this group at > > >http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. 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