[Q] Convert TimeZone to Text - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Im trying to convert the results of timezone to text for use in textView. I am new ro android devloping, so i need some help.
Here is my current code:
Code:
TimeZone tz = TimeZone.getDefault();
TextView tv = new TextView(this);
tv.setText(tz);
but it gives me this error:
Code:
The method setText(CharSequence) in the type TextView is not applicable for the arguments (TimeZone)
.
I understand the error, but I do not know how to convert the Timezone to "Eastern Standard Time" or "Pacific Standard Time" or whatever the case may be.
remember im a noob.. so please make it easy and actually show me the code. (im also new to java)

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Try this:
Code:
tv.setText(tz.getDisplayName());
Whenever you are stuck its always worth looking through the android reference for the classes you are working with. You'll almost always find a solution there
http://developer.android.com/reference/java/util/TimeZone.html

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that fixed it.. Thank you so much!
Yeah but like i say I'm new at java and android. So i can't understand most of it.

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alexander7567 said:
that fixed it.. Thank you so much!
Yeah but like i say I'm new at java and android. So i can't understand most of it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No worries. Just continue making some practice apps. And you'll get better at it!

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ok my next question is.. I want this to update every 30 seconds. I thought about using a Thread.sleep(10000);, but i realize this would not work because android would detect it being an infinite loop. So how could I create some kind of a thread i believe its called to poll the timezone every 10 seconds?

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Where exactly are you trying to set the text view? Is it in a while loop?

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no.. the textview simply shows the timezone. I live on the timezone line and i never know what time it really is.. So i was making a app and soon a widget that shows me what timezone I'm in. It's just a learning app for me.
So i need it to poll the timezone every 30 seconds and update the textview to the current time zone.
btw.. Looked at your app and i think its really neat that you can make a game like that.. Did you have to make all the graphics or what?

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I am guessing you are making the text view in the onCreate method.
Do this:
Before your activity's onCreate method, make three class members like so
Code:
private TextView textView;
private TimeZone timeZone;
private Timer timer;
Then in the onCreate method do this:
Code:
timer = new Timer();
textView = new TextView(this);
timeZone = TimeZone.getDefault();
TimerTask timerTask = new TimerTask()
{
@Override
public void run()
{
textView.setText(timeZone.getDisplayName());
}
};
timer.schedule(timerTask, 0, 30000);
Then when you wish to stop the timer do this (in the onDestroy method maybe?)
Code:
timer.cancel();
I hope you are familiar with Java's Anonymous Inner Classes. If not, I'd highly recommend first reading and getting familiar with the various Java features and techniques before continuing Android.
---------- Post added at 02:51 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:48 AM ----------
Thank you!
Yes I made all the graphics. Except for the coin . That was made by my cousin.

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i did what u said, and then i put in textView.setTextColor(929) in the time to test and see if it is actually updating, and i found out it is never running the "task"... Know what could be going on?

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Sorry about the old code. I did not test it before posting it.
Anyways I've tested the following code and it works fine for me. The timerTask is called every 30 seconds. You can verify this by looking at LogCat.
Code:
public class TestActivity extends Activity
{
private TimeZone timeZone;
private TextView textView;
private Timer timer;
private Handler handler;
@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState)
{
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
textView = new TextView(this);
timeZone = TimeZone.getDefault();
timer = new Timer();
handler = new Handler()
{
@Override
public void handleMessage(Message msg)
{
textView.setText(timeZone.getDisplayName());
}
};
TimerTask timerTask = new TimerTask()
{
@Override
public void run()
{
handler.sendEmptyMessage(0);
Log.d("TestActivity", "Timer Task Called");
}
};
timer.schedule(timerTask, 0, 30000);
setContentView(textView);
}
@Override
public void onDestroy()
{
super.onDestroy();
timer.cancel();
}
}
Let me know if this works for you

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What you gave me works. Thank you! I have done a lot of googling on that but there is nothing more helpful than a personalized answer.
So i think i have one last question. when you used "setContentView(textView);", it sets the whole screen to that text. And i realize this is a really noob question. But i am also trying to display other things in this app. It hides everything else.
So here is my sad atempt to fix it::
Code:
package com.alexriggs.android.timezoneclock;
import java.util.TimeZone;
import java.util.Timer;
import java.util.TimerTask;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.os.Handler;
import android.os.Message;
import android.util.Log;
import android.widget.TextView;
public class TimeZoneClockActivity extends Activity
{
private TimeZone timeZone;
private TextView t;
private Timer timer;
private Handler handler;
@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState)
{
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
t=new TextView(this);
t=(TextView)findViewById(R.id.textView1);
timeZone = TimeZone.getDefault();
timer = new Timer();
handler = new Handler()
{
@Override
public void handleMessage(Message msg)
{
t.setText(timeZone.getDisplayName());
}
};
TimerTask timerTask = new TimerTask()
{
@Override
public void run()
{
handler.sendEmptyMessage(0);
Log.d("TimeZoneClock", "Timer Task Called");
}
};
timer.schedule(timerTask, 0, 30000);
}
@Override
public void onDestroy()
{
super.onDestroy();
timer.cancel();
}
}
I show no compiler errors, but when i run the app i get a force close. I run it in debug mode and the error is around "t.setText(timeZone.getDisplayName());". I have tried googling but i cant seem to find the answer.
Sorry to keep bugging you, but i learn best by doing and not reading.

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are there hardcode in this?

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Well when you want to load up a view from an xml file you must do this:
Code:
setContentView(R.layout.main);
Where R.layout.main is the resource id of the xml file you wish to load. Only after that you can get the TextView (or any other component that is a part of that xml) using findViewById. And you don't need to do textView = new TextView(this); cause the TextView is already created when using xml, just grab a reference to it using findViewById.
So your code should look like this:
Code:
@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState)
{
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main); // Or whatever your layout xml's name is
t=(TextView)findViewById(R.id.textView1);
timeZone = TimeZone.getDefault();
timer = new Timer();
// The rest remains the same
Try it and let me know.
---------- Post added at 12:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:16 AM ----------
randommmm said:
are there hardcode in this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, but I'm not sure I understand what you mean to ask.

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wow.. That was so simple i now feel stupid lol.
Yes that fixed it. Thank you so much for your help.

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Ok.. new question for that same program.. I am now attempting to create a widget for this that simply displays a text view that shows the timezone. My problem is it simply show 'Large Text". It is not updating the text view to the timezone. Here is my code in AppWidget.java.
Code:
package com.alexriggs.android.timezoneclock;
import java.util.TimeZone;
import java.util.Timer;
import java.util.TimerTask;
import android.appwidget.AppWidgetManager;
import android.appwidget.AppWidgetProvider;
import android.content.Context;
import android.os.Handler;
import android.os.Message;
import android.util.Log;
import android.widget.TextView;
public class AppWidget extends AppWidgetProvider {
private TimeZone timeZone;
private TextView t;
private Timer timer;
private Handler handler;
public void onUpdate(Context context, AppWidgetManager appWidgetManager, int[] appWidgetIds) {
t=new TextView(context);
timeZone = TimeZone.getDefault();
timer = new Timer();
handler = new Handler()
{
@Override
public void handleMessage(Message msg)
{
t.setText(timeZone.getDisplayName());
}
};
TimerTask timerTask = new TimerTask()
{
@Override
public void run()
{
handler.sendEmptyMessage(0);
Log.d("TestActivity", "Timer Task Called");
}
};
timer.schedule(timerTask, 0, 30000);
}
}
BTW... Seems like this is the hardest language I have ever tried to learn.

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I realize im missing setContentView(R.layout.widget), but everytime i set it i get "The method setContentView(int) is undefined for the type AppWidget". Could that be thte issue?

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Hello again
I'm not really familiar with making widgets myself, so I cannot really say what you are doing wrong. I found a link to this tutorial on making a simple widget. I think you should try and follow it and see if you can get something out of it.
Let me know if it is helpful for you or not
http://www.vogella.com/articles/AndroidWidgets/article.html

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It was a lot more helpful than most things out there.
But i still am not able to understand it the best.
What i am wanting to accomplish is simply make a text view widget that displays the timezone (I.E. EST, CST, PST) and make it refresh every 30 seconds.
It isn't very hard to do in a normal app, but a widget seems impossible to me.
Is there anyone that can help me with This?