Android Question Lost initialization of variables in Starter Service?

[FrankBerra]

Hello everyone

My app has service that startes in background from time to time. When i Start the service i immediately start foreground in this way:

Sub Service_Start (StartingIntent As Intent)
   StartTheForeground
   <....all instructions here...> 
   StopTheForeground
End sub

Sub StartTheForeground
   If IsPaused(Main) Then
       Dim n As Notification
       n.Initialize2(n.IMPORTANCE_LOW)
       n.Icon = "notifica_generica"
       n.Light = False
       n.Sound = False
       n.Vibrate = False
       n.SetInfo2(Starter.MappaEtichette.Get("NotificaDiSistema_check_Titolo"), Starter.MappaEtichette.Get("NotificaDiSistema_check_Testo"), "Visualizza_SpiegazioneNotificaGenerica", Main)
       Service.StartForeground(100, n)
   End If
End Sub

The bad thing is that based on the Crashlytics information some random devices (and android versions) crashes with the following errors:

Fatal Exception: java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to start service project.me.radar@aba4609 with Intent { cmp=project.me/.radar (has extras) }: java.lang.RuntimeException: java.lang.RuntimeException: Object should first be initialized (Map).
       at android.app.ActivityThread.handleServiceArgs + 3744(ActivityThread.java:3744)
       at android.app.ActivityThread.-wrap20(Unknown Source)
       at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage + 1880(ActivityThread.java:1880)
       at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage + 106(Handler.java:106)
       at android.os.Looper.loop + 166(Looper.java:166)
       at android.app.ActivityThread.main + 6861(ActivityThread.java:6861)
       at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java)
       at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run + 450(RuntimeInit.java:450)
       at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main + 936(ZygoteInit.java:936)



Caused by java.lang.RuntimeException: java.lang.RuntimeException: Object should first be initialized (Map).
       at anywheresoftware.b4a.BA.raiseEvent2 + 233(BA.java:233)
       at anywheresoftware.b4a.BA.raiseEvent + 176(BA.java:176)
       at project.me.radar.handleStart + 100(radar.java:100)
       at project.me.radar.access$000 + 8(radar.java:8)
       at project.me.radar$1.run + 71(radar.java:71)
       at anywheresoftware.b4a.objects.ServiceHelper$StarterHelper.onStartCommand + 235(ServiceHelper.java:235)
       at project.me.radar.onStartCommand + 69(radar.java:69)
       at android.app.ActivityThread.handleServiceArgs + 3718(ActivityThread.java:3718)
       at android.app.ActivityThread.-wrap20(Unknown Source)
       at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage + 1880(ActivityThread.java:1880)
       at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage + 106(Handler.java:106)
       at android.os.Looper.loop + 166(Looper.java:166)
       at android.app.ActivityThread.main + 6861(ActivityThread.java:6861)
       at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java)
       at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run + 450(RuntimeInit.java:450)
       at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main + 936(ZygoteInit.java:936)



Caused by java.lang.RuntimeException: Object should first be initialized (Map).
       at anywheresoftware.b4a.AbsObjectWrapper.getObject + 50(AbsObjectWrapper.java:50)
       at anywheresoftware.b4a.objects.collections.Map.Get + 64(Map.java:64)
       at project.me.radar._vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv2 + 346(radar.java:346)
       at project.me.radar._service_start + 825(radar.java:825)
       at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java)
       at anywheresoftware.b4a.BA.raiseEvent2 + 196(BA.java:196)
       at anywheresoftware.b4a.BA.raiseEvent + 176(BA.java:176)
       at project.me.radar.handleStart + 100(radar.java:100)
       at project.me.radar.access$000 + 8(radar.java:8)
       at project.me.radar$1.run + 71(radar.java:71)
       at anywheresoftware.b4a.objects.ServiceHelper$StarterHelper.onStartCommand + 235(ServiceHelper.java:235)
       at project.me.radar.onStartCommand + 69(radar.java:69)
       at android.app.ActivityThread.handleServiceArgs + 3718(ActivityThread.java:3718)
       at android.app.ActivityThread.-wrap20(Unknown Source)
       at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage + 1880(ActivityThread.java:1880)
       at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage + 106(Handler.java:106)
       at android.os.Looper.loop + 166(Looper.java:166)
       at android.app.ActivityThread.main + 6861(ActivityThread.java:6861)
       at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java)
       at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run + 450(RuntimeInit.java:450)
       at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main + 936(ZygoteInit.java:936)

where the sub _vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv2 is StartTheForeground.

The only "map" i access from that sub is "Starter.MappaEtichette" that should be already initialized...
(I can't reproduce the errors on my devices)
Is there something that i can do for avoiding this kind of crashes?

 

[Erel]

How is the service started? Which version of B4A are you using?

 

[FrankBerra]

The service is starter in this way:

   StartServiceAtExact(Radar, DateTime.Now+2*DateTime.TicksPerSecond, True) 'From the starter service


   Dim MomentoDiRestart As Long
   MomentoDiRestart = DateTime.Now + Minutes * DateTime.TicksPerMinute 
   StartServiceAtExact(Me, MomentoDiRestart, True) 'From service itself

The version of B4A is 9.01.2

 

[Erel]

Why are you using StartServiceAtExact for this? This is not the correct use case for a scheduled service.

You need to use:

Sleep(2000)
StartService(Radar)
StartService(MomentiDiRestart)

 

[FrankBerra]

Thank you for hint.
So are you telling me that if restart the service Radar, let say every 20 minutes, with
StartServiceAtExact(Me, MomentoDiRestart, True)
i am going to loose the initialization of variables in starter service?

 

[Erel]

Scheduling the service to start every 2 seconds with StartServiceAt is a mistake.
You should use a timer for this.

Somehow the process was killed and the starter service wasn't able to run.