Android: wait on user input from dialog?

Question

I would like to implement a method that displays a dialog, waits until the dialog is dismissed, and then returns a result depending on the dialog contents. Is this possible?

public String getUserInput()
{
    //do something to show dialog
    String input = //get input from dialog
    return input;
}

I am actually trying to implement an interface which has method "public String getUserInput()", where the returned String must be retrieved via dialog. This is easily done in java, seems impossible in android?

EDIT: Posting some sample code as requested in comment

getInput() must be called from a background thread (I call it from an AsynchTask). getInput() displays a dialog and calls wait. When the ok button is pressed on the dialog, the dialog sets the user input in a member variable and calls notify. When notify is called, getInput() continues and returns the member variable.

String m_Input;

public synchronized String getInput()
{
    runOnUiThread(new Runnable() 
    {
        @Override
        public void run() 
        {
            AlertDialog.Builder alert = new AlertDialog.Builder(context);
            //customize alert dialog to allow desired input
            alert.setPositiveButton("Ok", new DialogInterface.OnClickListener() {
            public void onClick(DialogInterface dialog, int whichButton)
            {
                          m_Input = alert.getCustomInput();
                          notify();
            }
        });
        alert.show();   
        }
    });

    try 
    {
         wait();
    } 
    catch (InterruptedException e) 
    {
    }

    return m_Input;
}

Answer 1

Something like this would do

/**
 *
 */

import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.WindowManager;
import android.view.View.OnClickListener;
import android.widget.Button;
import android.widget.EditText;

/**
 * @author 
 */
public class TextEntryActivity extends Activity {
    private EditText et;

    /*
     * (non-Javadoc)
     * @see android.app.Activity#onCreate(android.os.Bundle)
     */
    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

        setContentView(R.layout.activity_text_entry);
        getWindow().setFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_BLUR_BEHIND,
                WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_BLUR_BEHIND);
        // title
        try {
            String s = getIntent().getExtras().getString("title");
            if (s.length() > 0) {
                this.setTitle(s);
            }
        } catch (Exception e) {
        }
        // value

        try {
            et = ((EditText) findViewById(R.id.txtValue));
            et.setText(getIntent().getExtras().getString("value"));
        } catch (Exception e) {
        }
        // button
        ((Button) findViewById(R.id.btnDone)).setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {

            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                executeDone();
            }
        });
    }

    /* (non-Javadoc)
     * @see android.app.Activity#onBackPressed()
     */
    @Override
    public void onBackPressed() {
        executeDone();
        super.onBackPressed();
    }

    /**
     *
     */
    private void executeDone() {
        Intent resultIntent = new Intent();
        resultIntent.putExtra("value", TextEntryActivity.this.et.getText().toString());
        setResult(Activity.RESULT_OK, resultIntent);
        finish();
    }


}

The launch is:

public void launchPreferedNameEdit() {
    Intent foo = new Intent(this, TextEntryActivity.class);
    foo.putExtra("value", objItem.getPreferedNickname());
    this.startActivityForResult(foo, EDIT_PREFERED_NAME);
}

You get the result by using

protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
    switch (requestCode) {
        case EDIT_PREFERED_NAME:
            try {
                String value = data.getStringExtra("value");
                if (value != null && value.length() > 0) {

                }
            } catch (Exception e) {
            }
            break;
        default:
            break;
    }
}