“Unable to start service Intent” error when starti

Question

I see the following error in DDMS when trying to use a CheckBox on my MyActivity" activity to start a service called "MyService":

W/ActivityManager(   73): Unable to start service Intent { cmp=com.example.android.myprogram/.MyService }: not found

I used the tutorial http://developer.android.com/resources/tutorials/views/hello-formstuff.html and added the provided code to the end of my onCreate() method. I have the classes specified separately in MyActivity.java and MyService.java.

package com.example.android.myprogram;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.util.Log;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.View.OnClickListener;
import android.widget.CheckBox;


public class MyActivity extends Activity {
    private static final String TAG = "MyActivity";

    /** Called when the activity is first created. */
    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.main);

        final CheckBox checkbox = (CheckBox) findViewById(R.id.checkbox);
        checkbox.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
            public void onClick(View v) {
                // Perform action on clicks, depending on whether it's now checked
                if (((CheckBox) v).isChecked()) {
                    // TODO: Add code to START the service
                    Log.d(TAG, "startService from checkbox");     
                    startService(new Intent(MyActivity.this, MyService.class));
                } else {
                    // TODO: Add code to STOP the service
                    Log.d(TAG, "stopService from checkbox");     
                    stopService(new Intent(MyActivity.this, MyService.class));
                }
            }
        });
    }
}

My manifest file does have the following in which I've also tried the full namespace, short name, using an intent-filter per another search, etc. I'm not saying what is there is correct. I just left it at a stopping point.

<service android:name=".MyService">
   <intent-filter><action android:name="com.example.android.myprogram.MyService"></action>
   </intent-filter>
</service>

And lastly, my service which I've decided to break down to it's bare minimum:

package com.example.android.myprogram;


import android.app.Service;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.os.IBinder;
import android.util.Log;

public class MyService extends Service {
    private static final String TAG = "MyService";

    @Override
    public IBinder onBind(Intent intent) {
        return null;
    }

    @Override
    public void onCreate() {
        Log.d(TAG, "onCreate");
        //code to execute when the service is first created
    }

    @Override
    public void onDestroy() {
        Log.d(TAG, "onDestroy");
        //code to execute when the service is shutting down
    }

    @Override
    public void onStart(Intent intent, int startid) {
        Log.d(TAG, "onStart");
        //code to execute when the service is starting up
    }
}

I'm very, very, very new to Java/Android programming and programming in general (but learning) so I'm sure this is user error and probably common sense to everyone else. Any suggestions would be great.

Answer 1

I kept digging around and, as I figured, I was making an obvious rookie error. In AndroidManifest.xml, I had the < service> declaration after < application> instead of nested inside it.

Answer 2

You need not to write intent filter because you are starting service explicitly. If you are new to android use following link it will be very helpful for you. It has service example too. http://saigeethamn.blogspot.com/2009/08/android-developers-tutorial-for.html

Answer 3

clean up the line in your manifest.xml

      <intent-filter>
             <action android:name="com.example.android.myprogram.MyService"> 
            </action>
        </intent-filter>

Answer 4

see my answer in Unable to start Service Intent

there's a good example http://www.websmithing.com/2011/02/01/how-to-update-the-ui-in-an-android-activity-using-data-from-a-background-service/comment-page-1/