My TCP thread creates an object of the MainActivity on start up.
Even if you create the object of the activity , that is not a real activity context. thats why your unable to start the other activity.
If I understood your problem correctly, when you try to start the other activity from handler, the MainActivity is in foreground(in stack).
Assuming that you have launched the MainActivity and your TCP operations are done in background.
If your background TCP operations are done from a service,then when the MainActivity is started you can bind to the service and share the activity context to the service.
So now with the MainActivity context you can send Message to the handler.
Here is a sample I created..
CustomService.java
public class CustomService extends Service {
private final IBinder mIBinder = new LocalBinder();
// temporary handler
private Handler mHandler = new Handler();
// context to hold MainActivity handler
private Context mActivityContext = null;
@Override
public int onStartCommand(Intent intent, int flag, int startId) {
// for testing Iam sending an empty message to the handler after 10 seconds
mHandler.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
@Override
public void run() {
if (mActivityContext != null) {
((MainActivity) mActivityContext).TCP_handler.sendEmptyMessage(2);
}
}
}, 10000);
return START_STICKY;
}
@Override
public IBinder onBind(Intent intent) {
return mIBinder;
}
public void setActivityContext(Activity activityContext) {
mActivityContext = activityContext;
}
public class LocalBinder extends Binder {
public CustomService getInstance() {
return CustomService.this;
}
}
}
Now , you can start the service from activity and bind a service connection.
MainActivity.java
public class MainActivity extends ActionBarActivity {
CustomService customService = null;
TextView textViewLineOne;
@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
// start the service, even if already running no problem.
startService(new Intent(this, CustomService.class));
// bind to the service.
bindService(new Intent(this,
CustomService.class), mConnection, Context.BIND_AUTO_CREATE);
}
private ServiceConnection mConnection = new ServiceConnection() {
@Override
public void onServiceConnected(ComponentName componentName, IBinder iBinder) {
customService = ((CustomService.LocalBinder) iBinder).getInstance();
// pass the activity context to the service
customService.setActivityContext(MainActivity.this);
}
@Override
public void onServiceDisconnected(ComponentName componentName) {
customService = null;
}
};
@Override
protected void onDestroy() {
super.onDestroy();
if (customService != null) {
// Detach the service connection.
unbindService(mConnection);
}
}
// Add your handler code stuff here..
}