Confused between onSaveInstanceState and onPause on page 81 and 82

fungi8210 · March 9th, 2010, 12:49 AM

It might be SDK version differences that results in different application of onSaveInstanceState and onPause methods.

This is my understanding of onSaveInstanceState() and onPause(), backed up by the explanation on
http://developer.android.com/intl/zh...#v=TkPiXRNee7A
found at 13 mins 50 sec mark.

1) onSaveInstanceState() is intended for the use to save UI states, I have no question about that.
2) onPause() is intended for the use to save persistent data (database, files.. etc), in other words.. data that should persist across application sessions.

If my understanding is correct, then shouldn't the comment in onStop() found on page 82
"Persist all edits or state changes ..." be moved to onPause() ?

thanks

Reto · March 9th, 2010, 09:26 AM

You make a good point! In most circumstances you will want to persist all edits and state changes on onPause to ensure that they are saved should the runtime prematurely kill the application while it's paused.

In practice, a paused Activity may still be visible, so there is a chance that some of its state may have changed (though not through direct user interaction). It's also very unlikely that a paused Activity (rather than a stopped one) will be executed.

In general though, you're 100% correct. That comment would be better placed in the onPause method. Thanks for the feedback!