Observer won't run update in JavaFX GUI - multithreading

Question

I read much about the JavaFX GUI Model, Plattform->RunLater and Threads, but I still do not figure out how to get this right. I had a JavaFX GUI which on a button click executed a process and updated a Progress Bar and Label. This was running well with Threading and Platform, but I had to Change this to an Observer Model.
I invoke a Progress Tracker in a Singleton Model, which gets updated by the class executing the process and is Observable. I implemented an Observer as well which should update the two UI Elements.
GUI Controller with Button Event
private void createKeyPressed(ActionEvent event) {
// Make Progressbar visible
pbKeyProgress.visibleProperty().set(true);
if (!Check.keyFileExistant() || cbKeyOverwrite.selectedProperty().get()) {
ProgressTracker.getTracker().addObserver(new ProgressObserver(pbKeyProgress, lblKeyProgress));
Creator.createKey(cbKeyLength.getValue());
} else {
}
}
Progress Observer
public class ProgressObserver implements Observer {
private final ProgressBar progressBar;
private final Label statusLabel;
public ProgressObserver(ProgressBar progressBar, Label statusLabel) {
this.progressBar = progressBar;
this.statusLabel = statusLabel;
}
#Override
public void update(Observable o, Object o1) {
Platform.runLater(() -> {
System.out.println("Tracker set to "+ProgressTracker.getProgress() + " " + ProgressTracker.getStatus());
progressBar.setProgress(ProgressTracker.getProgress());
statusLabel.setText(ProgressTracker.getStatus());
});
}
}
Progress Tracker
public synchronized void setTracker(int currentStep, String currentStatus) {
checkInstance();
instance.step = currentStep;
instance.status = currentStatus;
instance.notifyObservers();
System.out.println(instance.countObservers());
}
Creator
public static void createKey(String length) {
Task<Void> task;
task = new Task<Void>() {
#Override
public Void call() throws Exception {
initTracker(0,"Start");
doStuff();
ProgressTracker.getTracker().setTracker(1,"First");
doStuff();
ProgressTracker.getTracker().setTracker(2,"Second");
// and so on
return null;
}
};
new Thread(task)
.start();
}
The Print within the ProgressTracker gets executed. However, if I add a print within the update of the Observer nothing will be printed. If I check within the Progresstracker, the Observer Count is 1.
Why does the Observer not get notified or execute anything, even if the Notify is called? Did I get the Threading and Execution Modell wrong?
The Progress Bar and the Label will also stay on their initial values.

Answer 1

Don't reinvent the wheel. The JavaFX Properties Pattern is a ready-made implementation of the Observable pattern: there is no need to implement it yourself. Additionally, Task already defines methods for updating various properties, which can be called from any thread but will schedule the actual updates on the FX Application Thread. See updateProgress() and updateMessage(), for example.
So you can do, for example:
public static Task<Void> createKey(String length) {
Task<Void> task;
task = new Task<Void>() {
final int totalSteps = ... ;
#Override
public Void call() throws Exception {
updateProgress(0, totalSteps);
updateMessage("Start");
doStuff();
updateProgress(1, totalSteps);
updateMessage("First");
doStuff();
updateProgress(2, totalSteps);
updateMessage("Second");
// and so on
return null;
}
};
new Thread(task)
.start();
return task ;
}
and
private void createKeyPressed(ActionEvent event) {
// Make Progressbar visible
pbKeyProgress.visibleProperty().set(true);
if (!Check.keyFileExistant() || cbKeyOverwrite.selectedProperty().get()) {
Task<Void> task = Creator.createKey(cbKeyLength.getValue());
pbKeyProgress.progressProperty().bind(task.progressProperty());
lblKeyProgress.textProperty().bind(task.messageProperty());
} else {
}
}