Javafx 2 Notification Refresh - javafx-2

Question

I have a requirement in JavaFX 2 to display the notifications on the header. These notifications are populated in the database through an external system.
When a new notification is inserted in the database, my JavaFX application should listen to the same and refresh the header.
One solution I can think about is to implement a timeline that triggers the code to retrieve the latest notification status once every fixed time period, may be once every 2 mins.
Other than this, is there any other way to achieve this? Any hints on this would be highly appreciated.

Answer 1

You can create a new Task that would be listening (or checking) for changes in your database. This Task would be running in a different Thread as not to block your UI. Once a change occurs, it can then update your UI.
Your code could look like this :
//... initialize your variables.
task = new DatabaseWatcher();
executor = Executors.newSingleThreadExecutor();
executor.execute(task);
And your DatabaseWatcher :
public class DatabaseWatcher extends Task<Object> {
public DatabaseWatcher() {
//initialize here
}
#Override
protected Object call() throws Exception {
//Get data from database
//if new update :
updateUI();
return null;
}
private void updateUI() {
Platform.runLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
//Set your new values in your UI
//Call the method in your UI to update values.
}
});
}
}
This should get you started on the right path.
See Also
Multiple FXML with Controllers, share object, more specifically this answer
javafx, update ui from another thread
Concurrency in JavaFX