Unable to add window -- token null is not valid is your activity running

Question

I am trying to put a feature of a custom popup menu that shows up when the user clicks on the floating icons.

Floating icon code:

public class copy_actions_service extends Service
{
    ImageView copy_ImageView;
    WindowManager windowManager;
    WindowManager.LayoutParams layoutParams;

    @Override
    public IBinder onBind(Intent arg0)
    {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub
        return null;
    }
    
    @Override
    
    public void onCreate()
    {
        windowManager=(WindowManager)getSystemService(WINDOW_SERVICE);
        
        copy_ImageView=new ImageView(this);
        copy_ImageView.setImageResource(R.drawable.ic_launcher);
        copy_ImageView.setAlpha(245);
        copy_ImageView.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener()
        {
            
            @Override
            public void onClick(View arg0)
            {
                showCustomPopupMenu();
            }
        });
        
        layoutParams=new WindowManager.LayoutParams(
                WindowManager.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT,
                WindowManager.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT,
                WindowManager.LayoutParams.TYPE_PHONE,
                WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_NOT_FOCUSABLE,
                PixelFormat.TRANSLUCENT);
        
        layoutParams.gravity=Gravity.TOP|Gravity.CENTER;
        layoutParams.x=0;
        layoutParams.y=100;
        
        windowManager.addView(copy_ImageView, layoutParams);

    }
    
    private void showCustomPopupMenu()
    {
        LayoutInflater layoutInflater=(LayoutInflater)getSystemService(Context.LAYOUT_INFLATER_SERVICE);
        View view=layoutInflater.inflate(R.layout.xxact_copy_popupmenu, null);
        
        PopupWindow popupWindow=new PopupWindow();
        popupWindow.setContentView(view);
        popupWindow.setWidth(LinearLayout.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT);
        popupWindow.setHeight(LinearLayout.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT);
        popupWindow.setFocusable(true);

        popupWindow.showAtLocation(view, Gravity.NO_GRAVITY, 0, 0);             
    }
}

The problem starts when I click on the float button app it stops and this error is shown:

11-23 02:18:58.217: E/AndroidRuntime(3231): android.view.WindowManager$BadTokenException: Unable to add window -- token null is not valid; is your activity running?

How can I show a popup menu with icons? Can someone help me with this?

Answer 1

The issue is that you cant reliably pass the current activity to the popup window because you have no control over the current activity.  To solve this, you can make your own through the window manager. 

private void showCustomPopupMenu()
{
    windowManager2 = (WindowManager)getSystemService(WINDOW_SERVICE);
    LayoutInflater layoutInflater=(LayoutInflater)getSystemService(Context.LAYOUT_INFLATER_SERVICE);
    View view=layoutInflater.inflate(R.layout.xxact_copy_popupmenu, null);
    params=new WindowManager.LayoutParams(
        WindowManager.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT,
        WindowManager.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT,
        WindowManager.LayoutParams.TYPE_PHONE,
        WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_NOT_FOCUSABLE,
        PixelFormat.TRANSLUCENT
    );

    params.gravity=Gravity.CENTER|Gravity.CENTER;
    params.x=0;
    params.y=0;
    windowManager2.addView(view, params);  
}

To make it look like a popup window, add a transparent gray view as the background and add a click listener to it to remove the view from the window manager object. Then add permission in your manifest file:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW"/>

I hope this helps.