Synchronous or Asynchronous Rxjava inside the Worker (from WorkManager component) what's the right choice?

Question

I'm new to the new architecture component WorkManager, I do my API calls via Retrofit and RxJava.

My use case here is to get new posts from the Backend, then show notification, and update a widget.

So the code inside doWork() method from the Worker class, may look like something like this.

@NonNull   @Override   public Result doWork() {     AppDependencies appDependencies = new AppDependencies((Application) getApplicationContext());     Repository repository = appDependencies.getRepository();      repository.getNewPosts()         .flatMap(newPosts -> repository.inserPosts(newPosts).toObservable())         .doOnError(Timber::e)         //if success - > return  Result.SUCCESS,         // -> show notification         // -> update widget         // error-> return Result.Failure         .dontKnowWhatBestNextThing; //blocking or subscribing      //if we reached here then Retry     return Result.RETRY;   } 

My Question is what is the right way to use a RxJava code inside the Worker Class because the doWork() method has a return value, so Do I have to make Rx code Synchronous.

if I'm using the nonblocking Rx approach, how can I return value (Success - Failure - Retry)

Answer 1

Since WorkManager version 1.0.0-alpha12 they added a new artifact called work-rxjava2 that includes RxWorker class exactly for this purpose. It is a special case of ListenableWorker expecting Single<Result>.

To implement it, first make sure you include correct artifacts to your build.gradle:

dependencies {    ...    implementation "android.arch.work:work-runtime-ktx:$work_version"    implementation "android.arch.work:work-rxjava2:$work_version" } 

And implement your RxWorker:

class MyRxWorker(context : Context, params : WorkerParameters) : RxWorker(context, params) {      val remoteService = RemoteService()      override fun createWork(): Single<Result> {         return remoteService.getMySingleResponse()                 .doOnSuccess { /* process result somehow */ }                 .map { Result.success() }                 .onErrorReturn { Result.failure() }     } } 

Answer 2

Edit: WorkManager now officially supports an RxWorker. Take a look at the answer above for more information.

doWork happens on a background thread. So it's safe to block. You should wait for the Observable to complete before you return a Result.

We are also working on making this easier with asynchronous APIs. Stay tuned.