How can I pass an Intent to a Service when starting it (but only sometimes)

So, I'm working on an Android application for a school project, and have hit a strange bug towards the end of the development. Part of the application is a Service that runs in the background and checks in with a server every so often, but there needs to be an option whether to run the service in the background or to rather use manual check-ins. In order to avoid duplicating code, what I've tried to do is pass an Intent along to the service when it starts with a boolean value along the lines of "Force an update once, then stop." However, My Service doesn't seem to be getting this value.

The code that starts the service:

Intent intent = new Intent(this, EmpCheckinService.class);
intent.putExtra("singleCheckInOnly", true);
intent.putExtra("locationString", location);

startService(intent);

And the code in the Service class:

// This is the old onStart method that will be called on the pre-2.0
// platform.  On 2.0 or later we override onStartCommand() so this
// method will not be called.
@Override
public void onStart(Intent intent, int startId) {
    examineIntent(intent);
}

@Override
public int onStartCommand(Intent intent, int flags, int startId) {
    examineIntent(intent);
    // We want this service to continue running until it is explicitly
    // stopped, so return sticky.
    return START_STICKY;
}

private void examineIntent(Intent intent) {
    try {
        singleCheckInOnly = intent.getExtras().getBoolean("singleCheckInOnly", false);
        locationString = intent.getExtras().getString("locationString");
    } catch (Exception e) {
        // Don't need to 开发者_JAVA百科do anything here, just prevent from crashing if the keys aren't found
    }
}

As you can see, I've got onStart and onStartCommand present to allow it to work on 1.5 or 2.1+ devices, but it never hits either of those functions. Can anyone point me in the right direction here?

EDIT: I think I found the issue. Is onCreate called before onStartCommand?

Is onCreate called before onStartCommand?

Yes.

This would be significantly simpler and more user-friendly if you:

Step #1: Create an IntentService rather than a Service, and

Step #2: Use AlarmManager to send Intents to the service for the periodic checks with the server

Then, from the service's standpoint, there is no difference between the timer-based check and the user-initiated check.

if you have more than 1 extra to put, then it is preferred that you use bundle

Tos send extras use-

 Intent i = new Intent(sender.this,receiver.class);
           Bundle extras = new Bundle();
    extras.putString("key1",element);
    extras.putString("key1",element);
    extras.putString("key2",element2);
    extras.putString("key3",element3);
    extras.putString("key4",element4);
  ......so on
        i.putExtras(extras);

to receive use-

   Bundle extras2 = getIntent().getExtras();

            if (extras != null){
            final String str = extras2.getString("key1");
final String str = extras2.getString("key2");
final String str = extras2.getString("key3");
final String str = extras2.getString("key4");
final String str = extras2.getString("key5");
......so  on