HTTP GET and POST Thread Service on Android

HttpService.java

import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
import java.util.List;

import org.apache.http.HttpResponse;
import org.apache.http.NameValuePair;
import org.apache.http.client.ClientProtocolException;
import org.apache.http.client.HttpClient;
import org.apache.http.client.entity.UrlEncodedFormEntity;
import org.apache.http.client.methods.HttpGet;
import org.apache.http.client.methods.HttpPost;
import org.apache.http.client.methods.HttpRequestBase;
import org.apache.http.impl.client.DefaultHttpClient;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.util.Log;

public class HttpService implements Runnable {

    private static final String TAG = "HttpService";
    public static final int GET = 0;
    public static final int POST = 1;
    public static final String HTTP_RESPONSE = "HTTP_RESPONSE";

    private Activity activity;
    private Intent intent;
    private int requestCode;
    private String url;
    private int getOrPost = 0;
    private List<NameValuePair> nameValuePairs;
    private boolean handleByMe;
    
    /*
     *  for example:
        List<NameValuePair> nameValuePairs = new ArrayList<NameValuePair>(2);
        nameValuePairs.add(new BasicNameValuePair("aaa", "bbb"));  
        nameValuePairs.add(new BasicNameValuePair("ccc", "ddd"));    
     */
    public HttpService(Activity activity, Intent intent, int requestCode, String url, int getOrPost, List<NameValuePair> nameValuePairs, boolean handleByMe){
        this.activity = activity;
        this.intent = intent;
        this.requestCode = requestCode;
        this.url = url;
        this.getOrPost = getOrPost;
        this.nameValuePairs = nameValuePairs;
        this.handleByMe = handleByMe;
    }
    
    public void start(){
        Thread thread = new Thread(this);
        try{
            thread.start();
        }catch(IllegalThreadStateException itse){
            Log.e(TAG, "The Thread has been started before.", itse);
        }
    }

    public void run() {
        doRequest();
    }

    public void doRequest(){
        HttpClient httpclient = new DefaultHttpClient();  
        HttpRequestBase httpRequest = null;
        HttpResponse httpResponse = null;
        InputStream inputStream = null;
        String response = "";
        StringBuffer buffer = new StringBuffer();
        
        if(POST == getOrPost){
            httpRequest = new HttpPost(url);  
            try {
                ((HttpPost)httpRequest).setEntity(new UrlEncodedFormEntity(nameValuePairs));
            } catch (UnsupportedEncodingException usee) {
                Log.e(TAG, "Could not encode the nameVaulePairs.", usee);
            }  
        }else{
            httpRequest = new HttpGet(url);  
        }
        if(httpRequest != null){
            try{
                httpResponse = httpclient.execute(httpRequest);
                inputStream = httpResponse.getEntity().getContent();
                int contentLength = (int) httpResponse.getEntity().getContentLength();
                if (contentLength < 0){
                    Log.e(TAG, "The HTTP response is too long.");
                }
                byte[] data = new byte[256];
                int len = 0;
                while (-1 != (len = inputStream.read(data)) )
                {
                    buffer.append(new String(data, 0, len));
                }
                inputStream.close();
            }catch (ClientProtocolException cpe) { 
                Log.e(TAG, "Http protocol error occured.", cpe);
            }catch (IllegalStateException ise) {
                Log.e(TAG, "Could not get a HTTP response from the server.", ise);
            }catch (IOException ioe) {  
                Log.e(TAG, "Could not establish a HTTP connection to the server or could not get a response properly from the server.", ioe);
            }
        }
        response = buffer.toString();
        intent.putExtra(HTTP_RESPONSE, response);
        
        if(handleByMe){
            intent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_SINGLE_TOP);
            activity.startActivity(intent);
        }else{
            activity.startActivityForResult(intent, requestCode);
        }
    }

}

How to use it?

Intent intent = new Intent(this, SkeletonActivity.class);
intent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_SINGLE_TOP);
HttpService httpService = new HttpService(this, intent, 0, "http://www.google.com", 0, null, true);
httpService.start();

protected void onNewIntent(Intent intent) {
    String message = intent.getStringExtra(HttpService.HTTP_RESPONSE);
    editor.setText(message);
}