I have the following (simplified) rig so far:
MyActivity.java:
public class MyActivity extends Activity {
public GLSurfaceView myGLView;
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
myGLView = new MyGLSurfaceView(this);
setContentView(myGLView);
}
}
MyGLSurfaceView.java:
public class MyGLSurfaceView extends GLSurfaceView {
private MyRenderer mMyRenderer = new MyRenderer();
private MyThread mMyThread = new MyThread();
public MyView(Context context) {
super(context);
setRenderer(mGameRenderer);
setRenderMode(GLSurfaceView.RENDERMODE_CONTINUOUSLY);
mGameThread.setRunning(true);
}
}
MyRenderer.java:
public class GameRenderer implements GLSurfaceView.Renderer {
#Override
public void onDrawFrame(GL10 gl) {
gl.glClear(GL10.GL_COLOR_BUFFER_BIT);
// ...
}
}
MyThread.java:
Here I'm doing all initializations, creating objects and so on.
public class MyThread extends Thread {
private MyObject mMyObject = new MyObject();
public MyThread {
// ...
mMyObject.setRot();
this.start();
}
public void run() {
// Fixed Timestep Loop goes here
mMyObject.getRot();
}
}
MyObject.java:
This is a sample object which holds different fileds and methods.
public class MyObject {
private double mRot;
// Getters & Setters
protected double getRot() { return mRot; }
protected void setRot() {
// ... Do calculations
}
public void draw() {
// OGL Instructions go here
gl.glRotatef(1.2f, 0, 0, setRot());
}
}
Now the problem I was running into is the following: (I guess, I missed something very basic and simple :) )
As stated above, I'm creating my object instances in the MyThread class. The Thread is created in the MyGLSurface class, same goes for the Renderer. Now, that I have that two threads I can't figure out, how to use that one instance and their methods in that two separate threads.
I tried different approaches, but nothing did work. So in my opinion I made a mistake in the class design. I mean, I don't just want to get it running (that'd be quite easy), but I want to know how to do it correctly.
The main problem is actually that I can't access the MyObject's instance and simply use the draw() method in the renderer - because I don't get it.
I thought, it would be possible to call the draw() method of MyObject within the rendering thread without the need of using a singleton and so on. So simply referencing the instance to it. But somehow that seemed weird and dirty (besides that it doesn't work for me).
I tried dozens of different approaches, but I really need a bump into the right direction. I'm quite familar with OOP, but here I might really miss something.
In that many samples I found on the web (stackoverflow, Replica Island, different tutorial sites, Google I/O, DevCentral, etc.) they either didn't use a multithreaded system or they split it directly (GL objects from regular objects).
Any hint into the right direction would be much appreciated!
Another example to peruse:
https://code.google.com/p/android-breakout/
The wiki and code comments discuss the threading issues inherent in using GLSurfaceView. In particular, the game does as much setup as it can before the Renderer thread starts; once it's running, as much work as possible is done on that thread. The game state objects are effectively "owned" by the renderer thread, and the Activity is owned by the UI thread, so any "off-thread" interactions are handled by sending messages rather than making direct method calls. For example, see the handling of touch events.
It's good that you're thinking about this -- you either need synchronization or careful object discipline to avoid nasty race conditions.
See also: android game loop vs updating in the rendering thread
The nice thing about GLSurfaceView is that it creates the OpenGL rendering thread for you, so you don't need to create one yourself. The main UI thread will call the OnDraw() method in your view class and that's all the threads you need. If you really want to create your own thread for OpenGL rendering, use TextureView instead of GLSurfaceView. Here is an article that I think will help:
http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/porting-opengl-games-to-android-on-intel-atom-processors-part-1
Related
I'm using a weak reference inside a static Handler to avoid memory leaks, however, sometimes this reference is being nullified, I cannot understand why.
The static handler is defined inside a repository class that has a method to perform an operation in the background, receives a callback to notify the caller when it's done:
public class MyRepository {
public void performOperation(ContentResolver cr, RepositoryCallback callback) {
MyHandler handler = new MyHandler(cr, callback);
handler.startQuery(...)
}
interface RepositoryCallback {
void onSuccess(MyModel model);
}
// Handler class code here
}
The code of the handler is the following:
private static class MyHandler extends AsyncQueryHandler {
private final WeakReference<RepositoryCallback> weakCallback;
public MyHandler(ContentResolver cr, RepositoryCallback callback) {
super(cr);
this.weakCallback = new WeakReference<>(callback);
}
#Override
protected void onQueryComplete(int token, Object cookie, Cursor cursor) {
RepositoryCallback callback = this.weakCallback.get();
if (callback != null) { // --> Here sometimes it is null
// Do some stuff with the cursor to create MyModel
callback.onSuccess(model);
}
}
}
For some reason, this.weakCallback.get() sometimes is null, and I'm trying to understand why.
The activity code looks like this:
public class MyActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
public void loadModel() {
showLoadingView();
myRepository.performOperation(context.getContentResolver(), new RepositoryCallback() {
#Override
public void onSuccess(MyModel model) {
hideLoadingView();
// Do something with model
}
});
}
}
As you can see I'm creating an anonymous class for the callback, but nobody is holding a reference to it.
Is this the cause of the weak reference being nullified?
Thanks.
That's the "classical" bug associated with weak references.
If the Observable holds the only reference to the Observer, and this reference is weak, then it can be cleared and Observer be garbage collected.
Since you're using anonymous class, Observable will hold the only reference to it, therefore it will be cleared.
As a side note - in my entire experience of Android development, whenever I saw devs using weak references, it always was a code smell. Usually it indicates that either devs don't understand how weak references work, or they don't trust their own code.
A good rule of thumb is that you should never use weak references.
EDIT:
I think that Handler is an anti-pattern in general. You can read more about this in this Reddit thread. There is also a thread there in which I helped one dev to see how he can get rid of HandlerThread in his codebase.
On the other hand, Jake Wharton disagreed with my statements.
Take what you'd like from there, but, in general, I would say that having a static Handler is anti-pattern for sure.
If you are worried about AndroidStudion warnings, then just remember that Google are responsible for AsyncTask and Loaders. This warning is not just useless, but actually bad. They should've made it you should not use static Hadlers.
If all you need is to offload work to BG thread and then get a callback on UI thread then you would be much better off with something like RxJava. Or even the evil AsyncTask.
I guess you're using AsyncQueryHandler in order to access ContentProvider. This is too a very controversial approach. If you don't need to share data with other apps, you might be better off by using some ORM that handles the multithreading for you.
I've seen a few questions on here asking similar questions, but I've not yet seen a suitable answer. Many people have asked how to update the UI from a thread, but they're almost always in the same class as the UI.
What I'm trying to do is update the UI from a thread which has been created in another class. I've seen all of the suggestions, such as async, handlers, runnable, etc... but I've having real trouble implementing them in separate classes.
I'm trying to keep my UI class minimal and only deal with interactions with the GUI, such as when a user presses a button. Now, I've created a new thread, in a new class, which connects to a Bluetooth device, but I then want to change a button in the UI thread from being a 'connect' button to a 'disconnect' button (i.e. change the button from creating the Bluetooth socket to closing it).
What is the general way to do this? Am I thinking of this all wrong and should have everything in one class? What is the correct way to interact between the 'main' UI class and other classes/threads?
Ideally I want to be able to do other UI interactions, so some solution which allows other UI changes outside of the UI class would be great!
What I'm trying to do is update the UI from a thread which has been
created in another class. I've seen all of the suggestions, such as
async, handlers, runnable, etc... but I've having real trouble
implementing them in separate classes.
Generally for your goal i recommend to you use:
AsyncTask
IntentService with ResultReceiver
I don't think that its too tricky. Absolutely not. If you have it as separated class(es) and not as inner class(es) in some Activity class so i recommend to use constructor where you will pass context, widgets, generally whatever you want and then in correct methods(which allows UI update) update your UI.
I'm doing it because i like when i have clean classes(so UI class have only UI implementations and logic is positioned separately).
Example:
public class TaskExample extends AsyncTask<Void, Integer, Void> {
private Context c;
private Button b;
public TaskExample(Context c, Button b) {
this.c = c;
this.b = b;
}
protected Void doInBackground(Void... params) {
// some work
if (isSomethingConnected) {
publishProgress(Constants.IS_CONNECTED);
}
return null;
}
public void onProgressUpdate(Integer... params) {
switch (params[0]) {
case Constants.IS_CONNECTED:
b.setText("Connected");
break;
case Constants.ANOTHER_CONSTANT:
// another work
break;
}
}
}
Usage:
public class Main extends Activity implements View.OnClickListener {
private Button b;
public void onCreate(Bundle b) {
super.onCreate(b);
// initialise widgets and set listeners to appropriate widgets
}
public void onClick(View v) {
switch(v.getId()) {
case R.id.connectBtn:
startWorker();
break;
}
}
private void startWorker() {
TaskExample te = new TaskExample(this, b);
te.execute();
}
}
There are a couple of options. If you have access to the View you are changing and simply need to force a refresh, you can use View.postInvalidate() from any thread. If you need more complex operations, such as changing the text of a button, you should use runOnUIThread, which requires access to the Activity context. This should be simple to get - just add it as a parameter for your custom Object's constructor. With this context, you can do something like this:
activityContext.runOnUiThread(new Runnable(){
#Override
public void run() {
myButton.setText("disconnect");
}
});
Use the runOnUiThread(Runnable) method to run something on the Main thread and call the ClassName.View.invalidate() method if it is a view or just make a public method in you're Target class which handles the refreshing of the UI.
I know a good amount of java but this is my first time programming with the android sdk. I need to get the rotation of the phone in real time and display it on the screen. I was wondering what sensor method to use, as I heard that getOrientation was processor intensive and may not work in real time. Secondly, I was wondering which class I'd right this program in, I don't quite understand android class hierarchy yet. Thirdly, how would I make the numbers change on the screen in real time?
Thanks for the help!
I was wondering what sensor method to use, as I heard that getOrientation was processor intensive and may not work in real time.
You'll want to have a look at the OrientationEventListener object.
Secondly, I was wondering which class I'd right this program in, I don't quite understand android class hierarchy yet.
To get you started, you could build all this code into an Activity. Unlike a traditional Java program there is no main() entry point method and you won't user the constructors of application component classes to instantiate them. Lifecycle callback methods like onCreate() and onDestroy() are where you will want to do initialization and teardown of instance information. This guide may help you in how to construct your application to use a single Activity.
Thirdly, how would I make the numbers change on the screen in real time? Thanks for the help!
The OrientationEventListener includes a callback method for each change, simply use this callback to update a view in your UI.
Here is a simple example pulling it all together:
public class OrientationActivity extends Activity {
private OrientationEventListener mListener;
private TextView mTextView;
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
mTextView = new TextView(this);
setContentView(mTextView);
mListener = new OrientationEventListener(this, SensorManager.SENSOR_DELAY_UI) {
#Override
public void onOrientationChanged(int orientation) {
mTextView.setText(String.valueOf(orientation);
}
};
}
#Override
public void onResume() {
super.onResume();
mListener.enable();
}
#Override
public void onPause() {
super.onPause();
mListener.disable();
}
}
I have Activity class, Controller class (normal java class use to control number of activity) and BusinessEngine class (normal java class use to process data).
When I need to do some calculation from activity, Activity will call Controller and Controller will call BusinessEngine to do the calculation. When BusinessEngine done with the calculation, it will pass the value back to Controller and finally let the activity know the calculation is complete.
The problem is how I callback Activity from Controller class? Or pass any data to Activity and notify it the data has been change?
Any "long" running tasks must be performed in a background thread. I'm not sure if your currently doing this for your task, so just in case your not, there are a couple of ways to do this. The first is to simply use a AsyncTask, the second is to create your own instance of AbstractExecutorService (AsyncTask uses ThreadPoolExecutor) and use that to post Runnable or Callables to. The later way may save you a lot of re factoring depending on your code base.
Assuming you're now running the task in a background thread, it's necessary to perform your UI updates on the UI thread. There are again a couple of ways to do this. One method is to post a runnable to the method Activity#runOnUiThread, the second is to use a Handler which has previously been created on the UI thread (which Activity#runOnUiThread does behind the scenes).
So, assume your Activity has a method #postResults(final Object o), and your controller has the method #doSomething(final Activity activity).
Your activity would look something like this.
public class MyActivity extends Activity {
Controller controller = ....
ExecutorService service = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(10);
private void startTask() {
Runnable r = new Runnable() {
public void run() {
c.doSomething(MyActivity.this);
}
}
service.submit(r);
}
public void postResults(final Object o) {
Runnable r = new Runnable() {
public void run() {
// Update your UI here
}
}
runOnUiThread(r)
}
}
and your controller
public class Controller {
public void doSomething(final Activity activity) {
// Perform some long running task here
activity.postResults(someObject);
}
}
Obviously this example could be tidied up (for example passing a interface to doSomething rather than the Activity), but hopefully it should be enough to understand what you need to do :)
Why are you looking for the controller to call you Activity? Normally, your Activity must call the controller via its methods and directly get results from them:
// Code in your Activity
result = controller.doSomething(args);
try using a android AsyncTask, if your method takes a long time to process. example
Add your classes to an Async task or if you're calling the classes and passing them from one class to the other.I would say to use static class. And provide some code so we can know how you are passing your data.
If not use general methods to call the superclass or the subclass.
My answer is a bit abstract as information is less.
In my openGL game, I draw my scene normally using a GLSurfaceView.Renderer class in the onDrawFrame(). However, when I am displaying a loading screen I would like to force the screen to draw after each item of data is loaded so the loading bar can be displayed.
Is it possible to force a bufferswap during this draw call somehow? My only alternative is to stagger my loading across multiple frames which means a lot of rework..
I guess what I am trying to call is eglSwapBuffers() but I cannot find a way to access the egl context from the GLSurfaceView or GLSurfaceView.Renderer.
Thank you for your time.
You can add also this method to your GLSurfaceView.Renderer class:
import javax.microedition.khronos.egl.EGL10;
import javax.microedition.khronos.egl.EGLDisplay;
import javax.microedition.khronos.egl.EGLSurface;
public void swapBuffers()
{
EGL10 curEgl = (EGL10)EGLContext.getEGL();
EGLDisplay curDisplay = curEgl.eglGetCurrentDisplay();
if (curDisplay == EGL10.EGL_NO_DISPLAY) { Log.e("myApp","No default display"); return; }
EGLSurface curSurface = curEgl.eglGetCurrentSurface(EGL10.EGL_DRAW);
if (curSurface == EGL10.EGL_NO_SURFACE) { Log.e("myApp","No current surface"); return; }
curEgl.eglSwapBuffers(curDisplay, curSurface);
}
Much the same as OpenUserX03's answer, just in Java.
No you can't (or shouldn't) force swapping buffers in the onDraw method of your Renderer.
What you should do is to make the loading of your data in a separate Thread. Your onDraw method will still be called regularly, which will let you ask to the loading thread how many items were loadede to display a progress bar / message accordingly.
It's been awhile since the answer has been accepted but you can (and there is no reason you shouldn't) force swapping the buffers in the onDrawFrame() method of your Renderer.
I had the exact same problem in my OpenGL app - I needed to render a loading screen while data was being loaded. Here is my pseudo-code example of calling eglSwapBuffers() during a load (I use JNI):
public void onDrawFrame(GL10 gl)
{
MyJNILib.render();
}
MyJNILib native pseudo-code:
#include <EGL\egl.h>
...
void render()
{
...
while (loading)
{
// Do loading stuff
...
eglSwapBuffers( eglGetCurrentDisplay(), eglGetCurrentSurface( EGL_DRAW ) );
}
...
}
A solution by force is to make your custom version GLSurfaceView class based on the source code of Android.
In the source, you can find a method called swap:
/**
* Display the current render surface.
* #return the EGL error code from eglSwapBuffers.
*/
public int swap() {
if (! mEgl.eglSwapBuffers(mEglDisplay, mEglSurface)) {
return mEgl.eglGetError();
}
return EGL10.EGL_SUCCESS;
}
This should be what you want. Unfortunately, however, it is a method of private inner class called EglHelper.
/**
* An EGL helper class.
*/
private static class EglHelper {
So in your custom GLSurfaceView class (copied from Google's source), make this EglHelper class public and you can use EglHelper.swap method.
public static class EglHelper {