Develop Reference

Android: unresponsive thread when a new activity for result is started

I am new to Android so I am making a coloring book app just to get myself acquainted to android programming. I have looked up my problem extensively and implemented the solutions but still no progress.
I have an activity 'ColoringActivity' which calls a class 'PaintView' which extends surfaceview. I am trying to update the canvas in a separate thread. I also have a button in the layout which takes the user to another activity for picking colors. The problem is that when the user returns after choosing the color, the canvas becomes empty and I cant draw on the canvas anymore. I think i somehow loose the thread in between activities and although the thread is running in the background, I have no access to it.
I read on this forum that I must implement pause() and resume() methods in the thread class and basically kill the thread when I go to another activity and restart it when I return. Also I read I have to override onPause() and onResume() method in activity class and construct the surfaceview in onResume() so that it is constructed every time user returns to this activity.
I am sorry if it doesnt make much sense because I am lost as well.
My 'ColoringActivity':
package com.ali.coloryourself;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.graphics.Bitmap;
import android.graphics.BitmapFactory;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.util.Log;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.Toast;
public class ColoringActivity extends Activity {
private static final int COLOR_REQUEST_CODE = 100;
public static String file;
public static Bitmap bitmap;
BitmapFactory.Options options;
PaintView paintView;
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_draw);
Intent intent = getIntent();
file = intent.getStringExtra("fileName");
// paintView = (PaintView) findViewById(R.id.drawingSurface);
}
#Override
protected void onResume() {
paintView = (PaintView) findViewById(R.id.drawingSurface);
paintView.getThread().resume();
super.onResume();
}
#Override
protected void onPause() {
paintView.getThread().pause();
super.onPause();
}
public void pickColor(View v) {
paintView.getThread().pause();
Intent colorIntent = new Intent(this, ColorPickerActivity.class);
startActivityForResult(colorIntent, COLOR_REQUEST_CODE);
}
#Override
protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);
if (resultCode != RESULT_CANCELED) {
if (requestCode == COLOR_REQUEST_CODE) {
int color = data.getIntExtra("Color", -1);
// paintView.getPaint().setColor(color);
}
}
}
}
My 'PaintView' class:
package com.ali.coloryourself;
import android.R.color;
import android.content.Context;
import android.graphics.Bitmap;
import android.graphics.Canvas;
import android.graphics.Color;
import android.graphics.Paint;
import android.graphics.Path;
import android.util.AttributeSet;
import android.util.Log;
import android.view.MotionEvent;
import android.view.SurfaceHolder;
import android.view.SurfaceView;
class PaintView extends SurfaceView implements SurfaceHolder.Callback {
private Paint paint = new Paint();
private Canvas canvas;
private PaintThread thread;
private Path path = new Path();
private Bitmap bitmap;
public PaintView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
super(context, attrs);
SurfaceHolder holder = getHolder();
holder.addCallback(this);
paint.setColor(Color.WHITE);
paint.setStyle(Paint.Style.STROKE);
paint.setStrokeJoin(Paint.Join.ROUND);
paint.setStrokeCap(Paint.Cap.ROUND);
paint.setStrokeWidth(3);
setThread(new PaintThread(holder));
}
class PaintThread extends Thread {
private boolean mRun;
private SurfaceHolder mSurfaceHolder;
private int mMode;
public static final int STATE_PAUSE = 2;
public static final int STATE_RUNNING = 4;
public PaintThread(SurfaceHolder surfaceHolder) {
mSurfaceHolder = surfaceHolder;
}
#Override
public void run() {
while (mRun) {
try {
canvas = mSurfaceHolder.lockCanvas(null);
if (mMode == STATE_RUNNING) {
if (bitmap == null) {
bitmap = Bitmap.createBitmap(1, 1,
Bitmap.Config.ARGB_8888);
}
}
doDraw(canvas);
canvas.drawBitmap(bitmap, 0, 0, null);
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} finally {
if (canvas != null) {
mSurfaceHolder.unlockCanvasAndPost(canvas);
}
}
}
}
private void doDraw(Canvas canvas) {
canvas.drawPath(path, paint);
}
public void setRunning(boolean b) {
mRun = b;
}
public void pause() {
if (mMode == STATE_RUNNING)
setState(STATE_PAUSE);
}
public void resume() {
setState(STATE_RUNNING);
}
public void setState(int mode) {
synchronized (mSurfaceHolder) {
mMode = mode;
}
}
}
public void surfaceChanged(SurfaceHolder holder, int format, int width,
int height) {
bitmap = Bitmap.createBitmap(width, height, Bitmap.Config.ARGB_8888);
}
#Override
public boolean onTouchEvent(MotionEvent event) {
// Log.d("Touch", "I am touching");
float eventX = event.getX();
float eventY = event.getY();
int action = event.getAction();
switch (action) {
case MotionEvent.ACTION_DOWN:
path.moveTo(eventX, eventY);
return true;
case MotionEvent.ACTION_MOVE:
path.lineTo(eventX, eventY);
break;
case MotionEvent.ACTION_UP:
// nothing to do
break;
default:
return false;
}
return true;
}
public void surfaceCreated(SurfaceHolder holder) {
if (getThread().getState() == Thread.State.NEW) {
getThread().setRunning(true);
getThread().start();
}
}
public void surfaceDestroyed(SurfaceHolder holder) {
boolean retry = true;
getThread().setRunning(false);
getThread().resume();
while (retry) {
try {
getThread().join();
retry = false;
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
}
}
}
public Paint getPaint() {
return paint;
}
public void setPaint(int color) {
this.paint.setColor(color);
}
public PaintThread getThread() {
return thread;
}
public void setThread(PaintThread thread) {
this.thread = thread;
}
}
my 'activity_draw.xml'
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<Button
android:id="#+id/button1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
android:layout_marginTop="10dp"
android:onClick="pickColor"
android:text="Pick Color" />
<com.ali.coloryourself.PaintView
android:id="#+id/drawingSurface"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_below="#+id/button1"
android:layout_marginTop="10dp"/>
</RelativeLayout>
I know I am missing some very basic thread concept. I need to allow the user to pick color and return and be able to continue drawing. I will be extremely grateful for your help.

I think I have found an answer although I am not sure if it is a good programming practice. I found out that my surface view and thread were created once 'ColoringActivity' was created and destroyed every time 'ColoringActivity' went to background. But once 'ColoringActivity' was restarted and resumed, surface view and thread were not recreated. So i moved the following line
setContentView(R.layout.activity_draw);
to onResume() method and now I can draw on the canvas every time. Now I just need to save the canvas and re load it when the activity comes back on to start off the coloring where the user left it.

Custom SurfaceView with thread crashes App when Activity is exited

I just made an Activity which uses at "setContentView" a view from a class which extends SurfaceView. The problem is:
It works fine, but when I exit it (BACK key) it crashes. Code:
package ro.etrandafir.mate.appCreator;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.content.Context;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.SurfaceView;
import android.graphics.Canvas;
import android.view.MotionEvent;
import android.graphics.Color;
import android.graphics.Paint;
public class Sample2 extends Activity implements View.OnTouchListener {
float x = 0, y = 0;
SampleTwoView theView;
public boolean onTouch(View v, MotionEvent event) {
// TODO: Implement this method
x = event.getX();
y = event.getY();
return true;
}
#Override
protected void onPause() {
super.onPause();
finish();
}
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle b) {
super.onCreate(b);
theView = new SampleTwoView(this);
theView.setOnTouchListener(this);
setContentView(theView);
}
public class SampleTwoView extends SurfaceView implements Runnable {
Paint p = new Paint();
public SampleTwoView(Context context) {
super(context);
p.setColor(Color.RED);
Thread theThread = new Thread(this);
theThread.start();
}
public void run() {
while (true) {
if (!getHolder().getSurface().isValid()) continue;
Canvas canvas;
canvas = getHolder().lockCanvas();
canvas.drawColor(Color.BLUE);
if ((x != 0) && (y != 0)) canvas.drawCircle(x, y, 40, p);
getHolder().unlockCanvasAndPost(canvas);
}
}
}
}
What can I do? Should I add onDestroy or what?
Thanks in advance,
Matei

The issue you are getting is related to this code:
Canvas canvas;
canvas = getHolder().lockCanvas();
canvas.drawColor(Color.BLUE);
When your activity ends, your thread is still running, but your custom SurfaceView is no longer available, so you will get a null ptr exception. Your existing code can easily be patched by adding a boolean that gets set to false as soon as the onPause fn gets called:
public void run() {
while (booleanThatGetsSetToFalseWhenActivityPauses) {
if (!getHolder().getSurface().isValid()) continue;
Canvas canvas;
canvas = getHolder().lockCanvas();
canvas.drawColor(Color.BLUE);
if ((x != 0) && (y != 0)) canvas.drawCircle(x, y, 40, p);
getHolder().unlockCanvasAndPost(canvas);
}
}
However, I would suggest altering the structure of your application as a whole. This may just be for practice, but I think a more efficient and bug free way of accomplishing your goal would be to simply use a standard SurfaceView and to completely decouple your drawing logic from any custom view.
My redesigned activity is below, but it utilizes a Ball class that is used to maintain the ball's logic, which, in your current code is separately coupled with both the actvity (the coordinates) and the view (the Paint). In this new ball class, a ball has a location (specified by a PointF), a Paint, and a diameter. It also has methods to get most of these variables in addition to setting some.
public class Ball {
private Paint mPaint;
private PointF mCoordinates;
private int mDiameter;
public Ball (int color, int diameter) {
mPaint = new Paint();
mPaint.setColor(color);
mCoordinates = new PointF();
mCoordinates.x = 0;
mCoordinates.y = 0;
mDiameter = diameter;
}
public void setCoordinates (float x, float y) {
mCoordinates.x = x;
mCoordinates.y = y;
}
public PointF getCoordinates() {
return mCoordinates;
}
public Paint getPaint() {
return mPaint;
}
public int getDiameter() {
return mDiameter;
}
/* You did not want to draw the uninitialized ball, so this method checks that */
public boolean hasNonZeroLocation () {
return (mCoordinates.x != 0 && mCoordinates.y != 0);
}
}
I use the Ball class in the activity as shown below. Notice that the redrawing to the canvas now only occurs when a user touches the canvas as opposed to an infinite while loop. This is due to the utilization of the Handler class which posts actions to run to the UI thread. Additionally, now we do not need a custom view, and our ball's logic has been decoupled from the activity and the view.
public class RedBallActivity extends Activity {
Handler mDrawingHandler;
SurfaceView mDrawingSurfaceView;
Ball mBall;
private final Runnable drawRedBallOnBlueSurface = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
if (!mDrawingSurfaceView.getHolder().getSurface().isValid()) return;
Canvas canvas = mDrawingSurfaceView.getHolder().lockCanvas();
canvas.drawColor(Color.BLUE);
if (mBall.hasNonZeroLocation())
canvas.drawCircle(mBall.getCoordinates().x, mBall.getCoordinates().y, mBall.getDiameter(), mBall.getPaint());
mDrawingSurfaceView.getHolder().unlockCanvasAndPost(canvas);
}
};
private final OnTouchListener mCanvasTouchListener = new OnTouchListener() {
#Override
public boolean onTouch(View v, MotionEvent event) {
mBall.setCoordinates(event.getX(), event.getY());
mDrawingHandler.post(drawRedBallOnBlueSurface);
return true;
}
};
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle b) {
super.onCreate(b);
mDrawingSurfaceView = new SurfaceView(this);
mDrawingSurfaceView.setOnTouchListener(mCanvasTouchListener);
setContentView(mDrawingSurfaceView);
mBall = new Ball(Color.RED, 40);
mDrawingHandler = new Handler();
}
}
Now, if you actually run this code you will notice that initially the screen is not drawn with a blue background. You might be tempted to simply call mDrawingHandler.post(drawRedBallOnBlueSurface); at the end of the onCreate method, but it is not guaranteed that the SurfaceView will be ready to be drawn upon (see the documentation on this lockCanvas method). If you want the surface to initially be blue, you need to implement a [SurfaceHolder.Callback][2], which needs to be connected to the SurfaceView's SurfaceHolder, and on the surfaceCreated method being called, we know the surface is ready, so we can then call mDrawingHandler.post(drawRedBallOnBlueSurface);
Now, with this added, I change the Activity to implement [SurfaceHolder.Callback][2] as follows:
public class FriendManagerActivity extends Activity implements SurfaceHolder.Callback {
and add this line to the constructor:
mDrawingSurfaceView.getHolder().addCallback(this);
and implement the interface:
#Override
public void surfaceCreated(SurfaceHolder holder) {
mDrawingHandler.post(drawRedBallOnBlueSurface);
}
#Override
public void surfaceChanged(SurfaceHolder holder, int format, int width,
int height) {
}
#Override
public void surfaceDestroyed(SurfaceHolder holder) {
}
Feel free to ask any questions on my little redesign! While your problem could be easily patched, I felt like the way you were coupling logic with Views was a little bit flawed, and thought a little more info on SurfaceView coding would be helpful.

As someone mentioned it in the above, when your activity ends, your thread is still running, but your custom SurfaceView is no longer available, so you will get a Null Point Exception. Your existing code can easily be patched by adding a boolean that gets set to false as soon as the onPause fn gets called:I had the same problem. To solve it I added the following onPause() to your SampleTwoView class:
// pause method will destroy the Thread
public void pause() {
isRunning = false;
while (true) {
try {
myThread.join();
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
// TODO Auto-generated catch block
e.printStackTrace();
}
break;
}
myThread = null;
}
Then call this onPause() method in your onPause() method of your Sample2 class as follows:
#Override
protected void onPause() {
super.onPause();
SampleTwoView.onPause();
finish();
}
So everytime the onPause() method of your main Activity class is called the Thread will be destroyed.
I hope this will help you.
Cheers!

How to appear and disappear an object on screen using game loop for every five second

I am trying to learn game development in android. First I am trying to appear and disappear an object on screen using game loop for every five second. But I did not get succeed. I have read different tutorials and forums. I applied all things as in tutorials but still object is drawing continuously. It is not disappearing. I a not getting what I am missing? Please guide me.
The complete code is here:
MainGameActivity.java
package com.example.showandhideobject;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.Window;
import android.view.WindowManager;
public class MainGameActivity extends Activity {
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
requestWindowFeature(Window.FEATURE_NO_TITLE);
getWindow().setFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN, WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN);
setContentView(new MainGamePanel(this));
}
}
MainGamePanel .java
package com.example.showandhideobject;
import android.content.Context;
import android.graphics.Bitmap;
import android.graphics.BitmapFactory;
import android.graphics.Canvas;
import android.graphics.Color;
import android.util.Log;
import android.view.SurfaceHolder;
import android.view.SurfaceView;
public class MainGamePanel extends SurfaceView implements
SurfaceHolder.Callback {
private MainGameThread thread;
private ImageObject image;
// private long gameStartTime;
public MainGamePanel(Context context) {
super(context);
// adding the callback (this) to the surface holder to intercept events
getHolder().addCallback(this);
// create the game loop thread
thread = new MainGameThread(getHolder(), this);
Bitmap imageBitMap = BitmapFactory.decodeResource(getResources(),
R.drawable.rose);
image = new ImageObject(imageBitMap, 100, 150);
image.setAppeared(false);
image.setDisappearTime(System.currentTimeMillis());
// make the GamePanel focusable so it can handle events
setFocusable(true);
}
#Override
public void surfaceChanged(SurfaceHolder holder, int format, int width,
int height) {
}
#Override
public void surfaceCreated(SurfaceHolder holder) {
// at this point the surface is created and
// we can safely start the game loop
thread.setRunning(true);
thread.start();
}
#Override
public void surfaceDestroyed(SurfaceHolder holder) {
}
public void update() {
Log.i("Image Status::::::::::::: ",
Boolean.valueOf(image.isAppeared()).toString());
if (!image.isAppeared()
&& System.currentTimeMillis() - image.getDisappearTime() >= 5000) {
Log.i("Image Object::::::: ", "Showing");
image.setAppeared(true);
image.setAppearTime(System.currentTimeMillis());
}
if (image.isAppeared()
&& (System.currentTimeMillis() - image.getAppearTime() >= 5000)) {
Log.i("Image Object::::::: ", "Not Showing");
image.setAppeared(false);
image.setDisappearTime(System.currentTimeMillis());
}
}
public void render(Canvas canvas) {
if (image.isAppeared()) {
image.draw(canvas);
}
}
}
MainGameThread.java
package com.example.showandhideobject;
import android.graphics.Canvas;
import android.util.Log;
import android.view.SurfaceHolder;
public class MainGameThread extends Thread {
// Surface holder that can access the physical surface
private SurfaceHolder surfaceHolder;
// The actual view that handles inputs
// and draws to the surface
private MainGamePanel gamePanel;
// flag to hold game state
private boolean running;
public boolean isRunning() {
return running;
}
public void setRunning(boolean running) {
this.running = running;
}
public MainGameThread(SurfaceHolder surfaceHolder, MainGamePanel gamePanel) {
super();
this.surfaceHolder = surfaceHolder;
this.gamePanel = gamePanel;
}
#Override
public void run() {
Canvas canvas;
while (isRunning()) {
canvas = null;
// try locking the canvas for exclusive pixel editing
// in the surface
try {
canvas = this.surfaceHolder.lockCanvas();
synchronized (surfaceHolder) {
Log.i("With in :::::::::", "Game Loop");
// update game state
gamePanel.update();
// render state to the screen and draw the canvas on the
// panel
gamePanel.render(canvas);
// gamePanel.onDraw(canvas);
}
} finally {
// in case of an exception the surface is not left in an
// inconsistent state
if (canvas != null) {
surfaceHolder.unlockCanvasAndPost(canvas);
}
} // end finally
}
}
}
ImageObject.java
package com.example.showandhideobject;
import android.graphics.Bitmap;
import android.graphics.Canvas;
public class ImageObject {
private Bitmap bitmap; // the actual bitmap
private int x; // the X coordinate
private int y; // the Y coordinate
private boolean isAppeared;
private long appearTime;
private long disappearTime;
// Constructor for this class
public ImageObject(Bitmap bitmap, int x, int y) {
this.bitmap = bitmap;
this.x = x;
this.y = y;
}
public Bitmap getBitmap() {
return bitmap;
}
public void setBitmap(Bitmap bitmap) {
this.bitmap = bitmap;
}
public int getX() {
return x;
}
public void setX(int x) {
this.x = x;
}
public int getY() {
return y;
}
public void setY(int y) {
this.y = y;
}
public boolean isAppeared() {
return isAppeared;
}
public void setAppeared(boolean isAppeared) {
this.isAppeared = isAppeared;
}
public long getAppearTime() {
return appearTime;
}
public void setAppearTime(long appearTime) {
this.appearTime = appearTime;
}
public long getDisappearTime() {
return disappearTime;
}
public void setDisappearTime(long disappearTime) {
this.disappearTime = disappearTime;
}
/* Method to draw images on Canvas */
public void draw(Canvas canvas) {
canvas.drawBitmap(bitmap, x - (bitmap.getWidth() / 2),
y - (bitmap.getHeight() / 2), null);
}
}

in this part
if (image.isAppeared()) {
image.draw(canvas);
}
you never clear your canvas. What you are doing is actually drawing your image over and over on the same spot.
You probably need to redraw a background in cas isAppeared() is false
Edit
you can also use canvas.save() before drawing the image, and canvas.restore() when you don't want the image anymore.

Don't try to optimise too early, game rendering is usually inefficient as almost always most of the screen is expected to change.
Loop should be:
always draw the background to canvas
always draw all game objects to the canvas, let them decide if they are visible or not which will simplify the MainGamePanel class
finally always display canvas (by copying to the image as you are doing)
To expand on point 2:
/* Method to draw images on Canvas */
public void draw(Canvas canvas) {
if(!isAppeared) return; //let the object decide when it should be drawn
canvas.drawBitmap(bitmap, x - (bitmap.getWidth() / 2),
y - (bitmap.getHeight() / 2), null);
}

Change the method render in MainGamePanel.java to
if (image.isAppeared() && canvas != null) {
image.draw(canvas);
}

Android draw using SurfaceView and Thread

I am trying to draw a ball to my screen using 3 classes. I have read a little about this and I found a code snippet that works using the 3 classes on one page, Playing with graphics in Android
I altered the code so that I have a ball that is moving and shifts direction when hitting the wall like the picture below (this is using the code in the link).
Now I like to separate the classes into 3 different pages for not making everything so crowded, everything is set up the same way.
Here are the 3 classes I have.
BallActivity.java
Ball.java
BallThread.java
package com.brick.breaker;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.Window;
import android.view.WindowManager;
public class BallActivity extends Activity {
private Ball ball;
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
requestWindowFeature(Window.FEATURE_NO_TITLE);
getWindow().setFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN,WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN);
ball = new Ball(this);
setContentView(ball);
}
#Override
protected void onPause() {
super.onPause();
setContentView(null);
ball = null;
finish();
}
}
package com.brick.breaker;
import android.content.Context;
import android.graphics.Bitmap;
import android.graphics.BitmapFactory;
import android.graphics.Canvas;
import android.view.SurfaceHolder;
import android.view.SurfaceView;
public class Ball extends SurfaceView implements SurfaceHolder.Callback {
private BallThread ballThread = null;
private Bitmap bitmap;
private float x, y;
private float vx, vy;
public Ball(Context context) {
super(context);
bitmap = BitmapFactory.decodeResource(getResources(), R.drawable.ball);
x = 50.0f;
y = 50.0f;
vx = 10.0f;
vy = 10.0f;
getHolder().addCallback(this);
ballThread = new BallThread(getHolder(), this);
}
protected void onDraw(Canvas canvas) {
update(canvas);
canvas.drawBitmap(bitmap, x, y, null);
}
public void update(Canvas canvas) {
checkCollisions(canvas);
x += vx;
y += vy;
}
public void checkCollisions(Canvas canvas) {
if(x - vx < 0) {
vx = Math.abs(vx);
} else if(x + vx > canvas.getWidth() - getBitmapWidth()) {
vx = -Math.abs(vx);
}
if(y - vy < 0) {
vy = Math.abs(vy);
} else if(y + vy > canvas.getHeight() - getBitmapHeight()) {
vy = -Math.abs(vy);
}
}
public int getBitmapWidth() {
if(bitmap != null) {
return bitmap.getWidth();
} else {
return 0;
}
}
public int getBitmapHeight() {
if(bitmap != null) {
return bitmap.getHeight();
} else {
return 0;
}
}
public void surfaceChanged(SurfaceHolder holder, int format, int width,
int height) {
}
public void surfaceCreated(SurfaceHolder holder) {
ballThread.setRunnable(true);
ballThread.start();
}
public void surfaceDestroyed(SurfaceHolder holder) {
boolean retry = true;
ballThread.setRunnable(false);
while(retry) {
try {
ballThread.join();
retry = false;
} catch(InterruptedException ie) {
//Try again and again and again
}
break;
}
ballThread = null;
}
}
package com.brick.breaker;
import android.graphics.Canvas;
import android.view.SurfaceHolder;
public class BallThread extends Thread {
private SurfaceHolder sh;
private Ball ball;
private Canvas canvas;
private boolean run = false;
public BallThread(SurfaceHolder _holder,Ball _ball) {
sh = _holder;
ball = _ball;
}
public void setRunnable(boolean _run) {
run = _run;
}
public void run() {
while(run) {
canvas = null;
try {
canvas = sh.lockCanvas(null);
synchronized(sh) {
ball.onDraw(canvas);
}
} finally {
if(canvas != null) {
sh.unlockCanvasAndPost(canvas);
}
}
}
}
public Canvas getCanvas() {
if(canvas != null) {
return canvas;
} else {
return null;
}
}
}
Here is a picture that shows the outcome of these classes.
I've tried to figure this out but since I am pretty new to Android development I thought I could ask for help.
Does any one know what is causing the ball to be draw like that?
The code is pretty much the same as the one in the link and I have tried to experiment to find a solution but no luck.

well , as you can see on the image , you only drew the ball . instead , you need to re-drew a black background (or whatever that you wish) before each time you draw the ball.
alternatively , you can draw a black area only on the previous position , but you might have problems with it later , when you use more objects.
here's a nice sample, similar to what you do

A quick look and I would have to say you are just drawing on the same surface and never requesting your surfaceview to redraw itself. at the end of the finally block, in the IF Statement use: postInvalidate(); That should cause the surface view to redraw itself.

put this
public void onDraw(Canvas canvas){
canvas.drawColor(Color.BLACK);
.....
}

See how i have done the pendulum simulation at
http://som-itsolutions.blogspot.in/2012/06/android-graphics-and-animation-pendulum.html
You can clone the source code of this project from
https://github.com/sommukhopadhyay/pendulumsimulation

[edit]The answer was wrong, but the comment was helpful so I'll leave this answer up:
Not the question you asked, but there is a problem in your code. In Android you are only allowed to write to the screen in the UI thread. This is the thread that runs all the Activity callbacks, etc. By writing to the screen from BallThread you are risking many odd failures in your program.

Making methods run continiously in android

I am making an android game that needs to run a method continiously, kind of like a timer. I need that it is being called every second. How can i make this possible???
Java code:
import java.util.ArrayList;
import android.content.Context;
import android.graphics.Bitmap;
import android.graphics.BitmapFactory;
import android.graphics.Canvas;
import android.graphics.Color;
import android.graphics.Paint;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.os.Handler;
import android.os.Message;
import android.view.MotionEvent;
import android.view.SurfaceHolder;
import android.view.SurfaceView;
import android.widget.TextView;
import android.widget.Toast;
public class ExampleView extends SurfaceView implements SurfaceHolder.Callback
{
class ExampleThread extends Thread
{
private ArrayList<Parachuter> parachuters;
private Bitmap parachuter;
private Paint black;
private boolean running;
private SurfaceHolder mSurfaceHolder;
private Context mContext;
private Handler mHandler;
private GameScreenActivity mActivity;
private long frameRate;
private boolean loading;
public ExampleThread(SurfaceHolder sHolder, Context context, Handler handler)
{
mSurfaceHolder = sHolder;
mHandler = handler;
mContext = context;
mActivity = (GameScreenActivity) context;
parachuters = new ArrayList<Parachuter>();
parachuter = BitmapFactory.decodeResource(getResources(), R.drawable.parachuteman);
black = new Paint();
black.setStyle(Paint.Style.FILL);
black.setColor(Color.WHITE);
running = true;
// This equates to 26 frames per second.
frameRate = (long) (1000 / 26);
loading = true;
}
#Override
public void run()
{
while (running)
{
Canvas c = null;
try
{
c = mSurfaceHolder.lockCanvas();
synchronized (mSurfaceHolder)
{
long start = System.currentTimeMillis();
doDraw(c);
long diff = System.currentTimeMillis() - start;
if (diff < frameRate)
Thread.sleep(frameRate - diff);
}
} catch (InterruptedException e)
{
}
finally
{
if (c != null)
{
mSurfaceHolder.unlockCanvasAndPost(c);
}
}
}
}
protected void doDraw(Canvas canvas)
{
canvas.drawRect(0, 0, canvas.getWidth(), canvas.getHeight(), black);
//Draw
for (int i = 0; i < parachuters.size(); i++)
{
canvas.drawBitmap(parachuter, parachuters.get(i).getX(), parachuters.get(i).getY(), null);
parachuters.get(i).tick();
}
//Remove
for (int i = 0; i < parachuters.size(); i++)
{
if (parachuters.get(i).getY() > canvas.getHeight())
parachuters.remove(i);
}
}
public boolean onTouchEvent(MotionEvent event)
{
if (event.getAction() != MotionEvent.ACTION_DOWN)
return false;
float x = event.getX();
float y = event.getY();
Parachuter p = new Parachuter(x, y);
parachuters.add(p);
Toast.makeText(getContext(), "x=" + x + " y=" + y, 15).show();
return true;
}
public void setRunning(boolean bRun)
{
running = bRun;
}
public boolean getRunning()
{
return running;
}
}
/** Handle to the application context, used to e.g. fetch Drawables. */
private Context mContext;
/** Pointer to the text view to display "Paused.." etc. */
private TextView mStatusText;
/** The thread that actually draws the animation */
private ExampleThread eThread;
public ExampleView(Context context)
{
super(context);
// register our interest in hearing about changes to our surface
SurfaceHolder holder = getHolder();
holder.addCallback(this);
// create thread only; it's started in surfaceCreated()
eThread = new ExampleThread(holder, context, new Handler()
{
#Override
public void handleMessage(Message m)
{
// mStatusText.setVisibility(m.getData().getInt("viz"));
// mStatusText.setText(m.getData().getString("text"));
}
});
setFocusable(true);
}
#Override
public boolean onTouchEvent(MotionEvent event)
{
return eThread.onTouchEvent(event);
}
public ExampleThread getThread()
{
return eThread;
}
#Override
public void surfaceChanged(SurfaceHolder arg0, int arg1, int arg2, int arg3)
{
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
}
public void surfaceCreated(SurfaceHolder holder)
{
if (eThread.getState() == Thread.State.TERMINATED)
{
eThread = new ExampleThread(getHolder(), getContext(), getHandler());
eThread.start();
}
else
{
eThread.start();
}
}
#Override
public void surfaceDestroyed(SurfaceHolder holder)
{
boolean retry = true;
eThread.setRunning(false);
while (retry)
{
try
{
eThread.join();
retry = false;
}
catch (InterruptedException e)
{
}
}
}
}
I need to add a function or a socalled "method", a public void or something like that, that should be called every second and should do the exact same code as the MotionEvent event method, the onTouchEvent.

Following Rob's commented link, consider (which is not the accepted answer, though) reviewing this from the Android Developer's site, Resources section: http://developer.android.com/resources/articles/timed-ui-updates.html
It describes how to use the android os Handler class to implement a timer, rather than using the Timer and TimerTask classes themselves.

This pretty much what you are looking for.
How to run a Runnable thread in Android?
It does sth every 1000ms using a thread.