Android, canvas: How do I clear (delete contents o

Question

In order to make a simple game, I used a template that draws a canvas with bitmaps like this:

private void doDraw(Canvas canvas) {
    for (int i=0;i<8;i++)
        for (int j=0;j<9;j++)
            for (int k=0;k<7;k++)   {
    canvas.drawBitmap(mBits[allBits[i][j][k]], i*50 -k*7, j*50 -k*7, null); } }

(The canvas is defined in "run()" / the SurfaceView lives in a GameThread.)

My first question is how do I clear (or redraw) the whole canvas for a new layout?
Second, how can I update just a part of the screen?

// This is the routine that calls "doDraw":
public void run() {
    while (mRun) {
        Canvas c = null;
        try {
            c = mSurfaceHolder.lockCanvas(null);
            synchronized (mSurfaceHolder) {
                if (mMode == STATE_RUNNING) 
                    updateGame();
                doDraw(c);          }
        } finally {
            if (c != null) {
                mSurfaceHolder.unlockCanvasAndPost(c);  }   }   }       }

Answer 1

I tried the answer of @mobistry:

canvas.drawColor(Color.TRANSPARENT, Mode.CLEAR);

But it doesn't worked for me.

The solution, for me, was:

canvas.drawColor(Color.TRANSPARENT, Mode.MULTIPLY);

Maybe some one has the same problem.

Answer 2

Canvas.drawColor(Color.TRANSPARENT, PorterDuff.Mode.CLEAR)

Answer 3

I had to use a separate drawing pass to clear the canvas (lock, draw and unlock):

Canvas canvas = null;
try {
    canvas = holder.lockCanvas();
    if (canvas == null) {
        // exit drawing thread
        break;
    }
    canvas.drawColor(colorToClearFromCanvas, PorterDuff.Mode.CLEAR);
} finally {
    if (canvas != null) {
        holder.unlockCanvasAndPost(canvas);
    }
}

Answer 4

Found this in google groups and this worked for me..

Paint clearPaint = new Paint();
clearPaint.setXfermode(new PorterDuffXfermode(PorterDuff.Mode.CLEAR));
canvas.drawRect(0, 0, width, height, clearPaint); 

This removes drawings rectangles etc. while keeping set bitmap..

Answer 5

Here is the code of a minimal example showing that you always have to redraw every pixel of the Canvas at each frame.

This activity draw a new Bitmap every second on the SurfaceView, without clearing the screen before. If you test it, you will see that the bitmap is not always written to the same buffer, and the screen will alternate between the two buffers.

I tested it on my phone (Nexus S, Android 2.3.3), and on the emulator (Android 2.2).

public class TestCanvas extends Activity {
    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(new TestView(this));
    }
}

class TestView extends SurfaceView implements SurfaceHolder.Callback {

    private TestThread mThread;
    private int mWidth;
    private int mHeight;
    private Bitmap mBitmap;
    private SurfaceHolder mSurfaceHolder;

    public TestView(Context context) {
        super(context);
        mThread = new TestThread();
        mBitmap = BitmapFactory.decodeResource(context.getResources(), R.drawable.icon);
        mSurfaceHolder = getHolder();
        mSurfaceHolder.addCallback(this);
    }

    @Override
    public void surfaceChanged(SurfaceHolder holder, int format, int width,
            int height) {
        mWidth = width;
        mHeight = height;
        mThread.start();
    }

    @Override
    public void surfaceCreated(SurfaceHolder holder) {/* Do nothing */}

    @Override
    public void surfaceDestroyed(SurfaceHolder holder) {
        if (mThread != null && mThread.isAlive())
            mThread.interrupt();
    }

    class TestThread extends Thread {
        @Override
        public void run() {
            while (!isInterrupted()) {
                Canvas c = null;
                try {
                    c = mSurfaceHolder.lockCanvas(null);
                    synchronized (mSurfaceHolder) {
                        c.drawBitmap(mBitmap, (int) (Math.random() * mWidth), (int) (Math.random() * mHeight), null);
                    }
                } finally {
                    if (c != null)
                        mSurfaceHolder.unlockCanvasAndPost(c);
                }

                try {
                    sleep(1000);
                } catch (InterruptedException e) {
                    interrupt();
                }
            }
        }   
    }
}

Answer 6

Draw transparent color with PorterDuff clear mode does the trick for what I wanted.

Canvas.drawColor(Color.TRANSPARENT, PorterDuff.Mode.CLEAR)