Added in API level 1

SurfaceHolder

interface SurfaceHolder
android.view.SurfaceHolder

Abstract interface to someone holding a display surface. Allows you to control the surface size and format, edit the pixels in the surface, and monitor changes to the surface. This interface is typically available through the SurfaceView class.

When using this interface from a thread other than the one running its SurfaceView, you will want to carefully read the methods #lockCanvas and Callback.surfaceCreated().

Summary

Nested classes
open

Exception that is thrown from #lockCanvas when called on a Surface whose type is SURFACE_TYPE_PUSH_BUFFERS.

abstract

A client may implement this interface to receive information about changes to the surface.

abstract

Additional callbacks that can be received for Callback.

Constants
static Int

static Int

static Int

static Int

Public methods
abstract Unit

Add a Callback interface for this holder.

abstract Surface!

Direct access to the surface object.

abstract Rect!

Retrieve the current size of the surface.

abstract Boolean

Use this method to find out if the surface is in the process of being created from Callback methods.

abstract Canvas!

Start editing the pixels in the surface.

abstract Canvas!
lockCanvas(dirty: Rect!)

Just like lockCanvas() but allows specification of a dirty rectangle.

open Canvas!

Just like lockCanvas() but the returned canvas is hardware-accelerated.

abstract Unit

Removes a previously added Callback interface from this holder.

abstract Unit
setFixedSize(width: Int, height: Int)

Make the surface a fixed size.

abstract Unit
setFormat(format: Int)

Set the desired PixelFormat of the surface.

abstract Unit

Enable or disable option to keep the screen turned on while this surface is displayed.

abstract Unit

Allow the surface to resized based on layout of its container (this is the default).

abstract Unit
setType(type: Int)

Sets the surface's type.

abstract Unit

Finish editing pixels in the surface.

Constants

SURFACE_TYPE_GPU

Added in API level 1
Deprecated in API level 15
static val SURFACE_TYPE_GPU: Int

Deprecated: this is ignored, this value is set automatically when needed.

Value: 2

SURFACE_TYPE_HARDWARE

Added in API level 1
Deprecated in API level 15
static val SURFACE_TYPE_HARDWARE: Int

Deprecated: this is ignored, this value is set automatically when needed.

Value: 1

SURFACE_TYPE_NORMAL

Added in API level 1
Deprecated in API level 15
static val SURFACE_TYPE_NORMAL: Int

Deprecated: this is ignored, this value is set automatically when needed.

Value: 0

SURFACE_TYPE_PUSH_BUFFERS

Added in API level 1
Deprecated in API level 15
static val SURFACE_TYPE_PUSH_BUFFERS: Int

Deprecated: this is ignored, this value is set automatically when needed.

Value: 3

Public methods

addCallback

Added in API level 1
abstract fun addCallback(callback: SurfaceHolder.Callback!): Unit

Add a Callback interface for this holder. There can several Callback interfaces associated with a holder.

Parameters
callback SurfaceHolder.Callback!: The new Callback interface.

getSurface

Added in API level 1
abstract fun getSurface(): Surface!

Direct access to the surface object. The Surface may not always be available -- for example when using a SurfaceView the holder's Surface is not created until the view has been attached to the window manager and performed a layout in order to determine the dimensions and screen position of the Surface. You will thus usually need to implement Callback.surfaceCreated to find out when the Surface is available for use.

Note that if you directly access the Surface from another thread, it is critical that you correctly implement Callback.surfaceCreated and Callback.surfaceDestroyed to ensure that thread only accesses the Surface while it is valid, and that the Surface does not get destroyed while the thread is using it.

This method is intended to be used by frameworks which often need direct access to the Surface object (usually to pass it to native code).

Return
Surface! Surface The surface.

getSurfaceFrame

Added in API level 1
abstract fun getSurfaceFrame(): Rect!

Retrieve the current size of the surface. Note: do not modify the returned Rect. This is only safe to call from the thread of SurfaceView's window, or while inside of lockCanvas().

Return
Rect! Rect The surface's dimensions. The left and top are always 0.

isCreating

Added in API level 1
abstract fun isCreating(): Boolean

Use this method to find out if the surface is in the process of being created from Callback methods. This is intended to be used with Callback#surfaceChanged.

Return
Boolean true if the surface is in the process of being created.

lockCanvas

Added in API level 1
abstract fun lockCanvas(): Canvas!

Start editing the pixels in the surface. The returned Canvas can be used to draw into the surface's bitmap. A null is returned if the surface has not been created or otherwise cannot be edited. You will usually need to implement Callback.surfaceCreated to find out when the Surface is available for use.

The content of the Surface is never preserved between unlockCanvas() and lockCanvas(), for this reason, every pixel within the Surface area must be written. The only exception to this rule is when a dirty rectangle is specified, in which case, non-dirty pixels will be preserved.

If you call this repeatedly when the Surface is not ready (before Callback.surfaceCreated or after Callback.surfaceDestroyed), your calls will be throttled to a slow rate in order to avoid consuming CPU.

If null is not returned, this function internally holds a lock until the corresponding unlockCanvasAndPost call, preventing SurfaceView from creating, destroying, or modifying the surface while it is being drawn. This can be more convenient than accessing the Surface directly, as you do not need to do special synchronization with a drawing thread in Callback.surfaceDestroyed.

Return
Canvas! Canvas Use to draw into the surface.

lockCanvas

Added in API level 1
abstract fun lockCanvas(dirty: Rect!): Canvas!

Just like lockCanvas() but allows specification of a dirty rectangle. Every pixel within that rectangle must be written; however pixels outside the dirty rectangle will be preserved by the next call to lockCanvas().

Parameters
dirty Rect!: Area of the Surface that will be modified.
Return
Canvas! Canvas Use to draw into the surface.

See Also

    lockHardwareCanvas

    Added in API level 26
    open fun lockHardwareCanvas(): Canvas!

    Just like lockCanvas() but the returned canvas is hardware-accelerated.

    See the unsupported drawing operations for a list of what is and isn't supported in a hardware-accelerated canvas.

    Return
    Canvas! Canvas Use to draw into the surface.
    Exceptions
    java.lang.IllegalStateException If the canvas cannot be locked.

    removeCallback

    Added in API level 1
    abstract fun removeCallback(callback: SurfaceHolder.Callback!): Unit

    Removes a previously added Callback interface from this holder.

    Parameters
    callback SurfaceHolder.Callback!: The Callback interface to remove.

    setFixedSize

    Added in API level 1
    abstract fun setFixedSize(
        width: Int,
        height: Int
    ): Unit

    Make the surface a fixed size. It will never change from this size. When working with a SurfaceView, this must be called from the same thread running the SurfaceView's window.

    Parameters
    width Int: The surface's width.
    height Int: The surface's height.

    setFormat

    Added in API level 1
    abstract fun setFormat(format: Int): Unit

    Set the desired PixelFormat of the surface. The default is OPAQUE. When working with a SurfaceView, this must be called from the same thread running the SurfaceView's window.

    Parameters
    format Int: A constant from PixelFormat.

    setKeepScreenOn

    Added in API level 1
    abstract fun setKeepScreenOn(screenOn: Boolean): Unit

    Enable or disable option to keep the screen turned on while this surface is displayed. The default is false, allowing it to turn off. This is safe to call from any thread.

    Parameters
    screenOn Boolean: Set to true to force the screen to stay on, false to allow it to turn off.

    setSizeFromLayout

    Added in API level 1
    abstract fun setSizeFromLayout(): Unit

    Allow the surface to resized based on layout of its container (this is the default). When this is enabled, you should monitor Callback#surfaceChanged for changes to the size of the surface. When working with a SurfaceView, this must be called from the same thread running the SurfaceView's window.

    setType

    Added in API level 1
    Deprecated in API level 15
    abstract fun setType(type: Int): Unit

    Deprecated: this is ignored, this value is set automatically when needed.

    Sets the surface's type.

    unlockCanvasAndPost

    Added in API level 1
    abstract fun unlockCanvasAndPost(canvas: Canvas!): Unit

    Finish editing pixels in the surface. After this call, the surface's current pixels will be shown on the screen, but its content is lost, in particular there is no guarantee that the content of the Surface will remain unchanged when lockCanvas() is called again.

    Parameters
    canvas Canvas!: The Canvas previously returned by lockCanvas().

    See Also