Looper的作用有两点:
- 为调用静态方法prepare()的线程创建一个消息队列MessageQueue。
- 提供静态方法loop(),使调用该方法的线程进入无限循环,并从消息队列中读取消息。
Looper的静态方法prepare()中,会给线程局部存储添加一个新的Looper对象,而Looper的构造函数中,会创建一个MessageQueue消息队列,代码如下:
/** Initialize the current thread as a looper.
* This gives you a chance to create handlers that then reference
* this looper, before actually starting the loop. Be sure to call
* {@link #loop()} after calling this method, and end it by calling
* {@link #quit()}.
*/
public static final void prepare() {
if (sThreadLocal.get() != null) {
throw new RuntimeException("Only one Looper may be created per thread");
}
sThreadLocal.set(new Looper());
}
private Looper() {
mQueue = new MessageQueue();
mRun = true;
mThread = Thread.currentThread();
}
对程序员来讲,当需要把一个线程变为异步消息处理线程的时候,应该在Thread类的run()函数中先调用Looper.prapare()为该线程创建一个MessageQueue对象,然后再调用Looper.loop()函数,使当前线程进入消息处理循环。使用范例,代码如下:
/**
* Class used to run a message loop for a thread. Threads by default do
* not have a message loop associated with them; to create one, call
* {@link #prepare} in the thread that is to run the loop, and then
* {@link #loop} to have it process messages until the loop is stopped.
*
* <p>Most interaction with a message loop is through the
* {@link Handler} class.
*
* <p>This is a typical example of the implementation of a Looper thread,
* using the separation of {@link #prepare} and {@link #loop} to create an
* initial Handler to communicate with the Looper.
*
* <pre>
* class LooperThread extends Thread {
* public Handler mHandler;
*
* public void run() {
* Looper.prepare();
*
* mHandler = new Handler() {
* public void handleMessage(Message msg) {
* // process incoming messages here
* }
* };
*
* Looper.loop();
* }
* }</pre>
*/
loop()函数的代码如下:
/**
* Run the message queue in this thread. Be sure to call
* {@link #quit()} to end the loop.
*/
public static final void loop() {
Looper me = myLooper();
MessageQueue queue = me.mQueue;
while (true) {
Message msg = queue.next(); // might block
//if (!me.mRun) {
// break;
//}
if (msg != null) {
if (msg.target == null) {
// No target is a magic identifier for the quit message.
return;
}
if (me.mLogging!= null) me.mLogging.println(
">>>>> Dispatching to " + msg.target + " "
+ msg.callback + ": " + msg.what
);
msg.target.dispatchMessage(msg);
if (me.mLogging!= null) me.mLogging.println(
"<<<<< Finished to " + msg.target + " "
+ msg.callback);
msg.recycle();
}
}
}
该段代码的执行流程如下:
1. 调用myLooper()函数返回当前线程的Looper对象,该函数内部仅仅通过调用sThreadLocal.get()方法返回当前线程id对应的Looper对象。
/**
* Return the Looper object associated with the current thread. Returns
* null if the calling thread is not associated with a Looper.
*/
public static final Looper myLooper() {
return (Looper)sThreadLocal.get();
}
2. 进入while(true)无限循环
1) 调用MessageQueue对象的next()函数取出队列中的消息。注意,如果当前队列为空,则当前线程会被挂起,也就是说,next()函数内部会暂停当前线程。
2) 回调msg.target.dispatchMessage()函数,完成对消息的处理,也就是说,消息的具体处理实际上是由程序指定的。msg变量的类型是Message,msg.target的类型是Handler。
3) 每处理完该消息后,需要调用msg.recycle()回收该Message对象占用的系统资源。因为Message内部使用了一个数据池保存Message对象,从而避免不停地创建和删除Message对象。因此,每次处理完该消息后,需要将该Message对象设置为空闲状态,以便使该Message对象可以被重用。