Android Handler消息机制从原理到应用详解
Posted Jason_Wang
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对于跨进程IPC通信，android提供了一个完整的框架Binder，而对于线程之间的通信，Android同样提供了一个强大的消息机制：Handler/Looper/MessageQueue,通过Handler我们很容易的实现在UI线程与其他线程之间的消息传递。这篇文章，就来看一看Android消息机制的具体应用以及原理。主要有3个方面：
- Android消息机制相关的基本概念；
- Android Handler的具体应用实例；
- 从源码的角度直接深入了解Handler/Looper/MessageQueue的机制；
首先来看下相关的概念。
基本概念
Handler
一个Handler用于发送或者处理与一个线程的消息队列(MessageQueue)相关联的消息或者可执行对象(Runnable)。每个Handler实例跟一个线程以及线程消息队列相关联。当新建一个Handler实例时，该Handler就跟创建它的线程以及线程队列绑定在一起。此后，它就会将消息以及可执行对象传送到消息队列中，并且处理从消息队列中出来的消息。
Handler有两个用途：（1）对消息以及可执行对象进行调度，以便未来某个时间点执行之；（2）向另一个线程发送一个消息或者执行对象。
当应用程序进程创建完成后，主线程负责运行一个用于管理应用内的对象，如activities,broadcast receivers的消息队列。用户可以创建自己的线程，通过一个Handler跟主线程进行通信。
Looper
Looper用于为线程运行一个消息循环；线程默认是没有消息循环的，要建立一个新的Looper,首先需要在线程内调用prepare，然后调用loop进入消息处理。
MessageQueue
MessageQueue用于保存被looper分发出来的消息。消息并不是直接添加到MessageQueue中的，而是通过跟looper相关联的Handler进行传递。
Android应用实例
在Android应用开发过程中，为了保持UI的响应，通常需要将一些耗时的操作放到非UI线程，然后将结果返回到UI线程。这里，假如我们需要从网络上下载一副图片，然后在ImageView中显示。对于网络访问这种耗时的操作，启动一个新的线程来运行。因此，首先我们自定义一个线程类用于下载图片：
/**
* thread to download image from a given URL
*/
public class DownloadThread extends Thread
private static final String LOG_TAG = "DownloadThread";
private static final int MSG_DOWNLOAD_IMAGE = 0x01;
private static final int DEFAULT_CONNECT_TIMEOUT = 10*1000;
private static EventHandler mHandler;
private Handler mMainHandler; // main thread handler
public DownloadThread(Handler main)
super(LOG_TAG);
mMainHandler = main;
@Override
public void run()
//启动线程消息循环
Looper.prepare();
// 新建一个线程Handler
mHandler = new EventHandler();
//进入消息循环
Looper.loop();
public void addNewTask(String url)
if(URLUtil.isNetworkUrl(url))
Message msg = mHandler.obtainMessage(MSG_DOWNLOAD_IMAGE,url);
mHandler.sendMessage(msg);
else
//向主线程发送错误消息
String error = "illegal format image url";
Message msg = mMainHandler.obtainMessage(MainActivity.MSG_IMAGE_DOWNLOAD_FAIL,error);
msg.sendToTarget();
private void downloadImage(String imgUrl)
Log.v(LOG_TAG, "downloadImage(): url = " + imgUrl);
// notify main thread that it starts
Message msg = mMainHandler.obtainMessage(MainActivity.MSG_IMAGE_DOWNLOAD_START);
msg.sendToTarget();
InputStream in = null;
try
// configure Http connection
URL myUrl = new URL(imgUrl);
HttpURLConnection urlCnn = (HttpURLConnection)myUrl.openConnection();
urlCnn.setDoInput(true);
urlCnn.setConnectTimeout(DEFAULT_CONNECT_TIMEOUT);
// get input stream from the given url
in = urlCnn.getInputStream();
Bitmap bitmap = BitmapFactory.decodeStream(in);
Bundle bundle = new Bundle();
bundle.putParcelable("bitmap",bitmap);
// send message containing data to the main thread
Message msg1 = mMainHandler.obtainMessage(MainActivity.MSG_IMAGE_DOWNLOAD_SUCCESS);
msg1.setData(bundle);
msg1.sendToTarget();
catch (MalformedURLException e)
e.printStackTrace();
String error = "wrong format url";
Message message = mMainHandler.obtainMessage(MainActivity.MSG_IMAGE_DOWNLOAD_FAIL,error);
message.sendToTarget();
catch (IOException e)
e.printStackTrace();
String error = "network connection error";
Message message = mMainHandler.obtainMessage(MainActivity.MSG_IMAGE_DOWNLOAD_FAIL,error);
message.sendToTarget();
// 自定义一个事件处理Handler
private final class EventHandler extends Handler
@Override
public void handleMessage(Message msg)
int w = msg.what;
switch (w)
case MSG_DOWNLOAD_IMAGE:
String url = (String)msg.obj;
downloadImage(url);
break;
default:
break;
注意，启动一个新的线程时，需要调用prepare和loop两个函数，以确保消息循环处于运行状态。接着，在MainActivity中启动该线程用于下载图片：
public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity
private static final String TAG = MainActivity.class.getSimpleName();
public static final int MSG_IMAGE_DOWNLOAD_START = 0x01;
public static final int MSG_IMAGE_DOWNLOAD_FAIL = 0x02;
public static final int MSG_IMAGE_DOWNLOAD_SUCCESS = 0x03;
private Handler mH;
@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState)
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
Toolbar toolbar = (Toolbar) findViewById(R.id.toolbar);
setSupportActionBar(toolbar);
mIvFilm = (ImageView)findViewById(R.id.iv_film);
mH = new H();
@Override
public void onResume()
super.onResume();
DownloadThread downloadThread = new DownloadThread(mH);
downloadThread.start();
String url = "http://image.baidu.com/search/redirect?tn=redirect&word=j&juid=9127CC&sign=ciwziioaoz&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.4493.com%2Fmotemeinv%2F6156%2F1.htm&objurl=http%3A%2F%2Fh.hiphotos.baidu.com%2Fimage%2Fpic%2Fitem%2Fdc54564e9258d109a4d1165ad558ccbf6c814d23.jpg";
// 下载图片
downloadThread.addNewTask(url);
// 自定义一个Handler对象，用于处理UI线程的消息
private final class H extends Handler
@Override
public void handleMessage(Message msg)
int w = msg.what;
switch (w)
case MSG_IMAGE_DOWNLOAD_START:
Toast.makeText(MainActivity.this,"start download",Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
break;
case MSG_IMAGE_DOWNLOAD_SUCCESS:
Bitmap bitmap = msg.getData().getParcelable("bitmap");
mIvFilm.setImageBitmap(bitmap);
Toast.makeText(MainActivity.this,"download complete",Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
break;
case MSG_IMAGE_DOWNLOAD_FAIL:
Toast.makeText(MainActivity.this,"download failure",Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
break;
default:
break;
可见，对于一个新的线程来说，使用Handler来处理消息或者可执行对象时，需要做如下几件事情：
- 自定义一个Handler，用于处理
Looper发送过来的消息； - 启动线程消息循环:
Looper.prepare()，将线程与Looper进行绑定； - 进入消息循环:
Looper.loop(),等待接收并处理消息。
Handler原理详解
如下图所示，为Handler、Looper以及MessageQueue三者之间的关系。
- Looper不断查询消息队列中的消息，如果发现有新的消息，则将其发送给对应的Handler执行；
- Handler接收到来自Looper的消息后，对其进行处理；
- MessageQueue接收发自从Handler产生的消息，将其放入队列；
明白了三者的作用，接下来就来看一看具体的实现细节。
线程与Looper的绑定
调用prepare()函数后，新建一个Looper实例与线程进行绑定，并将其保存在线程本地变量中。
public static void prepare()
prepare(true);
private static void prepare(boolean quitAllowed)
if (sThreadLocal.get() != null)
throw new RuntimeException("Only one Looper may be created per thread");
sThreadLocal.set(new Looper(quitAllowed));
...
// 新建一个与该线程对应的MessageQueue
private Looper(boolean quitAllowed)
mQueue = new MessageQueue(quitAllowed);
mThread = Thread.currentThread();
源码：/android/frameworks/base/core/java/android/os/Looper.java
同时，创建一个消息队列MessageQueue：
public final class MessageQueue
// True if the message queue can be quit.
private final boolean mQuitAllowed;
@SuppressWarnings("unused")
private long mPtr; // used by native code
private boolean mQuitting;
....
private native static long nativeInit();
private native static void nativeDestroy(long ptr);
private native void nativePollOnce(long ptr, int timeoutMillis); /*non-static for callbacks*/
private native static void nativeWake(long ptr);
private native static boolean nativeIsPolling(long ptr);
private native static void nativeSetFileDescriptorEvents(long ptr, int fd, int events);
MessageQueue(boolean quitAllowed)
mQuitAllowed = quitAllowed;
//本地初始化
mPtr = nativeInit();
....
源码: /android/frameworks/base/core/java/android/os/MessageQueue.java
初始化本地消息队列（新建一个本地消息队列）,该消息队列包含了一个本地的Looper, 消息循环开始之前，NativeMessageQueue中没有Looper对象，因此创建一个并将其保存到线程私有变量中：
static jlong android_os_MessageQueue_nativeInit(JNIEnv* env, jclass clazz)
NativeMessageQueue* nativeMessageQueue = new NativeMessageQueue();
if (!nativeMessageQueue)
jniThrowRuntimeException(env, "Unable to allocate native queue");
return 0;
nativeMessageQueue->incStrong(env);
return reinterpret_cast<jlong>(nativeMessageQueue);
// 本地消息队列
NativeMessageQueue::NativeMessageQueue() :
mPollEnv(NULL), mPollObj(NULL), mExceptionObj(NULL)
//首次为空
mLooper = Looper::getForThread();
if (mLooper == NULL)
mLooper = new Looper(false);
Looper::setForThread(mLooper);
// 将looper保存为线程私有变量
void Looper::setForThread(const sp<Looper>& looper)
sp<Looper> old = getForThread(); // also has side-effect of initializing TLS
if (looper != NULL)
looper->incStrong((void*)threadDestructor);
pthread_setspecific(gTLSKey, looper.get());
if (old != NULL)
old->decStrong((void*)threadDestructor);
源码: /android/frameworks/base/core/jni/android_os_MessageQueue.cpp
新建一个本地Looper,创建一个eventfd用于监听I/O事件：
Looper::Looper(bool allowNonCallbacks) :
mAllowNonCallbacks(allowNonCallbacks), mSendingMessage(false),
mPolling(false), mEpollFd(-1), mEpollRebuildRequired(false),
mNextRequestSeq(0), mResponseIndex(0), mNextMessageUptime(LLONG_MAX)
mWakeEventFd = eventfd(0, EFD_NONBLOCK | EFD_CLOEXEC);
LOG_ALWAYS_FATAL_IF(mWakeEventFd < 0, "Could not make wake event fd: %s",
strerror(errno));
AutoMutex _l(mLock);
rebuildEpollLocked();
void Looper::rebuildEpollLocked()
// Close old epoll instance if we have one.
if (mEpollFd >= 0)
close(mEpollFd);
// Allocate the new epoll instance and register the wake pipe.
mEpollFd = epoll_create(EPOLL_SIZE_HINT);
struct epoll_event eventItem;
memset(& eventItem, 0, sizeof(epoll_event));
eventItem.events = EPOLLIN;
eventItem.data.fd = mWakeEventFd;
int result = epoll_ctl(mEpollFd, EPOLL_CTL_ADD, mWakeEventFd, & eventItem);
//如果添加了其他fd，则将其添加到epoll的监听列表中
for (size_t i = 0; i < mRequests.size(); i++)
const Request& request = mRequests.valueAt(i);
struct epoll_event eventItem;
request.initEventItem(&eventItem);
int epollResult = epoll_ctl(mEpollFd, EPOLL_CTL_ADD, request.fd, & eventItem);
if (epollResult < 0)
ALOGE("Error adding epoll events for fd %d while rebuilding epoll set: %s",
request.fd, strerror(errno));
源码: /android/system/core/libutils/Looper.cpp
有关异步I/O EPOLL相关资料：
线程进入消息循环
线程与Looper绑定后，运行消息队列，准备处理消息：
public static void loop()
final Looper me = myLooper();
if (me == null)
throw new RuntimeException("No Looper; Looper.prepare() wasn't called on this thread.");
final MessageQueue queue = me.mQueue;
for (;;)
// 查询消息
Message msg = queue.next(); // might block
if (msg == null)
// No message indicates that the message queue is quitting.
return;
....
try
// 发送消息到目标Handler
msg.target.dispatchMessage(msg);
finally
if (traceTag != 0)
Trace.traceEnd(traceTag);
....
msg.recycleUnchecked();
通过调用本地方法nativePollOnce不断查询本地消息队列是否有消息，有消息时则返回。这里可以看到，如果没有IdleHandler,nextPollTimeoutMillis == -1,则nativePollOnce()一直处于阻塞状态：
public final class MessageQueue
// 查询可用的消息
Message next()
// mPtr指向本地的nativeMessageQueue
final long ptr = mPtr;
int pendingIdleHandlerCount = -1; // -1 only during first iteration
int nextPollTimeoutMillis = 0;
for (;;)
// 查询本地消息，如果有则返回，没有则阻塞直到超时
nativePollOnce(ptr, nextPollTimeoutMillis);
synchronized (this)
Message prevMsg = null;
Message msg = mMessages;
if (msg != null && msg.target == null)
do
prevMsg = msg;
msg = msg.next;
while (msg != null && !msg.isAsynchronous());
if (msg != null)
if (now < msg.when)
// Next message is not ready. Set a timeout to wake up when it is ready.
nextPollTimeoutMillis = (int) Math.min(msg.when - now, Integer.MAX_VALUE);
else
// 获得消息，返回
mBlocked = false;
if (prevMsg != null)
prevMsg.next = msg.next;
else
mMessages = msg.next;
msg.next = null;
msg.markInUse();
return msg;
else
// No more messages.
nextPollTimeoutMillis = -1;
....
//消息队列为空，或者第一个消息尚未就绪
if (pendingIdleHandlerCount < 0
&& (mMessages == null || now < mMessages.when))
pendingIdleHandlerCount = mIdleHandlers.size();
// 没有IdleHandler则设置为阻塞状态，继续监听本地消息队列
if (pendingIdleHandlerCount <= 0)
// No idle handlers to run. Loop and wait some more.
mBlocked = true;
continue;
if (mPendingIdleHandlers == null)
mPendingIdleHandlers = new IdleHandler[Math.max(pendingIdleHandlerCount, 4)];
mPendingIdleHandlers = mIdleHandlers.toArray(mPendingIdleHandlers);
for (int i = 0; i < pendingIdleHandlerCount; i++)
final IdleHandler idler = mPendingIdleHandlers[i];
mPendingIdleHandlers[i] = null; // release the reference to the handler
boolean keep = false;
try
keep = idler.queueIdle();
catch (Throwable t)
Log.wtf(TAG, "IdleHandler threw exception", t);
if (!keep)
synchronized (this)
mIdleHandlers.remove(idler);
// Reset the idle handler count to 0 so we do not run them again.
pendingIdleHandlerCount = 0;
调用本地方法，查看队列中是否有消息，实际是利用Looper中的epoll机制来监听是否有IO事件：
static void android_os_MessageQueue_nativePollOnce(JNIEnv* env, jobject obj,
jlong ptr, jint timeoutMillis)
NativeMessageQueue* nativeMessageQueue = reinterpret_cast<NativeMessageQueue*>(ptr);
nativeMessageQueue->pollOnce(env, obj, timeoutMillis);
void NativeMessageQueue::pollOnce(JNIEnv* env, jobject pollObj, int timeoutMillis)
mPollEnv = env;
mPollObj = pollObj;
mLooper->pollOnce(timeoutMillis);
mPollObj = NULL;
mPollEnv = NULL;
if (mExceptionObj)
env->Throw(mExceptionObj);
env->DeleteLocalRef(mExceptionObj);
mExceptionObj = NULL;
Looper::pollOnce不断通过epoll_wait来监听之前创建的eventfd的IO事件，查看是否有消息，没有消息则直接返回：
int Looper::pollOnce(int timeoutMillis, int* outFd, int* outEvents, void** outData)
int result = 0;
for (;;)
while (mResponseIndex < mResponses.size())
const Response& response = mResponses.itemAt(mResponseIndex++);
int ident = response.request.ident;
if (ident >= 0)
int fd = response.request.fd;
int events = response.events;
void* data = response.request.data;
if (outFd != NULL) *outFd = fd;
if (outEvents != NULL) *outEvents = events;
if (outData != NULL) *outData = data;
return ident;
// 第二次循环时，由于result == POLL_TIMEOUT,因此返回
if (result != 0)
if (outFd != NULL) *outFd = 0;
if (outEvents != NULL) *outEvents = 0;
if (outData != NULL) *outData = NULL;
return result;
// 超时时间为0， 如果没有消息则返回POLL_TIMEOUT
result = pollInner(timeoutMillis);
将消息发送到队列
在Handler.java中，有很多方法用于创建消息，并将其发送到对应目标线程的消息队列中，以sendMessage(Message msg)为例：
public final boolean sendMessage(Message msg)
return sendMessageDelayed(msg, 0);
public final boolean sendMessageDelayed(Message msg, long delayMillis)
if (delayMillis < 0)
delayMillis = 0;
return sendMessageAtTime(msg, SystemClock.uptimeMillis() + delayMillis);
public boolean sendMessageAtTime(Message msg, long uptimeMillis)
MessageQueue queue = mQueue;
if (queue == null)
RuntimeException e = new RuntimeException(
this + " sendMessageAtTime() called with no mQueue");
Log.w("Looper", e.getMessage(), e);
return false;
return enqueueMessage(queue, msg, uptimeMillis);
//发送消息到消息队列
private boolean enqueueMessage(MessageQueue queue, Message msg, long uptimeMillis)
msg.target = this;
if (mAsynchronous)
msg.setAsynchronous(true);
return queue.enqueueMessage(msg, uptimeMillis);
调用MessageQueue中的enqueueMessage()将消息发送到对应线程消息队列，由于之前消息队列为空，线程处于阻塞状态，因此需要通过调用本地方法nativeWake来唤醒线程:
boolean enqueueMessage(Message msg, long when)
if (msg.target == null)
throw new IllegalArgumentException("Message must have a target.");
if (msg.isInUse())
throw new IllegalStateException(msg + " This message is already in use.");
synchronized (this)
if (mQuitting)
IllegalStateException e = new IllegalStateException(
msg.target + " sending message to a Handler on a dead thread");
Log.w(TAG, e.getMessage(), e);
msg.recycle();
return false;
msg.markInUse();
msg.when = when;
Message p = mMessages;
boolean needWake;
if (p == null || when == 0 || when < p.when)
// New head, wake up the event queue if blocked.
msg.next = p;
mMessages = msg;
needWake = mBlocked; // 当前队列为空，阻塞状态
else
// Inserted within the middle of the queue. Usually we don't have to wake
// up the event queue unless there is a barrier at the head of the queue
// and the message is the earliest asynchronous message in the queue.
needWake = mBlocked && p.target == null && msg.isAsynchronous();
Message prev;
for (;;)
prev = p;
p = p.next;
if (p == null || when < p.when)
break;
if (needWake && p.isAsynchronous())
needWake = false;
msg.next = p; // invariant: p == prev.next
prev.next = msg;
// We can assume mPtr != 0 because mQuitting is false.
if (needWake)
nativeWake(mPtr);
return true;
nativeWake通过Looper::wake向mWakeEventFd这个文件描述写入一个整型值，从而唤醒等到线程，这样之前的epoll_wait就会返回一个大于0的值，表示有IO事件发生了。
static void android_os_MessageQueue_nativeWake(JNIEnv* env, jclass clazz, jlong ptr)
NativeMessageQueue* nativeMessageQueue = reinterpret_cast<NativeMessageQueue*>(ptr);
nativeMessageQueue->wake();
void NativeMessageQueue::wake()
mLooper->wake();
void Looper::wake()
uint64_t inc = 1;
ssize_t nWrite = TEMP_FAILURE_RETRY(write(mWakeEventFd, &inc, sizeof(uint64_t)));
if (nWrite != sizeof(uint64_t))
if (errno != EAGAIN)
LOG_ALWAYS_FATAL("Could not write wake signal to fd %d: %s",
mWakeEventFd, strerror(errno));
将消息发送给目标线程Handler
目标线程唤醒后，Looper::loop中的que.next()返回一个消息，接着会将该消息发送个对应线程的Handler处理:
public static void loop()
final Looper me = myLooper();
if (me == null)
throw new RuntimeException("No Looper; Looper.prepare() wasn't called on this thread.");
final MessageQueue queue = me.mQueue;
for (;;)
// 查询消息
Message msg = queue.next(); // might block
if (msg == null)
// No message indicates that the message queue is quitting.
return;
....
try
// 发送消息到目标Handler
msg.target.dispatchMessage(msg);
finally
if (traceTag != 0)
Trace.traceEnd(traceTag);
....
msg.recycleUnchecked();
目标Handler接收到消息，直接调用dispatchMessage(),这样一个线程消息循环就结束了。接着通过Looper::loop线程有进入新的消息循环。
public class Handler
public void dispatchMessage(Message msg)
// 有回调，直接调用回调函数
if (msg.callback != null)
handleCallback(msg);
else
// handler本身有回调函数，调用回调函数处理消息
if (mCallback != null)
if (mCallback.handleMessage(msg))
return;
// 调用自定义的函数处理消息
handleMessage(msg);
// 执行回调
private static void handleCallback(Message message)
message.callback.run();
参考文献
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