public interface Controller extends Clock, Duration
Controller, which extends Clock,
provides resource-allocation
state information, event generation, and a mechanism for obtaining objects
that provide additional control over a Controller.
Clock, a Controller is always either
Started or Stopped.
However, Controller subdivides
Clock's Stopped state into five
resource-allocation phases:
Unrealized, Realizing, Realized,
Prefetching, and Prefetched.
The motivation for these life-cycle states is to provide
programmatic control over potentially time-consuming operations.
For example, when a Controller is first constructed, it's in
the Unrealized state.
While Realizing, the Controller
performs the communication necessary to locate all of the resources
it needs to function (such as communicating with a server,
other controllers, or a file system).
The realize method allows an application to initiate this
potentially time-consuming process (Realizing) at an
appropriate time.
When a Controller is Realizing or Prefetching,
it will eventually transition to another state, such as Realized,
Prefetched, or even Unrealized.
Because a Controller is often in one state on its way to
another, its destination or target state is an integral part
of the Controller life-cycle.
You can query a Controller to determine both its
current state and its target state.
A Controller typically moves from the Unrealized state
through Realizing to the Realized state,
then through Prefetching
to the Prefetched state, and finally on to the Started state.
When a Controller finishes because
the end of the media stream is reached,
its stop time is reached,
or the stop method is invoked,
the Controller moves from the Started state
back to Prefetched
or possibly back to Realized, ready to
repeat the cycle.
To use a Controller, you set up parameters to
manage its movement through these life-cycle states and then
move it through the states using the Controller
state transition methods.
To keep track of the Controller's current state,
you monitor the state transition events that it posts when changing states.
Controller has five methods that are used to induce
life-cycle state changes:
realize, prefetch, deallocate,
syncStart, and stop.
To transition a Controller to the Realized,
Prefetched, or Started state,
you use the corresponding method: realize,
prefetch, or syncStart. The
deallocate and stop methods can change
a requested state transition or trigger a state change.
The forward transition methods (realize,
prefetch, and syncStart) are executed
asynchronously and return immediately.
When the requested operation is complete, the Controller
posts a ControllerEvent
that indicates that the target state has been reached,
stop or deallocate has been invoked, or
that an error occurred.
The deallocate, and stop methods can
change the target state and induce a transition back to
a previous state. For example, calling deallocate on
a Controller in the
Prefetching state will move it back to
Realized. These methods are synchronous.
Controller often moves between states
in an asynchronous manner.
To facilitate the tracking of a Controller's state,
every time its state or target state changes,
the Controller is required to post a TransitionEvent that describes
its previous state, current state, and new target state.
By monitoring the Controller event stream, you can determine
exactly what a Controller is doing at any point in time.
When one of the asynchronous forward state transition methods
completes, the Controller posts the appropriate TransitionEvent
or a ControllerErrorEvent indicating that
the Controller is no longer usable.
For more information about ControllerEvents, see the Controller Events section.
To facilitate simple asynchronous method protocols,
a Controller always posts a method completion event
when one of the asynchronous forward state transition methods is invoked, even
if no state or target state change occurs.
For example, if realize is called on a
Prefetching Controller,
a RealizeCompleteEvent
is immediately posted, even though the Controller remains
in the Prefetching state and the target state is still
Prefetched.
The method completion events always report the Controller's previous,
current, and target state at the time the event was posted.
Controller
states.
Controller starts in
the Unrealized state.
An Unrealized Controller knows very little about its
internals and does not have enough information to acquire all of the resources
it needs to function.
In particular, an Unrealized Controller does
not know enough to properly construct
a Clock.
Therefore, it is illegal to call the following methods
on an Unrealized Controller:
getTimeBase
setTimeBase
setMediaTime
setRate
setStopTime
getStartLatency
NotRealizedError is thrown if any of these methods are called
on an Unrealized Controller.
Controller is Realized when it has obtained
all of the information necessary for it to acquire the resources it needs
to function.
A Realizing Controller is in the process of
identifying the resources that it needs to acquire.
Realizing can be a resource and time-consuming process.
A Realizing Controller might have to communicate with
a server, read a file, or interact with a set of other objects.
Although a Realized Controller does not have to acquire
any resources, a Realized Controller is likely to have
acquired all of the resources it needs except those that imply exclusive use of a
scarce system resource, such as an audio device or MPEG decoding hardware.
Normally, a Controller moves from the Unrealized state
through Realizing and on to the Realized state.
After realize has been invoked on a Controller, the only way it can return
to the Unrealized state is if deallocate is
invoked before Realizing completes.
Once a Controller reaches the Realized state, it
never returns to the Unrealized state; it remains in one of four
states: Realized, Prefetching, Prefetched, or
Started.
realize method executes asynchronously and completion
is signaled by a RealizeCompleteEvent or a
ControllerErrorEvent.
Controller might still need to
perform a number of time-consuming tasks before it is ready to be started.
For example, it might need to acquire scarce hardware resources,
fill buffers with media data, or perform other start-up processing.
While performing these tasks, the Controller
is in the Prefetching state.
When finished, it moves into the Prefetched state.
Over a Controller's lifetime, Prefetching might have to recur when certain methods are invoked.
For example, calling setMediaTime might cause a Player to be
Prefetched again before it is Started.
Once a Controller is Prefetched, it is capable of starting as quickly
as is possible for that Controller.
Prefetching reduces the startup latency of a Controller to the minimum
possible value. (The startup latency is the value returned by getStartLatency.)
Typically, a Controller moves from the Realized state through
Prefetching and on to the Prefetched state.
Once Prefetched, a Controller
remains Prefetched unless deallocate, syncStart
or a method that changes its state and
increases its startup latency is invoked, such as setMediaTime.
A Started Controller returns to the Prefetched
or Realized state when it stops.
prefetch method is asynchronous and its completion is signaled
by a PrefetchCompleteEvent or a ControllerErrorEvent.
As a convenience, if prefetch is invoked before a
Controller has reached the Realized state,
an implicit realize is invoked by changing the target state
to Prefetched.
Both a RealizeCompleteEvent and a PrefetchCompleteEvent are
posted by the Controller as it
transitions to the Prefetched state.
If a Controller is Prefetching and cannot obtain all of the
resources it needs to start, it posts a ResourceUnavailableEvent
instead of a PrefetchCompleteEvent.
This is a catastrophic error condition
from which the Controller cannot recover.
Controller can enter the
Started state. A Started Controller's Clock is running and it is processing data.
A Controller returns to the Prefetched or Realized
state when it stops because it has reached its stop time, reached the end of the media,
or because the stop method was invoked.
When the Controller moves from the Prefetched
to the Started state, it posts a StartEvent.
When it moves from the Started state to a stopped state, it posts a StopEvent.
A Controller is a Clock; therefore, syncStart,
setTimeBase, setMediaTime, and setRate
are illegal when the Controller is in the Started state.
Controller is to call
syncStart.
It is illegal to call syncStart unless the Controller
is in the Prefetched state. If syncStart is called before the Controller is Prefetched,
a NotPrefetchedError is thrown.
Player defines a start method that relaxes this
requirement.
Deallocate is used to stop a Controller's resource consumption. For example,
when Applet.stop is called, deallocate should be called to free the resources that the Controller was using.
Deallocate stops any resource-consuming activity
and releases any exclusive-use resources that the Controller
has acquired.
Deallocate executes synchronously;
when deallocate returns, the resources have been released.
If the Controller is Unrealized or Realizing, calling deallocate returns it to the
Unrealized state.
Otherwise, calling deallocate returns a Controller to the Realized state.
Regardless of the state that a Controller is in,
deallocate must relinquish any exclusive-use
system resources that it holds;
the only way to guarantee that a Controller is not holding
resources is to call the deallocate method.
It is illegal to call deallocate on a Started Controller.
You must stop the Controller before
it can relinquish its resources.
When deallocate is called, a Controller posts a special StopEvent,
DeallocateEvent.
Controller Events
Controller events asynchronously deliver
information about Controller state changes.
There are four kinds of notifications:
life-cycle transition, method acknowledgement,
state notification, and error notification.
To receive events, an object must implement the ControllerListener
interface and use the addControllerListener method to register its interest in a Controller's events.
All Controller events are posted to each registered listener.
The Controller event mechanism is extensible and
some Controllers define events other than
the ones described here.
For example, the DurationUpdateEvents that a Player posts
are ControllerEvents.
TransitionEvent
TransitionEvents are posted when a Controller's
current or target state changes. TransitionEvent
is subclassed to provide a small set of events
that are posted for particular kinds of transitions that
merit special interest. The class name of the event indicates
either the reason that the event was posted
(such as EndOfMediaEvent),
or the particular transition that the event represents (such as
PrefetchCompleteEvent).
In addition to being posted for state transitions,
the method acknowledgement events RealizeCompleteEvent,
PrefetchCompleteEvent, StartEvent,
DeallocateEvent,
and StopByRequestEvent are always posted to signify method
completion even if no transition has taken place.
RealizeCompleteEvent
Controller moves from
Realizing to the Realized state,
or when the realize method is invoked and the
Controller is already Realized.
PrefetchCompleteEvent
Controller moves from Prefetching to
the Prefetched state, or when the prefetch method is
invoked and the Controller is already Prefetched.
StartEvent
Controller moves from Prefetched to
Started.
StopEvent
Controller moves backward. For example, when moving from Prefetched
to Realized or from Started to Prefetched.
The reason that a stop event occurs is often important; this information is provided through several subclasses
of StopEvent.
StopAtTimeEvent
Controller changes state because it has reached
its stop time.
StopByRequestEvent
Controller changes state because stop is invoked.
This event is also posted as an acknowledgement to stop requests.
DeallocateEvent
deallocate method is invoked, indicating
a possible state change and the loss of exclusive-use resources.
The current state is either Unrealized or Realized.
This event doesn't always indicate a state change. For example, it is posted
even if deallocate is called on a Realized
Controller.
EndOfMediaEvent
Controller has reached the end of the media.
ControllerClosedEvent
Controller closes it is no longer usable,
and it will post a ControllerClosedEvent.
Once this has happened method calls on the Controller
have undefined behavior.
A Controller will close for one of two reasons. Either
the close method was invoked on the Controller, or
an error has occurred. If a Controller is closed because the
close method was invoked, it posts a ControllerClosedEvent.
If an error occurs it posts one of the ControllerErrorEvents.
ControllerErrorEvent
Controller. While this event is rarely posted, you should watch
for it when processing
other error events--this is how you can detect implementation-specific
error events.
When a ControllerErrorEvent is posted, it indicates a catastrophic
error from which the Controller cannot recover. There is no
recovery mechanism for a Controller once one of these events has
been posted.
ResourceUnavailableEvent
DataLostErrorEvent
Controller has lost data.
InternalErrorEvent
Controller for an implementation-specific reason.
This usually indicates that there is a problem with the implementation.
Controller where notification of the change is useful,
particularly for updating user interface components.
Notification of these changes is provided through three
ControllerEvents:
RateChangeEvent
Controller changes.
StopTimeChangeEvent
Controller changes.
MediaTimeSetEvent
setMediaTime method.
This event is not periodically posted as media time changes
due to normal Controller processing and Clock operation.
Control is an object that provides a way to
affect some aspect of a Controller's operation
in a specific way.
The Control interface provides access to a
GUI Component that is
specific to the particular Control.
For example, the GainControl interface provides a way
to display a GUI control that allows the user to change the volume.
A Controller makes a collection of Controls
available that effect the Controller's behavior.
To access these Controls, you use the getControls
method, which returns an array of supported Controls.
If you know the full class or interface name of the Control
you want, you can use getControl.
Since an application using a Controller might not know how
to use all of the Controls that a Controller
supports, it can make the functionality available to a user by
providing access to the Component for
the Control.
Player,
Control,
ControllerListener,
ControllerEvent,
TransitionEvent,
RealizeCompleteEvent,
PrefetchCompleteEvent,
StartEvent,
StopEvent,
EndOfMediaEvent,
ControllerErrorEvent,
DataLostErrorEvent,
ResourceUnavailableEvent,
InternalErrorEvent,
RateChangeEvent,
MediaTimeSetEvent,
ClockStartedError,
NotRealizedError| Modifier and Type | Field and Description |
|---|---|
static Time |
LATENCY_UNKNOWN
Returned by
getStartLatency. |
static int |
Prefetched
Returned by
getState. |
static int |
Prefetching
Returned by
getState. |
static int |
Realized
Returned by
getState. |
static int |
Realizing
Returned by
getState. |
static int |
Started
Returned by getState.
|
static int |
Unrealized
Returned by
getState. |
DURATION_UNBOUNDED, DURATION_UNKNOWN| Modifier and Type | Method and Description |
|---|---|
void |
addControllerListener(ControllerListener listener)
Specify a
ControllerListener to which
this Controller will send events. |
void |
close()
Release all resources and cease all activity.
|
void |
deallocate()
Abort the current operation and cease any activity that
consumes system resources.
|
Control |
getControl(String forName)
Get the
Control that supports the
class or interface specified. |
Control[] |
getControls()
Get a list of the
Control objects that
this Controller supports. |
Time |
getStartLatency()
Get the
Controller's start latency in nanoseconds. |
int |
getState()
Get the current state of this
Controller. |
int |
getTargetState()
Get the current target state of this
Controller. |
void |
prefetch()
Process as much data as necessary
to reduce the
Controller's start latency to the shortest possible time. |
void |
realize()
Construct the media dependent portions of the
Controller. |
void |
removeControllerListener(ControllerListener listener)
Remove the specified listener from this
Controller's
listener list. |
getMediaNanoseconds, getMediaTime, getRate, getStopTime, getSyncTime, getTimeBase, mapToTimeBase, setMediaTime, setRate, setStopTime, setTimeBase, stop, syncStartgetDurationstatic final Time LATENCY_UNKNOWN
getStartLatency.static final int Unrealized
getState.static final int Realizing
getState.static final int Realized
getState.static final int Prefetching
getState.static final int Prefetched
getState.static final int Started
int getState()
Controller.
The state is an integer constant as defined above.
Note: A race condition can occur between the return of this method and the execution of a state changing method.
Controller's current state.int getTargetState()
Controller.
The state is an integer constant as defined above.
Note: A race condition can occur between the return of this method and the execution of a state changing method.
Controller's current target state.void realize()
Controller.
This can require examining media data and might
take some time to complete.
The realize method puts the Controller into the Realizing state and returns immediately.
When realize is complete and the Controller is in the
Realized state, the Controller posts a
RealizeCompleteEvent.
void prefetch()
Controller's start latency to the shortest possible time.
This typically requires examining media data and takes some
time to complete.
The prefetch method puts the Controller into the Prefetching state and returns immediately.
When Prefetching is complete and the Controller is in
the Prefetched state, the Controller posts
a PrefetchCompleteEvent.
void deallocate()
Controller is not yet
Realized,
it returns to the Unrealized state. Otherwise, the Controller
returns to the Realized state.
It is illegal to call deallocate on a Started Controller.
A ClockStartedError is thrown if deallocate
is called and the Controller is in the Started state.
void close()
close method indicates that the Controller will
no longer be used, and the Controller can
shut itself down.
A ControllerClosedEvent is posted.
Methods invoked on a closed Controller
might throw errors.Time getStartLatency()
Controller's start latency in nanoseconds. The start latency represents a
worst-case estimate of the amount of time it will take
to present the first frame of data.
This method is useful for determining how far in advance the
syncStart method must be invoked to ensure
that media will be
rendered at the specified start time.
For a Controller that has a variable start latency,
the value returned represents the maximum possible
start latency. If you call getStartLatency on a Controller that isn't Prefetched
and getStartLatency returns LATENCY_UNKNOWN, calling
prefetch and then calling getStartLatency again after the Controller posts
a PrefetchCompleteEvent might
return a more accurate estimate.
If getStartLatency still returns LATENCY_UNKNOWN,
the start latency is indeterminate and you might not be able to use
syncStart to
synchronize the Controller with other Controllers.
Note: In most cases, the value returned by
getStartLatency will change once the
Controller is Prefetched.
Control[] getControls()
Control objects that
this Controller supports.
If there are no controls, an array of length zero
is returned.Controller Controls.Control getControl(String forName)
Control that supports the
class or interface specified. The full class
or interface name should be specified.
Null is returned if the Control
is not supported.Control for the class or interface
name.void addControllerListener(ControllerListener listener)
ControllerListener to which
this Controller will send events.
A Controller can have multiple
ControllerListeners.listener - The listener to which the Controller
will post events.void removeControllerListener(ControllerListener listener)
Controller's
listener list.
No action is performed if the specified listener
is not on the Controller's listener list.
listener - The listener that has been receiving events from this
Controller.Copyright © 2013 CableLabs. All Rights Reserved.