I'm new to Android, and I'm trying to get the hang of multi touch input. I've begun with a simple app that allows the user to create rectangles on a Canvas by dragging and releasing with one finger, which I have working. To expand upon that, I now want a user to be able to rotate the rectangle they are drawing using a second finger, which is where my problems begin. As it stands, adding a second finger will cause multiple rectangles to rotate, instead of just the current one, but they will revert to their default orientation as soon as the second finger is released.
I've been working at it for a while, and I think my core problem is that I'm mishandling the multiple MotionEvents that come with two (or more fingers). Logging statements I left to display the coordinates on the screen for each event stay tied to the first finger touching the screen, instead of switching to the second. I've tried multiple configurations of accessing and changing the event pointer ID, and still no luck. If anyone could provide some guidance in the right direction, I would be extremely grateful.
My code is as follows:
public class BoxDrawingView extends View {
private static final String TAG = "BoxDrawingView";
private static final int INVALID_POINTER_ID = -1;
private int mActivePointerId = INVALID_POINTER_ID;
private Box mCurrentBox;
private List<Box> mBoxen = new ArrayList<>();
private Float mLastTouchX;
private Float mLastTouchY;
...
@Override
public boolean onTouchEvent(MotionEvent event) {
switch(MotionEventCompat.getActionMasked(event)) {
case MotionEvent.ACTION_DOWN:
mActivePointerId = MotionEventCompat.getPointerId(event, 0);
current = new PointF(MotionEventCompat.getX(event, mActivePointerId),
MotionEventCompat.getY(event, mActivePointerId));
action = "ACTION_DOWN";
// Reset drawing state
mCurrentBox = new Box(current);
mBoxen.add(mCurrentBox);
mLastTouchX = MotionEventCompat.getX(event, MotionEventCompat.getPointerId(event, 0));
mLastTouchY = MotionEventCompat.getY(event, MotionEventCompat.getPointerId(event, 0));
break;
case MotionEvent.ACTION_POINTER_DOWN:
action = "ACTION_POINTER_DOWN";
mActivePointerId = MotionEventCompat.getPointerId(event, 0);
mLastTouchX = MotionEventCompat.getX(event, MotionEventCompat.getPointerId(event, 0));
mLastTouchY = MotionEventCompat.getY(event, MotionEventCompat.getPointerId(event, 0));
break;
case MotionEvent.ACTION_MOVE:
action = "ACTION_MOVE";
current = new PointF(MotionEventCompat.getX(event, mActivePointerId),
MotionEventCompat.getY(event, mActivePointerId));
if (mCurrentBox != null) {
mCurrentBox.setCurrent(current);
invalidate();
}
if(MotionEventCompat.getPointerCount(event) > 1) {
int pointerIndex = MotionEventCompat.findPointerIndex(event, mActivePointerId);
float currX = MotionEventCompat.getX(event, pointerIndex);
float currY = MotionEventCompat.getY(event, pointerIndex);
if(mLastTouchX < currX) {
// simplified: only use x coordinates for rotation for now.
// +X for clockwise, -X for counter clockwise
Log.d(TAG, "Clockwise");
mRotationAngle = 30;
}
else if (mLastTouchX > getX()) {
Log.d(TAG, "Counter clockwise");
mRotationAngle = -30;
}
}
break;
case MotionEvent.ACTION_UP:
action = "ACTION_UP";
mCurrentBox = null;
mLastTouchX = null;
mLastTouchY = null;
mActivePointerId = INVALID_POINTER_ID;
break;
case MotionEvent.ACTION_POINTER_UP:
action = "ACTION_POINTER_UP";
int pointerIndex = event.getActionIndex();
int pointerId = event.getPointerId(pointerIndex);
if(pointerId == mActivePointerId){
mActivePointerId = INVALID_POINTER_ID;
}
break;
case MotionEvent.ACTION_CANCEL:
action = "ACTION_CANCEL";
mCurrentBox = null;
mActivePointerId = INVALID_POINTER_ID;
break;
}
return true;
}
@Override
protected void onDraw(Canvas canvas){
// Fill the background
canvas.drawPaint(mBackgroundPaint);
for(Box box : mBoxen) {
// Box is a custom object. Origin is the origin point,
// Current is the point of the opposite diagonal corner
float left = Math.min(box.getOrigin().x, box.getCurrent().x);
float right = Math.max(box.getOrigin().x, box.getCurrent().x);
float top = Math.min(box.getOrigin().y, box.getCurrent().y);
float bottom = Math.max(box.getOrigin().y, box.getCurrent().y);
if(mRotationAngle != 0) {
canvas.save();
canvas.rotate(mRotationAngle);
canvas.drawRect(left, top, right, bottom, mBoxPaint);
canvas.rotate(-mRotationAngle);
canvas.restore();
mRotationAngle = 0;
} else {
canvas.drawRect(left, top, right, bottom, mBoxPaint);
}
}
}
}
There are several ways to draw things, not just in android, but in Java as well. The thing is that you are trying to draw the rectangles by rotating the Canvas. That's a way, but in my personal experience I think that is only a good choice if you want to rotate the whole picture. If not, that may get a little tricky because you need to place a rotation axis, which it seems you are not using, so Android will asume that you want to rotate from the left top corner or the center of the view (I don't remember).
If you are opting for that choice, you may try to do it like this:
Matrix matrix = new Matrix();
matrix.setRotate(angle, rectangleCenterX, rectangleCenterY);
canvas.setMatrix(matrix);
But I recommend you to try a different approach. Do the rotation directly on the rectangle that you are moving, by calculating the axes of the polygon. This you can do it using Java Math operations:
public void formShape(int cx[], int cy[], double scale) {
double xGap = (width / 2) * Math.cos(angle) * scale;
double yGap = (width / 2) * Math.sin(angle) * scale;
cx[0] = (int) (x * scale + xGap);
cy[0] = (int) (y * scale + yGap);
cx[1] = (int) (x * scale - xGap);
cy[1] = (int) (y * scale - yGap);
cx[2] = (int) (x * scale - xGap - length * Math.cos(radians) * scale);
cy[2] = (int) (y * scale - yGap - length * Math.sin(radians) * scale);
cx[3] = (int) (x * scale + xGap - length * Math.cos(radians) * scale);
cy[3] = (int) (y * scale + yGap - length * Math.sin(radians) * scale);
}
So (x,y) is the center of your rectangle and with, height tell you how big is it. In the formShape(int[], int[], double) method cx and cy are going to be used to draw your shape and scale is the value to use if you want to do zoom in or zoom out later, if not just use scale = 1;
Now for drawing your rectangles, this is how you do it:
Paint paint = new Paint();
paint.setColor(Color.GRAY);
paint.setStyle(Style.FILL);
int[] cx = new int[4];
int[] cy = new int[4];
Box box = yourBoxHere;
box.formShape(cx, cy, 1);
Path path = new Path();
path.reset(); // only needed when reusing this path for a new build
path.moveTo(cx[0], cy[0]); // used for first point
path.lineTo(cx[1], cy[1]);
path.lineTo(cx[2], cy[2]);
path.lineTo(cx[3], cy[3]);
path.lineTo(cx[0], cy[0]); // repeat the first point
canvas.drawPath(wallpath, paint);
For multitouch rotation listener you should override 2 methods in your Activity or View:
@Override
public boolean onTouch(View v, MotionEvent event) {
if(event.getId() == MotionEvent.ACTION_UP)
this.points = null;
}
}
@Override
public boolean dispatchTouchEvent(MotionEvent event) {
if(event.getPointerCount() >= 2) {
float newPoints[][] = new float[][] {
{event.getX(0), event.getY(0)},
{event.getX(1), event.getY(1)}
};
double angle = angleBetweenTwoPoints(newPoints[0][0], newPoints[0][1], newPoints[1][0], newPoints[1][1]);
if(points != null) {
double difference = angle - initialAngle;
if(Math.abs(difference) > rotationSensibility) {
listener.onGestureListener(GestureListener.ROTATION, Math.toDegrees(difference));
this.initialAngle = angle;
}
} else {
this.initialAngle = angle;
}
this.points = newPoints;
}
}
public static double angleBetweenTwoPoints(double xHead, double yHead, double xTail, double yTail) {
if(xHead == xTail) {
if(yHead > yTail)
return Math.PI/2;
else
return (Math.PI*3)/2;
} else if(yHead == yTail) {
if(xHead > xTail)
return 0;
else
return Math.PI;
} else if(xHead > xTail) {
if(yHead > yTail)
return Math.atan((yHead-yTail)/(xHead-xTail));
else
return Math.PI*2 - Math.atan((yTail-yHead)/(xHead-xTail));
} else {
if(yHead > yTail)
return Math.PI - Math.atan((yHead-yTail)/(xTail-xHead));
else
return Math.PI + Math.atan((yTail-yHead)/(xTail-xHead));
}
}
Sorry, but this answer is getting long, if you have further questions about any of those operations and you want to change the approach of your solution, please ask again and tell me in the comments.
I hope this was helpful.