com.yost.util
Class AnimationExecutor

java.lang.Object
  com.yost.util.AnimationExecutor

public class AnimationExecutor
extends Object

An Executor-like class that executes animation tasks serially in the AWT Event Thread. This class allows you to manage type-ahead or click-ahead in situations where each user input starts an animation.

An animation is typically a chain of runnables, starting with a runnable that runs in the Event thread, which chains to a runnable that does a delay in another thread, which chains to another runnable that runs in the Event thread (using invokeLater), and so on until a final runnable runs in the Event thread.

Here is a scenario to show how this class works.

• A user clicks a button, and the executor starts an animation in the Event thread.
• Before this first animation has finished, the user quickly clicks twice more, queueing up two more animations.
• The executor calls a method on the currently-running first animation to notify it that another animation is waiting to run.
• The running animation takes the hint and cuts its animation short.
• The first animation completes and runs the completion runnable it was given by the executor.
• This runnable starts the second animation with an argument indicating that there is another animation (the third one) waiting to run.
• The second animation takes the hint and does minimal, if any, animation.
• When the second animation completes, its completion runnable starts the third animation with an argument indicating that there are no other queued animations, so the third animation runs normally.

This executor doesn't run a Runnable. Instead it runs an AnimationExecutor.Task, which has a run method that takes two arguments. The first argument tells the task whether any other animations are queued. The second argument is a Runnable the task must run when it completes.

http://Yost.com/computers/java/AnimationExecutor Public Domain

Version:

2007-08-17

Author:

Dave@Yost.com

Nested Class Summary

static interface

AnimationExecutor.Task The animation task to be run.

Constructor Summary

AnimationExecutor()

Method Summary

void	execute(AnimationExecutor.Task task) Execute a task in the Event thread, serialized with all other tasks submitted via this executor.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Constructor Detail

AnimationExecutor

public AnimationExecutor()

Method Detail

execute

public void execute(AnimationExecutor.Task task)

Execute a task in the Event thread, serialized with all other tasks submitted via this executor.

Parameters:

task - EventThreadSerializedExecutor.Task