FireMonkey, Android, Windows and PostMessage

FireMonkey framework (FMX for short) is definitely able to use custom [Windows] messages much like we have always done with the VCL. And this is also true when using FireMonkey to build Android applications.

Both Windows and Android support a messaging system. It is well known by Windows developers who use it with PostMessage, GetMessage, PeekMessage and similar Windows API call. It is much less known by Android developers. Android has a “looper” API which has the same purpose as Windows own messaging system although it is implemented differently and has somewhat more features.

Often, we use FireMonkey framework to build multi-platform applications. Thanks to Delphi XE5, we can build an application for different targets such as Win32, Win64, Android, iOS and MAC OSx. If correctly written, the same application source code can be recompiled for different target and run unchanged. Embarcadero made a lot of efforts to hide differences between the supported platforms.

Speaking about the messaging system, it must admit that Embarcadero forgot to write the abstraction layer required for the platforms. They made some work but it is incomplete and undocumented. This is why I wrote it. At least for Win32, Win64 and Android which are the 3 platforms I currently use.

The layer I wrote is made of a single class I named “TMessagingSystem”. I made two different implementations: one for Android and one for Win 32/64. TMessagingSystem class allows you to register any number of custom messages to a form and associate a custom message handler. Of course it also allows you to call PostMessage to put a message into the message queue.

At the application level, you use the exact same code for Windows or Android. You just have to make use of one of the implementations. You’ll do that using a conditional compilation.

Before showing the implementation details, I will present a demo application. That you can target for Windows or Android without changing a single line.

Demo application for Windows and Android

I built a simple application to emphasize how to use TMessagingSystem. Actually it does not do anything very interesting. It is made of a single form having a button and a memo. When you click on the button, it starts a new thread which will periodically PostMessage a custom message to the main form. You can click many times on the button to start many threads. Each thread will do the same.

The image above shows on the left a screen dump of the application running under Win7 and on the right, the same application running on my Nexus7.

All you see is a memo with messages. Nevertheless, this is really one of the main usages of a messaging system: organize asynchronous operation between threads.

Each line looks like this:

8380] Thread=2 Count=8 ThreadID=7528

“8380” is the thread ID of the thread doing the display. This is always the same and is the main thread ID. “Thread=2” is the sequential thread number having generated the message, “Count=8” is the number of messages generated by this thread and finally, “ThreadID=7528” is the thread ID of the thread generating the message. The later change according to each started thread.

Demo application source code

unit FmxMultiplatformPostMessageDemoMain;

interface

uses
    System.SysUtils, System.Types, System.UITypes, System.Classes,
    Generics.Collections,
    FMX.Types, FMX.Controls, FMX.Forms, FMX.Graphics, FMX.Dialogs,
    FMX.StdCtrls, FMX.Layouts, FMX.Memo,
    FMX.Overbyte.MessageHandling;

const
    WM_SHOW_MESSAGE = WM_USER + 1;

type
    TWorkerThread = class(TThread)
    public
        MsgSys : TMessagingSystem;
        Id     : Integer;
        procedure Execute; override;
    end;

    TForm1 = class(TForm)
        RunThreadButton: TButton;
        DisplayMemo : TMemo;
        ToolPanel: TPanel;
        procedure RunThreadButtonClick(Sender: TObject);
    private
        FMsgSys      : TMessagingSystem;
        FThreadCount : Integer;
        procedure Display(const Msg: String);
        procedure WorkerThreadTerminate(Sender: TObject);
        procedure WMShowMessage(var Msg: TMessage);
    protected
        procedure CreateHandle; override;
        procedure DestroyHandle; override;
    end;

var
  Form1: TForm1;

implementation

{$R *.fmx}

{ TForm1 }

procedure TForm1.CreateHandle;
begin
    inherited CreateHandle;
    FMsgSys := TMessagingSystem.Create(Self);
    FMsgSys.RegisterMessageHandler(WM_SHOW_MESSAGE, WMShowMessage);
end;

procedure TForm1.DestroyHandle;
begin
    FreeAndNil(FMsgSys);
    inherited DestroyHandle;
end;
 
procedure TForm1.RunThreadButtonClick(Sender: TObject);
var
    WorkerThread : TWorkerThread;
begin
    Inc(FThreadCount);
    Display('Start thread ' + IntToStr(FThreadCount));
    WorkerThread                 := TWorkerThread.Create(TRUE);
    WorkerThread.MsgSys          := FMsgSys;
    WorkerThread.Id              := FThreadCount;
    WorkerThread.FreeOnTerminate := TRUE;
    WorkerThread.OnTerminate     := WorkerThreadTerminate;
    WorkerThread.Start;
end;

procedure TForm1.WorkerThreadTerminate(Sender: TObject);
begin
    Display('Thread ' +
            IntToStr((Sender as TWorkerThread).Id) +
            ' terminated');
end;

procedure TForm1.WMShowMessage(var Msg: TMessage);
var
    Buffer : PChar;
begin
    Buffer := PChar(Msg.LParam);
    Display(Buffer);
    FreeMem(Buffer);
end;

procedure TForm1.Display(const Msg: String);
begin
    Displaymemo.Lines.Add(IntToStr(GetCurrentThreadID) + '] ' + Msg);
end;

{ TWorkerThread }

procedure TWorkerThread.Execute;
var
    I      : Integer;
    Buffer : PChar;
const
    MaxLen = 100;
begin
    // For demo, let's do it 10 times
    for I := 1 to 10 do begin
        // Simulate some processing time by sleeping
        Sleep(1000);

        // Allocate memory to hold a message, take care of the ending nul char
        GetMem(Buffer, SizeOf(Char) * (MaxLen + 1));
        // Copy message to allocated memory, protecting overflow
        StrLCopy(Buffer,
                 PChar('Thread=' + IntToStr(Id) +
                       ' Count=' + IntToStr(I) +
                       ' ThreadID=' + IntToStr(GetCurrentThreadID)),
                 MaxLen);
        // Force a nul char at the end of buffer
        Buffer[MaxLen] := #0;
        // Post a message to the main thread which will display
        // the message and then free memory
        MsgSys.PostMessage(WM_SHOW_MESSAGE, I, LParam(Buffer));
    end;
end;

end.

This source code is really simple, isn’t it? The beauty is that it can be compiled for Win32, Win64 and Android targets without changing anything.

All the code depending on the platform has been moved to “FMX.Overbyte.MessageHandling” unit. That one takes care of calling the correct API function according to the compiler used. This is the power of OOP.

There is nothing special in the demo application except one thing: The worker thread generates messages to be displayed by the main thread. We have to take care of what happens with the storage used for the message. We cannot simply pass a string because messages are limited to two parameters of type WParam and LParam, both mapped to NativeInt. We can neither pass a reference to a string variable because it is possible a new message is generated before the previous is consumed (This happens if the main thread is heavily busy while the worker thread runs at full speed). We have to dynamically allocate storage for the message and pass the reference thru one of the message parameters. I’ve chosen to use a simple memory block allocated by GetMem and freed by FreeMem. The pointer is then passed thru the LParam parameter. The thread allocates the memory and the main thread frees it. The same allocation size is always used regardless of the message length. It is better for the memory allocator, limiting memory fragmentation.

How to use it?

TMessagingSystem class must be instantiated when the form is allocated a handle. It must be freed when the form’s handle is destroyed. After instantiation, or at any point in time, RegisterMessageHandler must be called for each custom message. That’s all!

Single unit, multiple platforms

We have seen in the demo code that the same unit to “FMX.Overbyte.MessageHandling” is used whatever the target platform is. The magic is in that unit. Here is very short source code:

unit FMX.Overbyte.MessageHandling;
{$DEFINE OVERBYTE_INCLUDE_MODE}
{$IFDEF ANDROID}
    {$I FMX.Overbyte.Android.MessageHandling.pas}
{$ENDIF}
{$IFDEF MSWINDOWS}
    {$I FMX.Overbyte.Windows.MessageHandling.pas}
{$ENDIF}

The magic is into the conditional compilation. Symbols ANDROID and MSWINDOWS are automatically defined by the compiler according to the target platform you compile for. So that small unit actually includes the Android or the Windows specific unit depending on the compiler target platform.

The two included units are just normal unit, well almost. You cannot include a unit into another one without having a problem with the “unit” line. You cannot have two such lines. This is why the symbol “OVERBYTE_INCLUDE_MODE” is defined. In the two included units, this symbol is used to conditionally compile the “unit” line.

Implementation for Android

Messaging system on Android platform is hidden in the “Looper” API. Basically, the idea is simple: Android monitors a list of handle for data availability. The list of handles is maintained by the API. You can add a new handle using ALooper_addFd API function. Each handle is associated with a callback function that Android calls when data is available.

As a handle, I use the read side of a pipe. A pipe, under Android as well as other operating systems, is like a first-in first-out queue. It has two ends identified by two handles. One is the writing end; the other is the reading end. What you write at one end is available for reading at the other end. Between both ends is a buffer. Reads and writes are asynchronous. If writing is faster than reading, the buffer is filled and nothing is lost.

This pipe is used here is the message queue. When PostMessage is called, a record with the parameters is written to the pipe. When data is available for reading, the looper API will call the LooperCallBack function we registered. From this callback, we read the pipe to remove one record at a time. When a record is read, the message number written in it is used to fetch the message handler to be executed.

{$IFNDEF OVERBYTE_INCLUDE_MODE}
unit FMX.Overbyte.Android.MessageHandling;
{$ENDIF}

interface

uses
    System.SysUtils, System.Types, System.Classes, System.SyncObjs,
    Generics.Collections,
    FMX.Platform.Android,
    Androidapi.AppGlue, Androidapi.Looper,
    Posix.UniStd, Posix.Errno, Posix.StrOpts, Posix.PThread;

const
    WM_USER         = 1024;

type
    LPARAM  = NativeInt;
    WPARAM  = NativeInt;
    LRESULT = NativeInt;

    TMessage = record
        Msg    : NativeInt;
        WParam : WPARAM;
        LParam : LPARAM;
        Result : LRESULT;
    end;
    TMessageHandler = procedure (var Msg: TMessage) of object;

    TMessagingSystem = class(TComponent)
    protected
        FPipeFD    : TPipeDescriptors;
        FData      : Byte;
        FHandlers  : TDictionary;
        FLastError : String;
        FCritSect  : TCriticalSection;
        procedure HandleMessage(var Msg : TMessage);
        function  CreatePipe: Integer;
        procedure ClosePipe;
        procedure InstallEventHandler;
        procedure UninstallEventHandler;
    public
        constructor Create(AOwner : TComponent); override;
        destructor  Destroy; override;
        function RegisterMessageHandler(uMsg    : NativeInt;
                                        Handler : TMessageHandler) : Boolean;
        function PostMessage(uMsg   : NativeInt;
                             WParam : WPARAM;
                             LParam : LPARAM) : Boolean;
        property LastError : String read FLastError;
    end;

    HWND   = TMessagingSystem;

function GetCurrentThreadID : TThreadID;

implementation

function LooperCallback(
    FileDescriptor : Integer;
    Events         : Integer;
    Data           : Pointer): Integer; cdecl;
var
    Len : Integer;
    Msg : TMessage;
    Obj : TMessagingSystem;
begin
    Result := 1;
    // Data contains a reference to our class
    if Data = nil then
        Exit;
    // Ready to cast to our class
    Obj := TMessagingSystem(Data);
    // Check if it's our ReadDes
    Obj.FCritSect.Enter;
    try
        if FileDescriptor <> Obj.FPipeFD.ReadDes then
            Exit;
    finally
        Obj.FCritSect.Leave;
    end;

    while TRUE do begin
        Len := __read(FileDescriptor, @Msg, SizeOf(Msg));
        if Len <= 0 then
            break;
        Obj.HandleMessage(Msg);
    end;
end;

{ TMessagingSystem }

constructor TMessagingSystem.Create(AOwner: TComponent);
begin
    inherited Create(AOwner);
    FCritSect  := TCriticalSection.Create;
    FHandlers  := TDictionary.Create;
    CreatePipe;
    InstallEventHandler;
end;

destructor TMessagingSystem.Destroy;
begin
    UninstallEventHandler;
    ClosePipe;
    FreeAndNil(FCritSect);
    inherited Destroy;
end;

function TMessagingSystem.CreatePipe: Integer;
var
    Status  : Integer;
    Val     : Integer;
const
    FIONBIO = $5421;
begin
    FCritSect.Enter;
    try
        if (FPipeFD.ReadDes <> 0) or (FPipeFD.WriteDes <> 0) then begin
            FLastError := 'Pipe already created';
            Result := -1;
            Exit;
        end;
        Status := Pipe(FPipeFD);
        if Status = -1 then begin
            Result := errno;
            FLastError := 'Pipe() failed. Error #' + IntToStr(Result);
        end
        else begin
            Result := 0;
            Val := 1;
            if ioctl(FPipeFD.ReadDes, FIONBIO, @Val) = -1 then begin
                Result := errno;
                FLastError := 'ioctl(FIONBIO) failed. Error #' + IntToStr(Result);
                Exit;
            end;
        end;
    finally
        FCritSect.Leave;
    end;
end;

procedure TMessagingSystem.ClosePipe;
begin
    FCritSect.Enter;
    try
        if FPipeFD.ReadDes <> 0 then begin
            __close(FPipeFD.ReadDes);
            FPipeFD.ReadDes  := 0;
        end;
        if FPipeFD.WriteDes <> 0 then begin
            __close(FPipeFD.WriteDes);
            FPipeFD.WriteDes := 0;
        end;
    finally
        FCritSect.Leave;
    end;
end;

procedure TMessagingSystem.InstallEventHandler;
var
    AndroidApp : PAndroid_app;
    Data       : Pointer;
const
    LOOPER_ID_MESSAGE_OVERBYTE = LOOPER_ID_USER;
begin
    AndroidApp := GetAndroidApp;

    Data := Self;
    ALooper_addFd(AndroidApp.looper,
                  FPipeFD.ReadDes,
                  LOOPER_ID_MESSAGE_OVERBYTE,
                  ALOOPER_EVENT_INPUT,
                  LooperCallback,
                  Data);
end;

procedure TMessagingSystem.UninstallEventHandler;
var
    AndroidApp : PAndroid_app;
begin
    FCritSect.Enter;
    try
        if FPipeFD.ReadDes <> 0 then begin
            AndroidApp := GetAndroidApp;
            ALooper_removeFd(AndroidApp.looper, FPipeFD.ReadDes);
        end;
    finally
        FCritSect.Leave;
    end;
end;

function TMessagingSystem.RegisterMessageHandler(
    uMsg    : NativeInt;
    Handler : TMessageHandler): Boolean;
begin
    FCritSect.Enter;
    try
        FHandlers.AddOrSetValue(uMsg, Handler);
    finally
        FCritSect.Leave;
    end;
    Result := TRUE;
end;

function TMessagingSystem.PostMessage(
    uMsg   : NativeInt;
    WParam : WParam;
    LParam : LParam): Boolean;
var
    Msg : TMessage;
begin
    Result := FALSE;
    FCritSect.Enter;
    try
        if FPipeFD.WriteDes = 0 then begin
            FLastError := 'Pipe is not open';
            Exit;
        end;
        Msg.Msg    := uMsg;
        Msg.WParam := WParam;
        Msg.LParam := LParam;
        Msg.Result := 0;

        if __write(FPipeFD.WriteDes, @Msg, SizeOf(Msg)) = -1 then begin
            FLastError := 'write() failed. ErrCode=' + IntToStr(errno);
            Exit;
        end;
    finally
        FCritSect.Leave;
    end;
    Result := TRUE;
end;

procedure TMessagingSystem.HandleMessage(var Msg: TMessage);
var
    Handler : TMessageHandler;
    Status  : Boolean;
begin
    FCritSect.Enter;
    try
        Status := FHandlers.TryGetValue(Msg.Msg, Handler);
    finally
        FCritSect.Leave;
    end;
    if Status then
        Handler(Msg);
end;

function GetCurrentThreadID : TThreadID;
begin
    Result := Posix.PThread.GetCurrentThreadID;
end;

end.

In that code, you’ll find a few data types frequently used in Windows applications. I used the same data types for compatibility with existing code.

TMessagingSystem class is very simple. Basically, it registers a pipe read handle with the looper API with an associated callback function. It also maintains a dictionary of message handlers. The key is the message number. The looper API also carries one pointer for you. It will give it back as an argument of the callback function. Here the pointer is used as a reference to the class instance, making is available when the callback function is called.

A critical section is used to avoid problems accessing the class data from several threads at the same time. Using this critical section makes the class fully thread safe.

Implementation for Windows

The Windows implementation makes obviously use of Windows own messaging API. There is no queue in the class because Windows queue is used.

FireMonkey forms does not provide any support for custom messages. This is not really a problem because a FireMonkey forms are just a Windows window. As any window, a FireMonkey form running on Windows has a HWND (Handle of WiNDow) and a window procedure handling all messages for the window.

To hook into this system, we must use standard Windows programming. By standard I mean it has always existed as far as I remember. What we need is to “subclass” the window. And surprisingly, this is very easy!

Windows internally maintain a structure for each window. In that structure you have all informations required for Windows to handle the window. This includes the pointer to the window procedure.

And Windows provides a function to access his internal structure. Our problem is just to get the current pointer to the window procedure and replace it with a pointer to our own procedure. From our own procedure, we will call the original procedure, or not. Our own window procedure has access to all messages sent/posted to the window, including those we add.

We have just one small problem: Windows does not know anything about a Delphi class instance. A window procedure is a simple procedure, not an object method. The problem is to get hand on our TMessagingSystem class instance from our own window procedure.

Fortunately Windows is incredibly well designed. We, as developer, can associate with any window a small piece of data called an “Atom” in Windows terminology. Once an “Atom” is created (It just has a name), you can associate the atom with any window along with a piece of data. That piece of data will be the reference to our TMessagingSystem class instance.

When called by Windows, our window procedure receives the handle of the window. We use it to fetch the piece of data we associated using the atom. From there we have access to TMessagingSystem class instance and check for the message to handle. if it is one of our registered messages, we just call the handler. If not one of our messages, the the original window procedure is called.

Here is the source code:

{$IFNDEF OVERBYTE_INCLUDE_MODE}
unit FMX.Overbyte.Windows.MessageHandling;
{$ENDIF}

interface

uses
    WinApi.Windows, WinApi.Messages,
    System.Classes, System.SysUtils, System.SyncObjs,
    Generics.Collections,
    FMX.Forms, FMX.Platform.Win;

const
    WM_USER = WinApi.Messages.WM_USER;

type
    TMessage        = WinApi.Messages.TMessage;
    WPARAM          = WinApi.Windows.WPARAM;
    LPARAM          = WinApi.Windows.LPARAM;
    TMessageHandler = procedure (var Msg: TMessage) of object;
    TWndProc        = function (hwnd   : HWND;
                                uMsg   : UINT;
                                wParam : WPARAM;
                                lParam : LPARAM): LRESULT; stdcall;

    TMessagingSystem = class(TComponent)
    protected
        FHWnd             : HWND;
        FHandlers         : TDictionary;
        FOriginalWndProc  : TWndProc;
        FLastError        : String;
        FCritSect         : TCriticalSection;
    public
        constructor Create(AOwner : TComponent); override;
        destructor  Destroy; override;
        function RegisterMessageHandler(uMsg    : NativeInt;
                                        Handler : TMessageHandler) : Boolean;
        function PostMessage(uMsg   : NativeInt;
                             WParam : WPARAM;
                             LParam : LPARAM) : Boolean;
        property LastError : String read FLastError;
    end;

function GetCurrentThreadId: DWORD; stdcall;

implementation

var
  MsgSysAtom       : TAtom;
  MsgSysAtomString : String;


function WndProc(hwnd: HWND; uMsg: UINT; wParam: WPARAM; lParam: LPARAM): LRESULT; stdcall;
var
    Msg     : TMessage;
    MsgSys  : TMessagingSystem;
    Handler : TMessageHandler;
    Status  : Boolean;
begin
    // Search if the window handle is associated with TMessageingInstance
    // We know this because we registered an atom for that purpose
    if GlobalFindAtomW(PChar(MsgSysAtomString)) <> MsgSysAtom then begin
        // Not found, just do default processing
        Result := DefWindowProc(hwnd, uMsg, wParam, lParam);
        Exit;
    end;
    // Fetch the atom property and cast it to a TMessagingSystem class
    MsgSys := TMessagingSystem(GetProp(hwnd, MakeIntAtom(MsgSysAtom)));

    // Now use the dictionary to see if the message is one we'll handle
    MsgSys.FCritSect.Enter;
    try
        Status := MsgSys.FHandlers.TryGetValue(uMsg, Handler);
    finally
        MsgSys.FCritSect.Leave;
    end;
    if Status then begin
        // Found the message and his message handler. Call it using
        // the TMessage record to hold the values
        Msg.Msg    := uMsg;
        Msg.WParam := wParam;
        Msg.LParam := lParam;
        Msg.Result := 0;
        Handler(Msg);
        Result := Msg.Result;
    end
    else begin
        // Not one of our messages, just execute original window procedure
        Result := MsgSys.FOriginalWndProc(hwnd, uMsg, wParam, lParam);
    end;
end;

{ TMessagingSystem }

constructor TMessagingSystem.Create(AOwner: TComponent);
begin
    if not (AOwner is TCommonCustomForm) then
        raise Exception.Create('TMessagingSystem.Create failed. Invalid owner');
    inherited Create(AOwner);
    FCritSect  := TCriticalSection.Create;
    FHandlers  := TDictionary.Create;

    // Find window handle corresponding to the owner form
    FHWnd := WindowHandleToPlatform(TCommonCustomForm(AOwner).Handle).Wnd;

    // If not already done, register the atom we'll use to associate
    // our messaging system with the window handle
    if MsgSysAtom = 0 then begin
        MsgSysAtomString := 'OverbyteMessagingSystem' +
                                     IntToHex(GetCurrentProcessID, 8);
        MsgSysAtom       := GlobalAddAtomW(PChar(MsgSysAtomString));
    end;

    // Associate our messaging system with the window handle
    SetProp(FHWnd, MakeIntAtom(MsgSysAtom), THandle(Self));

    // Subclass the form. That is change his handling procedure
    FOriginalWndProc := TWndProc(GetWindowLongPtr(FHWnd, GWLP_WNDPROC));
    SetWindowLongPtr(FHWnd, GWLP_WNDPROC, NativeInt(@WndProc));
end;

destructor TMessagingSystem.Destroy;
begin
    if Assigned(FOriginalWndProc) then begin
        SetWindowLongPtr(FHWnd, GWLP_WNDPROC, NativeInt(@FOriginalWndProc));
        FOriginalWndProc := nil;
    end;
    FreeAndNil(FHandlers);
    FreeAndNil(FCritSect);
    inherited Destroy;
end;

function TMessagingSystem.RegisterMessageHandler(
    uMsg    : NativeInt;
    Handler : TMessageHandler): Boolean;
begin
    FCritSect.Enter;
    try
        FHandlers.AddOrSetValue(uMsg, Handler);
    finally
        FCritSect.Leave;
    end;
    Result := TRUE;
end;

function TMessagingSystem.PostMessage(
    uMsg   : NativeInt;
    WParam : WPARAM;
    LParam : LPARAM): Boolean;
begin
    Result := WinApi.Windows.PostMessage(FHWnd, uMsg, WParam, LParam);
end;

function GetCurrentThreadId: DWORD; stdcall;
begin
    Result := WinApi.Windows.GetCurrentThreadId;
end;

end.

All the code is shown above. If you are interested by the complete project as source code, just drop me a private email.


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