Module java.desktop

Class DataBuffer

java.lang.Object
java.awt.image.DataBuffer
Direct Known Subclasses:
DataBufferByte, DataBufferDouble, DataBufferFloat, DataBufferInt, DataBufferShort, DataBufferUShort

public abstract class DataBuffer extends Object
This class exists to wrap one or more data arrays. Each data array in the DataBuffer is referred to as a bank. Accessor methods for getting and setting elements of the DataBuffer's banks exist with and without a bank specifier. The methods without a bank specifier use the default 0th bank. The DataBuffer can optionally take an offset per bank, so that data in an existing array can be used even if the interesting data doesn't start at array location zero. Getting or setting the 0th element of a bank, uses the (0+offset)th element of the array. The size field specifies how much of the data array is available for use. Size + offset for a given bank should never be greater than the length of the associated data array. The data type of a data buffer indicates the type of the data array(s) and may also indicate additional semantics, e.g. storing unsigned 8-bit data in elements of a byte array. The data type may be TYPE_UNDEFINED or one of the types defined below. Other types may be added in the future. Generally, an object of class DataBuffer will be cast down to one of its data type specific subclasses to access data type specific methods for improved performance. Currently, the Java 2D(tm) API image classes use TYPE_BYTE, TYPE_USHORT, TYPE_INT, TYPE_SHORT, TYPE_FLOAT, and TYPE_DOUBLE DataBuffers to store image data.
See Also: