Added in API level 1

MappedByteBuffer

public abstract class MappedByteBuffer
extends ByteBuffer

java.lang.Object
   ↳ java.nio.Buffer
     ↳ java.nio.ByteBuffer
       ↳ java.nio.MappedByteBuffer


A direct byte buffer whose content is a memory-mapped region of a file.

Mapped byte buffers are created via the FileChannel.map method. This class extends the ByteBuffer class with operations that are specific to memory-mapped file regions.

A mapped byte buffer and the file mapping that it represents remain valid until the buffer itself is garbage-collected.

The content of a mapped byte buffer can change at any time, for example if the content of the corresponding region of the mapped file is changed by this program or another. Whether or not such changes occur, and when they occur, is operating-system dependent and therefore unspecified.

All or part of a mapped byte buffer may become inaccessible at any time, for example if the mapped file is truncated. An attempt to access an inaccessible region of a mapped byte buffer will not change the buffer's content and will cause an unspecified exception to be thrown either at the time of the access or at some later time. It is therefore strongly recommended that appropriate precautions be taken to avoid the manipulation of a mapped file by this program, or by a concurrently running program, except to read or write the file's content.

Mapped byte buffers otherwise behave no differently than ordinary direct byte buffers.

Summary

Public methods

final Buffer clear()

Clears this buffer.

abstract ByteBuffer compact()

Compacts this buffer  (optional operation).

abstract ByteBuffer duplicate()

Creates a new byte buffer that shares this buffer's content.

final Buffer flip()

Flips this buffer.

final MappedByteBuffer force(int index, int length)

Forces any changes made to a region of this buffer's content to be written to the storage device containing the mapped file.

final MappedByteBuffer force()

Forces any changes made to this buffer's content to be written to the storage device containing the mapped file.

final boolean isLoaded()

Tells whether or not this buffer's content is resident in physical memory.

final Buffer limit(int newLimit)

Sets this buffer's limit.

final MappedByteBuffer load()

Loads this buffer's content into physical memory.

final Buffer mark()

Sets this buffer's mark at its position.

final Buffer position(int newPosition)

Sets this buffer's position.

final Buffer reset()

Resets this buffer's position to the previously-marked position.

final Buffer rewind()

Rewinds this buffer.

abstract MappedByteBuffer slice(int index, int length)

Creates a new byte buffer whose content is a shared subsequence of this buffer's content.

Reading bytes into physical memory by invoking load() on the returned buffer, or writing bytes to the storage device by invoking force() on the returned buffer, will only act on the sub-range of this buffer that the returned buffer represents, namely [index,index+length), where index and length are assumed to satisfy the preconditions.

abstract ByteBuffer slice()

Creates a new byte buffer whose content is a shared subsequence of this buffer's content.

Reading bytes into physical memory by invoking load() on the returned buffer, or writing bytes to the storage device by invoking force() on the returned buffer, will only act on the sub-range of this buffer that the returned buffer represents, namely [position(),limit()).

Inherited methods

Public methods

clear

Added in API level 1
public final Buffer clear ()

Clears this buffer. The position is set to zero, the limit is set to the capacity, and the mark is discarded.

Invoke this method before using a sequence of channel-read or put operations to fill this buffer. For example:

 buf.clear();     // Prepare buffer for reading
 in.read(buf);    // Read data

This method does not actually erase the data in the buffer, but it is named as if it did because it will most often be used in situations in which that might as well be the case.

Returns
Buffer This buffer

compact

Added in API level 1
public abstract ByteBuffer compact ()

Compacts this buffer  (optional operation).

The bytes between the buffer's current position and its limit, if any, are copied to the beginning of the buffer. That is, the byte at index p = position() is copied to index zero, the byte at index p + 1 is copied to index one, and so forth until the byte at index limit() - 1 is copied to index n = limit() - 1 - p. The buffer's position is then set to n+1 and its limit is set to its capacity. The mark, if defined, is discarded.

The buffer's position is set to the number of bytes copied, rather than to zero, so that an invocation of this method can be followed immediately by an invocation of another relative put method.

Invoke this method after writing data from a buffer in case the write was incomplete. The following loop, for example, copies bytes from one channel to another via the buffer buf:

buf.clear();          // Prepare buffer for use
   while (in.read(buf) >= 0 || buf.position != 0) {
       buf.flip();
       out.write(buf);
       buf.compact();    // In case of partial write
   }
 

Returns
ByteBuffer This buffer

duplicate

Added in API level 1
public abstract ByteBuffer duplicate ()

Creates a new byte buffer that shares this buffer's content.

The content of the new buffer will be that of this buffer. Changes to this buffer's content will be visible in the new buffer, and vice versa; the two buffers' position, limit, and mark values will be independent.

The new buffer's capacity, limit, position, and mark values will be identical to those of this buffer, and its byte order will be BIG_ENDIAN. The new buffer will be direct if, and only if, this buffer is direct, and it will be read-only if, and only if, this buffer is read-only.

Returns
ByteBuffer The new byte buffer

flip

Added in API level 1
public final Buffer flip ()

Flips this buffer. The limit is set to the current position and then the position is set to zero. If the mark is defined then it is discarded.

After a sequence of channel-read or put operations, invoke this method to prepare for a sequence of channel-write or relative get operations. For example:

 buf.put(magic);    // Prepend header
 in.read(buf);      // Read data into rest of buffer
 buf.flip();        // Flip buffer
 out.write(buf);    // Write header + data to channel

This method is often used in conjunction with the compact method when transferring data from one place to another.

Returns
Buffer This buffer

force

public final MappedByteBuffer force (int index, 
                int length)

Forces any changes made to a region of this buffer's content to be written to the storage device containing the mapped file. The region starts at the given index in this buffer and is length bytes.

If the file mapped into this buffer resides on a local storage device then when this method returns it is guaranteed that all changes made to the selected region buffer since it was created, or since this method was last invoked, will have been written to that device. The force operation is free to write bytes that lie outside the specified region, for example to ensure that data blocks of some device-specific granularity are transferred in their entirety.

If the file does not reside on a local device then no such guarantee is made.

If this buffer was not mapped in read/write mode (FileChannel.MapMode.READ_WRITE) then invoking this method may have no effect. In particular, the method has no effect for buffers mapped in read-only or private mapping modes. This method may or may not have an effect for implementation-specific mapping modes.

Parameters
index int: The index of the first byte in the buffer region that is to be written back to storage; must be non-negative and less than capacity()

length int: The length of the region in bytes; must be non-negative and no larger than capacity() - index

Returns
MappedByteBuffer This buffer

Throws
IndexOutOfBoundsException if the preconditions on the index and length do not hold.
UncheckedIOException If an I/O error occurs writing the buffer's content to the storage device containing the mapped file

force

Added in API level 1
public final MappedByteBuffer force ()

Forces any changes made to this buffer's content to be written to the storage device containing the mapped file. The region starts at index zero in this buffer and is capacity() bytes.

If the file mapped into this buffer resides on a local storage device then when this method returns it is guaranteed that all changes made to the buffer since it was created, or since this method was last invoked, will have been written to that device.

If the file does not reside on a local device then no such guarantee is made.

If this buffer was not mapped in read/write mode (FileChannel.MapMode.READ_WRITE) then invoking this method may have no effect. In particular, the method has no effect for buffers mapped in read-only or private mapping modes. This method may or may not have an effect for implementation-specific mapping modes.

Returns
MappedByteBuffer This buffer

Throws
UncheckedIOException If an I/O error occurs writing the buffer's content to the storage device containing the mapped file

isLoaded

Added in API level 1
public final boolean isLoaded ()

Tells whether or not this buffer's content is resident in physical memory.

A return value of true implies that it is highly likely that all of the data in this buffer is resident in physical memory and may therefore be accessed without incurring any virtual-memory page faults or I/O operations. A return value of false does not necessarily imply that the buffer's content is not resident in physical memory.

The returned value is a hint, rather than a guarantee, because the underlying operating system may have paged out some of the buffer's data by the time that an invocation of this method returns.

Returns
boolean true if it is likely that this buffer's content is resident in physical memory

limit

Added in API level 1
public final Buffer limit (int newLimit)

Sets this buffer's limit. If the position is larger than the new limit then it is set to the new limit. If the mark is defined and larger than the new limit then it is discarded.

Parameters
newLimit int: The new limit value; must be non-negative and no larger than this buffer's capacity

Returns
Buffer This buffer

load

Added in API level 1
public final MappedByteBuffer load ()

Loads this buffer's content into physical memory.

This method makes a best effort to ensure that, when it returns, this buffer's content is resident in physical memory. Invoking this method may cause some number of page faults and I/O operations to occur.

Returns
MappedByteBuffer This buffer

mark

Added in API level 1
public final Buffer mark ()

Sets this buffer's mark at its position.

Returns
Buffer This buffer

position

Added in API level 1
public final Buffer position (int newPosition)

Sets this buffer's position. If the mark is defined and larger than the new position then it is discarded.

Parameters
newPosition int: The new position value; must be non-negative and no larger than the current limit

Returns
Buffer This buffer

reset

Added in API level 1
public final Buffer reset ()

Resets this buffer's position to the previously-marked position.

Invoking this method neither changes nor discards the mark's value.

Returns
Buffer This buffer

rewind

Added in API level 1
public final Buffer rewind ()

Rewinds this buffer. The position is set to zero and the mark is discarded.

Invoke this method before a sequence of channel-write or get operations, assuming that the limit has already been set appropriately. For example:

 out.write(buf);    // Write remaining data
 buf.rewind();      // Rewind buffer
 buf.get(array);    // Copy data into array

Returns
Buffer This buffer

slice

Added in API level 34
public abstract MappedByteBuffer slice (int index, 
                int length)

Creates a new byte buffer whose content is a shared subsequence of this buffer's content.

The content of the new buffer will start at position index in this buffer, and will contain length elements. Changes to this buffer's content will be visible in the new buffer, and vice versa; the two buffers' position, limit, and mark values will be independent.

The new buffer's position will be zero, its capacity and its limit will be length, its mark will be undefined, and its byte order will be BIG_ENDIAN. The new buffer will be direct if, and only if, this buffer is direct, and it will be read-only if, and only if, this buffer is read-only.

Reading bytes into physical memory by invoking load() on the returned buffer, or writing bytes to the storage device by invoking force() on the returned buffer, will only act on the sub-range of this buffer that the returned buffer represents, namely [index,index+length), where index and length are assumed to satisfy the preconditions.

Parameters
index int: The position in this buffer at which the content of the new buffer will start; must be non-negative and no larger than limit()

length int: The number of elements the new buffer will contain; must be non-negative and no larger than limit() - index

Returns
MappedByteBuffer The new buffer

slice

Added in API level 1
public abstract ByteBuffer slice ()

Creates a new byte buffer whose content is a shared subsequence of this buffer's content.

The content of the new buffer will start at this buffer's current position. Changes to this buffer's content will be visible in the new buffer, and vice versa; the two buffers' position, limit, and mark values will be independent.

The new buffer's position will be zero, its capacity and its limit will be the number of bytes remaining in this buffer, its mark will be undefined, and its byte order will be BIG_ENDIAN. The new buffer will be direct if, and only if, this buffer is direct, and it will be read-only if, and only if, this buffer is read-only.

Reading bytes into physical memory by invoking load() on the returned buffer, or writing bytes to the storage device by invoking force() on the returned buffer, will only act on the sub-range of this buffer that the returned buffer represents, namely [position(),limit()).

Returns
ByteBuffer The new byte buffer