Clearing canvas with Canvas.drawColor()

Question

i'm attempting to change the background image of a custom View with some success. the image will change but the problem is that i still see traces of the old image. when i attempt to clear the canvas before drawing the new image, it doesn't appear to work. i create a bitmap to store the image. when changing the image, i call Canvas.drawColor() before drawing the new image but the old image persists. i've tried drawColor(0), drawColor(Color.BLACK), c.drawColor(0, PorterDuff.Mode.CLEAR), and none of the above works. as such, i had to post this for review from more experienced minds than mine.

the actual code is as follows:

private int bgnd;
private boolean switching;

public void setBgnd(int incoming){
    switching = true;
    switch (incoming){

    case R.drawable.image1:
        bgnd = incoming;
        this.invalidate();
        break;

    case R.drawable.image2:
        bgnd = incoming;
        this.invalidate();
        break;

    }
}



protected void onDraw(Canvas c){
    if(switching == true){
        Bitmap b = BitmapFactory.decodeResource(getResources(), bgnd);
        c.drawColor(0, PorterDuff.Mode.CLEAR);
        c.drawBitmap(b, 0, 0, null);
        switching = false;

    }else{
        Bitmap b = BitmapFactory.decodeResource(getResources(), bgnd);
        c.drawBitmap(b, 0, 0, null);
    }
}

Answer 1

Just like you, I struggled how to clear a top layer/surfaceview in my multiple layer/surfaceview app. After 2 days searching and coding, I found out my own way and this is how I cleared a canvas before drawing, you can use it when having multiple layers/surfaceviews. The background layer will not be covered with black, that is the trick.

Paint paint = new Paint();
paint.setXfermode(new PorterDuffXfermode(Mode.CLEAR));
canvas.drawPaint(paint);
paint.setXfermode(new PorterDuffXfermode(Mode.SRC));
// start your own drawing