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BufferedGraphics Class

Definition

Provides a graphics buffer for double buffering.

C#
public sealed class BufferedGraphics : IDisposable
Inheritance
BufferedGraphics
Implements

Examples

The following code example demonstrates using a BufferedGraphics object to draw graphics using several types of buffering implementations. Clicking the form alternately starts and stops a timer that causes draw updates. The draw updates allow you to observe the effect of double buffering. Right-clicking the form cycles through the following drawing modes:

In each mode, text is drawn that identifies the current mode and describes the behavior that occurs when each mouse button is pressed.

C#
using System;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace BufferingExample
{
    public class BufferingExample : Form
    {
        private BufferedGraphicsContext context;
        private BufferedGraphics grafx;

    private byte bufferingMode;
    private string[] bufferingModeStrings =
        { "Draw to Form without OptimizedDoubleBufferring control style",
          "Draw to Form using OptimizedDoubleBuffering control style",
          "Draw to HDC for form" };

    private System.Windows.Forms.Timer timer1;
    private byte count;

        public BufferingExample() : base()
        {
            // Configure the Form for this example.
            this.Text = "User double buffering";
            this.MouseDown += new MouseEventHandler(this.MouseDownHandler);
            this.Resize += new EventHandler(this.OnResize);
            this.SetStyle( ControlStyles.AllPaintingInWmPaint | ControlStyles.UserPaint, true );

            // Configure a timer to draw graphics updates.
        timer1 = new System.Windows.Forms.Timer();
        timer1.Interval = 200;
        timer1.Tick += new EventHandler(this.OnTimer);

        bufferingMode = 2;
        count = 0;

            // Retrieves the BufferedGraphicsContext for the
            // current application domain.
            context = BufferedGraphicsManager.Current;

            // Sets the maximum size for the primary graphics buffer
            // of the buffered graphics context for the application
            // domain.  Any allocation requests for a buffer larger
            // than this will create a temporary buffered graphics
            // context to host the graphics buffer.
            context.MaximumBuffer = new Size(this.Width+1, this.Height+1);

            // Allocates a graphics buffer the size of this form
            // using the pixel format of the Graphics created by
            // the Form.CreateGraphics() method, which returns a
            // Graphics object that matches the pixel format of the form.
            grafx = context.Allocate(this.CreateGraphics(),
                 new Rectangle( 0, 0, this.Width, this.Height ));

        // Draw the first frame to the buffer.
        DrawToBuffer(grafx.Graphics);
        }

    private void MouseDownHandler(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
        {
        if( e.Button == MouseButtons.Right )
        {
                 // Cycle the buffering mode.
             if( ++bufferingMode > 2 )
                     bufferingMode = 0;

                 // If the previous buffering mode used
                 // the OptimizedDoubleBuffering ControlStyle,
                 // disable the control style.
                 if( bufferingMode == 1 )
                     this.SetStyle( ControlStyles.OptimizedDoubleBuffer, true );

                 // If the current buffering mode uses
                 // the OptimizedDoubleBuffering ControlStyle,
                 // enabke the control style.
                 if( bufferingMode == 2 )
                     this.SetStyle( ControlStyles.OptimizedDoubleBuffer, false );

                 // Cause the background to be cleared and redraw.
                 count = 6;
                 DrawToBuffer(grafx.Graphics);
         this.Refresh();
        }
        else
        {
                // Toggle whether the redraw timer is active.
        if( timer1.Enabled )
            timer1.Stop();
        else
            timer1.Start();
        }
        }

    private void OnTimer(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
            // Draw randomly positioned ellipses to the buffer.
        DrawToBuffer(grafx.Graphics);

            // If in bufferingMode 2, draw to the form's HDC.
        if( bufferingMode == 2 )
                    // Render the graphics buffer to the form's HDC.
            grafx.Render(Graphics.FromHwnd(this.Handle));
            // If in bufferingMode 0 or 1, draw in the paint method.
        else
            this.Refresh();
    }

        private void OnResize(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
           // Re-create the graphics buffer for a new window size.
           context.MaximumBuffer = new Size(this.Width+1, this.Height+1);
           if( grafx != null )
           {
           grafx.Dispose();
               grafx = null;
           }
           grafx = context.Allocate(this.CreateGraphics(),
               new Rectangle( 0, 0, this.Width, this.Height ));

           // Cause the background to be cleared and redraw.
           count = 6;
           DrawToBuffer(grafx.Graphics);
       this.Refresh();
        }	

    private void DrawToBuffer(Graphics g)
    {
            // Clear the graphics buffer every five updates.
        if( ++count > 5 )
            {
                count = 0;
                grafx.Graphics.FillRectangle(Brushes.Black, 0, 0, this.Width, this.Height);
            }

            // Draw randomly positioned and colored ellipses.
        Random rnd = new Random();
        for( int i=0; i<20; i++ )
        {
        int px = rnd.Next(20,this.Width-40);
        int py = rnd.Next(20,this.Height-40);
        g.DrawEllipse(new Pen(Color.FromArgb(rnd.Next(0, 255), rnd.Next(0,255), rnd.Next(0,255)), 1),
            px, py, px+rnd.Next(0, this.Width-px-20), py+rnd.Next(0, this.Height-py-20)); 	    			
        }

            // Draw information strings.
        g.DrawString("Buffering Mode: "+bufferingModeStrings[bufferingMode], new Font("Arial", 8), Brushes.White, 10, 10);
            g.DrawString("Right-click to cycle buffering mode", new Font("Arial", 8), Brushes.White, 10, 22);
            g.DrawString("Left-click to toggle timed display refresh", new Font("Arial", 8), Brushes.White, 10, 34);
    }

    protected override void OnPaint(PaintEventArgs e)
        {
        grafx.Render(e.Graphics);
    }

        [STAThread]
        public static void Main(string[] args)
        {
        Application.Run(new BufferingExample());
        }
    }
}

Remarks

The BufferedGraphics class allows you to implement custom double buffering for your graphics. It provides a wrapper for a graphics buffer, along with methods that you can use to write to the buffer and render its contents to an output device.

Graphics that use double buffering can reduce or eliminate flicker that is caused by redrawing a display surface. When you use double buffering, updated graphics are first drawn to a buffer in memory, and the contents of this buffer are then quickly written to some or all of the displayed surface. This relatively brief overwrite of the displayed graphics typically reduces or eliminates the flicker that sometimes occurs when graphics are updated.

Note

In .NET 6 and later versions, the System.Drawing.Common package, which includes this type, is only supported on Windows operating systems. Use of this type in cross-platform apps causes compile-time warnings and run-time exceptions. For more information, see System.Drawing.Common only supported on Windows.

Note

The simplest way to use double buffering is to set the OptimizedDoubleBuffer control style flag on a control using the SetStyle method. Setting the OptimizedDoubleBuffer flag for a control redirects all painting for the control through a default graphics buffer, without requiring any additional code. This flag is set to true by default.

The BufferedGraphics class has no public constructor and must be created by the BufferedGraphicsContext for an application domain using its Allocate method. You can retrieve the BufferedGraphicsContext for the current application domain from the static BufferedGraphicsManager.Current property.

The Graphics property can be used for drawing to the graphics buffer. This property provides access to the Graphics object that draws to the graphics buffer allocated for this BufferedGraphics object.

The Render method with no arguments draws the contents of the graphics buffer to the surface specified when the buffer was allocated. Other overloads of the Render method allow you to specify a Graphics object or an IntPtr object that points to a device context to which to draw the contents of the graphics buffer.

For more information about drawing double-buffered graphics, see Double Buffered Graphics.

Properties

Graphics

Gets a Graphics object that outputs to the graphics buffer.

Methods

Dispose()

Releases all resources used by the BufferedGraphics object.

Equals(Object)

Determines whether the specified object is equal to the current object.

(Inherited from Object)
Finalize()

Allows an object to try to free resources and perform other cleanup operations before it is reclaimed by garbage collection.

GetHashCode()

Serves as the default hash function.

(Inherited from Object)
GetType()

Gets the Type of the current instance.

(Inherited from Object)
MemberwiseClone()

Creates a shallow copy of the current Object.

(Inherited from Object)
Render()

Writes the contents of the graphics buffer to the default device.

Render(Graphics)

Writes the contents of the graphics buffer to the specified Graphics object.

Render(IntPtr)

Writes the contents of the graphics buffer to the device context associated with the specified IntPtr handle.

ToString()

Returns a string that represents the current object.

(Inherited from Object)

Applies to

Product Versions
.NET 8 (package-provided), 9 (package-provided)
.NET Framework 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7 (package-provided), 4.7, 4.7.1 (package-provided), 4.7.1, 4.7.2 (package-provided), 4.7.2, 4.8 (package-provided), 4.8, 4.8.1
.NET Standard 2.0 (package-provided)
Windows Desktop 3.0, 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Thread Safety

The BufferedGraphics class is not thread safe. When accessing a graphics buffer from separate threads, it is important to use a thread-access control mechanism to prevent conflicts.

See also