Android ContentProvider

《Android开发艺术探索》9.5章

系统预置了许多ContentProvider，比如通讯录信息、日程表信息等，要跨进程访问这些信息，只需要通过ContentResolver的query、update、insert和delete方法即可。虽然ContentProvider的底层
实现是Binder，但是它的使用过程要比AIDL简单许多，这是因为系统已经为我们做了封装，使得我们无须关心底层细节即可轻松实现IPC。系统预置了许多ContentProvider，比如通讯录信息、日程表信息等，要跨进程访问这些信息，只需要通过ContentResolver的query、update、insert和delete方法即可。

使用ContentResolver读取联系人

private ArrayList<HashMap<String, String>> readContact() {

    String NUM = ContactsContract.CommonDataKinds.Phone.NUMBER;
    String NAME = ContactsContract.CommonDataKinds.Phone.DISPLAY_NAME;
    Uri uri = ContactsContract.CommonDataKinds.Phone.CONTENT_URI;

    ArrayList<HashMap<String, String>> list = new ArrayList<HashMap<String, String>>();
    ContentResolver cr = getContentResolver();
    Cursor cursor = cr.query(uri,new String[]{NUM,NAME},null,null,null);
    while (cursor.moveToNext()){
        String name = cursor.getString(cursor.getColumnIndex(NAME));
        String phone = cursor.getString(cursor.getColumnIndex(NUM));
        HashMap<String,String> contact = new HashMap<>();
        contact.put("name",name);
        contact.put("phone",phone);
        list.add(contact);
    }
    return list;

工作过程

ContentProvider是一种内容共享型组件，它通过Binder向其他组件乃至其他应用提供数据。当ContentProvider所在的进程启动时，ContentProvider会同时启动并被发布到AMS中。需要注意的是，这个时候ContentProvider的onCreate要先于Application的onCreate而执行。
当一个应用启动时，入口方法为ActivityThread的main方法，main方法是一个静态方法，在main方法中会创建ActivityThread的实例并创建主线程的消息队列，然后在ActivityThread的attach方法中会远程调用AMS的attachApplication方法并将ApplicationThread对象提供给AMS。ApplicationThread是一个Binder对象，它的Binder接口是IApplicationThread，它主要用于ActivityThread和AMS之间的通信，这一点在前面多次提到。在AMS的attachApplication方法中，会调用ApplicationThread的bindApplication方法，注意这个过程同样是跨进程完成的，bindApplication的逻辑会经过ActivityThread中的mH Handler切换到ActivityThread中去执行，具体的方法是handleBindApplication。在handleBindApplication方法中，ActivityThread会创建Application对象并加载ContentProvider。需要注意的是，ActivityThread会先加载ContentProvider，然后再调用Application的onCreate方法。
这就是ContentProvider的启动过程，ContentProvider启动后，外界就可以通过它所提供的增删改查这四个接口来操作ContentProvider中的数据源，即insert、delete、update和query四个方法。这四个方法都是通过Binder来调用的，外界无法直接访问ContentProvider，它只能通过AMS根据Uri来获取对应的ContentProvider的Binder接口IConentProvider，然后再通过IConentProvider来访问ContentProvider中的数据源。
一般来说，ContentProvider都应该是单实例的。ContentProvider到底是不是单实例，这是由它的android:multiprocess属性来决定的，当android:multiprocess为false时，ContentProvider是单实例，这也是默认值；当android:multiprocess为true时，ContentProvider为多实例，这个时候在每个调用者的进程中都存在一个ContentProvider对象。
访问ContentProvider需要通过ContentResolver，ContentResolver是一个抽象类，通过Context的getContentResolver方法获取的实际上是ApplicationContentResolver对象，ApplicationContentResolver类继承了ContentResolver并实现了ContentResolver中的抽象方法。当ContentProvider所在的进程未启动时，第一次访问它时就会触发ContentProvider的创建，当然这也伴随着ContentProvider所在进程的启动。通过ContentProvider的四个方法的任何一个都可以触发ContentProvider的启动过程，这里选择query方法。ContentProvider的query方法中，首先会获取IContentProvider对象，不管是通过acquireUnstableProvider方法还是直接通过acquireProvider方法，它们的本质都是一样的，最终都是通过acquireProvider方法来获取ContentProvider。下面是ApplicationContentResolver的acquireProvider方法的具体实现:

@Override
   protected IContentProvider acquireProvider(Context context, String auth) {
       return mMainThread.acquireProvider(context,
               ContentProvider.getAuthorityWithoutUserId(auth),
               resolveUserIdFromAuthority(auth), true);
   }

ApplicationContentResolver的acquireProvider方法并没有处理任何逻辑，它直接调用了ActivityThread的acquireProvider方法，ActivityThread的acquireProvider方法的源码如下:

public final IContentProvider acquireProvider(
            Context c, String auth, int userId, boolean stable) {
    final IContentProvider provider = acquireExistingProvider(c, auth, userId, stable);
    if (provider != null) {
        return provider;
    }

    // There is a possible race here.  Another thread may try to acquire
    // the same provider at the same time.  When this happens, we want to ensure
    // that the first one wins.
    // Note that we cannot hold the lock while acquiring and installing the
    // provider since it might take a long time to run and it could also potentially
    // be re-entrant in the case where the provider is in the same process.
    ContentProviderHolder holder = null;
    try {
        holder = ActivityManager.getService().getContentProvider(
                getApplicationThread(), auth, userId, stable);
    } catch (RemoteException ex) {
        throw ex.rethrowFromSystemServer();
    }
    if (holder == null) {
        Slog.e(TAG, "Failed to find provider info for " + auth);
        return null;
    }

    // Install provider will increment the reference count for us, and break
    // any ties in the race.
    holder = installProvider(c, holder, holder.info,
            true /*noisy*/, holder.noReleaseNeeded, stable);
    return holder.provider;
}

上面的代码首先会从ActivityThread中查找是否已经存在目标ContentProvider了，如果存在就直接返回。ActivityThread中通过mProviderMap来存储已经启动的ContentProvider对象，mProviderMap的声明如下所示:

inal ArrayMap<providerKey,ProviderClientRecord> mProviderMap = new ArrayMap<providerKey,ProviderClientRecord>();

如果目前ContentProvider没有启动，那么就发送一个进程间请求给AMS让其启动目标ContentProvider，最后再通过installProvider方法来修改引用计数。ContentProvider被启动时会伴随着进程的启动，在AMS中，首先会启动ContentProvider所在的进程，然后再启动ContentProvider。启动进程是由AMS的startProcessLocked方法来完成的，其内部主要是通过Process的start方法来完成一个新进程的启动，新进程启动后其入口方法为ActivityThread的main方法，如下所示:

public static void main(String[] args) {
    Trace.traceBegin(Trace.TRACE_TAG_ACTIVITY_MANAGER, "ActivityThreadMain");

    // CloseGuard defaults to true and can be quite spammy.  We
    // disable it here, but selectively enable it later (via
    // StrictMode) on debug builds, but using DropBox, not logs.
    CloseGuard.setEnabled(false);

    Environment.initForCurrentUser();

    // Set the reporter for event logging in libcore
    EventLogger.setReporter(new EventLoggingReporter());

    // Make sure TrustedCertificateStore looks in the right place for CA certificates
    final File configDir = Environment.getUserConfigDirectory(UserHandle.myUserId());
    TrustedCertificateStore.setDefaultUserDirectory(configDir);

    Process.setArgV0("<pre-initialized>");

    Looper.prepareMainLooper();

    ActivityThread thread = new ActivityThread();
    thread.attach(false);

    if (sMainThreadHandler == null) {
        sMainThreadHandler = thread.getHandler();
    }

    if (false) {
        Looper.myLooper().setMessageLogging(new
                LogPrinter(Log.DEBUG, "ActivityThread"));
    }

    // End of event ActivityThreadMain.
    Trace.traceEnd(Trace.TRACE_TAG_ACTIVITY_MANAGER);
    Looper.loop();

    throw new RuntimeException("Main thread loop unexpectedly exited");
}

可以看到，ActivityThread的main方法是一个静态方法，在它内部首先会创建ActivityThread的实例并调用attach方法来进行一系列初始化，接着就开始进行消息循环了。ActivityThread的attach方法会将ApplicationThread对象通过AMS的attachApplication方法跨进程传递给AMS，最终AMS会完成ContentProvider的创建过程，AMS的attachApplication方法调用了attachApplicationLocked方法，attachApplicationLocked中又调用了ApplicationThread的bindApplication，注意这个过程也是进程间调用，

try {
    mgr.attachApplication(mAppThread);
} catch (RemoteException ex) {
    throw ex.rethrowFromSystemServer();
}

@Override
    public final void attachApplication(IApplicationThread thread) {
        synchronized (this) {
            int callingPid = Binder.getCallingPid();
            final long origId = Binder.clearCallingIdentity();
            attachApplicationLocked(thread, callingPid);
            Binder.restoreCallingIdentity(origId);
        }
    }
private final boolean attachApplicationLocked(IApplicationThread thread,int pid) {
    ......
if (app.instr != null) {
                thread.bindApplication(processName, appInfo, providers,
                        app.instr.mClass,
                        profilerInfo, app.instr.mArguments,
                        app.instr.mWatcher,
                        app.instr.mUiAutomationConnection, testMode,
                        mBinderTransactionTrackingEnabled, enableTrackAllocation,
                        isRestrictedBackupMode || !normalMode, app.persistent,
                        new Configuration(getGlobalConfiguration()), app.compat,
                        getCommonServicesLocked(app.isolated),
                        mCoreSettingsObserver.getCoreSettingsLocked(),
                        buildSerial);
            } else {
                thread.bindApplication(processName, appInfo, providers, null, profilerInfo,
                        null, null, null, testMode,
                        mBinderTransactionTrackingEnabled, enableTrackAllocation,
                        isRestrictedBackupMode || !normalMode, app.persistent,
                        new Configuration(getGlobalConfiguration()), app.compat,
                        getCommonServicesLocked(app.isolated),
                        mCoreSettingsObserver.getCoreSettingsLocked(),
                        buildSerial);
            }
            ......
}

ActivityThread的bindApplication会发送一个BIND_APPLICATION类型的消息给mH，mH是一个Handler，它收到消息后会调用ActivityThread的handleBindApplication方法，bindApplication发送消息的过程如下所示:

AppBindData data = new AppBindData();
            data.processName = processName;
            data.appInfo = appInfo;
            data.providers = providers;
            data.instrumentationName = instrumentationName;
            data.instrumentationArgs = instrumentationArgs;
            data.instrumentationWatcher = instrumentationWatcher;
            data.instrumentationUiAutomationConnection = instrumentationUiConnection;
            data.debugMode = debugMode;
            data.enableBinderTracking = enableBinderTracking;
            data.trackAllocation = trackAllocation;
            data.restrictedBackupMode = isRestrictedBackupMode;
            data.persistent = persistent;
            data.config = config;
            data.compatInfo = compatInfo;
            data.initProfilerInfo = profilerInfo;
            data.buildSerial = buildSerial;
            sendMessage(H.BIND_APPLICATION, data);

ActivityThread的handleBindApplication则完成了Application的创建以及ContentProvider的创建，可以分为如下四个步骤:

** 创建ContextImpl和Instrumentation **

final ContextImpl appContext = ContextImpl.createAppContext(this, data.info);
updateLocaleListFromAppContext(appContext, mResourcesManager.getConfiguration().getLocales());
 try {
    final ClassLoader cl = instrContext.getClassLoader();
    mInstrumentation = (Instrumentation)
        cl.loadClass(data.instrumentationName.getClassName()).newInstance();
} catch (Exception e) {
    throw new RuntimeException(
        "Unable to instantiate instrumentation "
        + data.instrumentationName + ": " + e.toString(), e);
}
final ComponentName component = new ComponentName(ii.packageName, ii.name);
mInstrumentation.init(this, instrContext, appContext, component, data.instrumentationWatcher, data.instrumentationUiAutomationConnection);

** 创建Application对象 **

// If the app is being launched for full backup or restore, bring it up in
// a restricted environment with the base application class.
app = data.info.makeApplication(data.restrictedBackupMode, null);
mInitialApplication = app;

** 启动当前进程的ContentProvider并调用其onCreate方法 **

// don't bring up providers in restricted mode; they may depend on the
// app's custom Application class
if (!data.restrictedBackupMode) {
    if (!ArrayUtils.isEmpty(data.providers)) {
        installContentProviders(app, data.providers);
        // For process that contains content providers, we want to
        // ensure that the JIT is enabled "at some point".
        mH.sendEmptyMessageDelayed(H.ENABLE_JIT, 10*1000);
    }
}

installContentProviders完成了ContentProvider的启动工作，它的实现如下所示。首先会遍历当前进程的ProviderInfo的列表并一一调用调用installProvider方法来启动它们，接着将已经启动的ContentProvider发布到AMS中，AMS会把它们存储在ProviderMap中，这样一来外部调用者就可以直接从AMS中获取ContentProvider了。

private void installContentProviders(
           Context context, List<ProviderInfo> providers) {
       final ArrayList<ContentProviderHolder> results = new ArrayList<>();

       for (ProviderInfo cpi : providers) {
           if (DEBUG_PROVIDER) {
               StringBuilder buf = new StringBuilder(128);
               buf.append("Pub ");
               buf.append(cpi.authority);
               buf.append(": ");
               buf.append(cpi.name);
               Log.i(TAG, buf.toString());
           }
           ContentProviderHolder cph = installProvider(context, null, cpi,
                   false /*noisy*/, true /*noReleaseNeeded*/, true /*stable*/);
           if (cph != null) {
               cph.noReleaseNeeded = true;
               results.add(cph);
           }
       }

       try {
           ActivityManager.getService().publishContentProviders(
               getApplicationThread(), results);
       } catch (RemoteException ex) {
           throw ex.rethrowFromSystemServer();
       }
   }

下面看一下ContentProvider对象的创建过程，在installProvider方法中有下面一段代码，其通过类加载器完成了ContentProvider对象的创建:

final java.lang.ClassLoader cl = c.getClassLoader();
localProvider = (ContentProvider)cl.loadClass(info.name).newInstance();
provider = localProvider.getIContentProvider();
// XXX Need to create the correct context for this provider.
localProvider.attachInfo(c, info);

在上述代码中，除了完成ContentProvider对象的创建，还会通过ContentProvider的attachInfo方法来调用它的onCreate方法:

private void attachInfo(Context context, ProviderInfo info, boolean testing) {
    mNoPerms = testing;

    /*
        * Only allow it to be set once, so after the content service gives
        * this to us clients can't change it.
        */
    if (mContext == null) {
        mContext = context;
        if (context != null) {
            mTransport.mAppOpsManager = (AppOpsManager) context.getSystemService(
                    Context.APP_OPS_SERVICE);
        }
        mMyUid = Process.myUid();
        if (info != null) {
            setReadPermission(info.readPermission);
            setWritePermission(info.writePermission);
            setPathPermissions(info.pathPermissions);
            mExported = info.exported;
            mSingleUser = (info.flags & ProviderInfo.FLAG_SINGLE_USER) != 0;
            setAuthorities(info.authority);
        }
        ContentProvider.this.onCreate();
    }
}

到此为止，ContentProvider已经被创建并且其onCreate方法也已经被调用，这意味着ContentProvider已经启动完成了。

** 调用Application的onCreate方法 **

// Do this after providers, since instrumentation tests generally start their
// test thread at this point, and we don't want that racing.
try {
    mInstrumentation.onCreate(data.instrumentationArgs);
}
catch (Exception e) {
    throw new RuntimeException(
        "Exception thrown in onCreate() of "
        + data.instrumentationName + ": " + e.toString(), e);
}
try {
    mInstrumentation.callApplicationOnCreate(app);
} catch (Exception e) {
    if (!mInstrumentation.onException(app, e)) {
        throw new RuntimeException(
            "Unable to create application " + app.getClass().getName()
            + ": " + e.toString(), e);
    }
}

经过上面的四个步骤，ContentProvider已经成功启动，并且其所在进程的Application也已经启动，这意味着ContentProvider所在的进程已经完成了整个的启动过程，然后其他应用就可以通过AMS来访问这个ContentProvider了。拿到了ContentProvider以后，就可以通过它所提供的接口方法来访问它了。需要注意的是，这里的ContentProvider并不是原始的ContentProvider，而是ContentProvider的Binder类型的对象IContentProvider，IContentProvider的具体实现是ContentProviderNative和ContentProvider.Transport，其中ContentProvider.Transport继承了ContentProviderNative。这里仍然选择query方法，首先其他应用会通过AMS获取到ContentProvider的Binder对象即IContentProvider，而IContentProvider的实现者实际上是ContentProvider.Transport。因此其他应用调用IContentProvider的query方法时最终会以进程间通信的方式调用到ContentProvider.Transport的query方法，它的实现如下所示:

@Override
public Cursor query(String callingPkg, Uri uri, @Nullable String[] projection,
        @Nullable Bundle queryArgs, @Nullable ICancellationSignal cancellationSignal) {
    validateIncomingUri(uri);
    uri = maybeGetUriWithoutUserId(uri);
    if (enforceReadPermission(callingPkg, uri, null) != AppOpsManager.MODE_ALLOWED) {
        // The caller has no access to the data, so return an empty cursor with
        // the columns in the requested order. The caller may ask for an invalid
        // column and we would not catch that but this is not a problem in practice.
        // We do not call ContentProvider#query with a modified where clause since
        // the implementation is not guaranteed to be backed by a SQL database, hence
        // it may not handle properly the tautology where clause we would have created.
        if (projection != null) {
            return new MatrixCursor(projection, 0);
        }

        // Null projection means all columns but we have no idea which they are.
        // However, the caller may be expecting to access them my index. Hence,
        // we have to execute the query as if allowed to get a cursor with the
        // columns. We then use the column names to return an empty cursor.
        Cursor cursor = ContentProvider.this.query(
                uri, projection, queryArgs,
                CancellationSignal.fromTransport(cancellationSignal));
        if (cursor == null) {
            return null;
        }

        // Return an empty cursor for all columns.
        return new MatrixCursor(cursor.getColumnNames(), 0);
    }
    final String original = setCallingPackage(callingPkg);
    try {
        return ContentProvider.this.query(
                uri, projection, queryArgs,
                CancellationSignal.fromTransport(cancellationSignal));
    } finally {
        setCallingPackage(original);
    }
}

很显然，ContentProvider.Transport的query方法调用了ContentProvider的query方法，query方法的执行结果再通过Binder返回给调用者，这样一来整个调用过程就完成了。除了query方法，insert、delete和update方法也是类似的。

---

以上