Develop Reference

Java - how to zoom in/zoom out text in JTextArea

I am writing in a notepad. And I want to implement text scaling in my notepad. But I don't know how to do it. I'm trying to find it but everyone is suggesting to change the font size. But I need another solution.
I am create new project and add buttons and JTextArea.
package zoomtest;
import java.awt.EventQueue;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JTextArea;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
public class zoom {
private JFrame frame;
public static void main(String[] args) {
EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
try {
zoom window = new zoom();
window.frame.setVisible(true);
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
});
}
public zoom() {
initialize();
}
private void initialize() {
frame = new JFrame();
frame.setBounds(100, 100, 450, 300);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
JPanel panel = new JPanel();
frame.getContentPane().add(panel, BorderLayout.NORTH);
JButton ZoomIn = new JButton("Zoom in");
ZoomIn.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0) {
//Code here...
}
});
panel.add(ZoomIn);
JButton Zoomout = new JButton("Zoom out");
Zoomout.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0) {
//Code here...
}
});
panel.add(Zoomout);
JTextArea jta = new JTextArea();
frame.getContentPane().add(jta, BorderLayout.CENTER);
}
}

Introduction
Oracle has a helpful tutorial, Creating a GUI With Swing. Skip the Learning Swing with the NetBeans IDE section. Pay close attention to the Laying Out Components Within a Container section.
I reworked your GUI. Here's how it looks when the application starts. I typed some text so you can see the font change.
Here's how it looks after we zoom out.
Here's how it looks after we zoom in.
Stack Overflow scales the images, so it's not as obvious that the text is zooming.
Explanation
Swing was designed to be used with layout managers. I created two JPanels, one for the JButtons and one for the JTextArea. I put the JTextArea in a JScrollPane so you could type more than 10 lines.
I keep track of the font size in an int field. This is a simple application model. Your Swing application should always have an application model made up of one or more plain Java getter/setter classes.
Code
Here's the complete runnable code.
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.EventQueue;
import java.awt.FlowLayout;
import java.awt.Font;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.BorderFactory;
import javax.swing.Box;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JScrollPane;
import javax.swing.JTextArea;
import javax.swing.JTextField;
public class ZoomTextExample {
public static void main(String[] args) {
EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
try {
new ZoomTextExample();
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
});
}
private int pointSize;
private Font textFont;
private JFrame frame;
private JTextArea jta;
private JTextField pointSizeField;
public ZoomTextExample() {
this.pointSize = 16;
this.textFont = new Font(Font.DIALOG, Font.PLAIN, pointSize);
initialize();
}
private void initialize() {
frame = new JFrame("Text Editor");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.add(createButtonPanel(), BorderLayout.NORTH);
frame.add(createTextAreaPanel(), BorderLayout.CENTER);
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationByPlatform(true);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
private JPanel createButtonPanel() {
JPanel panel = new JPanel(new FlowLayout());
panel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(0, 5, 5, 5));
JButton zoomIn = new JButton("Zoom in");
zoomIn.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
incrementPointSize(+2);
updatePanels();
}
});
panel.add(zoomIn);
panel.add(Box.createHorizontalStrut(20));
JLabel label = new JLabel("Current font size:");
panel.add(label);
pointSizeField = new JTextField(3);
pointSizeField.setEditable(false);
pointSizeField.setText(Integer.toString(pointSize));
panel.add(pointSizeField);
panel.add(Box.createHorizontalStrut(20));
JButton zoomOut = new JButton("Zoom out");
zoomOut.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
incrementPointSize(-2);
updatePanels();
}
});
panel.add(zoomOut);
return panel;
}
private JPanel createTextAreaPanel() {
JPanel panel = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
panel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(0, 5, 5, 5));
jta = new JTextArea(10, 40);
jta.setFont(textFont);
JScrollPane scrollPane = new JScrollPane(jta);
panel.add(scrollPane, BorderLayout.CENTER);
return panel;
}
private void updatePanels() {
pointSizeField.setText(Integer.toString(pointSize));
textFont = textFont.deriveFont((float) pointSize);
jta.setFont(textFont);
frame.pack();
}
private void incrementPointSize(int increment) {
pointSize += increment;
}
}

JPanel not changing on JFrame

The idea is to have one "global" JFrame which I can then add/remove JPanels as needed to make a smooth flowing application. Currently, when I try changing from the first JPanel to the second, the second won't display. My code is below:
Handler (class to run the app):
package com.example.Startup;
import com.example.Global.Global_Frame;
public class Handler
{
public Handler()
{
gf = new Global_Frame();
gf.getAccNum();
gf.setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String[] args)
{
new Handler();
}
Global_Frame gf = null;
}
public static void main(String[] args)
{
new Handler();
}
Global_Vars gv = null;
Global_Frame gf = null;
}
Global Frame:
package com.example.Global;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.EventQueue;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.util.logging.Level;
import java.util.logging.Logger;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.Timer;
import javax.swing.UIManager;
import javax.swing.UnsupportedLookAndFeelException;
import com.example.FirstRun.AccDetails;
import com.example.FirstRun.FirstTimeRun;
public class Global_Frame extends JFrame
{
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
ActionListener val = new ActionListener()
{
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
{
getUserDetails();
}
};
public Global_Frame()
{
try
{
UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.getSystemLookAndFeelClassName()); // get look and feel based on OS
}
catch (ClassNotFoundException ex) // catch all errors that may occur
{
Logger.getLogger(Global_Frame.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
}
catch (InstantiationException ex)
{
Logger.getLogger(Global_Frame.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
}
catch (IllegalAccessException ex)
{
Logger.getLogger(Global_Frame.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
}
catch (UnsupportedLookAndFeelException ex)
{
Logger.getLogger(Global_Frame.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
}
EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable()
{
public void run() //run the class's constructor, therefore starting the UI being built
{
initComponents();
}
});
}
public void initComponents()
{
setPreferredSize(new Dimension(600, 400)); // setting measurements of jframe
revalidate(); // revalidate the elements that will be displayed
repaint(); // repainting what is displayed if going coming from a different form
pack(); // packaging everything up to use
setLocationRelativeTo(null); // setting form position central
}
public void getAccNum()
{
setPreferredSize(new Dimension(600, 400)); // setting measurements of jframe
FirstTimeRun panel1 = new FirstTimeRun(val);
add(panel1);
revalidate();
repaint();
pack();
}
public void getUserDetails()
{
getContentPane().removeAll();
resizing(750, 500);
AccDetails panel2 = new AccDetails();
add(panel2);
revalidate();
repaint();
pack();
}
private void resizing(int width, int height)
{
timer = new Timer (10, new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0)
{
getContentPane().removeAll();
setPreferredSize(new Dimension(sizeW, sizeH));
revalidate();
repaint();
pack();
if (!wToggle)
sizeW += 2;
if (!hToggle)
sizeH += 2;
if (toggle)
{
setLocationRelativeTo(null);
toggle = false;
}
else
toggle = true;
if (sizeW == width)
wToggle = true;
if (sizeH == height)
hToggle = true;
if (hToggle && wToggle)
timer.stop();
}
});
timer.start();
}
//variables used for window resizing
private Timer timer;
private int sizeW = 600;
private int sizeH = 400;
private boolean toggle = false;
private boolean wToggle = false;
private boolean hToggle = false;
public int accNum = 0;
}
First Panel:
package com.example.FirstRun;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.BoxLayout;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
public class FirstTimeRun extends JPanel
{
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
public FirstTimeRun()
{
}
public FirstTimeRun(ActionListener val)
{
initComponents(val);
}
private void initComponents(ActionListener val) // method to build initial view for user for installation
{
pnlStart = new JPanel[1];
btnNext = new JButton();
pnlStart[0] = new JPanel();
btnNext.setText("Next"); // adding text to button for starting
btnNext.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(80, 35)); //positioning start button
btnNext.addActionListener(val);
pnlStart[0].add(btnNext); // adding button to JFrame
setLayout(new BoxLayout(this, BoxLayout.PAGE_AXIS));
add(pnlStart[0]);
}
// objects used in UI
private JPanel[] pnlStart;
private JButton btnNext;
}
Second Panel:
package com.example.FirstRun;
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import javax.swing.Box;
import javax.swing.BoxLayout;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
public class AccDetails extends JPanel
{
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
public AccDetails()
{
accAssets();
}
private void accAssets()
{
// instantiating elements of the GUI
pnlAccDetails = new JPanel[2];
lblWelcome = new JLabel();
lblMain = new JLabel();
for (int i = 0; i < 2; i++)
pnlAccDetails[i] = new JPanel();
lblWelcome.setText("Welcome to Example_App"); // label welcoming user
pnlAccDetails[0].setLayout(new BoxLayout(pnlAccDetails[0], BoxLayout.LINE_AXIS));
pnlAccDetails[0].add(lblWelcome); // adding label to form
lblMain.setText("<html>The following information that is collected will be used as part of the Example_App process to ensure that each user has unique Example_App paths. Please fill in all areas of the following tabs:</html>"); // main label that explains what happens, html used for formatting
pnlAccDetails[1].setLayout(new BorderLayout());
pnlAccDetails[1].add(Box.createHorizontalStrut(20), BorderLayout.LINE_START);
pnlAccDetails[1].add(lblMain, BorderLayout.CENTER); //adding label to JFrame
pnlAccDetails[1].add(Box.createHorizontalStrut(20), BorderLayout.LINE_END);
setLayout(new BoxLayout(this, BoxLayout.PAGE_AXIS));
add(pnlAccDetails[0]);
add(pnlAccDetails[1]);
}
private JLabel lblWelcome;
private JLabel lblMain;
private JPanel[] pnlAccDetails;
}
I have tried using both a CardLayout and the "revalidate();" "repaint();" and "pack();" options and I'm stumped as to why it's not showing. Thanks in advance for any help that can be offered.
EDIT:
While cutting down my code, if the "resizing" method is removed, the objects are shown when the panels change. I would like to avoid having to remove this completely as it's a smooth transition for changing the JFrame size.

#John smith it is basic example of switch from one panel to other panel I hope this will help you to sort out your problem
Code:
package stack;
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
public class RemoveAndAddPanel implements ActionListener{
JFrame frame;
JPanel firstPanel;
JPanel secondPanel;
JPanel controlPanel;
JButton nextButton;
public RemoveAndAddPanel() {
JFrame.setDefaultLookAndFeelDecorated(true);
frame = new JFrame();
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
firstPanel = new JPanel();
firstPanel.add(new JLabel("FirstPanel"));
firstPanel.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(100,100));
secondPanel = new JPanel();
secondPanel.add(new JLabel("Second panel"));
secondPanel.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(100,100));
nextButton = new JButton("Next panel");
controlPanel = new JPanel();
nextButton.addActionListener(this);
controlPanel.add(nextButton);
frame.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
frame.add(firstPanel,BorderLayout.CENTER);
frame.add(controlPanel, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.setSize(300,100);
}
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if(e.getSource() == nextButton) {
frame.remove(firstPanel);
frame.add(secondPanel);
nextButton.setEnabled(false);
}
frame.validate();
}
public static void main(String args[]) {
new RemoveAndAddPanel();
}
}

As mentioned in the edit, the problem lay within the resizing method. When the timer stopped, it wouldn't go anywhere, causing the UI to not load. The fix to the code is clearing the screen and adding the call to resizing to the actionlistener. Then adding a call to the next method after:
timer.stop();
Thanks for getting me to remove the mess around it and find the source of the problem #matt & #Hovercraft Full of Eels upvotes for both of you.

The main thing to consider while changing panel in a jframe is the layout, for a body(main) panel to change to any other panel the parent panel must be of type CardLayout body.setLayout(new java.awt.CardLayout());
After that you can now easily switch between panels wiht the sample code below
private void updateViewLayout(final HomeUI UI, final JPanel paneeelee){
final JPanel body = UI.getBody(); //this is the JFrame body panel and must be of type cardLayout
System.out.println("Page Loader Changing View");
new SwingWorker<Object, Object>() {
#Override
protected Object doInBackground() throws Exception {
body.removeAll();//remove all visible panel before
body.add(paneeelee);
body.revalidate();
body.repaint();
return null;
}
#Override
protected void done() {
UI.getLoader().setVisible(false);
}
}.execute();
}

Java, make JTabbedPane pop up

I would like my original window to close when someone enters the password and a new one to pop up, or if you have a better recommendation please tell me. Here is my code,
The main class,
package notebook;
import java.awt.EventQueue;
import java.awt.Image;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;
import javax.imageio.ImageIO;
import javax.swing.AbstractAction;
import javax.swing.Action;
import javax.swing.ImageIcon;
import javax.swing.JDialog;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPasswordField;
import javax.swing.JTextField;
import javax.swing.border.CompoundBorder;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
public class mainPage extends JDialog {
private JTextField textField;
/**
* Launch the application.
*/
public static void main(String[] args) {
EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
try {
mainPage frame = new mainPage();
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.setResizable(false);
Image icon = new BufferedImage(1, 1, BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_ARGB_PRE);
frame.setIconImage(icon);
frame.setTitle("Notebook");
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
});
}
/**
* Create the frame.
* #throws IOException
*/
public mainPage() throws IOException {
setDefaultCloseOperation(JDialog.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
setBounds(100, 100, 560, 390);
JLabel contentPane = new JLabel(
new ImageIcon(
ImageIO.read(new File(
"C:\\Users\\Gianmarco\\workspace\\notebook\\src\\notebook\\cool_cat.jpg"))));
contentPane.setBorder(new CompoundBorder());
setContentPane(contentPane);
contentPane.setLayout(null);
JLabel lblEnterPassword = new JLabel(" Enter Password");
lblEnterPassword.setForeground(Color.LIGHT_GRAY);
lblEnterPassword.setBackground(Color.DARK_GRAY);
lblEnterPassword.setOpaque(true);
lblEnterPassword.setBounds(230, 60, 100, 15);
contentPane.add(lblEnterPassword);
security sInfo = new security();
textField = new JPasswordField(10);
nbTab notebook = new nbTab();
Action action = new AbstractAction()
{
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
{
String textFieldValue = textField.getText();
if (sInfo.checkPassword(textFieldValue)){
System.out.println("working");
notebook.setVisible(true);
//dispose();
}
}
};
JPanel panel = new JPanel();
textField.setBounds(230, 85, 100, 15);
contentPane.add(textField);
contentPane.add(panel);
textField.setColumns(10);
textField.addActionListener(action);
}
}
The password class,
package notebook;
public class security {
private String password = "kitten";
protected boolean checkPassword(String x){
if(x.length()<15 && x.equals(password)) return true;
return false;
}
}
The JTabbedPane class,
package notebook;
import javax.swing.JTabbedPane;
import javax.swing.JEditorPane;
import javax.swing.JList;
import javax.swing.JButton;
public class nbTab<E> extends JTabbedPane {
/**
*
*/
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
/**
* Create the panel.
*/
public nbTab() {
JEditorPane editorPane = new JEditorPane();
JButton btnNewButton = new JButton("New button");
btnNewButton.setBounds(480, 345, 40, 30);
editorPane.add(btnNewButton);
editorPane.setBounds(80, 45, 400, 300);
addTab("New tab", null, editorPane, null);
JList<? extends E> list = new JList();
addTab("New tab", null, list, null);
}
}
In my main class, on lines 76 - 82 (where the action event listner is located) I would like to have my current window close and a new window of notebook to open. I used dispose() to close the password window. Then I try to open the JTabbedPane with setVisible(), setSelectedComponent, and setSelectedIndex however I am either using them incorrectly or there must be some better way to do this because it is not working. Any advice is appreciated guys thanks for all help.

As already suggested by MadProgrammer and Frakcool, the CardLayout layout manager is an interesting option in your case. A nice introduction to several Layout Managers for Swing is available here: A Visual Guide to Layout Managers.
You can use the code below to get an idea of how it could work. I have made a few modifications to your main application class:
The main class now extends from JFrame (instead of JDialog).
A few more panels and layout managers are used.
In Java class names usually start with a capital letter, so I have renamed your classes to MainPage, NotebookTab, and Security.
Here is the modified MainPage class:
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.awt.image.*;
import java.io.*;
import javax.imageio.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class MainPage extends JFrame {
private static final String LOGIN_PANEL_ID = "Login panel";
private static final String NOTEBOOK_ID = "Notebook tabbed pane";
private JPanel mainPanel;
private CardLayout cardLayout;
/**
* Launch the application.
*/
public static void main(String[] args) {
EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
try {
MainPage frame = new MainPage();
frame.setResizable(false);
Image icon = new BufferedImage(1, 1,
BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_ARGB_PRE);
frame.setIconImage(icon);
frame.setTitle("Notebook");
frame.setVisible(true);
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
});
}
/**
* Create the frame.
* #throws IOException
*/
public MainPage() throws IOException {
setDefaultCloseOperation(WindowConstants.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
setBounds(100, 100, 560, 390);
cardLayout = new CardLayout();
mainPanel = new JPanel(cardLayout);
mainPanel.add(createLoginPanel(), LOGIN_PANEL_ID);
mainPanel.add(new NotebookTab(), NOTEBOOK_ID);
getContentPane().add(mainPanel);
}
private JPanel createLoginPanel() throws IOException {
JPanel loginPanel = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
JPanel passwordPanel = new JPanel();
passwordPanel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(passwordPanel, BoxLayout.PAGE_AXIS));
JLabel lblEnterPassword = new JLabel("Enter Password");
lblEnterPassword.setForeground(Color.LIGHT_GRAY);
lblEnterPassword.setBackground(Color.DARK_GRAY);
lblEnterPassword.setOpaque(true);
lblEnterPassword.setHorizontalAlignment(SwingConstants.CENTER);
lblEnterPassword.setMaximumSize(new Dimension(100, 16));
lblEnterPassword.setAlignmentX(Component.CENTER_ALIGNMENT);
JTextField textField = new JPasswordField(10);
textField.setMaximumSize(new Dimension(100, 16));
textField.setAlignmentX(Component.CENTER_ALIGNMENT);
passwordPanel.add(Box.createRigidArea(new Dimension(0, 42)));
passwordPanel.add(lblEnterPassword);
passwordPanel.add(Box.createRigidArea(new Dimension(0, 10)));
passwordPanel.add(textField);
loginPanel.add(passwordPanel, BorderLayout.NORTH);
Action loginAction = new AbstractAction() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if (new Security().checkPassword(textField.getText())) {
System.out.println("working");
cardLayout.show(mainPanel, NOTEBOOK_ID);
}
}
};
textField.addActionListener(loginAction);
String imagePath = "C:\\Users\\Gianmarco\\workspace\\" +
"notebook\\src\\notebook\\cool_cat.jpg";
BufferedImage bufferedImage = ImageIO.read(new File(imagePath));
JLabel imageLabel = new JLabel(new ImageIcon(bufferedImage));
loginPanel.add(imageLabel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
return loginPanel;
}
}

GUI application that changes background with button

I am trying to create a Java GUI application that contains a label and button. When the button is clicked the background color of the first panel is changed. I've got the label and button but getting errors whenever I click the button. Also, I wanted the first panel to originally have a yellow background then switch to whatever color. Here's my code:
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import java.awt.FlowLayout;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
public class ChangeDemo extends JFrame implements ActionListener
{
public static final int WIDTH = 300;
public static final int HEIGHT= 200;
private JPanel biggerPanel;
public static void main(String[] args)
{
ChangeDemo gui = new ChangeDemo();
gui.setVisible(true);
}
public ChangeDemo()
{
super ("ChangeBackgroundDemo");
setSize(WIDTH,HEIGHT);
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
setLayout(new GridLayout(2,3));
JPanel biggerPanel = new JPanel();
biggerPanel.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
biggerPanel.setBackground(Color.YELLOW);
JLabel namePanel = new JLabel("Click the button to change the background color");
biggerPanel.add(namePanel, BorderLayout.NORTH);
add(namePanel);
JPanel buttonPanel = new JPanel();
buttonPanel.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
buttonPanel.setBackground(Color.LIGHT_GRAY);
JButton changeButton = new JButton("Change Color");
changeButton.addActionListener(this);
buttonPanel.add(changeButton);
add(buttonPanel);
}
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
{
String buttonString = e.getActionCommand();
if(buttonString.equals("Change Color"))
biggerPanel.setBackground(Color.RED);
else
System.out.println("Unexpected Error!");
}
}

I made a few changes to your code.
First, you must start a Swing application with a call to SwingUtilities.invokeLater.
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new ChangeDemo());
}
Second, you use Swing components. You only extend a Swing component when you want to override a method of the Swing component.
Third, I made a action listener specifically for your JButton. That way, you don't have to check for a particular JButton string. You can create as many action listeners as you need for your GUI.
JButton changeButton = new JButton("Change Color");
changeButton.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
isYellow = !isYellow;
if (isYellow) buttonPanel.setBackground(Color.YELLOW);
else buttonPanel.setBackground(Color.RED);
}
});
Finally, I changed the background color of the JButton panel.
Here's the entire ChangeDemo class.
package com.ggl.testing;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.FlowLayout;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.BoxLayout;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
public class ChangeDemo implements Runnable {
private boolean isYellow;
private JFrame frame;
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new ChangeDemo());
}
#Override
public void run() {
frame = new JFrame("Change Background Demo");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
JPanel mainPanel = new JPanel();
mainPanel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(mainPanel, BoxLayout.PAGE_AXIS));
JPanel namePanel = new JPanel();
JLabel nameLabel = new JLabel(
"Click the button to change the background color");
nameLabel.setAlignmentX(JLabel.CENTER_ALIGNMENT);
namePanel.add(nameLabel);
mainPanel.add(namePanel);
final JPanel buttonPanel = new JPanel();
buttonPanel.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
buttonPanel.setBackground(Color.YELLOW);
isYellow = true;
JButton changeButton = new JButton("Change Color");
changeButton.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
isYellow = !isYellow;
if (isYellow) buttonPanel.setBackground(Color.YELLOW);
else buttonPanel.setBackground(Color.RED);
}
});
buttonPanel.add(changeButton);
mainPanel.add(buttonPanel);
frame.add(mainPanel);
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationByPlatform(true);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
}

Here is working demo based on amendments to your code, haven't had time to tidy it up but hopefully you'll get the gist of it. Problem was you hand't added Panels to the borders (north, south etc.) in order to color them. Hopefully this helps.
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import java.awt.FlowLayout;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
public class ChangeDemo extends JFrame implements ActionListener
{
public static final int WIDTH = 300;
public static final int HEIGHT= 200;
private JPanel biggerPanel = new JPanel();
private JPanel namePanel = new JPanel();
public static void main(String[] args)
{
ChangeDemo gui = new ChangeDemo();
gui.setVisible(true);
}
public ChangeDemo()
{
super ("ChangeBackgroundDemo");
setSize(WIDTH,HEIGHT);
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
setLayout(new GridLayout(2,3));
//JPanel biggerPanel = new JPanel();
this.biggerPanel.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
this.biggerPanel.setBackground(Color.YELLOW);
JLabel nameLabel = new JLabel("Click the button to change the background color");
namePanel.add(nameLabel);
namePanel.setBackground(Color.YELLOW);
//this.biggerPanel.add(namePanel, BorderLayout.NORTH);
add(namePanel);
JPanel buttonPanel = new JPanel();
buttonPanel.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
buttonPanel.setBackground(Color.LIGHT_GRAY);
JButton changeButton = new JButton("Change Color");
changeButton.addActionListener(this);
changeButton.setActionCommand("Change Color");
buttonPanel.add(changeButton);
add(buttonPanel);
}
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
{
String buttonString = e.getActionCommand();
if(buttonString.equals("Change Color"))
this.namePanel.setBackground(Color.RED);
else
System.out.println("Unexpected Error!");
}
}

Adding a jTextArea to JPanel from within the Panel

So, I am creating a new Canvas (JPanel) class: Canvas canvas = new Canvas(); and then I am calling a method on that class: canvas.addTextBox();
Now, from within this Canvas class, I want to add a new jTextArea to the Canvas. I tried using the code below but it isn't showing up. Not sure what I am doing wrong. Thanks!
class Canvas extends JPanel {
public Canvas() {
this.setOpaque(true);
//this.setBackground(Color.WHITE);
}
public void addTextBox() {
final JTextArea commentTextArea = new JTextArea(10, 10);
commentTextArea.setLineWrap(true);
commentTextArea.setLineWrap(true);
commentTextArea.setWrapStyleWord(true);
commentTextArea.setVisible(true);
}
}
Full Code
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.awt.event.KeyEvent;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JMenuBar;
import javax.swing.JMenuItem;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JTextArea;
public class UMLEditor {
public static void main(String[] args) {
JFrame frame = new UMLWindow();
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setBounds(30, 30, 1000, 700);
frame.getContentPane().setBackground(Color.white);
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
}
class UMLWindow extends JFrame {
Canvas canvas = new Canvas();
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
public UMLWindow() {
addMenus();
}
public void addMenus() {
getContentPane().add(canvas);
JMenuBar menubar = new JMenuBar();
JMenuItem newTextBox = new JMenuItem("New Text Box");
newTextBox.setMnemonic(KeyEvent.VK_E);
newTextBox.setToolTipText("Exit application");
newTextBox.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
canvas.addTextBox();
}
});
menubar.add(newTextBox);
setJMenuBar(menubar);
setSize(300, 200);
setLocationRelativeTo(null);
setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
}
}
class Canvas extends JPanel {
public Canvas() {
this.setOpaque(true);
//this.setBackground(Color.WHITE);
}
public void addTextBox() {
final JTextArea commentTextArea = new JTextArea(10, 10);
commentTextArea.setLineWrap(true);
commentTextArea.setLineWrap(true);
commentTextArea.setWrapStyleWord(true);
commentTextArea.setVisible(true);
}
}

The addTextBox method only creates a JTextArea. It never adds it to the JPanel
You will need to add the following line to addTextBox method:
add( commentTextArea );
In case the JFrame which contains your components is already visible on screen when the addTextBox method is called, you need to invalidate the container as well. Simply add
revalidate();
repaint();