java GUI multiple buttons output display error? - java

I am beginner in Java. This is my first project.
The GUI of the code keeps changing every time I run the code.
Sometimes output doesn't even load completely.
This is the code for just initializing a chess board 8X8 jbuttons.
I have put down the images do checkout the hyperlinks below.
Is there any solution that shows the same output every time the code executes?
package chess;
import game.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
public class board{
static JButton [][] spots =new JButton [8][8];
public static void main(String[] args){
board b =new board();
b.initializeboard(spots);
}
public void initializeboard(JButton [][] spots){
JFrame f = new JFrame("CHESS");
f.setVisible(true);
f.setSize(800,800);
GridLayout layout =new GridLayout(8,8,1,1);
f.setLayout(layout);
for(int ver=0;ver<8;ver++){
for(int hor=0;hor<8;hor++){
JButton button = new JButton();
if((ver+hor)%2==0){
button.setBackground(Color.WHITE); }
else{
button.setBackground(new Color(255,205,51)); }
pieces p =new pieces();
spots[ver][hor] = button;
p.setButton(button);
f.add(button);
}
}
} //initialize board
} // close board
Improper Execution
Correct Execution
Incomplete Execution

I am beginner in Java.
First of all, class names SHOULD start with an upper case character. Have you even seen a class in the JDK that does not start with an upper case character? Learn by example from the code in your text book or tutorial.
Is there any solution that shows the same output every time the code executes?
All components should be added to the frame BEFORE the frame is made visible.
When the frame is made visible the layout manager is invoked and the components are given a size/location. If you add components to a visible panel, then you need to invoke revalidate() and repaint() on the panel to make sure the layout manager is invoked.
Must admit I'm not sure why you get this random behaviour. Some components are getting a size/location and other are not even though the layout manager is not invoked.
I would suggest you restructure your code something like:
JPanel chessboard = new JPanel( new GridLayout(8, 8, 1, 1) );
// add buttons to the panel
JFrame frame = new JFrame("CHESS")
frame.add(chessboard, BorderLayout.CENTER);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo( null );
frame.setVisible( true );
Other comments:
Don't set the size of the frame. Using 800 x 800 will not make each button 100 x 100. The frame size also include the title bar and borders, so each button size will be less than you expect.
Instead you can create a variable outside of your loops:
Dimension buttonSize = new Dimension(100, 100)
Then when you create the button you use:
button.setPreferredSize( buttonSize );
Now when pack() method is invoked is will size the frame at the preferred size of all the components added to the frame.
All Swing components should be create on the Event Dispatch Thread (EDT). Read the section from the Swing tutorial How to Make Frames. The FrameDemo.java code shows you one way to structure your class so that the invokeLater(…) method is used to make sure code executes on the EDT.
Don't make your variables static. This indicates incorrect class design. Check out the MenuLook.java example found in How to Use Menus for a slightly different design where your ChessBoard becomes a component created in another class. You can then define your instance variables in that class.

Related

JPanel inside JFrame doesn't show content sometimes. Why?

I managed to fix it but I don't understand why the same code results in different results. Some classmates have had the same problem.
The issue is that it I use miVentana.setVisible(true); before chicha(); the elements inside the JPanel will show when executing but if I run it again sometimes they won't ve visible until I resize the window, a few times not even the JPanel background color was visible. Just clicking the "Run" bottom on the IDE without changing anything else.
I just tried it 10 consecutive times and the elements were only visible on the 4th attempt.
Could this come from some memory garbage remaining from previous executions of the code?
I'm using Eclipse Version: Photon Release (4.8.0).
This is the code with the weird behaviour:
public class Ej10 extends JFrame {
public Ej10() {
setLayout(null);
}
static Ej10 miVentana = new Ej10();
public static void main(String[] args) {
miVentana.setTitle("Ejercicio10");
miVentana.setBounds(20, 20, 500, 600);
miVentana.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
miVentana.setVisible(true);
chicha();
//miVentana.setVisible(true);
}
static void chicha() {
JPanel miPanel = new JPanel();
miPanel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(miPanel, BoxLayout.PAGE_AXIS));
miPanel.setBounds(20, 20, 350, 450);
miPanel.setBackground(Color.CYAN);
JLabel lUsuario = new JLabel("Usuario:");
lUsuario.setVisible(true);
JTextField campoUsuario = new JTextField();
JLabel lPwd = new JLabel("Contraseña:");
JPasswordField campoPwd = new JPasswordField();
JButton bAcceso = new JButton("Acceder");
miPanel.add(lUsuario);
miPanel.add(campoUsuario);
miPanel.add(lPwd);
miPanel.add(campoPwd);
miPanel.add(bAcceso);
miPanel.setVisible(true);
miVentana.add(miPanel);
}
}
Components need to be added to the frame BEFORE the frame is made visible.
One of the functions of the setVisible() method is to invoke the layout manager. Otherwise components have a size() of (0, 0) so there is nothing to paint.
Also, all GUI components should be created on the Event Dispatch Thread (EDT), otherwise you can have random results. Read the section from the Swing tutorial on Concurrency for more information.
Take a look at the FrameDemo from How to Make Frames for the most basic example of how your code should be structured to avoid problems. It shows how to create components on the EDT and how to make the frame visible.
they won't ve visible until I resize the window,
Resizing the frame will also cause the layout manager to be invoked.
miPanel.setBounds(20, 20, 350, 450);
That statement will do nothing because the layout manager of the frame will determine the size and location of the panel based on the rules of the layout manager. The default layout manager for a frame is a BorderLayout, so basically the panel will get all the space available to the frame.
The tutorial also has a section on Layout Managers that you should read.

JLabel does not fully allign with JFrame

I have a JFrame with a JLabel on top called "coloredLabel", an instance of the class it's in is running on both of them. a random amount of objects move around on the frame and label and don't directly interact with them.
The only problem is that there is a bit of the frame visable above the label, what I want is that the label fully alligns with the frame, without pasting over the objects (which are painted in with an override paint method and mentioned as "game.newBall" and "game.moveBall". "test" is the name of the class.
Here is how my main thread looks, the frame and the label are declared within it:
public static void main(String[] args) throws InterruptedException {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Bounce 2.0");
JLabel coloredLabel = new JLabel("");
test game = new test();
frame.add(game);
frame.setSize(300, 400);
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
coloredLabel.setOpaque(true);
coloredLabel.setBackground(game.backgroundColor);
coloredLabel.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(1000000,1000000));
frame.getContentPane().add(coloredLabel,BorderLayout.LINE_START);
game.add(coloredLabel);
for(int a = randInt(0,9); a<10; a++)
game.newBall(randInt(0,300),randInt(0,400));
while (true) {
double height = frame.getContentPane().getSize().getHeight();
double width = frame.getContentPane().getSize().getWidth();
int n = 0;
while(game.exists(n)==true){
game.moveBall(n,width,height);
n++;
}
game.repaint();
Thread.sleep(10);
}
}
So my question is:
How do I allign the JLabel with the JFrame? so there is no space in between the JLabel and the frame.
I searched for this on this site, but couldn't find the same problem or something similar enough so I could fix this.
solved - game.setBackground(...);
The only problem is that there is a bit of the frame visable above the label,
game.add(coloredLabel);
I'm guessing "game" is a JPanel. By default a JPanel uses a FlowLayout and by default the FlowLayout has horizontal and vertical gaps of 5 pixels.
Get rid of the gap in the FlowLayout. Read the API for the constructors/methods of the FlowLayout to customize its behaviour.
But of course the bigger issue is the design of your app. I don't understand your point of using the label and attempting to take up all the space of the frame. Just set the background of the game panel by using:
game.setBackground(...);
Also class names should:
start with an upper case character and
be descriptive.
"test" is neither.

visualizing JPanel change within a loop

I am new to Java swing programming. I want to make a frame which will appear red and blue in turn one after another. So, I took 2 child JPanel, 1 for red and other for blue, and a for-loop. On each iteration I remove one panel from parent panel and add another. But, when I run the program it only shows the last state of the frame.
Can anyone explain why? And what's the intended approach to make a program work like that?
My code:
public class Test2 extends JFrame {
public Test2() {
JPanel Red = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
JPanel Blue = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
//...initialize Red and Blue
Red.setBackground(Color.red);
Blue.setBackground(Color.blue);
Red.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(200,200));
Blue.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(200,200));
JPanel panel = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
panel.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(200,200));
add(panel);
pack();
setTitle("Border Example");
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
setLocationRelativeTo(null);
int M = 1000000; //note that, I made a long iteration to not finish the program fast and visualize the effect
for(int i=0;i<M;i++)
{
if(i%(M/10)==0) System.out.println(i); //to detect whether the program is running
if(i%2==0)
{
panel.removeAll();
panel.repaint();
panel.revalidate();
panel.add(Red,BorderLayout.CENTER);
}
else
{
panel.removeAll();
panel.repaint();
panel.revalidate();
panel.add(Blue,BorderLayout.CENTER);
}
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
Test2 ex = new Test2();
ex.setVisible(true);
}
});
}}
Don't use a loop. Swing will only repaint the frame once the entire loop has finished executing.
Instead you need to use a Swing Timer. When the Timer fires you invoke your logic. Read the section from the Swing tutorial on How to Use Swing Timers.
Here is a simple example of a Timer that simply displays the time every second: Update a Label with a Swing Timer
Also, don't remove/add panels. Instead you can use a Card Layout and sway the visible panel. Again read the tutorial on How to Use CardLayout.
Basically you don't need to use a while (or any other) loop, Swing only paints once it has finished that loop then repaint the GUI.
As stated before by #camickr on his answer, you could try a Swing Timer; here's an example that does exactly what you want.
From your comment on another answer:
Could you please explain why "repaint" does not work in a loop? And why is the Timer working without a "repaint"?
Swing is smart enough to know it doesn't needs to repaint in a loop, instead it will repaint once it the loop finishes, if you read the tutorial on Swing Custom Paint on the step 3 it says:
"Swing is smart enough to take that information and repaint those sections of the screen all in one single paint operation. In other words, Swing will not repaint the component twice in a row, even if that is what the code appears to be doing."
And Timer will repaint it, because it's not running on the EDT but in it's own Thread
I would suggest to take in one step at a time.
First make it run without changing panels / colors.
Now it doesn't because this
public final void Test2() {
is a method (which is never used) and not a constructor.
Change to a constructor declaration like :
public Test2() {
to make the program do something. Then you can go to the next step.
Also use Java naming conventions (like blue instead of Blue).

Visualizing arraylist

I have a lage JPanel in my JFrame which contains arraylist of "Pages" - data type which extends JPanel, it defaultly contains JPanel "area", height equaling the cumulative one of it's children (which it has none by default), and BOX.filler (preffered height is full height of the "Page"). So, by default, the whole "Page" is filled with filler, which decreases as I add elements to "area".
Also, I have an array list which contain JPanels. They are elements which go onto "area". As I add them, when height of filler becomes zero, I create a new "Page" and move last element (which went "off bounds") onto it. Basically, it's supposed to work similar to MS Word.
Now the catch. User can add and remove those elements freely, from whichever part of the document. The question is, how can I add an element to a random spot on "area"? Addition will probably be made by invoking a keylistener attached to another element, so I will know between which two elements is the random one being put.
Is there a layout manager that can be used for this or should it be done another way?
Which way?
If I understand you problem correctly, you are trying to insert a component at a certain position instead of appending it?
If that's your problem, you might want to use a BoxLayout and the add(component, index) method of java's swing containers. Of course you might again need to move some childrens to the following page, and recursively childrens of the following page to the one after that.
import javax.swing.BoxLayout;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
public class AddAt {
public static void main(String[] args) {
JFrame frame = new JFrame();
JPanel panel = new JPanel();
panel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(panel, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
JLabel one = new JLabel("one");
JLabel two = new JLabel("two");
JLabel between = new JLabel("between");
frame.add(panel);
panel.add(one);
panel.add(two);
panel.add(between, 1);
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
}
results in:

How to represent a Board Panel in Java for a game?

I wanna fix a 2D board for a game. I've already fixed other panels for the Gui and everything goes well. But the panel for the board cant be printed on the window. I'm a bit confused about it as i think i've followed the same ideas as for the others panels i need.
Here's what i've done:
EDIT:
what I'm trying to do is fix a board panel for the game according to the dimensions of the it,hold every square in an array in order to use it after wherever it;s needed. I draw each little square of it with the method draw and put it back to the panel. So, each square on the board is a panel. This is the idea. But as u can see. There are troubles/errors on it.
EDIT: code updated.
just found a part of the problem. i thought first that i had set background to squared, but i didnt. with this one it appears on the panel a wide black "column". Unfortunately,still none squares. :(
One More EDIT:
Also,i realized that draw method is never called. when i put the draw method in the following method i can see the squares but they remain small. I redefine them with setSize but still no change.
How can I use paint method to edit the panels properly???? As it is now it can't. Even it can't return an object(eg panel) as it's polymorphic void!
/**
*Method used to construct the square in the area of the
*gui's grid. In this stage a GUISquare array is being constructed,
* used in the whole game as
*a mean of changing a square graphical state.
*#param squares is the squares array from whom the gui grid will be
*constructed.
*#see getSquare about the correspondance beetween a squareModel and
* a GUISquare.
*/
private void initBoardPanel(SquareModel[][] squares){
BoardPanel.setLayout(new GridLayout(height ,width )); //set layout
SquareRenderer[][] Squares;
JPanel[][] grid;
Squares=new GUISquare[height][width()];
grid=new JPanel[height()][width()];
for (int i=0; i<height(); i++){
for (int j=0; j<width() ; j++){
SquareRenderer kou=new SquareRenderer(i,j);
kou.setSquare(myGame.getSquares()[i][j]);
//NOTE: THE FOLLOWING DRAW METHOD CANT BE CALLED!!!?
if (myGame.getSquares()[i][j] instanceof SimpleSq ){
kou .paintPanel(i,j,"");}
else if (myGame.getSquares()[i][j] instanceof ActionSq )
{ kou .paintPanel(i,j);
}
//JUST BECAUSE DRAW CANT BE CALLED I PUT ITS CODE HERE:
//JUST TO CHECK:
JPanel panel = new JPanel();
panel.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
JLabel label1 = new JLabel("Move To "+myGame.getSquares()[i][j].getGoTo());
JLabel label2 = new JLabel(""+myGame.getSquares()[i][j].getSquare());
panel.setBackground(Color.ORANGE);
panel.add(label2, BorderLayout.NORTH);
panel.add(label1, BorderLayout.CENTER);
panel.setSize(250,250);
///////// <--until here ---paint method<---
kou.add(panel);
kou.setVisible(true);
kou.setBackground(Color.BLACK);
Squares[i][j]= kou;
BoardPanel.add(kou);
BoardPanel.setVisible(true);
BoardPanel.setBackground(Color.WHITE);
}
}
this.add(BoardPanel,BorderLayout.WEST);
// this.pack(); //sets appropriate size for frame
this.setVisible(true); //makes frame visible
}
IMPLEMENTED BY SQUARERENDERER:
/**
* Transformer for Snake/Ladder
* <br>This method is used to display a square on the screen.
*/
public void paintPanel(int i,int j) {
JPanel panel = new JPanel();
panel.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
JLabel label1 = new JLabel("Move To"+myGame.getSquares()[i][j].getGoTo());
JLabel label2 = new JLabel(""+myGame.getSquares()[i][j].getSquare());
JSeparator CellSeparator = new JSeparator(orientation);
panel.add(CellSeparator);
panel.setForeground(Color.ORANGE);
panel.add(label2, BorderLayout.NORTH);
panel.add(label1, BorderLayout.CENTER);
}
I see a couple things that are problematic:
When using a layout manager, you should avoid calling setSize. Most layout managers will simply override it. You should use setPreferredSize, setMinimumSize, and setMaximumSize instead, which provide hints to the layout manager.
It doesn't look like the draw method of SquareRenderer ever adds the panel you create to anything. You should either add panel to the SquareRenderer in the last line of draw or (better) add the sub-components directly to the SquareRenderer instead.

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