Develop Reference

JProgressBar update and thread scheduling

Hello stack exchangers,
I have a problem with progress bars in java Swing. I think my confusions arise from my poor understanding of threads and the Swing event queue (I don't know much about java Threads, and exactly what is happening on the AWTEventQueue, although I generally understand what multithreading is about).
The context is that a JButton is pressed to start a long calculation. Before the calculation starts, I make a progress bar in a JFrame, which I thought would be painted, but it isn't. The frame appears, but it is just grey. The button, in this example has "clickMe" written on it.
In the "clickMe" action listener, I first make and display a JFrame in a subtask which is "run" (I'm not clear on when this is scheduled TBH). Then, I call doTask() which is running in the same thread as the action listener (which I think is the AWTEventThread??). The doTask() runs, printing out numbers to the Console. Intermixed with the doTask() output are iteration counts of the progressbar (from when the action listener started makeProgressBar()).
So, from the output, it looks like both the progress bar is running and the AWTEventThread, but the value set in the JProgressBar GUI is never updated.
How can I change my code so that the GUI gets updated? I've tried understanding the JProgressBar tutorial and hunted around the web, but I think my problem is more a conceptual understanding of Java Tasks.
This is my code:
package problemclass;
import java.awt.EventQueue;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JProgressBar;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
public class ProblemClass
{
void progressBarButtonClick()
{
JFrame buttonInAFrame = new JFrame();
JPanel buttonInAFramePanel = new JPanel();
JButton clickMe = new JButton("Click me!");
buttonInAFramePanel.add(clickMe);
clickMe.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
{
JFrame progBarFrame = makeProgressBar();
doTask();
progBarFrame.dispose();
}
});
buttonInAFrame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
buttonInAFrame.add(buttonInAFramePanel);
buttonInAFrame.pack();
buttonInAFrame.setVisible(true);
}
private void doTask()
{
for(int i = 0; i < 20000; i++)
{
if (i % 100 == 0)
{
System.out.println("TASK iteration " + i);
try
{
Thread.sleep(1000);
}
catch (InterruptedException e) {}
}
}
}
private JFrame makeProgressBar()
{
JFrame progBarFrame = new JFrame();
JPanel progBarPanel = new JPanel();
JProgressBar progressBar = new JProgressBar();
progBarPanel.add(progressBar);
progressBar.setValue(0);
progressBar.setStringPainted(true);
progressBar.setIndeterminate(true);
new Thread(new Runnable()
{
public void run()
{
for (int i = 0; i <= 100; i++)
{
final int j = i;
System.out.println("Progress Iteration " + j);
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable()
{
public void run()
{
progressBar.setValue(j);
}
});
try
{
java.lang.Thread.sleep(100);
}
catch(Exception e) { }
}
}
}).start();
progBarFrame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
progBarFrame.add(progBarPanel);
progBarFrame.pack();
progBarFrame.setVisible(true);
return progBarFrame;
}
public static void main(String[] args)
{
EventQueue.invokeLater(() ->
{
new ProblemClass().progressBarButtonClick();
});
}
}

JFrame progBarFrame = makeProgressBar();
doTask();
Not sure exactly what you are trying to do.
The above code has two loops:
In the makePrgressBar() method you start a Thread and invoke SwingUtilities.invokeLater(…), to update the progress bar, which is correct.
but then in doTack() you start another loop. This time you don't start a Thread so the code is invoked on the EDT and since you use Thread.sleep, the EDT will sleep and the GUI will not repaint itself until the entire loop is finished.
I would suggest you get rid of the doTask() method since I don't know why you need two blocks of code that loop. Or if you really need it, then you also need to use a Thread and invokeLater(…).

Just like you, I recently did some work on progress bars and threading and went nuts until I realized that it is just so simple.In a nutshell this is the code I have when my button is clicked:
// Create 2 threads. One handles your GUI. Other does the task
Thread t1 = new Thread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
// code goes here.
//In here I choose to hide the button, display the progress bar
}
});
t1.start();
Thread t2 = new Thread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
// code goes here.
//In here I get the task done, then hide the progress bar
}
});
t2.start();
Works like a charm every time. Hope it helps!

Jslider can not tick when its value changed from JButton periodically

I am working on a swing project. There is a map, I have raster images of a given data for different times. Normally I change the time via a JSlider and it requests server for raster image. Then I add response image to map. There is a Play JButton, when pressed it will add those images one by one to raster layer of the map. It will be seen as an animation. In that JButton's actionPerfomed method I change the JSlider's value in a for loop.
My problem is when I press Play JButton, I can't see the data is played but I know code block works because I record each image(from server). I found out that it is becuse of JButton does not release Focus until its actionPerformed method ends. Because JButton looked like it was pressed until the end. So I only see the last image in the map.
First, I tried JButton.setFocusable(false) etc. but to no good.
Second, I tried using SwingWorker. I added it like this:
class PlayMvgmLayerWorker extends SwingWorker<Void, Void> {
public PlayMvgmLayerWorker(String title) {
super(title);
}
#Override
protected void done(Void aVoid) {
}
#Override
protected Void doInBackground() {
try{
BufferedImage[] image = new BufferedImage[24];
for(int i=0; i<24; i++) {
final int value = i - 48 + 24;
timeSlider.setValue( value );
Thread.sleep(10000l);
}
} catch(Exception ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
}
return null;
}
}
private JButton animation = new JButton("");
animation.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
new PlayMvgmLayerWorker("title").execute();
}
});
private JSlider timeSlider = new JSlider();
timeSlider.addChangeListener(new ChangeListener() {
#Override
public void stateChanged(ChangeEvent e) {
// time consuming processes ( server call, add image to map, etc)
}
});
I tried to simplify it.
It is much better than before, but I still can not see the data played properly. Sometimes data is played after JSlider ticks. Could it be because my time consuming process is in the second components(JSlider) stateChanged event? Should I use a second SwingWorker in JSlider's event too? Any suggestions about what can I do?
Moreover, what would be the best way to disable all components before playing data, and enable them after playing data?
Thank you very much in advance

If you have two activities Activity A and Activity B which have to be run simultaneously, you need to create a thread for the second activity - the first activity will already be run in its own thread (the main program).
The scheme is as follows:
Program A:
create new Thread: Activity B
run allother tasks for Activity A
In more specific terms the following program will run your simulation and update the tick of the slider:
public P() {
animation.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
doInBackgroundImp();
}
});
setSize(500, 500);
setLayout(new FlowLayout());
add(animation);
add(timeSlider);
setVisible(true);
}
protected void doInBackgroundImp() {
Thread th=new Thread() {
public void run() {
try{
for(int i=0; i<24; i++) {
final int value = i - 48 + 24;
timeSlider.setValue( i );
System.out.println(timeSlider.getValue()+" "+value);
Thread.sleep(1000);
}
} catch(Exception ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
}
}
};
th.start();
}
private JButton animation = new JButton("");
private JSlider timeSlider = new JSlider();
}

How force the program wait a Task and show Progress Bar to user?

I use Swing Application Framework in my program. And I have some long-time work. I use org.jdesktop.application.Task for it. Another programmer wrote two Tasks before I took this project (I can not ask him about the programm). When Tasks are executing user sees progress bar without showing percent complete, but what shows "Wait" message and user can not click to a main window while Task does not ended. It is fine! But I could not find place where ProgressBars was created. May be it is described in some xml-file or property-file?
Also I wrote another Tasks and when they run, progress bar which I created is not displayed or displayed incorrectly. I read about ProgressBar and ProgressMonitor, but it does not help me.
Programm continue to run after someTask.execute(), but I want to it displays ProgressBar, ProgressMonitor or something else and user can not click the main window and window will display correctly. Now window has black "blocks" when user change it.
May be I need use org.jdesktop.application.TaskMonitor. I try to use it as here https://kenai.com/projects/bsaf/sources/main/content/other/bsaf_nb/src/examples/StatusBar.java?rev=235 , but my main window is displayed incorrectly and my ProgressBar is not displayed.
I need to when Task is running program waits it, but user can see ProgressBar, can cancel the operation and can not click to the main window. How can I do it?
Here my code:
public class A{
#Action(name = "ActionName", block = Task.BlockingScope.APPLICATION)
public RequestInfoTask requestInfo() {
RequestInfoTask task = new RequestInfoTask(Application.getInstance());
isSuccessedGetInfo=false;
task.addTaskListener(new TaskListener.Adapter<List<InfoDTO>, Void>() {
#Override
public void succeeded(TaskEvent<List<InfoDTO>> listTaskEvent) {
isSuccessedGetResources=true;
}
});
//Here I want to the program shows ProgressMonitor and user can not click to the main window.
//But small window with message "Progress..." is displayed for several seconds and disappear.
ProgressMonitor monitor = new ProgressMonitor(getMainView(), "Wait! Wait!", "I am working!", 0, 100);
int progress = 0;
monitor.setProgress(progress);
while(!task.isDone()){
monitor.setProgress(progress+=5);
try {
Thread.sleep(1000);
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
}
}
monitor.setProgress(100);
//This code must run after "task" finishes.
if(isSuccessedGetInfo){
MyTask2 task2 = new MyTask2(Application.getInstance());
isSuccessedTask2=false;
task2.addTaskListener(new TaskListener.Adapter<Map<?,?>, Void>(){
#Override
public void succeeded(TaskEvent<Map<String, ICredential>> arg0) {
isSuccessedTask2=true;
}
});
//Do something with results of task2.
}
return task;
}
}
public class RequestInfoTask extends Task<List<InfoDTO>, Void> {
public RequestInfoTask(Application application) {
super(application);
}
#Override
protected List<InfoDTO> doInBackground() throws Exception {
List<InfoDTO> result = someLongerLastingMethod();
return result;
}
}

Part of your problem sounds like it comes from not using the EDT correctly. Any long running task needs to be started in it's own thread to keep the GUI responsive and repainting.
Ideally you'd be following a MVC pattern. In that case you place your Progress Bar in the view, your flag (that indicates whether the task should be running still) in the control, and your long running task in in the Model.
From that point, if your model checks periodically if it should stop (Probably at good stopping points), you can reset everything.
Here's an example with MVC:
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class ProgressBarDemo{
public static class View extends JPanel{
Controller control;
public JProgressBar progressBar = new JProgressBar(0, 100);
JButton button = new JButton("Start Long Running Task");
public View(Controller controlIn){
super();
this.control = controlIn;
setLayout(new BorderLayout());
button.addActionListener(new ActionListener(){
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
//Toggle between running or not
if(control.isRunning){
control.isRunning = false;
button.setText("Canceling...");
button.setEnabled(false);
} else{
control.isRunning = true;
button.setText("Cancel Long Running Task");
control.startTask();
}
}});
progressBar.setStringPainted(true);
add(progressBar);
add(button, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
}
}
//Communications gateway
public static class Controller{
View view = new View(this);
boolean isRunning = false;
public void updateProgress(final int progress){
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable(){
#Override
public void run() {
view.progressBar.setValue(progress);
}});
}
public void reset(){
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable(){
#Override
public void run() {
isRunning = false;
view.button.setText("Start Long Running Task");
view.progressBar.setValue(0);
view.button.setEnabled(true);
}});
}
public void startTask(){
LongRunningClass task = new LongRunningClass(this);
new Thread(task).start();
}
}
public static class LongRunningClass implements Runnable{
Controller control;
public LongRunningClass(Controller reference){
this.control = reference;
}
#Override
public void run() {
try {
for(int i = 0; i < 11; i++){
//Monitor the is running flag to see if it should still run
if(control.isRunning == false){
control.reset();
break;
}
control.updateProgress(i * 10);
Thread.sleep(3000);
}
control.reset();
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) throws InterruptedException {
// Create and set up the window.
JFrame frame = new JFrame("LabelDemo");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
// Add content to the window.
frame.add(new Controller().view);
// Display the window.
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
}

Waiting for thread while updating Swing

I have problem with handling threads in my application. It creates JFrame and starts a new Thread. Last one will execute external application and update GUI. Then
I have problem to make Main class to wait for second thread to finish, but also to update GUI simultaneously.
Here's my example (shortened):
class Main {
public int status;
public Main() {
// Creating GUI etc.
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
JDialog id = new JDialog();
id.button.addMouseListener(new MouseListener()); // Calls generate() method
}
});
}
public void generate() {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
// Make changes to GUI
}
});
GeneratorThread genTest = new GeneratorThread(this, 1, 1, 1);
genTest.start();
//while (status == 0);
System.out.println("Next step.");
}
}
And Thread class:
public class GeneratorThread extends Thread {
protected Main main;
protected int setSize, minValue, maxValue;
public GeneratorThread(Main main, int setSize, int minValue, int maxValue) {
this.main = main;
this.setSize = setSize;
this.minValue = minValue;
this.maxValue = maxValue;
}
public void run() {
// Execute program etc.
// Change GUI from main in the same time
// About 3 seconds
main.status = 1;
}
}
I'm in progress and I wanted to check how it works so far. While worked nice, but it locks Swing somehow and any changes are visible only when GeneratorThread finishes. I would like to update GUI in the real time.
I've tried join(), effects are the same. I also tried wait() (on Main), but then I got IllegalStateMonitorException.
Any hints?

Swing is a single threaded environment. That is, there is a single thread responsible for managing all the interactions and updates to the Swing UI - the Event Dispatching Thread.
Among the golden rules of Swing are...
DON'T block the EDT (Thread.sleep, Thread#join, Object#wait, block IO and/or time consuming tasks (among others) should never be called from within the EDT), doing so will stop the EDT from dispatching events and paint updates (amongst other things)
ONLY create/update Swing UI elements from within the EDT.
This raises a question...how do you "wait" for a thread?
The best way is use an Observer pattern. Basically, you provide the Thread with some kind of reference that it will call to provide notification of events, such as errors and completion...
This will require you to think very carefully about the design of your applications, as you can not rely on a simple A to B execution of your code.
For example...
public class TestThreadCallBack {
public static void main(String[] args) {
new TestThreadCallBack();
}
public TestThreadCallBack() {
EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
try {
UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.getSystemLookAndFeelClassName());
} catch (Exception ex) {
}
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Testing");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
frame.add(new TestPane());
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
});
}
public interface ThreadCallBack {
public void threadCompleted(Runnable source);
public void threadFailed(Runnable source);
}
public class TestPane extends JPanel implements ThreadCallBack {
private JLabel message;
private JLabel dots;
private int count;
private Timer timer;
public TestPane() {
setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
message = new JLabel("Running background task, please wait");
dots = new JLabel(" ");
add(message);
add(dots);
timer = new Timer(250, new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
count++;
if (count > 3) {
count = 0;
}
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(3);
for (int index = 0; index < count; index++) {
sb.append(".");
}
for (int index = count; index < 3; index++) {
sb.append(" ");
}
dots.setText(sb.toString());
}
});
timer.setRepeats(true);
timer.setCoalesce(true);
timer.start();
Thread thread = new Thread(new BackgroundTask(this));
thread.start();
}
#Override
public void threadCompleted(Runnable source) {
timer.stop();
message.setText("Task completed successfully");
}
#Override
public void threadFailed(Runnable source) {
timer.stop();
message.setText("Task failed");
}
}
public class BackgroundTask implements Runnable {
private ThreadCallBack callBack;
public BackgroundTask(ThreadCallBack callBack) {
this.callBack = callBack;
}
#Override
public void run() {
System.out.println("Background task underway...");
try {
Thread.sleep(2000);
} catch (InterruptedException interruptedException) {
}
int result = (int) Math.round((Math.random() * 1));
if (result == 0) {
callBack.threadCompleted(this);
} else {
callBack.threadFailed(this);
}
}
}
}
Updating the UI from within a Thread other then the EDT is, well, messy. An easier solution would actually be to use a SwingWorker. This has publish/process methods that make easy to update the UI and progress methods that can be used to provide feedback about the progress of the current task.
You can use it's done method to notify interested parties when the worker has completed.

Update your GUI from within the thread using SwingUtilitied.invokeLater or, alternatively, synchronise the main variable!
http://www.vogella.com/articles/JavaConcurrency/article.html#concurrencyjava
Maybe it already suffices to make "status" volatile?

Java Swing Concurrency display JTextArea

I need to execute/display a series of events from a Arraylist to a JTextArea, however, each Event gets execute with different time. Following is a quick example of my goal:
public void start(ActionEvent e)
{
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable()
{
public void run()
{
jTextArea.append("Test" + "\n");
try
{
Thread.sleep(3000);
} catch (InterruptedException e1)
{
e1.printStackTrace();
}
jTextArea.append("Test1" + "\n");
}
});
}
So right now, "Test" and "Test1" display on JTextArea after whole execution is completed.
How do I make "Test" display first, then 3 secs later, display "Test1"
Thank u all in advance

invokeLater schedules the runnable to run on the Event Dispatch Thread. You shouldn't sleep within it or you will starve the dispatch thread. Try using a separate worker thread instead:
Thread worker = new Thread(new Runnable(){
public void run(){
jTextArea.append("Test" + "\n");
try {
Thread.sleep(3000);
} catch (InterruptedException e1) {
e1.printStackTrace();
}
jTextArea.append("Test1" + "\n");
}
});
worker.start();

If your tasks are time/cpu intensive, then yes, definitely use a background thread to do this such as a SwingWorker object or a Runnable run in a Thread. If however what you need to do is to stagger the display of something and all you are looking for is the Swing equivalent of Thread.sleep(3000), then your best option is to use a Swing Timer. There is an excellent tutorial on how to use these which you can find here: http://download.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/misc/timer.html
For example:
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.*;
public class Fu extends JPanel {
private static final int TIMER_DELAY = 600;
protected static final int MAX_COUNT = 20;
private JTextArea jTextArea = new JTextArea(10, 10);
private JButton startBtn = new JButton("Start");
private Timer timer;
public Fu() {
startBtn.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
startAction(e);
}
});
add(new JScrollPane(jTextArea, JScrollPane.VERTICAL_SCROLLBAR_ALWAYS,
JScrollPane.HORIZONTAL_SCROLLBAR_AS_NEEDED));
add(startBtn);
}
private void startAction(ActionEvent e) {
if (timer != null && timer.isRunning()) {
// prevent multiple instances of timer from running at same time
return;
}
timer = new Timer(TIMER_DELAY, new ActionListener() {
private int count = 0;
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if (count < MAX_COUNT) {
count++;
jTextArea.append("Test " + count + "\n");
} else {
jTextArea.append("Done! \n");
timer.stop();
timer = null;
}
}
});
timer.setInitialDelay(0);
timer.start();
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Foo");
frame.getContentPane().add(new Fu());
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
});
}
}

As pointed out, this is a bad idea, as you will block the event thread.
However, understanding the reason for this is important as well. As you seem to know, all code that affects the state of Swing components needs to happen in the event handling thread (which is the reason why invokeLater and friends should always be used).
What is a bit less better known is that paining code also executes in the event handling thread. When your call to Thread.sleep is executing, it's not only blocking the event thread, it's also blocking any painting of components. This is why the full update appears to happen in one go -- the JTextArea is updated but it can't be repainted until your run method returns.
Lots of info available here: http://java.sun.com/products/jfc/tsc/articles/threads/threads1.html