Develop Reference

Method called from first JFrame does nothing in second

I set JTextField "rfid" to setEnabled(false) in MainGUI class and created method setRfidEnabled to be able to enable textfield from another class called CardLayout.
When I try to call it from CardLayout by button event listener it does nothing, I mean to textfield, because System.out.print("LOL"); works fine. MainGUI contains JFrame and by button calls another JFrame in CardLayout class.
When I initialize MainGUI class, it has Thread[Thread-2,6,main], but when I call CardLayout it becomes Thread[AWT-EventQueue-0,6,main], same as CardLayout itself. I tried to make "rfid" volatile, no success.
---Edited code---
MainGUI:
public class MainGUI {
JTextField rfid;
JButton button;
final JFrame frame;
final JPanel pane;
LayoutChanger layout = new LayoutChanger();
public MainGUI() {
rfid = new JTextField("", 10);
button = new JButton("CardLayoutSwitch");
frame = new JFrame("Main GUI Panel");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setLayout(new BorderLayout(5,5));
pane = new JPanel(new GridLayout(5, 5));
frame.add(pane,BorderLayout.CENTER);
pane.add(rfid);
pane.add(button);
rfid.setEnabled(false);
button.setEnabled(true);
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
button.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed (ActionEvent e){
layout.changeLayout(1);
}
});
}
public void setRfidEnabled() {
System.out.println("LOL");
rfid.setEnabled(true);
button.setEnabled(false);
}
}
LayoutChanger class:
public class LayoutChanger {
public static void main(String[] args) {
MainGUI gui = new MainGUI();
}
public void changeLayout(int i){
if (i == 1) {
CardLayout card = new CardLayout();
}
}
}
CardLayout class:
public class CardLayout {
JFrame frame;
JButton manual;
final JPanel pane;
MainGUI gui = new MainGUI();
public CardLayout() {
manual = new JButton("UID MANUAL");
frame = new JFrame("Card Scan Panel");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setLayout(new BorderLayout(5, 5));
pane = new JPanel(new BorderLayout(5, 5));
manual.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(50, 25));
frame.add(pane, BorderLayout.CENTER);
pane.add(manual);
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
manual.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed (ActionEvent e){
gui.setRfidEnabled();
}
});
}
}

As stated in the comments above by #matt
Every time you click on manual button, you're creating a new MainGUI().
You need to create a single instance, either in your constructor or in the ActionListener and ask if you already have an instance of it (i.e. a Singleton) and use it.
If you decide to use the first one, declare gui as a global variable:
MainGUI gui = new MainGUI();
And on your ActionListener have it changed as:
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
System.out.println(currentThread());
gui.setRfidEnabled();
//frame.dispose();
}
Then you have a single instance of it.
Also as stated by #Sergiy you don't really need all those threads
Here are some examples on how to use ActionListeners:
I'm trying to make a button to count characters in a text field
AppletViewer bugged and trying to involve a timer
Calculator returns 0.0 to all questions asked
Java - My action event doesn't work
Drawing shapes on a JForm java
Animated Sprites with Java Swing This one includes a Timer (Another thread that handles the animation but doesn't block the EDT)
As you can see in all the above examples, none of them required another Thread to handle the actions, the one that uses a thread is only for performing the animation and not to react to user clicks.
Recommended tutorial: How to use Actions

Focus component after changing content pane of JFrame

I'm changing my JFrame's content pane and simply want to focus a JTextField in the new panel. So I'm doing this:
JPanel pNew = new JPanel();
frame.setContentPane(pNew);
frame.revalidate();
frame.repaint();
public JPanel() {
...
tf.requestFocusInWindow();
}
When I use setVisible(false) and setVisible(true) instead of revalidating and repainting my frame, I get my wished effect, but that's not the way I want to do it.
What else happens in setVisible() but revalidating and repainting?

A CardLayout is typically used to swap panels.
However, even the default implementation of CardLayout does not set focus on the panel when it is swapped. However you can check out Card Layout Focus which will allow you to request focus on the panel when it is switched.
The requestFocusInWindow() method only works on a component that is displayed in a visible frame. So you can't invoke the method in the constructor of the class.
You could use the RequestFocsListener found in Dialog Focus. It will wait until the panel is added to a visible GUI before generating the event.

I got it to work simply by putting the requestFocusInWindow() call in the button's action listener. As camickr mentioned the call needs to be made after the constructor. Here's an example program showing how I got it to work. Hope it helps!
public class PanelRevalidate {
public JFrame frame;
public MyPanel panel1, panel2;
public PanelRevalidate() {
frame = new JFrame();
panel1 = new MyPanel(1);
panel2 = new MyPanel(2);
frame.setContentPane(panel1);
panel1.getSwap().addActionListener(new ActionListener(){
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
frame.setContentPane(panel2);
frame.revalidate();
panel2.getTextField().requestFocusInWindow();
}
});
panel2.getSwap().addActionListener(new ActionListener(){
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
frame.setContentPane(panel1);
frame.revalidate();
panel1.getTextField().requestFocusInWindow();
}
});
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.setResizable(true);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.pack();
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable(){
#Override
public void run() {
new PanelRevalidate();
}
});
}
}
And the MyPanel class:
public class MyPanel extends JPanel {
public JTextField tf;
public JButton swap;
public JLabel panel_label;
public MyPanel(int n) {
tf = new JTextField(25);
swap = new JButton("Swap");
panel_label = new JLabel("panel " + n);
add(tf);
add(swap);
add(panel_label);
}
public JButton getSwap() {
return swap;
}
public JTextField getTextField() {
return tf;
}
}

JPanel doesn't update when adding Component in another class

I'm fairly new to Java Swing and I'm running into a few problems.
As a side question, when making a fairly large Java Swing Application, what is the best way to split up code?
In my case I want to have an application that has a layout just as Microsoft Word where there is a JToolBar filled with buttons and a main JPanel where changes are made based on the buttons pressed in the Tool Bar.
So as shown in the code below, I have a JFrame and I call the MainPanel class in order to create a panel and add a ToolBar with a button. When the button is pressed it adds a button to the panel. The problem comes when you click the button nothing shows up until you resize the window(in my case I simply manually drag the screen to make it larger).
public class Main {
private static void createAndShowGUI() {
//Create and set up the window.
JFrame frame = new JFrame("MathMaker");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
//Create the menu bar. Make it have a green background.
//MainToolBar mainTB = new MainToolBar();
MainPanel mainPanel = new MainPanel();
frame.getContentPane().add(mainPanel.getGUI(), BorderLayout.CENTER);
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
//Schedule a job for the event-dispatching thread:
//creating and showing this application's GUI.
javax.swing.SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
createAndShowGUI();
}
});
}
}
public class MainPanel implements ActionListener{
JPanel mPanel;
JToolBar mToolBar;
JButton addQuestion;
public MainPanel() {
mPanel = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
mToolBar = new JToolBar();
addQuestion = new JButton("test");
addQuestion.addActionListener(this);
mPanel.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
mPanel.setBackground(new Color(248, 213, 131));
mPanel.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(200, 180));
mToolBar.add(addQuestion);
mPanel.add(mToolBar, BorderLayout.PAGE_START);
}
public JComponent getGUI()
{
return mPanel;
}
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
JButton temp = new JButton("temp");
mPanel.add(temp);
}
}

You should revalidate your panel
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
JButton temp = new JButton("temp");
mPanel.add(temp);
mPanel.revalidate();
mPanel.repaint();
}

I believe you need to call revalidate() and repaint() to see the changes, here is a similar question here

The problem here is the panel is not repainted automatically.. When you resize the panel Java repaints the panel on the screen. Try repainting the panel everytime any button to modify the panel is clicked..
Just call the validate() and repaint() method with the panel

Translucent loading overlay for JFrame

I have a JFrame containing various components and I would like to add a translucent grey overlay over the top while the application is initializing various things. Ideally it would prevent interaction with the underlying components and would be able to display some "Loading..." text or a spinning wheel or something similar.
Is there a simple way to do this using Java and Swing?

Take a look at JRootPane and JLayeredPane http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/components/rootpane.html#layeredpane
What you're asking about specifically sounds like a Glass Pane.
http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/components/rootpane.html#glasspane
The Glass Pane prevents interaction with underlying components and can be used to display something on top of your JFrame.

As #David said, you can use the glass pane for displaying some loading text or image above the rest of the application.
As for the grey overlay: why don't you use the built in ability to disable components as long as your application is loading? Disabled components will get grayed out automatically and cannot be interacted with by the user.
Something like this:
public class LoadingFrame extends JFrame{
JButton button;
public LoadingFrame() {
button = new JButton("ENTER");
button.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
System.out.println("Application entered");
}
});
setLayout(new BorderLayout());
add(button, BorderLayout.CENTER);
}
public void startLoading(){
final Component glassPane = getGlassPane();
final JPanel panel = new JPanel();
panel.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
final JLabel label = new JLabel();
panel.add(label, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
setGlassPane(panel);
panel.setVisible(true);
panel.setOpaque(false);
button.setEnabled(false);
Thread thread = new Thread(){
#Override
public void run() {
for (int i = 5; i > 0; i--) {
label.setText("Loading ... " + i);
try {
Thread.sleep(1000);
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
// loading finished
setGlassPane(glassPane);
button.setEnabled(true);
}
};
thread.start();
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
LoadingFrame frame = new LoadingFrame();
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setSize(500, 500);
frame.startLoading();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
}

Java Swing: How can I implement a login screen before showing a JFrame?

I'm trying to make a little game that will first show the player a simple login screen where they can enter their name (I will need it later to store their game state info), let them pick a difficulty level etc, and will only show the main game screen once the player has clicked the play button. I'd also like to allow the player to navigate to a (hopefully for them rather large) trophy collection, likewise in what will appear to them to be a new screen.
So far I have a main game window with a grid layout and a game in it that works (Yay for me!). Now I want to add the above functionality.
How do I go about doing this? I don't think I want to go the multiple JFrame route as I only want one icon visible in the taskbar at a time (or would setting their visibility to false effect the icon too?) Do I instead make and destroy layouts or panels or something like that?
What are my options? How can I control what content is being displayed? Especially given my newbie skills?

A simple modal dialog such as a JDialog should work well here. The main GUI which will likely be a JFrame can be invisible when the dialog is called, and then set to visible (assuming that the log-on was successful) once the dialog completes. If the dialog is modal, you'll know exactly when the user has closed the dialog as the code will continue right after the line where you call setVisible(true) on the dialog. Note that the GUI held by a JDialog can be every bit as complex and rich as that held by a JFrame.
Another option is to use one GUI/JFrame but swap views (JPanels) in the main GUI via a CardLayout. This could work quite well and is easy to implement. Check out the CardLayout tutorial for more.
Oh, and welcome to stackoverflow.com!

Here is an example of a Login Dialog as #HovercraftFullOfEels suggested.
Username: stackoverflow Password: stackoverflow
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.util.Arrays;
import javax.swing.*;
public class TestFrame extends JFrame {
private PassWordDialog passDialog;
public TestFrame() {
passDialog = new PassWordDialog(this, true);
passDialog.setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
JFrame frame = new TestFrame();
frame.getContentPane().setBackground(Color.BLACK);
frame.setTitle("Logged In");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setExtendedState(JFrame.MAXIMIZED_BOTH);
}
});
}
}
class PassWordDialog extends JDialog {
private final JLabel jlblUsername = new JLabel("Username");
private final JLabel jlblPassword = new JLabel("Password");
private final JTextField jtfUsername = new JTextField(15);
private final JPasswordField jpfPassword = new JPasswordField();
private final JButton jbtOk = new JButton("Login");
private final JButton jbtCancel = new JButton("Cancel");
private final JLabel jlblStatus = new JLabel(" ");
public PassWordDialog() {
this(null, true);
}
public PassWordDialog(final JFrame parent, boolean modal) {
super(parent, modal);
JPanel p3 = new JPanel(new GridLayout(2, 1));
p3.add(jlblUsername);
p3.add(jlblPassword);
JPanel p4 = new JPanel(new GridLayout(2, 1));
p4.add(jtfUsername);
p4.add(jpfPassword);
JPanel p1 = new JPanel();
p1.add(p3);
p1.add(p4);
JPanel p2 = new JPanel();
p2.add(jbtOk);
p2.add(jbtCancel);
JPanel p5 = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
p5.add(p2, BorderLayout.CENTER);
p5.add(jlblStatus, BorderLayout.NORTH);
jlblStatus.setForeground(Color.RED);
jlblStatus.setHorizontalAlignment(SwingConstants.CENTER);
setLayout(new BorderLayout());
add(p1, BorderLayout.CENTER);
add(p5, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
pack();
setLocationRelativeTo(null);
setDefaultCloseOperation(DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
addWindowListener(new WindowAdapter() {
#Override
public void windowClosing(WindowEvent e) {
System.exit(0);
}
});
jbtOk.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if (Arrays.equals("stackoverflow".toCharArray(), jpfPassword.getPassword())
&& "stackoverflow".equals(jtfUsername.getText())) {
parent.setVisible(true);
setVisible(false);
} else {
jlblStatus.setText("Invalid username or password");
}
}
});
jbtCancel.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
setVisible(false);
parent.dispose();
System.exit(0);
}
});
}
}

I suggest you insert the following code:
JFrame f = new JFrame();
JTextField text = new JTextField(15); //the 15 sets the size of the text field
JPanel p = new JPanel();
JButton b = new JButton("Login");
f.add(p); //so you can add more stuff to the JFrame
f.setSize(250,150);
f.setVisible(true);
f.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
Insert that when you want to add the stuff in. Next we will add all the stuff to the JPanel:
p.add(text);
p.add(b);
Now we add the ActionListeners to make the JButtons to work:
b.addActionListener(this);
public void actionPerforemed(ActionEvent e)
{
//Get the text of the JTextField
String TEXT = text.getText();
}
Don't forget to import the following if you haven't already:
import java.awt.event*;
import java.awt.*; //Just in case we need it
import java.x.swing.*;
I hope everything i said makes sense, because sometimes i don't (especially when I'm talking coding/Java) All the importing (if you didn't know) goes at the top of your code.

Instead of adding the game directly to JFrame, you can add your content to JPanel (let's call it GamePanel) and add this panel to the frame. Do the same thing for login screen: add all content to JPanel (LoginPanel) and add it to frame. When your game will start, you should do the following:
Add LoginPanel to frame
Get user input and load it's details
Add GamePanel and destroy LoginPanel (since it will be quite fast to re-create new one, so you don't need to keep it memory).