I am just now learning the basics of java GUI. I have this weird situation that I can't really explain.
I have a GUI class, where I build a simple JFrame. If I use .setVisible(true) within the constructor everything works fine, if I use it outside, nothing loads (the window is visible, but the buttons and what not aren't).
Why is this happening ?
public class GUI extends JFrame {
private JTextField humanYears_TextField = new JTextField(3);
private JTextField dogYears_TextField = new JTextField(3);
private JButton convert_Button = new JButton("Convert");
private JLabel greeting = new JLabel ("Dog years to Human years!");
public GUI () {
JFrame window = new JFrame();
JPanel content = new JPanel();
content.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
content.add(this.greeting);
content.add(new JLabel("Dog Years: "));
content.add(this.dogYears_TextField);
content.add(this.convert_Button);
content.add(new JLabel("Human Years: "));
content.add(this.humanYears_TextField);
window.setContentPane(content);
pack(); // aplica contentPane-ul
window.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
window.setTitle("Dog Year Converter");
window.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
window.setVisible(true); // IF IT'S HERE IT WORKS
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
GUI dogYears = new GUI();
//dogYears.setVisible(true); // IF IT'S HERE
//NOTHING EXCEPT THE WINDOW LOADS
}
Why is this happening ?
In this example it doesn't matter, but what if I want to make a window visible only if I click a button or something ?
1) You create 2 instances of JFrame the first from extending JFrame on the class and the second from JFrame window=... You than go on to call setVisible(..) on the window and in your main you attempt to call setVisible(...) on your dogYears.
Solution
You should only create one JFrame per Swing GUI. Get rid of the extends JFrame (and the code that goes with it), as its not good practice to extend JFrame in Swing. Thus of course you wont be able to call setVisible(true) in your constructor which is fine either call it after creating the GUI in the constructor or make a method like setVisible in GUI class which will be a wrapper for your JFrames setVisble(boolean b) method.
Other suggestions
Always create your Swing components on the Event Dispatch Thread which you should do in via SwingUtilitites.invokeLater(Runnable r) block. Have a read on Concurrency in Swing.
Remember to call pack before setting JFrame visible and after adding components.
setLocationRelativeTo(..) should come after pack().
Better to use JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE unless using Timers.
Also no need for setContentPane simply call add(..) on JFrame instance.
Here is your code with above mentioned fixes:
import java.awt.FlowLayout;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JTextField;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
public class GUI {
private JTextField humanYears_TextField = new JTextField(3);
private JTextField dogYears_TextField = new JTextField(3);
private JButton convert_Button = new JButton("Convert");
private JLabel greeting = new JLabel("Dog years to Human years!");
private JFrame window = new JFrame();
private JPanel content = new JPanel();
public GUI() {
content.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
content.add(this.greeting);
content.add(new JLabel("Dog Years: "));
content.add(this.dogYears_TextField);
content.add(this.convert_Button);
content.add(new JLabel("Human Years: "));
content.add(this.humanYears_TextField);
window.add(content);
window.setTitle("Dog Year Converter");
window.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
window.pack();
window.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
//window.setVisible(true); //works here now
}
//our wrapper method so we can change visibility of our frame from outside the class
void setVisible(boolean visible) {
window.setVisible(visible);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
//Create Swing components on EDT
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
GUI dogYears = new GUI();
dogYears.setVisible(true);//works here too
}
});
}
}
You've got two JFrames, the GUI class itself and the internal variable "window". Use only one.
Make sure that GUI does not extend JFrame (there's no need for this), and give the class a public void setVisible(boolean) method that sets the window to visible.
public class GUI {
private JTextField humanYears_TextField = new JTextField(3);
private JTextField dogYears_TextField = new JTextField(3);
private JButton convert_Button = new JButton("Convert");
private JLabel greeting = new JLabel ("Dog years to Human years!");
private JFrame window = new JFrame();
public GUI () {
JPanel content = new JPanel();
content.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
content.add(this.greeting);
content.add(new JLabel("Dog Years: "));
content.add(this.dogYears_TextField);
content.add(this.convert_Button);
content.add(new JLabel("Human Years: "));
content.add(this.humanYears_TextField);
window.setContentPane(content);
pack(); // aplica contentPane-ul
window.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
window.setTitle("Dog Year Converter");
window.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
// window.setVisible(true); // IF IT'S HERE IT WORKS
}
public void setVisible(boolean visible) {
window.setVisible(visible);
}
}
You have two different instances :-)
in your constructor:
JFrame window = new JFrame();
window.setVisible(true); // IF IT'S HERE IT WORKS
in your main:
GUI dogYears = new GUI();
dogYears.setVisible(true);
// dogYears != local var window in constructor
Which might get me starting on not extending classes, but using them.
Your class GUI extends from a JFrame, but in the constructor, you are initializing another JFrame, which results in having two different JFrames.
Try this:
public class GUI {
private JTextField humanYears_TextField = new JTextField(3);
private JTextField dogYears_TextField = new JTextField(3);
private JButton convert_Button = new JButton("Convert");
private JLabel greeting = new JLabel ("Dog years to Human years!");
public GUI () {
JFrame window = new JFrame();
JPanel content = new JPanel();
content.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
content.add(this.greeting);
content.add(new JLabel("Dog Years: "));
content.add(this.dogYears_TextField);
content.add(this.convert_Button);
content.add(new JLabel("Human Years: "));
content.add(this.humanYears_TextField);
window.setContentPane(content);
pack(); // aplica contentPane-ul
window.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
window.setTitle("Dog Year Converter");
window.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
window.setVisible(true);
}
// main
}
you are creating an instance of JFrame in constructor of GUI which also extends JFRame.
Now you are creating different components and added them on 'window' object.
As you know a frame is set as visible= false and undecorated=false.
So to set a particular JFrame instance you need to call setVisible() method on that instance.
Here you are just creating an instance of GUI and didn't added any component on it.
write a statement in constructor as following rather than "window.setContentPane(content);":
setContentPane(content);
and then call setVisible() method on your instance of GUI class i.e d*ogYears.setVisible(true);*!!
Related
I'm a complete beginner to Java, and I'm finding some answers a bit too technical for me (even the most basic tutorials seem to give me syntax errors when I run the code). How, in really simple terms do I add a JButton to a JFrame? I've got as far as:
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
public class JF {
public static void main(String[] args) {
JFrame myFrame = new JFrame();
/*some pretty basic code to initialize the JFrame i.e.
myFrame.setSize(300, 200);
This is as far as I got
*/
}
}
I would seriously appreciate some help!
Creating a new JFrame
The way to create a new instance of a JFrame is pretty simple.
All you have to do is:
JFrame myFrame = new JFrame("Frame Title");
But now the Window is hidden, to see the Window you must use the setVisible(boolean flag) method. Like this:
myFrame.setVisible(true);
Adding Components
There are many ways to add a Component to a JFrame.
The simplest way is:
myFrame.getContentPane().add(new JButton());//in this case we are adding a Button
This will just add a new Component that will fill the JFrame().
If you do not want the Component to fill the screen then you should either make the ContentPane of the JFrame a new custom Container
myFrame.getContentPane() = new JPanel();
OR add a custom Container to the ContentPane and add everything else there.
JPanel mainPanel = new JPanel();
myFrame.getContentPane().add(mainPanel);
If you do not want to write the myFrame.getContentPane() every time then you could just keep an instance of the ContentPane.
JPanel pane = myFrame.getContentPane();
Basic Properties
The most basic properties of the JFrame are:
Size
Location
CloseOperation
You can either set the Size by using:
myFrame.setSize(new Dimension(300, 200));//in pixels
Or packing the JFrame after adding all the components (Better practice).
myFrame.pack();
You can set the Location by using:
myFrame.setLocation(new Point(100, 100));// starting from top left corner
Finally you can set the CloseOperation (what happens when X is pressed) by
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
There are 4 different actions that you can choose from:
DO_NOTHING_ON_CLOSE //Nothing happens
HIDE_ON_CLOSE //setVisible(false)
DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE //Closes JFrame, Application still runs
EXIT_ON_CLOSE //Closes Application
Using Event Dispatch Thread
You should initialize all GUI in Event Dispatch Thread, you can do this by simply doing:
class GUI implements Runnable {
public static void main(String[] args) {
EventQueue.invokeLater(new GUI());
}
#Override
public void run() {
JFrame myFrame = new JFrame("Frame Title");
myFrame.setLocation(new Point(100, 100));
myFrame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
JPanel mainPanel = new JPanel();
mainPanel.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
myFrame.getContentPane().add(mainPanel);
mainPanel.add(new JButton("Button Text"), BorderLayout.CENTER);
myFrame.pack();
myFrame.setLocationByPlatform(true);
myFrame.setVisible(true);
}
}
//I hope this will help
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
public class JF extends JFrame
{
private JButton myButton;//Here you begin by declaring the button
public JF()//Here you create you constructor. Constructors are used for initializing variable
{
myButton = new JButton();//We initialize our variable
myButton.setText("My Button"); //And give it a name
JPanel panel1 = new JPanel();//In java panels are useful for holding content
panel1.add(myButton);//Here you put your button in the panel
add(panel1);//This make the panel visible together with its contents
setSize(300,400);//Set the size of your window
setVisible(true);//Make your window visible
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
}
public static void main(String[] args)
{
JFrame frame = new JF();
frame.setTitle("My First Button");
frame.setLocation(400,200);
}
}
i'm having trouble to get the 2nd frame to display the GUI Components. i've opened the frame using the JButton from the 1st frame.
Here's the screen shot
This is the first frame - ClientModule.java
2nd frame - ClientMenu.java
Here's the codes i've tried
ClientModule.java
import java.net.*;
import java.util.*;
import java.io.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
public class ClientModule extends JFrame implements Runnable{
private JPanel panel;
private JFrame frame;
private JLabel titleLbl, userLbl, passLbl, hostLbl, portLbl, ipLbl;
private JTextField userTxt, hostTxt, portTxt, ipTxt;
private JPasswordField passTxt;
private JButton loginBtn;
public static void main(String[] args)
{
new ClientModule().run();
}
public ClientModule()
{
frame = new JFrame("DMS(Drawing Message System)");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setResizable(false);
panel = new JPanel();
panel.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(500,500));
panel.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
titleLbl = new JLabel("LogIn to Drawing Message System(DMS)");
titleLbl.setFont(new Font("Rockwell Condensed",Font.BOLD,28));
userLbl = new JLabel("Username:");
passLbl = new JLabel("Password:");
hostLbl = new JLabel("Hostname:");
portLbl = new JLabel("Port No.:");
ipLbl = new JLabel("IP Address:");
userTxt = new JTextField();
userTxt.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(100,30));
passTxt = new JPasswordField();
passTxt.setEchoChar('*');
passTxt.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(100,30));
portTxt = new JTextField();
portTxt.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(100,30));
ipTxt = new JTextField();
ipTxt.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(100,30));
hostTxt = new JTextField();
hostTxt.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(100,30));
loginBtn = new JButton("Login!");
loginBtn.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(90,30));
loginBtn.addActionListener(new LoginBtnListener());
panel.add(titleLbl);
panel.add(userLbl);
panel.add(userTxt);
panel.add(passLbl);
panel.add(passTxt);
panel.add(hostLbl);
panel.add(hostTxt);
panel.add(portLbl);
panel.add(portTxt);
panel.add(ipLbl);
panel.add(ipTxt);
panel.add(loginBtn);
frame.add(panel);
}
private class LoginBtnListener implements ActionListener
{
#SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent action)
{
//thinking this frame will close after ClientMenu's frame is open
ClientModule client = new ClientModule();
client.setVisible(false);
ClientMenu menu = new ClientMenu();
menu.setVisible(true);
}
}
public void run()
{
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
}
ClientMenu.java
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
public class ClientMenu extends JFrame{
JFrame frame;
JPanel panel;
JLabel titleLbl;
JButton sendBtn,receiveBtn,logoutBtn;
public ClientMenu()
{
frame = new JFrame("Drawing Message System(DMS)");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setResizable(false);
panel = new JPanel();
panel.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
panel.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(500,500));
titleLbl = new JLabel("Main Menu");
titleLbl.setFont(new Font("Rockwell Condensed",Font.BOLD,28));
sendBtn = new JButton("Send a Drawing");
sendBtn.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(100,30));
receiveBtn = new JButton("Receive a Drawing");
receiveBtn.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(100,30));
logoutBtn = new JButton("Logout");
logoutBtn.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(100,30));
logoutBtn.addActionListener(new LogoutBtnListener());
panel.add(titleLbl);
panel.add(sendBtn);
panel.add(receiveBtn);
panel.add(logoutBtn);
frame.add(panel);
}
private class LogoutBtnListener implements ActionListener
{
//#SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent action)
{
ClientModule client = new ClientModule();
client.setVisible(true);
ClientMenu menu = new ClientMenu();
menu.setVisible(false);
}
}
public static void main(String[] args)
{
new ClientMenu().run();
}
public void run()
{
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
}
I'm not sure if i'm missing something, or coded something wrong, or something else. I've already searched and tried..
any help and understanding is appreciated (:
I managed to get the second frame displayed (including its contents) by adding a call to the run() method:
ClientMenu menu = new ClientMenu();
menu.setVisible(true);
menu.run();
That being said, there are quite some problems with your code:
You have a main method in each of your classes. You should have only 1 main method per application. Since ClientModule seems to be the first Frame you want to have opened, your might want to keep the main method there and remove the one in the other class.
You have a run() method in each class. Personally, I tend to avoid naming methods like this, since it might cause confusion with the run() method which needs to be overridden when dealing with threads. You are clearly attempting to do some multi threading in your ClientModule, but will not work. Please look into this concurrency tutorial to better understand threads. You should also understand that you should never call run() yourself. The tutorial should make that clear.
Swing applications are started a little bit differently that other applications. Please refer to this tutorial for more information.
You have both your classes extend JFrame but then, provide your own. This results in other JFrames being created, which is what happened in my case (I get 2 JFrames per instantiation). If you want your class to behave like a JFrame, consider extending it, if you want to use a JFrame, then compose your class of one, not both (at least not in this case).
Lastly, to get rid of the previous JFrame you could call dispose() on the it. That being said, the approach usually is to use the Card Layout. This would allow you to have 1 frame with multiple content.
Sorry for the long post, but please consider re factoring as per the above prior to continuing.
You can use the setVisible property to 'true' or 'false'.
I'm trying to do a little program that use some buttons and text field.
I was able to create window with JPanel but don't have idea how to add button and text field
The code I'm using is:
public UI() {
sprites = new HashMap();
// spriteCache = stage.getSpriteCache();
JFrame okno = new JFrame ("VoLTE Script");
setBounds(0,0,SZEROKOSC,WYSOKOSC);
JPanel panel = (JPanel)okno.getContentPane();
panel.setLayout (null);
panel.add(this);
okno.setBounds(0,0,800,600);
okno.setVisible(true);
JTextField pole = new JTextField(10);
JButton przycisk = new JButton("teasda");
przycisk.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(300, 350));
przycisk.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
panel.add(przycisk);
przycisk.setVisible(true);
pole.setBounds (300,300,200,200);
pole.setLayout(null);
pole.setVisible(true);
panel.add(pole);
okno.addWindowListener(new WindowAdapter(){
public void windowClosing (WindowEvent e){
System.exit(0);
}
});
okno.setResizable(false);
createBufferStrategy(2);
strategia=getBufferStrategy();
requestFocus();
// addKeyListener(this);
// addMouseListener(this);
}
You need to use the layout properly, when using border layout you need to tell it which border to use (, BorderLayout.NORTH or something), check out the tutorials at oracles page.
P.S. Think of how your naming your fields etc. Naming something "przycisk" just gives me a reason not to read the code further.
Thank You for help and sorry for Polish names(fixed already).
I was able to add Text Area with scroll.
Looks like problem was in panel.add(this); putted before button and text field.
From my understanding if panel.add(this) is set before panel.add(pole); then panel.add(this) is set in front and pole is added but not seen.
Below my actual working code:
...
public UI() {
sprites = new HashMap();
// spriteCache = stage.getSpriteCache();
JFrame okno = new JFrame ("VoLTE Script");
setBounds(0,0,WIDTH,HEIGHT);
JPanel panel = (JPanel)okno.getContentPane();
panel.setLayout (null);
okno.setBounds(0,0,800,600);
okno.setVisible(true);
JTextArea pole = new JTextArea();
pole.setLayout(null);
pole.setLineWrap(true);
//pole.setBackground(Color.BLACK);
pole.setEditable(false);
JScrollPane scroll = new JScrollPane(pole);
scroll.setBounds(25,250,500,300);
scroll.setVerticalScrollBarPolicy(
JScrollPane.VERTICAL_SCROLLBAR_ALWAYS);
panel.add(scroll);
panel.add(this);
okno.addWindowListener(new WindowAdapter(){
public void windowClosing (WindowEvent e){
System.exit(0);
}
});
okno.setResizable(false);
createBufferStrategy(2);
strategia=getBufferStrategy();
requestFocus();
// addKeyListener(this);
addMouseListener(this);
}
...
This code is from this site: Example of Java GUI
//Imports are listed in full to show what's being used
//could just import javax.swing.* and java.awt.* etc..
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JComboBox;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JList;
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
public class GuiApp1 {
//Note: Typically the main method will be in a
//separate class. As this is a simple one class
//example it's all in the one class.
public static void main(String[] args) {
new GuiApp1();
}
public GuiApp1()
{
JFrame guiFrame = new JFrame();
//make sure the program exits when the frame closes
guiFrame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
guiFrame.setTitle("Example GUI");
guiFrame.setSize(300,250);
//This will center the JFrame in the middle of the screen
guiFrame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
//Options for the JComboBox
String[] fruitOptions = {"Apple", "Apricot", "Banana"
,"Cherry", "Date", "Kiwi", "Orange", "Pear", "Strawberry"};
//Options for the JList
String[] vegOptions = {"Asparagus", "Beans", "Broccoli", "Cabbage"
, "Carrot", "Celery", "Cucumber", "Leek", "Mushroom"
, "Pepper", "Radish", "Shallot", "Spinach", "Swede"
, "Turnip"};
//The first JPanel contains a JLabel and JCombobox
final JPanel comboPanel = new JPanel();
JLabel comboLbl = new JLabel("Fruits:");
JComboBox fruits = new JComboBox(fruitOptions);
comboPanel.add(comboLbl);
comboPanel.add(fruits);
//Create the second JPanel. Add a JLabel and JList and
//make use the JPanel is not visible.
final JPanel listPanel = new JPanel();
listPanel.setVisible(false);
JLabel listLbl = new JLabel("Vegetables:");
JList vegs = new JList(vegOptions);
vegs.setLayoutOrientation(JList.HORIZONTAL_WRAP);
listPanel.add(listLbl);
listPanel.add(vegs);
JButton vegFruitBut = new JButton( "Fruit or Veg");
//The ActionListener class is used to handle the
//event that happens when the user clicks the button.
//As there is not a lot that needs to happen we can
//define an anonymous inner class to make the code simpler.
vegFruitBut.addActionListener(new ActionListener()
{
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event)
{
//When the fruit of veg button is pressed
//the setVisible value of the listPanel and
//comboPanel is switched from true to
//value or vice versa.
listPanel.setVisible(!listPanel.isVisible());
comboPanel.setVisible(!comboPanel.isVisible());
}
});
//The JFrame uses the BorderLayout layout manager.
//Put the two JPanels and JButton in different areas.
guiFrame.add(comboPanel, BorderLayout.NORTH);
guiFrame.add(listPanel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
guiFrame.add(vegFruitBut,BorderLayout.SOUTH);
//make sure the JFrame is visible
guiFrame.setVisible(true);
}
}
For the future i will recommend you to use the extends JFrame so you can only write a gui like this without initialize a JFrame:
public class CalculatorGUI extends JFrame {
public CalculatorGUI() {
setTitle("Calculator");
setBounds(300, 300, 220, 200);
}}
I suggest you check out a couple of tutorials about how to create a Java Gui or sth.
I'm making some test code to practice OOP, and I want to append a JTextArea from the "writeToArea" to the "initialize" method where the JTextArea is defined and initialized. I already tried to directly call the "output" variable, but this returns an "output cannot be resolved" error. I want so that whenever I call the "writeToArea" method in the main class, I'll be able to add lines to the "output" JTextArea in the "initialize" method.
Here's the main class:
public class Pangea {
public static void main(String[] args) {
UI.initialize();
UI.writeToArea();
}
}
Here's the initialize class:
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Font;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JScrollPane;
import javax.swing.JTextArea;
import javax.swing.JTextField;
public class UI {
static void initialize() {
System.out.println("Initializing GUI.");
JFrame frame = new JFrame();
Font myFont = new Font("Courier", Font.BOLD, 14);
JTextField input = new JTextField("");
JTextArea output = new JTextArea("Initiated Succesfully.");
output.setWrapStyleWord(true);
output.setLineWrap(true);
input.setFont(myFont);
output.setFont(myFont);
input.setForeground(Color.WHITE);
output.setForeground(Color.WHITE);
input.setBackground(Color.BLACK);
input.setCaretColor(Color.WHITE);
output.setBackground(Color.BLACK);
output.setEditable(false);
JScrollPane jp = new JScrollPane(output);
frame.setTitle("PANGEA RPG [0.01 ALPHA][WIP]");
frame.setResizable(false);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.add(input, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
frame.add(jp, BorderLayout.CENTER);
frame.pack();
frame.setSize(800, 500);
frame.setVisible(true);
System.out.println("GUI Initialized.");
}
static void writeToArea() {
System.out.println("\"writeToArea\" running.");
output.append("Hello!");
System.out.println("\"writeToArea\" finished.");
}
}
I've tried to do something similar to this: Updating jtextarea from another class but it didn't work. If anyone has any suggestions I'd be very thankful.
The main error in your code is the lack of OOP design. Making all static is poor design.
Also swing is event based, so you should append text to the textArea when an event happens. See the example i write for you.
public class UI {
private JPanel panel;
private JTextArea output;
public UI(){
initialize();
}
private void initialize() {
panel = new JPanel();
Font myFont = new Font("Courier", Font.BOLD, 14);
final JTextField input = new JTextField(""); // must be declared final cause you use it in anonymous class, you can make it instance variable if you want to as textArea
//add an actionListener then when you press enter this will write to textArea
input.addActionListener(new ActionListener(){
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt){
writeToArea(input.getText());
}
});
output = new JTextArea("Initiated Succesfully",50,100);// let the component determinate its preferred size.
output.setWrapStyleWord(true);
output.setLineWrap(true);
input.setFont(myFont);
output.setFont(myFont);
input.setForeground(Color.WHITE);
output.setForeground(Color.WHITE);
input.setBackground(Color.BLACK);
input.setCaretColor(Color.WHITE);
output.setBackground(Color.BLACK);
output.setEditable(false);
JScrollPane jp = new JScrollPane(output);
panel.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
panel.add(input, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
panel.add(jp, BorderLayout.CENTER);
}
private void writeToArea(String something) {
System.out.println("\"writeToArea\" running.");
output.append(something);
System.out.println("\"writeToArea\" finished.");
}
public JPanel getPanel(){
return panel;
}
}
And in your client code
public class Pangea {
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable(){
#Override
public void run(){
createAndShowGUI();
}
});
}
/**
* Create the GUI and show it. For thread safety,
* this method should be invoked from the
* event dispatch thread.
*/
private static void createAndShowGUI() {
//Create and set up the window.
System.out.println("Initializing GUI.");
JFrame frame = new JFrame();
frame.setTitle("PANGEA RPG [0.01 ALPHA][WIP]");
frame.setResizable(false);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
//Add contents to the window.
frame.add(new UI().getPanel());
frame.pack();//sizes the frame
frame.setVisible(true);
System.out.println("GUI Initialized.");
}
}
Here you have a tutorial with better examples than this How to Use Text Areas
I remove your setSize and use pack()
The pack method sizes the frame so that all its contents are at or
above their preferred sizes. An alternative to pack is
to establish a frame size explicitly by calling setSize or setBounds
(which also sets the frame location). In general, using pack is
preferable to calling setSize, since pack leaves the frame layout
manager in charge of the frame size, and layout managers are good at
adjusting to platform dependencies and other factors that affect
component size.
Read the section from the Swing tutorial on How to Use Text Areas. It will show you how to better structure your code so that you don't use static methods and variables everywhere.
Once you have a panel that has a reference to the text area you can add methods that allow you to update the text area on the panel.
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).