Develop Reference

Timer in for loop java swing [duplicate]

Ok, so the program's purpose is to just draw and oval and move it across the screen. The code compiles on Eclipse without an error, but when run, no oval is drawn or moved across the screen. I have been researching, and it seems that threads have to do a lot with this, but do I need one for this simple program? I am obviously new to GUI programming with Swing so I would appreciate an explanation or link to one for any additions to the program regarding threads or such related concepts.
public class Game extends JPanel
{
int x =0;
int y =0;
private void moveBall()
{
x+=1;
y+=1;
}
public void paint (Graphics g)
{
super.paint(g);
g.fillOval(x, y, 30, 30);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Animation");
Game game = new Game();
frame.add(game);
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.setSize(300,400);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setResizable(false);
while (true)
{
game.moveBall();
game.repaint();
}
}
}

The likely problem is, that thread is running too fast for the UI, the UI is been shown well after the "ball" has left the visible area.
You need to do a couple of things...
First, you need to make sure that the updates are scheduled properly within the Event Dispatching Thread and secondly, that there is a short delay between updates. For example, 25fps is about a 40 millisecond delay between updates, 60fps is about 16 milliseconds
There are a number of ways to achieve this, depending what it is you hope to achieve, for example, you could simply use Thread.sleep to cause the thread to pause for a small amount of time between updates. The problem with this is Swing is not thread safe and all updates to the UI should be made within the context of the Event Dispatching Thread.
While you program is only simply, it's possible that a paint cycle could run while you updating it's state, resulting in a dirty update.
Another solution might be to use a Swing Timer which will allow you schedule updates at a regular interval which are triggered within the context of the Event Dispatching Thread, making it safer to use.
Have a look at Concurrency in Swing and How to use Swing Timers for more details.
As an example...
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.EventQueue;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.Graphics2D;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.Timer;
import javax.swing.UIManager;
import javax.swing.UnsupportedLookAndFeelException;
public class BallAnimation {
/**
* #param args the command line arguments
*/
public static void main(String[] args) {
new BallAnimation();
}
public BallAnimation() {
EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
try {
UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.getSystemLookAndFeelClassName());
} catch (ClassNotFoundException | InstantiationException | IllegalAccessException | UnsupportedLookAndFeelException ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
}
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Testing");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.add(new TestPane());
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
});
}
public class TestPane extends JPanel {
private int x = 0;
private int y = 0;
public TestPane() {
Timer timer = new Timer(40, new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
moveBall();
repaint();
}
});
timer.start();
}
protected void moveBall() {
x++;
y++;
}
#Override
public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
return new Dimension(200, 200);
}
#Override
protected void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
super.paintComponent(g);
Graphics2D g2d = (Graphics2D) g.create();
g2d.setColor(Color.RED);
g2d.fillOval(x, y, 30, 30);
g2d.dispose();
}
}
}
As a side note, unless you really have reason to do so, you should avoid overriding paint and instead use paintComponent

try your loop with sleep as simplest way to fit your code. main is actually a thread. and JFrame creates its own thread.
while (true)
{
game.moveBall();
game.repaint();
try { Thread.sleep(50); } catch (Exception e){}
}
and I just realized, you dont paint your whole screen with a default color.
change your paint method to this
public void paint (Graphics g)
{
super.paint(g);
g.setColor(Color.white); //default color
g.fillRect(0, 0, getWidth(), getHeight()); // fill whole canvas
g.setColor(Color.black); //change color
g.fillOval(x, y, 30, 30); // draw oval
}

Eclipse do not show output

I'm making 2D drawing on Eclipse Oxygen, there are no error in my code but why it does not show any output. I mean when I click run there are no progress.
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Frame;
import java.awt.Graphics2D;
import java.awt.geom.Arc2D;
import java.awt.geom.Rectangle2D;
public class HOUSE1 extends Frame {
public void paint(Graphics2D g) {
Graphics2D g2d = (Graphics2D) g;
g2d.drawString("HOME SWEET HOME",80,60);
setBackground(Color.white);
Arc2D arc1 = new Arc2D.Double(250,50,500,300,225,90,Arc2D.Double.PIE);
g2d.draw(arc1);
g2d.setColor(Color.red);
g2d.fill(arc1);
Rectangle2D rect = new Rectangle2D.Double(325,300,350,300);
g2d.draw(rect);
g2d.setColor(Color.blue);
g2d.fill(rect);
Rectangle2D rect1 = new Rectangle2D.Double(325,300,350,300);
g2d.draw(rect1);
g2d.setColor(Color.black);
g2d.fill(rect1);
}
public static void main(String[]args){
HOUSE1 f = new HOUSE1();
f.setTitle("HOUSE");
f.setSize(300,100);
}
}

1st: In your main void you need to set your frame (f) to visible --> f.setVisible(true)
2nd: Also you might want to f.pack(); right before you set it to visible to to make sure your components are behaving like expected.
3th: In java we use a capital first letter in class like this "House", fully capital words are used for final's.

Your window is blank because your paint method is never called. Your method
public void paint(Graphics2D g) // DOESN'T WORK
needs to be changed to
public void paint(Graphics g) // Correct
so that it overrides the paint method in Frame. The graphics system will only call paint(Graphics); if your method called paint isn't overriding the method paint(Graphics) in Frame, the one in Frame gets called instead of yours.

You forgot to make your frame visible.
Just add :
f.setVisible(true);
You have to fix your paint method declaration to :
#override
public void paint(Graphics g) {
// your code
}

Simple Java Animation using JFrame and JPanel

Ok, so the program's purpose is to just draw and oval and move it across the screen. The code compiles on Eclipse without an error, but when run, no oval is drawn or moved across the screen. I have been researching, and it seems that threads have to do a lot with this, but do I need one for this simple program? I am obviously new to GUI programming with Swing so I would appreciate an explanation or link to one for any additions to the program regarding threads or such related concepts.
public class Game extends JPanel
{
int x =0;
int y =0;
private void moveBall()
{
x+=1;
y+=1;
}
public void paint (Graphics g)
{
super.paint(g);
g.fillOval(x, y, 30, 30);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Animation");
Game game = new Game();
frame.add(game);
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.setSize(300,400);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setResizable(false);
while (true)
{
game.moveBall();
game.repaint();
}
}
}

The likely problem is, that thread is running too fast for the UI, the UI is been shown well after the "ball" has left the visible area.
You need to do a couple of things...
First, you need to make sure that the updates are scheduled properly within the Event Dispatching Thread and secondly, that there is a short delay between updates. For example, 25fps is about a 40 millisecond delay between updates, 60fps is about 16 milliseconds
There are a number of ways to achieve this, depending what it is you hope to achieve, for example, you could simply use Thread.sleep to cause the thread to pause for a small amount of time between updates. The problem with this is Swing is not thread safe and all updates to the UI should be made within the context of the Event Dispatching Thread.
While you program is only simply, it's possible that a paint cycle could run while you updating it's state, resulting in a dirty update.
Another solution might be to use a Swing Timer which will allow you schedule updates at a regular interval which are triggered within the context of the Event Dispatching Thread, making it safer to use.
Have a look at Concurrency in Swing and How to use Swing Timers for more details.
As an example...
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.EventQueue;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.Graphics2D;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.Timer;
import javax.swing.UIManager;
import javax.swing.UnsupportedLookAndFeelException;
public class BallAnimation {
/**
* #param args the command line arguments
*/
public static void main(String[] args) {
new BallAnimation();
}
public BallAnimation() {
EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
try {
UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.getSystemLookAndFeelClassName());
} catch (ClassNotFoundException | InstantiationException | IllegalAccessException | UnsupportedLookAndFeelException ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
}
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Testing");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.add(new TestPane());
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
});
}
public class TestPane extends JPanel {
private int x = 0;
private int y = 0;
public TestPane() {
Timer timer = new Timer(40, new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
moveBall();
repaint();
}
});
timer.start();
}
protected void moveBall() {
x++;
y++;
}
#Override
public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
return new Dimension(200, 200);
}
#Override
protected void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
super.paintComponent(g);
Graphics2D g2d = (Graphics2D) g.create();
g2d.setColor(Color.RED);
g2d.fillOval(x, y, 30, 30);
g2d.dispose();
}
}
}
As a side note, unless you really have reason to do so, you should avoid overriding paint and instead use paintComponent

try your loop with sleep as simplest way to fit your code. main is actually a thread. and JFrame creates its own thread.
while (true)
{
game.moveBall();
game.repaint();
try { Thread.sleep(50); } catch (Exception e){}
}
and I just realized, you dont paint your whole screen with a default color.
change your paint method to this
public void paint (Graphics g)
{
super.paint(g);
g.setColor(Color.white); //default color
g.fillRect(0, 0, getWidth(), getHeight()); // fill whole canvas
g.setColor(Color.black); //change color
g.fillOval(x, y, 30, 30); // draw oval
}

create game loop thread

Hi I have just been messing about polygons and awt. I have created a Jframe and can draw the polygons ok and have one of them move with keypresses.
I'm wondering how to start a gameloop thread(and where to put it!) that will update the jframe independently.
From googling im led to believe that I should have one thread for user input and one for the game itself.
At the moment I have implemented KeyListener on the board class(code shown below),should I put that out into its own class and make it implement runnable?As the code stands I repaint the JFrame in the keypressed() method just so i can see that it moves correctly
Being at it most of the day and I have myself very very confused :)
As always any help much appreciated!
Also while im at it from online tutourials should I use JPanel instead of JFrame and paintComponent() instead of paint()?
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.Graphics2D;
import java.awt.event.KeyEvent;
import java.awt.event.KeyListener;
import java.awt.geom.AffineTransform;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
public class Board extends JFrame implements KeyListener{
AffineTransform identity = new AffineTransform();
Graphics2D g2d;
Ship ship = new Ship();
public static final int ALIENS = 3;
Alien[] alien = new Alien[ALIENS];
Board(){
super("The Board");
setSize(1280,1024);
setVisible(true);
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
getContentPane().setBackground(Color.BLACK);
for(int x=0;x<ALIENS;x++){
alien[x]=new Alien();
}
}
public void paint(Graphics g){
super.paint(g);
addKeyListener(this);
//draw ship
g2d = (Graphics2D)g;
g2d.setTransform(identity);
g2d.translate(ship.getxPos(),ship.getyPos());
g2d.scale(2,2);
g2d.setColor(Color.ORANGE);
g2d.fill(ship.getShape());
g2d.setColor(Color.BLACK);
g2d.draw(ship.getShape());
// draw aliens
for(int x=0;x<ALIENS;x++){
//if alien alive
if(alien[x].isAlive()){
//draw alien
g2d = (Graphics2D)g;
g2d.setTransform(identity);
g2d.translate(alien[x].getxPos(),alien[x].getyPos());
g2d.scale(2,2);
g2d.setColor(Color.BLUE);
g2d.fill(alien[x].getShape());
g2d.setColor(Color.BLACK);
g2d.draw(alien[x].getShape());
}
}
}//end paint
/*****************************************************
* key listener events
*****************************************************/
public void keyReleased(KeyEvent k) { }
public void keyTyped(KeyEvent k) { }
public void keyPressed(KeyEvent k) {
int keyCode = k.getKeyCode();
switch (keyCode) {
case KeyEvent.VK_A:
//move ship left
if(ship.getxPos()<20){
ship.setxPos(20);
}else
ship.setxPos(ship.getxPos()-1);
break;
case KeyEvent.VK_D:
if(ship.getxPos()>1260){
ship.setxPos(1260);
}else
ship.setxPos(ship.getxPos()+1);
}
repaint();
}//end keypressed event
public static void main(String[] args){
new Board();
}
}

These answers depend somewhat on what kind of game you're trying to create.
From googling I'm led to believe that I should have one thread for user input and one for the game itself.
You create one main game loop, which runs in its own thread. In psudeocode
while (running) {
update game model
draw game
wait x milliseconds
}
Your user input would update the game model directly. The game loop updates the game model if the computer is required to make moves or react to your moves. Then, the game loop reads the game model and draws the game based on the values in the model.
At the moment I have implemented KeyListener on the board class(code shown below),should I put that out into its own class and make it implement runnable?
Yes, you should put KeyListener into its own class. No, you don't have to make it a separate thread.
To save yourself future trouble, your Swing components should be defined and used on the Event Dispatch thread.
Here's how you do that.
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
new Board();
}
});
}
Should I use JPanel instead of JFrame and paintComponent() instead of paint()?
Yes.
You should have a JPanel inside of a JFrame. The JPanel is where you perform the draw game psudeocode, using the paintComponent method.
Some people are going to disagree with me, but I've found it best if every object in the game has a draw method to draw itself.
public void draw(Graphics g)
The game model would also have a draw method, which draws all of the objects in the model.
The JPanel paintComponent method would look like this:
public void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
super.paintComponent(g);
gameModel.draw(g);
}

JPanels don't appear in the JFame

I'm new to java. I do have a java class but I want to get ahead. I really like it! This is my problem. I'm trying to draw the two paddles needed for the game. I did create 2 objects for them, and they both "Show" but the following happens:
Main Runner
import javax.swing.JFrame;
public class PongRunner {
public static void main (String[] args)
{
new PongRunner();
}
public PongRunner()
{
JFrame PongFrame= new JFrame();
PongFrame.setSize(800,600);
PongFrame.add(new PaddleB());
PongFrame.add(new PaddleA());
PongFrame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
PongFrame.setTitle("My Pong Game");
PongFrame.setResizable(false);
PongFrame.setVisible(true);
PongFrame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
}
}
PaddleA and PaddleB are both drawRect Graphics and draw a specific rectangle.
The graphics that I tell JFrame to add first are the only ones visible. The one under it doesnt get added into the Frame I wanted to know why,and how i can draw both paddles in the same JFrame... I'm reading my book and looking over the internet as much as possible, but no luck within these 2 days. Some help would be nice. I just started learning java and I think I'm making progress. Some tips would be nice too thanks :), specialy on actionListener since im going to have to use them to move the paddles!
SOURCE CODE OF BOTH PADDLES:
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.Timer;
public class PaddleA extends JPanel implements ActionListener
{
private Timer timer;
public void timer()
{
timer = new Timer(25, this);
timer.start();
}
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
{
repaint();
}
public void paintComponent(Graphics g)
{
super.paintComponent(g);
g.setColor(Color.RED);
g.fillRect(70,200,20,100);
}
}
PaddleB:
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.Timer;
public class PaddleB extends JPanel implements ActionListener
{
private Timer timer;
public void timer()
{
timer = new Timer(25, this);
timer.start();
}
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
{
repaint();
}
public void paintComponent(Graphics g)
{
super.paintComponent(g);
g.setColor(Color.BLUE);
g.fillRect(500, 200, 20, 100);
}
}

As you've added the 2 paddles into the same BorderLayout.CENTER location of the main PongFrame, only the second paddle will be displayed.
This type of painting is more easily done using one Graphics object on one JComponent.

Swing components aren't really designed to be used like this. Each of your paddle JPanels is trying to paint a rectangle, but the container (the JFrame) and its layout manager will control the size and location of the JPanels. So the rectangle they paint may be outside their bounds, and won't appear at all.
Some Layout Managers will only show one of the JPanels if you add them one after another like this - see answer by Reimus.
To do animated graphics like this, you probably need to start with a single JComponent (e.g. a JPanel) that fills the JFrame, and paint both paddles as rectangles onto it.

This is because you add the first paddle and then add the second paddle over the first thus replacing them:
PongFrame.add(new PaddleB());
PongFrame.add(new PaddleA());
try using LayoutManagers here is just a quick sample:
PongFrame.getContentPane().add(new PaddleB(),BorderLayout.WEST);
PongFrame.getContentPane().add(new PaddleA(),BorderLayout.EAST);
also your g.fillRect(...); has x and y co-ordinates that are too large for the JFrame and thus are not displayed. Change it like so:
g.fillRect(0,0, 20, 100);
Not related though:
dont use JFrame.add() rather JFrame.getContentPane().add()
UPADTE:
As others have mentioned the logic for the game is a bit off. You should have a single drawing panel which is added to the JFrame and all drawing is done on the single JPanel using Graphics and not JPanels. Here is a small example:
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.Rectangle;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
public class PongRunner {
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
new PongRunner();
}
});
}
public PongRunner() {
JFrame PongFrame = new JFrame();
PongFrame.setTitle("My Pong Game");
PongFrame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
PongFrame.setResizable(false);
PongFrame.setSize(400,400);
//PongFrame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
PongFrame.getContentPane().add(new DrawingPanel());
PongFrame.setVisible(true);
}
}
class DrawingPanel extends JPanel {
Rect rect1, rect2;
public DrawingPanel() {
super(true);
rect1 = new Rect(80, 80, 20, 100, Color.yellow);
rect2 = new Rect(100, 200, 20, 100, Color.red);
}
#Override
public void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
super.paintComponent(g);
g.setColor(rect1.getColor());
g.fillRect(rect1.getX(), rect1.getY(), rect1.getWidth(), rect1.getHeight());
g.setColor(rect2.getColor());
g.fillRect(rect2.getX(), rect2.getY(), rect2.getWidth(), rect2.getHeight());
}
}
class Rect {
private Color color;
private int x, y, height, width;
Rect(int x, int y, int width, int height, Color color) {
this.x = x;
this.y = y;
this.height = height;
this.width = width;
this.color = color;
}
public Color getColor() {
return color;
}
public int getX() {
return x;
}
public int getY() {
return y;
}
public int getWidth() {
return width;
}
public int getHeight() {
return height;
}
public Rectangle getBounds() {
return new Rectangle(x, y, width, height);
}
}
Please note this snippet is not perfect and merely demonstrates the stereotypical logic needed for drawing rectangles to form a game of sorts

I don't have time to try running your code, but try setting the size and position of the "paddle" objects, or set them as non-opaque. I believe that Swing tries to speed up rendering by not drawing components which are completely covered by another opaque component. It may not be drawing one of your paddles for that reason.
If you do set the size and position of your paddles, you may have to modify your paintComponent methods: if my memory is correct, I think the Graphics object which is passed in is clipped to the area of the component, so 0,0 would be the top-left corner of the component.

you shouldn't add your JPanels to your JFrame by the JFrame#add(Component) method. Better add them to the contentPane: frame.getContentPane().add(panel); You should although read about LayoutManagers. They can help you by positining Components in your Frame or mess things up if you use them incorrect.