Develop Reference

Switching between panels LayeredPane [duplicate]

This question is about Frames, Java and Processing.
This questions sounds pretty convoluted but its really not. I'll try keep this to a simple minimum. I'm creating a small ball in a maze game to get my head around physics and rendering. It's been a good experience so far but I've hit a bit of a brick wall.
The general layout I decided on was to contain PApplets within a AWT Frame and have the Frame close. The reason for this is because I was told that you should only have on instance of a Papplet at a time.
PApplet is the Applet class in Processing, a rendering library.
I have 3 classes here including the main
public class Menu extends PApplet
{
//images and buttons
PImage background, playbtn1, playbtn2, hsbtn1, hsbtn2, abbtn1, abbtn2, exbtn1, exbtn2;
FBox pBtn, hBtn, eBtn;
FWorld menu;
//simple constructor
public Menu()
{
}
public void setup()
{
size(600, 400);
smooth();
Fisica.init(this);
menu = new FWorld();
//loading and placing images
background = loadImage("MenuAlt.jpg");
System.out.println(background);
playbtn1 = loadImage("play1.gif");
playbtn2 = loadImage("play2.gif");
hsbtn1 = loadImage("high1.gif");
hsbtn2 = loadImage("high2.gif");
exbtn1 = loadImage("exit1.gif");
exbtn2 = loadImage("exit2.gif");
//loading and placing buttons
pBtn = new FBox(120, 150);
pBtn.setPosition(135, 215);
pBtn.setDrawable(false);
hBtn = new FBox(120, 150);
hBtn.setPosition(295, 215);
hBtn.setDrawable(false);
eBtn = new FBox(120, 150);
eBtn.setPosition(455, 215);
eBtn.setDrawable(false);
//add item to world
menu.add(pBtn);
menu.add(hBtn);
menu.add(eBtn);
}
public void draw()
{
image(background, 0, 0);
image(playbtn1, 80, 140);
image(hsbtn1, 237, 135);
image(exbtn1, 400, 140);
mouseOver();
menu.draw();
}
//close this frame an open a new level, high score or exit
//depending on what the use clicks
public void mousePressed()
{
FBody pressed = menu.getBody(mouseX, mouseY);
if (pressed == pBtn)
{
System.out.println("play game");
this.getParent().getParent().getParent().getParent().setVisible(false);
ExampleFrame x = new ExampleFrame(new Level("level1.txt"));
x.setLocation(this.getParent().getParent().getParent().getParent().getLocation());
}
if (pressed == hBtn)
{
System.out.println("high scores");
this.getParent().getParent().getParent().getParent().setVisible(false);
/* these are just for finding the parent
System.out.println(this.getName());
System.out.println(this.getParent().getName());
System.out.println(this.getParent().getParent().getName());
System.out.println(this.getParent().getParent().getParent().getName());
System.out.println(this.getParent().getParent().getParent().getParent().getName());
*/
ExampleFrame x = new ExampleFrame(new HighScores()); //for testing, you can change this to new menu()
x.setLocation(this.getParent().getParent().getParent().getParent().getLocation());
}
if (pressed == eBtn)
{
System.out.println("exit");
System.exit(0);
}
}
the exampleFrame class
public class ExampleFrame extends JFrame
{
PApplet app;
public ExampleFrame(PApplet emApp)
{
super("Ball Maze Game");
this.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
this.setLocation(200, 200);
app = emApp;
setSize(615,438);
setVisible(true);
setLayout(new BorderLayout());
add(app, BorderLayout.CENTER);
app.init();
}
}
the main
public class Main
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
ExampleFrame x = new ExampleFrame(new Menu());
}
}
What needs to happen when mousePressed == ebtn is all the stuff in the Frame will be removed and a Highscores Screen will be loaded. highscores is almost the same as menu. There is no need to post code as there is enough here.
The second class is the one which acts as a frame and holds the PApplet
Bottom line, has anyone have any idea how to call the Frame methods from the PApplet or another way to remove all PApplets contents and load another PApplet in?

What needs to happen when mousePressed == ebtn is all the stuff in the Frame will be removed and a Highscores Screen will be loaded
The demo. below of a nested CardLayout adds an ActionListener instead of a MouseListener. It reacts to both mouse and keyboard input.
There are a multitude of other ways to include more than one GUI element in the same screen space. Off the top of my head, JTabbedPane, JSplitPane, JDesktopPane/JInternalFrame, popping the high scores in a JDialog or JOptionPane..
Screenshots
CardLayoutDemo.java
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
class CardLayoutDemo {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Runnable r = new Runnable () {
public void run() {
final JRadioButton game = new JRadioButton("Game", true);
JRadioButton highScores = new JRadioButton("High Scores");
ButtonGroup bg = new ButtonGroup();
bg.add( game );
bg.add( highScores );
JPanel buttons = new JPanel(new
FlowLayout(FlowLayout.CENTER, 5, 5));
buttons.add( game );
buttons.add( highScores );
JPanel gui = new JPanel(new BorderLayout(5,5));
gui.add(buttons, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
final CardLayout cl = new CardLayout();
final JPanel cards = new JPanel(cl);
gui.add(cards);
cards.add(new JLabel("Level 1"), "game");
cards.add(new JLabel("High Scores"), "scores");
ActionListener al = new ActionListener(){
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae) {
if (game.isSelected()) {
cl.show(cards, "game");
} else {
cl.show(cards, "scores");
}
}
};
game.addActionListener(al);
highScores.addActionListener(al);
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, gui);
}
};
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(r);
}
}

In order to answer How to call the Frame methods from the PApplet?, I have modified your code snippet to bare minimum. In this modified version when the user click mouse button a System.out is fired.
Now there are two ways in which you can access your Frame object. But before that let me state these two points:
When you create a PApplet like new ExampleFrame(new Menu()); and add it in your JFrame like this add(app, BorderLayout.CENTER); then a complex hierarchy of windows/panels are created.
Like this:
javax.swing.JPanel
javax.swing.JLayeredPane
javax.swing.JRootPane
test.ExampleFrame
PApplet provides a public field for setting and accessing your frame object. And amazingly it is called frame :). You can set it before calling app.init();
>>Code
** Checkout the comments in the code**
Modified ExampleFrame.java
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import processing.core.PApplet;
public class ExampleFrame extends JFrame
{
private static final long serialVersionUID = 4792534036194728580L;
PApplet app;
public ExampleFrame(PApplet emApp)
{
super("Ball Maze Game");
this.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
this.setLocation(200, 200);
app = emApp;
setSize(615,438);
setVisible(true);
setLayout(new BorderLayout());
add(app, BorderLayout.CENTER);
// Setting my frame object
app.frame = this;
app.init();
}
// Sample Method
public void sampleMethod(String msg)
{
System.out.println("I think '"+ msg +"' called me !!");
}
}
Modified Menu.java
import java.awt.Container;
import processing.core.PApplet;
import processing.core.PImage;
public class Menu extends PApplet
{
private static final long serialVersionUID = -6557167654705489372L;
PImage background;
static String tab = "";
//simple constructor
public Menu()
{
}
public void setup()
{
size(600, 400);
smooth();
background = loadImage("C:/temp/background.jpg");
}
public void draw()
{
image(background, 0, 0);
}
public void mousePressed()
{
Container p = getParent();
tab = "";
// FIRST WAY OF ACCESSING PARENT FRAME
while(p != null)
{
//printParentTree(p);
if(p instanceof ExampleFrame)
{
ExampleFrame myframe = (ExampleFrame)p;
myframe.sampleMethod("First Way");
break;
}
p = p.getParent();
}
// SECOND WAY OF ACCESSING PARENT FRAME
if(frame != null && (frame instanceof ExampleFrame))
{
ExampleFrame myframe = (ExampleFrame)p;
myframe.sampleMethod("Second Way");
}
}
void printParentTree(Container p)
{
System.out.println(tab+p.getClass().getName());
tab +='\t';
}
}
Checkout the public void mousePressed() method.
For completeness, I am also including Main.java.
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args){
new ExampleFrame(new Menu());
}
}
Now to answer Remove all PApplets contents and load another PApplet in
Well I have not tested it. But you can add a JPanel to your JApplet and do all your drawing on that i.e creating child controls etc. When feel like redrawing then call JPanel.removeAll(). Which as per javadoc:
Removes all the components from this
container. This method also notifies
the layout manager to remove the
components from this container's
layout via the removeLayoutComponent
method.
After this call repaint on the JPanel. Try it out, it might work :).

I have a small eror in my code here (swing-java-JFrame)

First I am a beginner in java. I'm making a window with small button and a label (with 0 in default position), when I click on the button the label will change to 1 and when I tap another click the button will be 2. But, I have an error in calling the method.
my code:
package prototype;
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.*;
public class Prototype {
public static int count;
public static JLabel l;
public void Proto()
{
JFrame f = new JFrame();
JButton b = new JButton("click");
JLabel lo = new JLabel("0");
JPanel p = new JPanel();
f.setBounds(120,120,500,500);
b.addActionListener(new MyAction());
p.add(lo);
p.add(b);
f.getContentPane().add(p,BorderLayout.CENTER);
f.show();}
public class MyAction implements ActionListener {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
count++;
l.setText(Integer.toString(count));}
public static void main(String[] args) {
//I want to call the proto method but it give me an eror
new proto();
}}}

public class Prototype extends JFrame{
private static int count;
private JLabel l;
public Prototype() {
super();
JButton b = new JButton("click");
l = new JLabel("0");
JPanel p = new JPanel();
b.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0) {
count++;
l.setText(Integer.toString(count));
}
});
p.add(l);
p.add(b);
this.getContentPane().add(p, BorderLayout.CENTER);
this.pack();
this.setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String...args){
Prototype p=new Prototype();
}
}
I changed the method to a constructor, to have the possibility of creating a object of type Prototype and directly create a frame with it. Also I extended the class with JFrame to not need to create an extra JFrame. Next step was to remove the ActionListener class and creating a new ActionListener while adding it to the button. In my eyes this is useful if you have several buttons with different functionalities, so you can see the function of the button directly just by looking at the code of the button. and the last step was to create a new Object of type Prototype in the main method

If I we're you use a SwingWorker instead of manually setting the text of JLabel. Because this is not a proper way updating your GUI. This should be done using SwingWorker. Please read about publish and processmethod.

How to pass JTextField from JFrame into another JFrame?

I have two JFrame (JFrame1 and JFrame2) with two JTextField1 and JTextField2. My question is when I write "Hello world " on JTextField2 from Jframe2 and then click on OK button, I see "Hello world " on JTextField1 on Jframe1 class.
How can I do this? I'm sorry if this is a newbie question but I'm learning..
Here is my code:
JFrame2:
private JFrame1 jf1;
private void btn2ActionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent evt) {
jf1.setjTextField1(this.jTextField2);
}

What you are doing there is actually sending the reference to the actual JTextField from one frame to the other one.
That's probably not a good idea cause both frames would be end up referencing the same visual component.
What you probably want is to keep all visual components separate, but make the text of the second text field equal to the text in the first one.
Something like this:
private void btn2ActionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent evt) {
jf1.getjTextField1().setText(this.jTextField2.getText());
}

You could use an Observer Pattern or Producer/Consumer Pattern to solve the problem.
The basic idea is, you have something that generates a value and something that either wants to be notified or consume the generated value.
One of the other prinicples you should take the time to learn is also Code to interface (not implementation). This sounds stranger then it is, but the the idea is to reduce the unnecessary exposure of your objects (to unintended/controlled modifications) and decouple your code, so you can change the underlying implementation without affecting any other code which relies on it
Given the nature of your problem, an observer pattern might be more suitable. Most of Swing's listener's are based on the same principle.
We start by defining the contract that the "generator" will use to provide notification of changes...
public interface TextGeneratorObserver {
public void textGenerated(String text);
}
Pretty simple. This means we can safely provide an instance of any object that implements this interface to the generator and know that it won't do anything to our object, because the only thing it knows about is the textGenerated method.
Next, we need something that generates the output we are waiting for...
public class GeneratorPane extends JPanel {
private TextGeneratorObserver observer;
private JTextField field;
private JButton button;
public GeneratorPane(TextGeneratorObserver observer) {
this.observer = observer;
field = new JTextField(10);
button = new JButton("OK");
ActionListener listener = new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
observer.textGenerated(field.getText());
}
};
button.addActionListener(listener);
field.addActionListener(listener);
setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
gbc.gridx = GridBagConstraints.REMAINDER;
gbc.insets = new Insets(2, 2, 2, 2);
add(field, gbc);
add(button, gbc);
}
}
This is just a simple JPanel, but it requires you to pass a instance of TextGeneratorObserver to it. When the button (or field) triggers the ActionListener, the ActionListener calls the textGenerated to notify the observer that the text has been generated or changed
Now, we need someone to observer it...
public class ObserverPanel extends JPanel implements TextGeneratorObserver {
private JLabel label;
public ObserverPanel() {
label = new JLabel("...");
add(label);
}
#Override
public void textGenerated(String text) {
label.setText(text);
}
}
This is a simple JPanel which implements the TextGeneratorObserver interface and updates it's JLabel with the new text
Then, we just need to plumb it together
public class Test {
public static void main(String[] args) {
new Test();
}
public Test() {
EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
try {
UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.getSystemLookAndFeelClassName());
} catch (ClassNotFoundException | InstantiationException | IllegalAccessException | UnsupportedLookAndFeelException ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
}
ObserverPanel op = new ObserverPanel();
op.setBorder(new CompoundBorder(new LineBorder(Color.RED), new EmptyBorder(10, 10, 10, 10)));
GeneratorPane pp = new GeneratorPane(op);
pp.setBorder(new CompoundBorder(new LineBorder(Color.GREEN), new EmptyBorder(10, 10, 10, 10)));
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Testing");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setLayout(new GridLayout(2, 1));
frame.add(pp);
frame.add(op);
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
});
}
}

This is a complete working example I just coded out:
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
class FrameRunner
{
public static void main(String[] args){
MyFrame f1 = new MyFrame("Frame 1");
MyFrame f2 = new MyFrame("Frame 2");
f1.addRef(f2);
f2.addRef(f1);
}
}
class MyFrame extends JFrame{
JTextField txt = new JTextField(8);
JButton btn = new JButton("Send");
MyFrame f = null;
public MyFrame(String title){
super(title);
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
setLayout(new FlowLayout());
setPreferredSize(new Dimension(400, 300));
setVisible(true);
add(btn);
add(txt);
pack();
setLocationRelativeTo(null);
init();
}
public void addRef(MyFrame f){
this.f = f;
}
public void init(){
btn.addActionListener(new ActionListener(){
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
f.update(txt.getText());
}
});
}
public void update(String str){
txt.setText(str);
}
}
In order to make the code short and easier for you to understand. Many of the things I did not following the conventions and I did not modularize the codes. But this should give you a very good idea of how you can pass in the reference of another JFrame.
This code shows an example of how Frame1 has a reference on Frame2. Yet Frame2 also has a reference on Frame1.
Whatever things you type in JFrame1 can be send to JFrame2's textfield. Same for the other way round.

Run new GUI window from an event of another class

I have 2 classes. Both implements runnable to create the GUI. The first one is the main, and the second one is the secondary class.
I want within the actionlistener of the main class to startup the secondary class.
Here is the code (the two classes are separated files):
public class Main implements Runnable
{
private JTextField txt1, txt2;
private JLabel lbl1, lbl2;
public void run()
{
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Secondary");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
Container pane = frame.getContentPane();
JPanel background = new JPanel();
background.setLayout(new BoxLayout(background, BoxLayout.LINE_AXIS));
.........
// Horizontally adding the textbox and button in a Box
Box box = new Box(BoxLayout.Y_AXIS);
......
background.add(box);
pane.add(background);
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
private class SListener implements ActionListener
{
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent a)
{
Secondary s = new Secondary();
}
}
public static void main (String[] args)
{
Main gui = new Main();
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(gui);
}
}
public class Secondary implements Runnable
{
private JTextField txt1, txt2;
private JLabel lbl1, lbl2;
public Secondary()
{
Secondary gui = new Secondary();
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(gui);
}
public void run()
{
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Secondary");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
Container pane = frame.getContentPane();
JPanel background = new JPanel();
background.setLayout(new BoxLayout(background, BoxLayout.LINE_AXIS));
.........
// Horizontally adding the textbox and button in a Box
Box box = new Box(BoxLayout.Y_AXIS);
......
background.add(box);
pane.add(background);
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
}
I want to keep the code in two files, I don't want to mixed the two classes in one file.
As you can see from the code, in the Secondary class, in it's constructor I create an Instance of the Secondary class and I run the gui so that when the Instance of this class is created in the Main class, to run the gui.
Unfortunately this technique is not working.
Any ideas?
Thanks

The following line are complety wrong:
public Secondary(){
Secondary gui = new Secondary();
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(gui);
}
Each time you call new Secondary() somewhere in your code, the above code will be triggered, which in turn calls new Secondary() again, and again, and again, ... and your program is blocked.
You probably want to replace it either by
public Secondary(){
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(this);
}
which will avoid the loop, but this is weird behaviour for a constructor.
It makes much more sense to switch to an empty constructor (or delete it all together)
public Secondary(){
}
and rewrite your listener to
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent a){
Secondary s = new Secondary();
SwingUtilities.invokeLater( s );
}

I would recommend that you completely re-design your program. I find that it is most helpful to gear my GUI's towards creation of JPanels, not top level windows such as JFrame, which can then be placed into JFrames or JDialogs, or JTabbedPanes, or swapped via CardLayouts, wherever needed. I find that this greatly increase the flexibility of my GUI coding, and is exactly what I suggest that you do. So...
Your first class creates a JPanel that is then placed into a JFrame.
In the first class's ActionListener, create an instance of the 2nd class, place it into a JDialog (not a JFrame), and then display it.
For example,
import java.awt.Component;
import java.awt.Dialog.ModalityType;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.Window;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.KeyEvent;
import javax.swing.*;
public class TwoWindowEg {
public TwoWindowEg() {
// TODO Auto-generated constructor stub
}
private static void createAndShowGui() {
GuiPanel1 mainPanel = new GuiPanel1();
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Main GUI");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
frame.getContentPane().add(mainPanel);
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationByPlatform(true);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
createAndShowGui();
}
});
}
}
class GuiPanel1 extends JPanel {
private static final int PREF_W = 800;
private static final int PREF_H = 650;
private GuiPanel2 guiPanel2 = new GuiPanel2(); // our second class!
private JDialog dialog = null; // our JDialog
public GuiPanel1() {
setBorder(BorderFactory.createTitledBorder("GUI Panel 1"));
add(new JButton(new LaunchNewWindowAction("Launch New Window")));
add(new JButton(new DisposeAction("Exit", KeyEvent.VK_X)));
}
#Override
public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
if (isPreferredSizeSet()) {
return super.getPreferredSize();
}
return new Dimension(PREF_W, PREF_H);
}
private class LaunchNewWindowAction extends AbstractAction {
public LaunchNewWindowAction(String name) {
super(name);
}
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if (dialog == null) {
// get the Window that holds this JPanel
Window win = SwingUtilities.getWindowAncestor(GuiPanel1.this);
dialog = new JDialog(win, "Second Window", ModalityType.APPLICATION_MODAL);
dialog.add(guiPanel2);
dialog.pack();
}
dialog.setVisible(true);
}
}
}
class GuiPanel2 extends JPanel {
public GuiPanel2() {
setBorder(BorderFactory.createTitledBorder("GUI Panel 1"));
add(new JLabel("The second JPanel/Class"));
add(new JButton(new DisposeAction("Exit", KeyEvent.VK_X)));
}
}
class DisposeAction extends AbstractAction {
public DisposeAction(String name, int mnemonic) {
super(name);
putValue(MNEMONIC_KEY, mnemonic);
}
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
Component comp = (Component) e.getSource();
Window win = SwingUtilities.getWindowAncestor(comp);
win.dispose();
}
}
Alternatively, you could swap JPanel "views" using a CardLayout, but either way, you will want to avoid showing two JFrames. Please have a look at The Use of Multiple JFrames, Good/Bad Practice?.

Calling awt Frame methods from subclass

This question is about Frames, Java and Processing.
This questions sounds pretty convoluted but its really not. I'll try keep this to a simple minimum. I'm creating a small ball in a maze game to get my head around physics and rendering. It's been a good experience so far but I've hit a bit of a brick wall.
The general layout I decided on was to contain PApplets within a AWT Frame and have the Frame close. The reason for this is because I was told that you should only have on instance of a Papplet at a time.
PApplet is the Applet class in Processing, a rendering library.
I have 3 classes here including the main
public class Menu extends PApplet
{
//images and buttons
PImage background, playbtn1, playbtn2, hsbtn1, hsbtn2, abbtn1, abbtn2, exbtn1, exbtn2;
FBox pBtn, hBtn, eBtn;
FWorld menu;
//simple constructor
public Menu()
{
}
public void setup()
{
size(600, 400);
smooth();
Fisica.init(this);
menu = new FWorld();
//loading and placing images
background = loadImage("MenuAlt.jpg");
System.out.println(background);
playbtn1 = loadImage("play1.gif");
playbtn2 = loadImage("play2.gif");
hsbtn1 = loadImage("high1.gif");
hsbtn2 = loadImage("high2.gif");
exbtn1 = loadImage("exit1.gif");
exbtn2 = loadImage("exit2.gif");
//loading and placing buttons
pBtn = new FBox(120, 150);
pBtn.setPosition(135, 215);
pBtn.setDrawable(false);
hBtn = new FBox(120, 150);
hBtn.setPosition(295, 215);
hBtn.setDrawable(false);
eBtn = new FBox(120, 150);
eBtn.setPosition(455, 215);
eBtn.setDrawable(false);
//add item to world
menu.add(pBtn);
menu.add(hBtn);
menu.add(eBtn);
}
public void draw()
{
image(background, 0, 0);
image(playbtn1, 80, 140);
image(hsbtn1, 237, 135);
image(exbtn1, 400, 140);
mouseOver();
menu.draw();
}
//close this frame an open a new level, high score or exit
//depending on what the use clicks
public void mousePressed()
{
FBody pressed = menu.getBody(mouseX, mouseY);
if (pressed == pBtn)
{
System.out.println("play game");
this.getParent().getParent().getParent().getParent().setVisible(false);
ExampleFrame x = new ExampleFrame(new Level("level1.txt"));
x.setLocation(this.getParent().getParent().getParent().getParent().getLocation());
}
if (pressed == hBtn)
{
System.out.println("high scores");
this.getParent().getParent().getParent().getParent().setVisible(false);
/* these are just for finding the parent
System.out.println(this.getName());
System.out.println(this.getParent().getName());
System.out.println(this.getParent().getParent().getName());
System.out.println(this.getParent().getParent().getParent().getName());
System.out.println(this.getParent().getParent().getParent().getParent().getName());
*/
ExampleFrame x = new ExampleFrame(new HighScores()); //for testing, you can change this to new menu()
x.setLocation(this.getParent().getParent().getParent().getParent().getLocation());
}
if (pressed == eBtn)
{
System.out.println("exit");
System.exit(0);
}
}
the exampleFrame class
public class ExampleFrame extends JFrame
{
PApplet app;
public ExampleFrame(PApplet emApp)
{
super("Ball Maze Game");
this.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
this.setLocation(200, 200);
app = emApp;
setSize(615,438);
setVisible(true);
setLayout(new BorderLayout());
add(app, BorderLayout.CENTER);
app.init();
}
}
the main
public class Main
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
ExampleFrame x = new ExampleFrame(new Menu());
}
}
What needs to happen when mousePressed == ebtn is all the stuff in the Frame will be removed and a Highscores Screen will be loaded. highscores is almost the same as menu. There is no need to post code as there is enough here.
The second class is the one which acts as a frame and holds the PApplet
Bottom line, has anyone have any idea how to call the Frame methods from the PApplet or another way to remove all PApplets contents and load another PApplet in?

What needs to happen when mousePressed == ebtn is all the stuff in the Frame will be removed and a Highscores Screen will be loaded
The demo. below of a nested CardLayout adds an ActionListener instead of a MouseListener. It reacts to both mouse and keyboard input.
There are a multitude of other ways to include more than one GUI element in the same screen space. Off the top of my head, JTabbedPane, JSplitPane, JDesktopPane/JInternalFrame, popping the high scores in a JDialog or JOptionPane..
Screenshots
CardLayoutDemo.java
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
class CardLayoutDemo {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Runnable r = new Runnable () {
public void run() {
final JRadioButton game = new JRadioButton("Game", true);
JRadioButton highScores = new JRadioButton("High Scores");
ButtonGroup bg = new ButtonGroup();
bg.add( game );
bg.add( highScores );
JPanel buttons = new JPanel(new
FlowLayout(FlowLayout.CENTER, 5, 5));
buttons.add( game );
buttons.add( highScores );
JPanel gui = new JPanel(new BorderLayout(5,5));
gui.add(buttons, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
final CardLayout cl = new CardLayout();
final JPanel cards = new JPanel(cl);
gui.add(cards);
cards.add(new JLabel("Level 1"), "game");
cards.add(new JLabel("High Scores"), "scores");
ActionListener al = new ActionListener(){
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae) {
if (game.isSelected()) {
cl.show(cards, "game");
} else {
cl.show(cards, "scores");
}
}
};
game.addActionListener(al);
highScores.addActionListener(al);
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, gui);
}
};
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(r);
}
}

In order to answer How to call the Frame methods from the PApplet?, I have modified your code snippet to bare minimum. In this modified version when the user click mouse button a System.out is fired.
Now there are two ways in which you can access your Frame object. But before that let me state these two points:
When you create a PApplet like new ExampleFrame(new Menu()); and add it in your JFrame like this add(app, BorderLayout.CENTER); then a complex hierarchy of windows/panels are created.
Like this:
javax.swing.JPanel
javax.swing.JLayeredPane
javax.swing.JRootPane
test.ExampleFrame
PApplet provides a public field for setting and accessing your frame object. And amazingly it is called frame :). You can set it before calling app.init();
>>Code
** Checkout the comments in the code**
Modified ExampleFrame.java
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import processing.core.PApplet;
public class ExampleFrame extends JFrame
{
private static final long serialVersionUID = 4792534036194728580L;
PApplet app;
public ExampleFrame(PApplet emApp)
{
super("Ball Maze Game");
this.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
this.setLocation(200, 200);
app = emApp;
setSize(615,438);
setVisible(true);
setLayout(new BorderLayout());
add(app, BorderLayout.CENTER);
// Setting my frame object
app.frame = this;
app.init();
}
// Sample Method
public void sampleMethod(String msg)
{
System.out.println("I think '"+ msg +"' called me !!");
}
}
Modified Menu.java
import java.awt.Container;
import processing.core.PApplet;
import processing.core.PImage;
public class Menu extends PApplet
{
private static final long serialVersionUID = -6557167654705489372L;
PImage background;
static String tab = "";
//simple constructor
public Menu()
{
}
public void setup()
{
size(600, 400);
smooth();
background = loadImage("C:/temp/background.jpg");
}
public void draw()
{
image(background, 0, 0);
}
public void mousePressed()
{
Container p = getParent();
tab = "";
// FIRST WAY OF ACCESSING PARENT FRAME
while(p != null)
{
//printParentTree(p);
if(p instanceof ExampleFrame)
{
ExampleFrame myframe = (ExampleFrame)p;
myframe.sampleMethod("First Way");
break;
}
p = p.getParent();
}
// SECOND WAY OF ACCESSING PARENT FRAME
if(frame != null && (frame instanceof ExampleFrame))
{
ExampleFrame myframe = (ExampleFrame)p;
myframe.sampleMethod("Second Way");
}
}
void printParentTree(Container p)
{
System.out.println(tab+p.getClass().getName());
tab +='\t';
}
}
Checkout the public void mousePressed() method.
For completeness, I am also including Main.java.
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args){
new ExampleFrame(new Menu());
}
}
Now to answer Remove all PApplets contents and load another PApplet in
Well I have not tested it. But you can add a JPanel to your JApplet and do all your drawing on that i.e creating child controls etc. When feel like redrawing then call JPanel.removeAll(). Which as per javadoc:
Removes all the components from this
container. This method also notifies
the layout manager to remove the
components from this container's
layout via the removeLayoutComponent
method.
After this call repaint on the JPanel. Try it out, it might work :).