Develop Reference

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?.

Java ComponentResized - Detect whether user resized the window or it was resized programatically

I have a JFrame in which I remove and add components and each time I do this, I resize the frame accordingly. I added a Component Listener but of course it gets triggered both by the user resizing the window and also by my setSize() methods.
Is there any way to see from the ComponentEvent whether the user resized the window or I did through setSize()?
The posible solutions I found are:
1. Use a flag - boolean resizing - which I set to true before setSize() and to false after that.
2. Add a mouseDragged listener and compare sizes before and after the drag.
The second one is definitely not a good choice. The first one would work but I would like to know if I can find in a simple way whether the user is the one who resized the window or not.

I resize the frame accordingly
Whats wrong with using pack()?
I remove and add components and each time I do this,
Then this is where you should set your Boolean value:
programResize == true:
panel.add(...);
frame.setSize(...); // this should cause the ComponentListener to fire
// the ComponentListener would then use programResize == false;
Or a better option option could be:
component.removeComponentListener(...);
panel.add(...);
frame.setSize(...);
component.addComponentListener(...);
I like this approach better because all the logic based on the manual update is self contained in one place and there is no need to define a Boolean variable.

Is there any way to see from the ComponentEvent whether the user
resized the window or I did through setSize()?
yes it is, use boolean flag reseted by Swing Timer
in the case that user resized window then ComponentListener firing a new event per every pixel, bunch of events
by determine the contianer set(Xxx)Size is this event fired only once time
example about events from ComponentListner
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.util.Vector;
public class ComponentEventDemo extends JPanel
implements ComponentListener, HierarchyListener,
ItemListener {
private JFrame frame;
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
private JTextArea display;
private JLabel label;
private JButton button = new JButton("Change Size");
private String newline = "\n";
public ComponentEventDemo() {
display = new JTextArea();
display.setEditable(false);
JScrollPane scrollPane = new JScrollPane(display);
scrollPane.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(350, 200));
label = new JLabel("This is a label", JLabel.CENTER);
label.addComponentListener(this);
JCheckBox checkbox = new JCheckBox("Label visible", true);
checkbox.addItemListener(this);
checkbox.addComponentListener(this);
button.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
Dimension dim = frame.getPreferredSize();
if (!dim.equals(new Dimension(800, 600))) {
frame.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(800, 600));
frame.pack();
} else {
frame.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(400, 300));
frame.pack();
}
}
});
JPanel panel = new JPanel(new GridLayout(1, 3));
panel.add(label);
panel.add(checkbox);
panel.add(button);
panel.addComponentListener(this);
frame = new JFrame("ComponentEventDemo");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.add(scrollPane, BorderLayout.CENTER);
frame.add(panel, BorderLayout.PAGE_END);
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
#Override
public void itemStateChanged(ItemEvent e) {
if (e.getStateChange() == ItemEvent.SELECTED) {
label.setVisible(true);
label.revalidate();
label.repaint();
} else {
label.setVisible(false);
}
}
protected void displayMessage(String message) {
//If the text area is not yet realized, and
//we tell it to draw text, it could cause
//a text/AWT tree deadlock. Our solution is
//to ensure that the text area is realized
//before attempting to draw text.
// if (display.isShowing()) {
display.append(message + newline);
display.setCaretPosition(display.getDocument().getLength());
//}
}
#Override
public void componentHidden(ComponentEvent e) {
//displayMessage(e.getComponent().getClass().getName() + " --- Hidden");
}
#Override
public void componentMoved(ComponentEvent e) {
//displayMessage(e.getComponent().getClass().getName() + " --- Moved");
}
#Override
public void componentResized(ComponentEvent e) {
displayMessage(e.getComponent().getClass().getName() + " --- Resized ");
}
#Override
public void componentShown(ComponentEvent e) {
//displayMessage(e.getComponent().getClass().getName() + " --- Shown");
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
javax.swing.SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
ComponentEventDemo componentEventDemo = new ComponentEventDemo();
}
});
}
#Override
public void hierarchyChanged(HierarchyEvent e) {
displayMessage(e.getComponent().getClass().getName() + " --- Hierarchy changed");
}
}

Using AWT Buttons and detecting if clicked

I just joined, and am glad to be here~ So, this morning (at like 2am, but thats besides the point :P ) I was doing a little bit of Java tests with JFrame and other GUI stuff. This is my first time working with GUIs. I was trying to make a little java app that would act as a dream journaller. However, my progress was frozen when I encountered a problem i could not solve. My code is as follows.
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.applet.*;
public class Display extends Canvas
{
static final int WIDTH = 600;
static final int HEIGHT = 400;
public static String defaultEntry = "Dreams...";
public static final String TITLE = "Dream Journal Testing";
Button erase;
public static void main(String[] args)
{
Display d = new Display();
d.create();
}
public void create()
{
JFrame frame = new JFrame();
System.out.println("Running");
Panel cardOne = new Panel();
Panel p1 = new Panel();
Panel p2 = new Panel();
Panel p3 = new Panel();
Panel grid = new Panel();
cardOne.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
p1.setLayout(new GridLayout(2,1,3,6));
TextArea textArea1 = new TextArea(defaultEntry);
/*Font f1 = new Font("Courier", Font.PLAIN, 16);
setFont(f1);*/
Label l1 = new Label("Welcome to the Dream Journal! :)");
Label l2 = new Label("Type your dream below:");
p1.add(l1);
p1.add(l2);
p2.add(textArea1);
p3.setLayout(new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.CENTER));
Button ok = new Button("Save");
erase = new Button("Erase");
p3.add(erase);
p3.add(ok);
cardOne.add("North",p1);
cardOne.add("Center",p2);
cardOne.add("South",p3);
frame.add(cardOne);
//frame.add(cardOne);
//frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.pack();
frame.setTitle(TITLE);
frame.setSize(WIDTH, HEIGHT);
frame.setResizable(false);
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
System.out.println(textArea1.getText());
}
/*public boolean handleEvent(Event evt)
{
if(evt.target == erase)
{
System.out.println("it works");
return true;
}
else return super.handleEvent(evt);
}
*/
public boolean action(Event evt, Object arg)
{
if("Erase".equals(arg))
{
System.out.println("hello");
//textArea1.setText("");
}
return true;
}
}
The problem i have is I am not able to figure out how to make it so if the "Erase" AWT button is pushed, the system will print a line (as a test). I have tried
public boolean action(Event evt, Object arg)
And
public boolean handleEvent, but neither worked. Anyone have any suggestions for the Java noob that is me? Thanks!! :)

One way is to add an action listener to the button (e.g. for Save). Another way is to create an Action (e.g. for Erase).
Don't mix Swing with AWT components unless it is necessary. It is not worth even learning how to use AWT components at this point in time, use Swing only for best results and best help.
Here is a version of the app. using all Swing components.
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class Display
{
static final int WIDTH = 600;
static final int HEIGHT = 400;
public static String defaultEntry = "Dreams...";
public static final String TITLE = "Dream Journal Testing";
JButton erase;
public static void main(String[] args)
{
Display d = new Display();
d.create();
}
public void create()
{
JFrame frame = new JFrame();
System.out.println("Running");
JPanel cardOne = new JPanel();
JPanel p1 = new JPanel();
JPanel p2 = new JPanel();
JPanel p3 = new JPanel();
cardOne.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
p1.setLayout(new GridLayout(2,1,3,6));
JTextArea textArea1 = new JTextArea(defaultEntry);
JLabel l1 = new JLabel("Welcome to the Dream Journal! :)");
JLabel l2 = new JLabel("Type your dream below:");
p1.add(l1);
p1.add(l2);
p2.add(textArea1);
p3.setLayout(new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.CENTER));
JButton ok = new JButton("Save");
ok.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae) {
System.out.println("Do " + ae.getActionCommand());
}
});
erase = new JButton(new EraseAction());
p3.add(erase);
p3.add(ok);
// Use the constants
cardOne.add(BorderLayout.PAGE_START,p1);
cardOne.add(BorderLayout.CENTER,p2);
cardOne.add(BorderLayout.PAGE_END,p3);
frame.add(cardOne);
frame.pack();
frame.setTitle(TITLE);
frame.setSize(WIDTH, HEIGHT);
frame.setResizable(false);
frame.setLocationByPlatform(true);
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
System.out.println(textArea1.getText());
}
}
class EraseAction extends AbstractAction {
EraseAction() {
super("Erase");
}
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0) {
System.out.println("Do " + arg0.getActionCommand());
}
}

First let me explain you the Funda of Event Handler....
- First of all there are Event Source, when any action take place on the Event Source, an Event Object is thrown to the call back method.
- Call Back method is the method inside the Listener (Interface) which is needed to be implemented by the Class that implements this Listener.
- The statements inside this call back method will dictate whats needed to be done, when the action is done on the Event Source.
Eg:
Assume
Event Source - Button
When Clicked - Event object is thrown at the call back method
Call back method - actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) inside ActionListener.
Now your case :
Now this can be done in 2 ways.....
1. Let you Display class implements the ActionListener, then Register the button with
the ActionListener, and finally implement the abstract method actionPerformed() of ActionListener.
Eg:
public class Display extends Canvas implements ActionListener{
public Display(){
// Your code....
setComponent(); // Initializing the state of Components
}
public void setComponent(){
// Your code.........
Button b = new Button("Click");
b.addActionListener(this); // Registering the button.
// Your code..........
}
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
// Do here whatever you want on the Button Click
}
}
2. Use Anonymous class.
- Anonymous class are declared and initialized simultaneously.
- Anonymous class must implement or extend to only one interface or class resp.
Your Display class will NOT implement ActionListener here....
public class Display extends Canvas {
public Display(){
// Your code....
setComponent(); // Initializing the state of Components
}
public void setComponent(){
// Your code.........
Button b = new Button("Click");
// Registering the button and Implementing it
b.addActionListener(new ActionListener(){
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
// Do here whatever you want on the Button Click
}
});
// Your code..........
}
}

You need to implement ActionListner :
public class Display extends Canvas implements ActionListener
and add yourself to your button as such:
erase.addActionListener(this);
and then implement the required method:
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
//do stuff
}
For more info, check out this tutorial on creating ActionListeners.
You'll find that this observable pattern is widely used the in Java GUI.
A couple high level critiques:
You are using many older AWT components (ie Button) when there are similar, but newer (read: more flexible) Swing components available (ie JButton). Take a look at this for a quick explanation on the difference.
The event model that you have implemented was revamped in 1997 to the observable pattern that I suggested above. If you would like to learn more, you can read this.

How do I make JScrollPane scroll to follow input focus?

I have a Swing app with a large panel which is wrapped in a JScrollPane. Users normally move between the panel's subcomponents by tabbing, so when they tab to something out view, I want the scroll pane to autoscroll so the component with input focus is always visible.
I've tried using KeyboardFocusManager to listen for input focus changes, and then calling scrollRectToVisible.
Here's an SSCCE displaying my current strategy (just copy/paste and run!):
import java.awt.KeyboardFocusManager;
import java.beans.PropertyChangeEvent;
import java.beans.PropertyChangeListener;
import javax.swing.*;
public class FollowFocus {
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
final int ROWS = 100;
final JPanel content = new JPanel();
content.setLayout(new BoxLayout(content, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
content.add(new JLabel(
"Thanks for helping out. Use tab to move around."));
for (int i = 0; i < ROWS; i++) {
JTextField field = new JTextField("" + i);
field.setName("field#" + i);
content.add(field);
}
KeyboardFocusManager.getCurrentKeyboardFocusManager()
.addPropertyChangeListener("focusOwner",
new PropertyChangeListener() {
#Override
public void propertyChange(PropertyChangeEvent evt) {
if (!(evt.getNewValue() instanceof JComponent)) {
return;
}
JComponent focused = (JComponent) evt.getNewValue();
if (content.isAncestorOf(focused)) {
System.out.println("Scrolling to " + focused.getName());
focused.scrollRectToVisible(focused.getBounds());
}
}
});
JFrame window = new JFrame("Follow focus");
window.setContentPane(new JScrollPane(content));
window.setSize(200, 200);
window.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
window.setVisible(true);
}
});
}
}
If you run this example, you'll notice it doesn't work very well. It does get the focus change notifications, but the call to scrollRectToVisible doesn't appear to have any effect. In my app (which is too complex to show here), scrollRectToVisible works about half the time when I tab into something outside of the viewport.
Is there an established way to solve this problem? If it makes any difference, the Swing app is built on Netbeans RCP (and most of our customers run Windows).

My comment to the other answer:
scrollRectToVisible on the component itself is the whole point of that
method ;-) It's passed up the hierarchy until a parent doing the
scroll is found
... except when the component itself handles it - as JTextField does: it's implemented to scroll horizontally to make the caret visible. The way out is to call the method on the field's parent.
Edit
just for clarity, the replaced line is
content.scrollRectToVisible(focused.getBounds());

you have to take Rectangle from JPanel and JViewPort too, then compare, for example
notice (against down-voting) for final and nice output required some work for positions in the JViewPort
import java.awt.KeyboardFocusManager;
import java.awt.Rectangle;
import java.beans.PropertyChangeEvent;
import java.beans.PropertyChangeListener;
import javax.swing.*;
//http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8245328/how-do-i-make-jscrollpane-scroll-to-follow-input-focus
public class FollowFocus {
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
final int ROWS = 100;
final JPanel content = new JPanel();
content.setLayout(new BoxLayout(content, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
content.add(new JLabel(
"Thanks for helping out. Use tab to move around."));
for (int i = 0; i < ROWS; i++) {
JTextField field = new JTextField("" + i);
field.setName("field#" + i);
content.add(field);
}
final JScrollPane scroll = new JScrollPane(content);
KeyboardFocusManager.getCurrentKeyboardFocusManager().
addPropertyChangeListener("focusOwner", new PropertyChangeListener() {
#Override
public void propertyChange(PropertyChangeEvent evt) {
if (!(evt.getNewValue() instanceof JComponent)) {
return;
}
JViewport viewport = (JViewport) content.getParent();
JComponent focused = (JComponent) evt.getNewValue();
if (content.isAncestorOf(focused)) {
System.out.println("Scrolling to " + focused.getName());
Rectangle rect = focused.getBounds();
Rectangle r2 = viewport.getVisibleRect();
content.scrollRectToVisible(new Rectangle(rect.x, rect.y, (int) r2.getWidth(), (int) r2.getHeight()));
}
}
});
JFrame window = new JFrame("Follow focus");
window.setContentPane(new JScrollPane(content));
window.setSize(200, 200);
window.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
window.setVisible(true);
}
});
}
}

Here my short summary.
Add this to your Tools class:
public static void addOnEnter(Component c, Consumer<FocusEvent> onEnter) {
FocusListener fl = new FocusListener() {
#Override
public void focusGained(FocusEvent e) {
onEnter.accept(e);
}
#Override
public void focusLost(FocusEvent e) { }
};
c.addFocusListener(fl);
}
public static void scrollToFocus(FocusEvent e) {
((JComponent) e.getComponent().getParent()).scrollRectToVisible(
e.getComponent().getBounds());
}
and use it like this:
Tools.addOnEnter(component, Tools::scrollToFocus);
component can be JTextField, JButton, ...

One major issue in your code is:
focused.scrollRectToVisible(focused.getBounds());
You are calling scrollRectToVisible on the component itself! Presumably a typo.
Make your JScrollPane a final variable and call
scrollPane.getViewport().scrollRectToVisible(focused.getBounds());

Here jtextbox is the component you want to focus and jscrollpane is your scrollpane:
jScrollpane.getVerticalScrollBar().setValue(jtextbox.getLocation().x);

java delete a component

Current I can add a bunch of customed component objects to the JPanel by pressing "add" JButton. I also got a "delete" JButton which I wish to do the opposite of "add".
My intention is that I can select a component with a mouse and click the delete button and pressto!, the component is gone.
I hook a MouseListener to the panel, and use MouseEvent, e.getComponent() to get w/e current component the mouse clicks on. So if it returns a custom component then a variable "private myComponent current" (already set to null) will point to that component. Then I can just click on "delete" button to remove it. An actionListener already added in "delete" button and in the body it calls this.remove(current) (if current is not null).
However, this doesn't work as I can't remove a component! Any pointer?
If there is an elegant way to managing add/remove components please suggest!
public class MainDisplayPanel extends JPanel implements ActionListener, MouseListener{
private JButton newClassButton;
private JButton deleteButton;
private Resizable current;
private Resizable resizer;
public MainDisplayPanel(LayoutManager layout) {
super(layout);
newClassButton.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
addResizer();
}
});
deleteButton = new JButton("Delete");
deleteButton.addActionListener(this);
this.addMouseListener(this);
this.add(newClassButton);
this.add(deleteButton);
}
public void addResizer() {
//JPanel panel = new JPanel();
//panel.setBackground(Color.white);
resizer = new Resizable( new ClassBox());
this.add(resizer);
this.revalidate();
this.repaint();
}
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if(current!=null)
{
this.remove(current);
this.revalidate();
this.repaint();
}
}
public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent e) {
System.out.println(e);
Component component = e.getComponent();
if(component instanceof Resizable)
current= (Resizable) e.getComponent();
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
JFrame jframe = new JFrame();
jframe.add(new MainDisplayPanel(null));
jframe.setSize(new Dimension(600,400));
jframe.setVisible(true);
jframe.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
}
}
Doh!
Now, in the addResizer() method. Every time I press the add button to add a new Resizable object, what'd happen to the previously added objects? I'm certain that they become null because resizer variable no longer referring to it them??? Even if this is the case, they are still displayed on the panel...And if I pressed delete only the newly added Resizable object gets removed. So am I on the right track here?
Edit: to sum up my problem, I hooked the MouseListener to wrong object. It should be Resizable object instead of the panel. Therefore, variable current is always null.

Your problem is your MouseLisetener. You are listening to the MainDisplayPanel, and so when you click on the JPanel, the MouseEvent#getComponent method returned by, e, in your mousePressed method will return the MainDisplayPanel instance since that is what is being listened to, not the Resizable instance that is under the mouse.
Solutions include:
creating one MouseListener object and adding this same object to each Resizable as a MouseListener for the Resizable, or
using your current set up, but hold your Resizable's in an ArrayList and then iterating through the array list in the mousePressed method to see if any Resizable has been clicked by using the componentAt(...) method.
Note that I had to create my own SSCCE to solve this. Again in the future, please do us all a favor and do this for us as it really is in your and our best interest, and shows that you respect our time and our help.
Edit 1
My SSCCE:
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Random;
import javax.swing.*;
#SuppressWarnings("serial")
public class MainDisplayPanel extends JPanel {
private static final int RESIZABLE_COUNT = 40;
private JButton deleteButton;
private Resizable current;
private Resizable resizer;
private List<Resizable> resizableList = new ArrayList<Resizable>();
public MainDisplayPanel(LayoutManager layout) {
super(layout);
deleteButton = new JButton("Delete");
deleteButton.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
deleteButtonActionPerformed(e);
}
});
this.addMouseListener(new MyMouseAdapter());
this.add(deleteButton);
for (int i = 0; i < RESIZABLE_COUNT; i++) {
addResizer();
}
}
private void deleteButtonActionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if (current != null) {
this.remove(current);
resizableList.remove(current);
current = null;
this.revalidate();
this.repaint();
}
}
public void addResizer() {
resizer = new Resizable();
this.add(resizer);
resizableList.add(resizer);
this.revalidate();
this.repaint();
}
private class MyMouseAdapter extends MouseAdapter {
#Override
public void mousePressed(MouseEvent e) {
current = null;
Component c = getComponentAt(e.getPoint());
for (Resizable resizable : resizableList) {
if (resizable == c) {
current = resizable;
resizable.setFill(true);
} else {
resizable.setFill(false);
}
}
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
JFrame jframe = new JFrame();
// !! jframe.add(new MainDisplayPanel(null));
jframe.add(new MainDisplayPanel(new FlowLayout()));
jframe.setSize(new Dimension(600, 400));
jframe.setVisible(true);
jframe.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
}
}
#SuppressWarnings("serial")
class Resizable extends JPanel {
private static final int RESIZE_WIDTH = 50;
private static final int RESIZE_HEIGHT = 40;
private static final int THICKNESS = 5;
private static final Color FILL_COLOR = Color.pink;
public Resizable() {
Random rand = new Random();
// different color border so we can see that it was the clicked one that was deleted.
Color color = new Color(
rand.nextInt(255),
rand.nextInt(255),
rand.nextInt(255));
setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(color, THICKNESS));
}
#Override // so we can see it
public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
return new Dimension(RESIZE_WIDTH, RESIZE_HEIGHT);
}
public void setFill(boolean fill) {
Color fillColor = fill ? FILL_COLOR : null;
setBackground(fillColor);
repaint();
}
}

it very crazy idea, but everything is possible, but
1) in case that you Layed JComponent by using some of LayoutManager you can remove JComponents from Container, and thenafter you must/have to call revalidate() + repaint(), but this actions has side effect -> ReLayout Container and then Container's contents could be look very ***
2) in case that you layed Container with AbsoluteLayout, that should be maybe nicest but question is what with emtpy space inside Container
there is very easy way how to do it, you need to add JPopupMenu to the Container,
on RightMouseClick you have to finding JComponent under the MouseCursor
then call Container#remove(myComponent), thenafter you have to call revalidate() + repaint() for refresh GUI
or is same for me
call myComponent.setVisible(false), no re-layout, no revalidate + repaint, JComponent waiting on same place for (eventually) reusing
excelent thread about how to LayoutManagers add/remove JComponents + revalidate + repaint

I believe the problem is you need to force Swing to layout the components again after removing one. After you remove(current), call revalidate().