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How to display one Jframe at a time? [duplicate]

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).

Java - How to make contents of JFrame appear in the same Window instead of multiple windows

I am new to java and am getting to the advanced level of it, i have a problem in the GUI Controls, i made a button that when clicked opens up a new window like this:
JButton b = new JButton("Open New Window");
b.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
Window w = new Window();
w.setVisible(true);
}
});
this window contains other objects but i have been thinking of making the button in such a way that instead of opening a new JFrame, it opens everything in that same window without opening a new window, honestly i dont know how to do so please could i get some professional help

I think you want a card layout for this situation. Here is some code which should point you in the right direction.
class MyFrame extends JFrame {
public MyFrame() {
JComponent allMyStuff = new JComponent();
JComponent allMyOtherStuff = new JComponent();
this.getContentPane().setLayout(new CardLayout());
this.getContentPane().add(allMyStuff, "1");
this.getContentPane().add(allMyOtherStuff, "2");
CardLayout cl = (CardLayout) (this.getContentPane().getLayout());
cl.show(this.getContentPane(), "1");
JButton b = new JButton("Open New Window"); //add somewhere to first compoonent
b.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
CardLayout cl = (CardLayout) (this.getContentPane().getLayout());
cl.show(this.getContentPane(), "2");
}
});
}
}
I doubt the code runs but generally it holds the idea. You have stuff in one panel, and stuff in another panel, and you just want to switch between the two. The button of course needs to be added in the first panel (allMyStuff) somewhere.

I"m not clear on what it is exactly that you want to show in the GUI when the button is pressed, but perhaps you should consider creating different JPanel "views" and swap these views in the GUI using a CardLayout.
For example, check out these StackOverflow questions and answers:
Java CardLayout Main Menu Problem
Change size of JPanel using CardLayout
Java CardLayout JPanel moves up, when second JPanel added
Java swing; How to toggle panel's visibility?
Clear components of JFrame and add new componets on the same JFrame
gui multiple frames switch
JLabel displaying countdown, java

Within the action listener that you have introduced, you have the possibility to access to instance variables. Therefore you can add further elements to your GUI if you want. I've done a small demo, maybe this is kind of, what you want to do. In order to make your GUI better, you should consider of using layout managers.
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
public class GUI {
JFrame frame;
JButton btn;
JButton compToAdd;
public GUI() {
frame = new JFrame("Testwindow");
frame.setSize(500, 500);
frame.setLayout(null);
btn = new JButton("test btn");
btn.setBounds(20, 20, 200, 200);
btn.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
compToAdd = new JButton("new Button");
compToAdd.setBounds(20, 220, 200, 200);
frame.add(compToAdd);
frame.repaint();
}
});
frame.add(btn);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
GUI gui = new GUI();
}
}

Java Swing blank screen instead of window displayed

I'm following through a book called "The JFC Swing Tutorial (Second Edition)" and I'm pretty much at the start I have followed this code and it should be displaying the button and the label in the content pane, but All im getting is a blank screen. any ideas?
Thanks.
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import javax.swing.*;
public class m extends JFrame
{
void UserFrame()
{
//JFrame.setDefaultLookAndFeelDecorated(true);
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Hellow You");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
JPanel jp = new JPanel(new GridLayout(0,1));
//makes label
JLabel label = new JLabel("Sup ");
//adds to the frames content pane a label
frame.getContentPane().add(label);
JButton button = new JButton("Hai");
frame.getContentPane().add(button);
jp.add(button);
jp.add(label);
jp.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(30,30,10,30));
//pack set the window to what it needs AKA to display all components
frame.pack();
//frame.setSize(250, 250);
//shows window
frame.setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String[] args)
{
final m window = new m();
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable()
{
public void run()
{
window.UserFrame();
}
});
}
}

Simply add
frame.add(jp);
just before
frame.pack();
What's happening here? You correctly add all your widgets to a JPane, but you basically threw that JPane away and didn't use it anywhere.
This will be sufficient just to get it to work properly.
If you want to do it correctly, you should also remove frame.getContentPane().add(label); and frame.getContentPane().add(button); (Thank you #dic19 for noting that!). These will not work the way you used it.

Custom design for Close/Minimize buttons on JFrame

I would like to apply my own close and minimize buttons. Is there any way to change the JFrame design?

The trick lies in the PLAF and setDefaultLookAndFeelDecorated(true) (Specifying Window Decorations).
E.G.
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import javax.swing.*;
public class FrameCloseButtonsByLookAndFeel {
FrameCloseButtonsByLookAndFeel() {
String[] names = {
UIManager.getSystemLookAndFeelClassName(),
UIManager.getCrossPlatformLookAndFeelClassName()
};
for (String name : names) {
try {
UIManager.setLookAndFeel(name);
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
// very important to get the window decorations.
JFrame.setDefaultLookAndFeelDecorated(true);
JFrame f = new JFrame(UIManager.getLookAndFeel().getName());
f.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
JPanel gui = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
f.setContentPane(gui);
JTree tree = new JTree();
tree.setVisibleRowCount(4);
gui.add(tree, BorderLayout.LINE_START);
gui.add(new JScrollPane(new JTextArea(3,15)));
JToolBar toolbar = new JToolBar();
gui.add(toolbar, BorderLayout.PAGE_START);
for (int ii=1; ii<5; ii++) {
toolbar.add(new JButton("Button " + ii));
if (ii%2==0) {
toolbar.addSeparator();
}
}
f.pack();
f.setLocationByPlatform(true);
f.setVisible(true);
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
new FrameCloseButtonsByLookAndFeel();
}
});
}
}

think you are after a JWindow
http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/javax/swing/JWindow.html
You can then create your own buttons which actions can minimize/close your window

The only thing I'm aware that can be done is to add a WindowListener to the JFrame and handle closing events in that listener. You can make virtually anything, like displaying dialogs or even cancelling the closing of the JFrame.
See this tutorial for more details about how to write such listeners.
As for minimizing: as far as I know, there is no way to control or modify such behaviour, it's completely controlled by the operating system.
The only way to change the aspect of the minimize/close/maximize buttons is to use a custom LookAndFeel and setting JFrame.setDefaultLookAndFeelDecorated (true);.

Set jframe undecorated.
Place a jlabel for each button.
Put own icon for each Btn.
Put mouseListeners for each jlabel and
specify code eg, System.exit(0);/set ICONIFIED option

One JFrame opening another

I have a JFrame and JPanel full of Jsomethings with an actionlistener. When the user clicks an object I want to open another JFrame. Here is what I did:
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
Object source = e.getSource();
if (source == rejectionbutton){
RejectApp ra = new RejectApp();
ra.main(null);
}
}
(RejectApp calls a new JFrame.) So another JFrame opens on the screen with more options. It works OK (so far), but I want to know is this standard? I mean calling the main method like this?
Another question is, without using a cardlayout (which I don't want to use), is the best way to handle multiple panels, by doing this sort of thing?

I would change a few things. First off, usually an application has one JFrame and then if it needs to show another window does so as a modal or non-modal dialog such as can be obtained with a JDialog or JOptionPane. Having said that, it's even more common to have one JFrame and swap "views" in the JFrame -- swap contentPanes or other large panels via a CardLayout as this would mimic the behavior of many gui programs we all currently use.
Personally, I also try to gear my GUI creation towards creating a JPanel or JComponent rather than towards creating a top-level window. This way if I want to display the GUI as a stand alone app, a dialog, or an applet I can pop it into the contentPane of a JFrame or JDialog or JApplet respectively, or if as an inner panel of a more complex GUI, then insert it there, or in an application with a swapping view, then as a card in a CardLayout as noted above. The bottom line is I feel that this structure gives you the developer a lot more options in how you can use this GUI.
Also, I would avoid calling another class's main as you're doing (assuming this is the public static void main method) as you lose all benefits of OOPs. You also seem to be trying to call a static method in a non-static way (assuming I understand your program structure correctly).
For your second question, it begs a question of my own: why do you not want to use CardLayout?
edit: an example of what I meant is as follows:
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.Window;
import java.awt.Dialog.ModalityType;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.*;
public class SwingEg {
private static void createAndShowUI() {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Main JFrame");
frame.getContentPane().add(new MainGUI().getMainPanel());
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
java.awt.EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
createAndShowUI();
}
});
}
}
class MainGUI {
private static final Dimension MAIN_PANEL_SIZE = new Dimension(450, 300);
private JPanel mainPanel = new JPanel();
private JDialog modalDialog;
private JDialog nonModalDialog;
public MainGUI() {
JButton openModalDialogBtn = new JButton("Open Modal Dialog Window");
openModalDialogBtn.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
openModalDialogBtnActionPerformed(e);
}
});
JButton openNonModalDialogBtn = new JButton("Open Non-Modal Dialog Window");
openNonModalDialogBtn.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
openNonModalDialogBtnActionPerformed(e);
}
});
mainPanel.setPreferredSize(MAIN_PANEL_SIZE);
mainPanel.add(openModalDialogBtn);
mainPanel.add(openNonModalDialogBtn);
}
private void openModalDialogBtnActionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if (modalDialog == null) {
Window topWindow = SwingUtilities.getWindowAncestor(mainPanel);
modalDialog = new JDialog(topWindow, "Modal Dialog", ModalityType.APPLICATION_MODAL);
modalDialog.getContentPane().add(new DialogPanel().getMainPanel());
modalDialog.pack();
modalDialog.setLocationRelativeTo(topWindow);
modalDialog.setVisible(true);
} else {
modalDialog.setVisible(true);
}
}
private void openNonModalDialogBtnActionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if (nonModalDialog == null) {
Window topWindow = SwingUtilities.getWindowAncestor(mainPanel);
nonModalDialog = new JDialog(topWindow, "Non-Modal Dialog", ModalityType.MODELESS);
nonModalDialog.getContentPane().add(new DialogPanel().getMainPanel());
nonModalDialog.pack();
nonModalDialog.setLocationRelativeTo(topWindow);
nonModalDialog.setVisible(true);
} else {
nonModalDialog.setVisible(true);
}
}
public JPanel getMainPanel() {
return mainPanel;
}
}
class DialogPanel {
private static final Dimension DIALOG_SIZE = new Dimension(300, 200);
private JPanel dialogPanel = new JPanel();
public DialogPanel() {
dialogPanel.add(new JLabel("Hello from a dialog", SwingConstants.CENTER));
dialogPanel.setPreferredSize(DIALOG_SIZE);
}
public JPanel getMainPanel() {
return dialogPanel;
}
}

I would rather make a new instance of JFrame or a subclass, or call a new method who makes a new JFrame:
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
Object source = e.getSource();
if (source == rejectionbutton){
JFrame frame = new JFrame("New Frame");
//or
makeNewFrame();
}
}
Another simple Layout-Manager is the BorderLayout, it´s the default Layout-Manager of the JFrame class.

new YourJFrameNameHere().setVisible(true);
Replace YourJFrameNameHere with the JFrame name.
Simple, no?