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Writing a small app for a DnD puzzle and have trouble with a JButton array

After adding an object of class Puzzle to Main everything displays mostly as it should. when I click any of the buttons some indexes of state should swap to the opposite so from true to false or from false to true.
unfortunately button clicking doesn't want to register for any of the buttons from the array yet it does register for a single button that was initialized by itself. How can I fix the problem?
my code:
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.util.Arrays;
public class Puzzle extends JFrame implements ActionListener
{
int doors = 8;
boolean [] state = new boolean[doors];
JButton [] levers = new JButton[doors];
JButton weird = new JButton("weird lever");
JLabel display = new JLabel();
Puzzle()
{
reset();
this.setSize(new Dimension(1920, 1080));
this.setVisible(true);
this.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
this.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
this.setVisible(true);
this.setResizable(false);
this.setLayout(null);
this.add(display);
this.add(weird);
int num = levers.length;
int start = 50;
int size = (1920-(num+1)*start)/num;
char label = 'A';
display.setBounds(size*2, 150, 2000, 300);
display.setFont(new Font("Arial Black", Font.PLAIN, 200));
Display();
for(JButton i : levers)
{
i = new JButton(String.valueOf(label));
label++;
i.setBounds(start, 500, size, size);
start+=(size+50);
i.addActionListener(this);
i.setFont(new Font("Arial black", Font.PLAIN, size/2));
i.setFocusable(false);
this.add(i);
}
weird.setFocusable(false);
weird.setBounds(550, 800, 800, 200);
weird.setFont(new Font("Arial Black", Font.PLAIN, size/2));
weird.addActionListener(this);
}
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
{
/*if(e.getSource() == levers[0])
{
state[2] = Swap(state[2]);
Display();
}
if(e.getSource() == levers[1])
{
state[4] = Swap(state[4]);
state[6] = Swap(state[6]);
Display();
}
if(e.getSource() == levers[2])
{
state[2] = Swap(state[2]);
state[3] = Swap(state[3]);
state[6] = Swap(state[6]);
state[7] = Swap(state[7]);
Display();
}
if(e.getSource() == levers[3])
{
state[0] = Swap(state[0]);
state[2] = Swap(state[2]);
state[7] = Swap(state[7]);
Display();
}
if(e.getSource() == levers[4])
{
state[1] = Swap(state[1]);
state[3] = Swap(state[3]);
state[4] = Swap(state[4]);
state[5] = Swap(state[5]);
Display();
}
if(e.getSource() == levers[5])
{
state[0] = Swap(state[0]);
state[2] = Swap(state[2]);
state[6] = Swap(state[6]);
Display();
}
if(e.getSource() == levers[6])
{
state[1] = Swap(state[1]);
state[5] = Swap(state[5]);
Display();
}
if(e.getSource() == levers[7])
{
state[1] = Swap(state[1]);
state[2] = Swap(state[2]);
state[4] = Swap(state[4]);
state[5] = Swap(state[5]);
Display();
}
*/
if(e.getSource() == levers[0])
{
display.setText("A works");
}
if(e.getSource() == weird)
{
display.setText("test");
}
}
boolean Swap(boolean n)
{
return !n;
}
void Display()
{
StringBuilder toDisplay = new StringBuilder();
for (boolean j : state)
{
if (j)
{
toDisplay.append("| ");
} else
toDisplay.append("_ ");
}
display.setText(toDisplay.toString());
}
void reset ()
{
Arrays.fill(state, true);
}
}```

button clicking doesn't want to register for any of the buttons from the array yet it does register for a single button
System.out.println( levers[0] );
if(e.getSource() == levers[0])
{
display.setText("A works");
}
Add some debug code to your ActionListener and you will see that the value of levers[0] is "null".
for(JButton i : levers)
{
i = new JButton(String.valueOf(label));
label++;
i.setBounds(start, 500, size, size);
start+=(size+50);
i.addActionListener(this);
i.setFont(new Font("Arial black", Font.PLAIN, size/2));
i.setFocusable(false);
this.add(i);
}
You create the button, but you never add the instance of each button to the Array.
for(JButton i : levers)
Why would you use "i" as the variable name. Typically "i" is used as an index. Use a proper variable name, like "button". However, in this case you don't want to use a "for each" loop.
Instead you want a normal for loop so you can index your Array to add each button as you create it:
//for(JButton i : levers)
for (int i = 0; i < doors; i++)
{
JButton button = new JButton(String.valueOf(label));
levers[i] = button;
...
Other issues:
method names should NOT start with an upper case character.
components should be added to the frame BEFORE the frame is made visible.
components should be created on the Event Dispatch Thread (EDT).
Don't use a null layout and setBounds(). Swing was designed to be used with layout managers.
Don't hardcode screen sizes. Instead you can use frame.setExtendedState(JFrame.MAXIMIZED_BOTH);, so it will work for all screen sizes.

Introduction
Your code was too complex for me to understand. I like simple code. Short methods and simple classes.
Here's the GUI I came up with.
Here's the GUI after I clicked a couple of letter JButtons
Explanation
Oracle has a nifty tutorial, Creating a GUI With JFC/Swing, which will show you how to create a Swing GUI. Skip the Netbeans section.
Your code was missing a main method, so I added one. I started the Swing application with a call to the SwingUtilities invokeLater method. This method ensures that the Swing components are created and executed on the Event Dispatch Thread.
The first thing I did was create a PuzzleModel class to hold the boolean array. It's a good idea to separate your model from your view and controller classes. This pattern is the model / view / controller (MVC) pattern.
A Swing JFrame can contain many JPanels. I created a segment JPanel to hold a JLabel and a JButton aligned vertically. I used the GridBagLayout to align the JLabel and JButton. Swing layout managers help you to avoid absolute positioning and the problems that come with absolute positioning.
I created a main JPanel to hold 8 segment JPanels. These JPanels are aligned with a FlowLayout.
As you can see, my JFrame is smaller than yours. You create as small a JFrame as possible. If the user wants to make it bigger, that's what the rectangle in the upper right corner is for.
Swing is meant to be designed from the inside out. You don't specify a JFrame size and try to make the components fit. You create the components and let Swing determine the size of the JFrame. If you want the JFrame I created to be bigger, increase the font sizes. Hint: A fraction or multiple of 72 points looks better on most displays.
I created two ActionListener classes, one for the alphabet JButtons and one for the lever JButton. This makes it easier to focus on the alphabet JButtons. All you have to do in the ActionListener is swap the appropriate isVertical boolean values when each JButton is left-clicked. I just flipped the corresponding boolean as a demonstration.
Code
Here's the complete runnable code.
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.FlowLayout;
import java.awt.Font;
import java.awt.GridBagConstraints;
import java.awt.GridBagLayout;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.util.Arrays;
import javax.swing.BorderFactory;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
public class PuzzleGUI implements Runnable {
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new PuzzleGUI());
}
private JLabel[] leverLabel;
private final PuzzleModel model;
public PuzzleGUI() {
this.model = new PuzzleModel();
}
#Override
public void run() {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Weird Lever");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.add(createMainPanel(), BorderLayout.CENTER);
frame.add(createButtonPanel(), BorderLayout.AFTER_LAST_LINE);
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationByPlatform(true);
frame.setVisible(true);
System.out.println(frame.getSize());
}
private JPanel createMainPanel() {
JPanel panel = new JPanel(new FlowLayout());
panel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(5, 5, 5, 5));
char c = 'A';
boolean[] isVertical = model.getIsVertical();
leverLabel = new JLabel[isVertical.length];
for (int i = 0; i < isVertical.length; i++) {
String labelText = (isVertical[i]) ? "|" : "-";
panel.add(createLeverButtonPanel(labelText, Character.toString(c), i));
c = (char) (((int) c) + 1);
}
return panel;
}
public void updateMainPanel() {
boolean[] isVertical = model.getIsVertical();
for (int i = 0; i < isVertical.length; i++) {
String labelText = (isVertical[i]) ? "|" : "-";
leverLabel[i].setText(labelText);
}
}
private JPanel createLeverButtonPanel(String labelText, String buttonText, int index) {
JPanel panel = new JPanel(new GridBagLayout());
panel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(5, 5, 5, 5));
Font font1 = new Font("Arial Black", Font.PLAIN, 144);
Font font2 = new Font("Arial Black", Font.PLAIN, 72);
GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
gbc.gridx = 0;
gbc.gridy = 0;
leverLabel[index] = new JLabel(labelText);
leverLabel[index].setFont(font1);
panel.add(leverLabel[index], gbc);
gbc.gridy++;
JButton button = new JButton(buttonText);
button.addActionListener(new AlphabetButtonListener());
button.setFont(font2);
panel.add(button, gbc);
return panel;
}
private JPanel createButtonPanel() {
JPanel panel = new JPanel(new FlowLayout());
panel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(5, 5, 5, 5));
Font font2 = new Font("Arial Black", Font.PLAIN, 48);
JButton button = new JButton("Weird Lever");
button.addActionListener(new LeverButtonListener());
button.setFont(font2);
panel.add(button);
return panel;
}
public class AlphabetButtonListener implements ActionListener {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
JButton button = (JButton) event.getSource();
String text = button.getText();
char c = text.charAt(0);
int index = ((int) c - 'A');
model.swap(index);
updateMainPanel();
}
}
public class LeverButtonListener implements ActionListener {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
}
}
public class PuzzleModel {
private boolean[] isVertical;
public PuzzleModel() {
int doors = 8;
this.isVertical = new boolean[doors];
reset();
}
private void reset() {
Arrays.fill(isVertical, true);
}
public void swap(int index) {
isVertical[index] = !isVertical[index];
}
public boolean[] getIsVertical() {
return isVertical;
}
}
}

JLabel not positioning correctly

I am just throwing together a quick and dirty GUI to display some data when I ran into an odd issue. The last label I add to the JFrame doesn't want to be positioned or display the border I put on it, so it looks like this:
Here is my code:
public DisplayData (Connection tConn)
{
ID = tID;
conn = tConn;
setupObjects();
setupFrame();
}
private void setupObjects()
{
JLabel caseLabel = new JLabel ("Case #:");
JLabel dateLabel = new JLabel ("Date:");
JLabel reportLabel = new JLabel ("Report:");
JLabel offenceLabel = new JLabel ("Offence:");
JLabel descriptionLabel = new JLabel ("Description:");
this.add(caseLabel);
this.add(dateLabel);
this.add(reportLabel);
this.add(offenceLabel);
this.add(descriptionLabel);
caseLabel.setBounds(50, 50, 130, 25); //x, y, width, height
dateLabel.setBounds(50, 100, 130, 25);
reportLabel.setBounds(50, 150, 130, 25);
offenceLabel.setBounds(50, 200, 130, 25);
descriptionLabel.setBounds(100, 50, 130, 25);
caseLabel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.BLACK));
dateLabel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.BLACK));
reportLabel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.BLACK));
offenceLabel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.BLACK));
descriptionLabel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.BLACK));
}
private void setupFrame()
{
this.setTitle("Data Display");
this.setSize (650, 700); //Width, Height
this.setLocation(300, 10);
this.setResizable(false);
this.setVisible(true);
this.setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
this.setLayout(null);
}
Yes, I know I should be using a proper layout manager, but like I said i just wanted something quick and dirty. Plus, I will not be beaten by something that should be this simple. Any ideas would be appreciated.
EDIT:
As Compass and Neophyte pointed out, my order of operations was off. Flipped my method calls and all is good again in the world. Thanks for the 2nd pair of eyes.

Contrary to the original poster's strategy, or any of the answers so far, the best approach to this problem is to use layouts.
Here is an example that shows how easy it is to position fields using layouts, and to change the GUI on later updates to the specification.
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.border.*;
public class CourtDetailsGUI {
private JComponent ui = null;
static final String[] FIELD_NAMES = {
"Case #:",
"Date:",
"Report:",
"Offence:",
"Plaintiff:",
"Defendant:"
};
CourtDetailsGUI(int num) {
initUI(num);
}
public void initUI(int num) {
if (ui != null) {
return;
}
ui = new JPanel(new BorderLayout(4, 4));
ui.setBorder(new EmptyBorder(4, 4, 4, 4));
ui.add(getFieldsPanel(num), BorderLayout.PAGE_START);
JTextArea ta = new JTextArea(5, 40);
JScrollPane sp = new JScrollPane(ta);
JPanel p = new JPanel(new GridLayout());
p.add(sp);
p.setBorder(new TitledBorder("Details"));
ui.add(p);
}
private JPanel getFieldsPanel(int num) {
JPanel outerPanel = new JPanel(new FlowLayout());
JPanel innerPanel = new JPanel(new GridLayout(0, 1, 15, 15));
outerPanel.add(innerPanel);
for (int ii=1; ii<num; ii++) {
JLabel l = new JLabel(FIELD_NAMES[ii]);
l.setBorder(new LineBorder(Color.BLACK));
innerPanel.add(l);
}
return outerPanel;
}
public JComponent getUI() {
return ui;
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
Runnable r = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
try {
UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.getSystemLookAndFeelClassName());
} catch (Exception useDefault) {
}
for (int ii=0; ii<FIELD_NAMES.length; ii++) {
CourtDetailsGUI o = new CourtDetailsGUI(ii+1);
JFrame f = new JFrame("Data " + (ii+1));
f.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
f.setLocationByPlatform(true);
f.setContentPane(o.getUI());
f.pack();
f.setMinimumSize(f.getSize());
f.setVisible(true);
}
}
};
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(r);
}
}

Your order of operations is incorrect.
You initially call setupObjects();
This plays your objects out onto a JFrame, which has the default LayoutManager of BorderLayout.
By using the default add(Component comp) method, with BorderLayout, you end up putting the component into null for BorderLayout, which is not supposed to be normal. Furthermore, the reason you can't see the border for this object is because the border is actually the size of the frame. If you explicitly set a region for BorderLayout, then you'll see it work, but setting to no region seems to just break BorderLayout.
Additional add calls appear to free the previous item from the BorderLayout null management, allowing the bounds to take over.
Afterwards, you call setupFrame(); which removes the layout manager, but does not refresh what is currently rendered.
This sets the layout to null, which does nothing to how the frame is displayed, but just removes the layout.
To avoid this issue, call setupFrame(); prior to setupObjects();, and then setVisible(true) can be called at the end of setupObjects();

Assistance With KeyEvent

I am making a platformer game for a class project and so far all I have been able to do is add the chicken character to the game. I need to be able to have him move forward on the press of "D" or right arrow. My code is:
public class Main extends JFrame {
public Main(){
//Creates Title Image
JLabel title = new JLabel(" ");
ImageIcon tl = new ImageIcon("title.gif");
title.setIcon(tl);
//Creates Start Image
final JButton start = new JButton("");
ImageIcon st = new ImageIcon("start.gif");
start.setIcon(st);
//Creates Options Image
JButton options = new JButton("");
ImageIcon opt = new ImageIcon("options.gif");
options.setIcon(opt);
options.setBackground(Color.BLACK);
//Create first frame for "Start" button
final JPanel p1 = new JPanel();
p1.setLayout(new GridLayout(1, 1));
p1.add(start, BorderLayout.CENTER);
//Create second panel for title label
final JPanel p2 = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
p2.setLayout(new GridLayout(1, 3));
p2.add(title, BorderLayout.WEST);
//Create third panel for "Options" button
final JPanel p3 = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
p3.setLayout(new GridLayout(1, 1));
p3.add(options, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
//Creates fourth panel to organize all other primary
final JPanel p4 = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
p4.setLayout(new GridLayout(1, 3));
p4.add(p1, BorderLayout.WEST);
p4.add(p2, BorderLayout.CENTER);
p4.add(p3, BorderLayout.EAST);
//When button is clicked, it changes the level
start.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if(start.isEnabled()) {
remove(p4);
setSize(1440, 500);
add(new ContentPanel1());
validate();
}
else {
return;
}
}
});
//Adds fourth panel to frame
add(p4, BorderLayout.CENTER);
}
public static void main(String arg[]) {
Main frame = new Main();
//Finds screen size of monitor
Dimension screenSize = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getScreenSize();
//Creates the frame
frame.setTitle("Cockadoodle Duty: Awakening");
frame.setSize(screenSize);
frame.setLocale(null);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setVisible(true);
String background = "#000000";
frame.setBackground(Color.decode(background));
}
}
class coordinate {
public static int x;
public static int y;
}
class ContentPanel1 extends JPanel{
Image back = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getImage("level0.gif");
Image chick = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getImage("chicken.gif");
ContentPanel1() {
MediaTracker mt = new MediaTracker(this);
mt.addImage(back, 0);
try {
mt.waitForAll();
} catch (InterruptedException e){
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
public void paintComponent(Graphics g){
coordinate.x = 20;
coordinate.y = 321;
super.paintComponent(g);
int imwidth = back.getWidth(null);
int imheight = back.getHeight(null);
g.drawImage(back, 1, 1, null);
g.drawImage(chick, coordinate.x, coordinate.y, null);
}
public void MoveDirection(KeyEvent e, Graphics g) {
coordinate.x = 20;
coordinate.y = 321;
super.paintComponent(g);
int key = e.getKeyCode();
if(key == 68) {
coordinate.x += 1;
g.drawImage(chick, coordinate.x, coordinate.y, null);
}
}
}
The main trouble I have been having with my code is the bit at the end with the MoveDirection method. The way I have it going is by adding a new chicken to the frame (This was mainly due to the fact that I was just testing to see if the code worked). Is there a better way to do that too?

Start by taking a look at How to Use Key Bindings
NEVER call super.paintComponent(g); (or paintComponent(g);) directly from outside the context of the paintComponent method, there is a lot more to painting then just painting the component background. See Painting in AWT and Swing and Performing Custom Painting for more details. Instead, simply call repaint when you want to, well, repaint the component.
The use of MediaTracker is out of date and you should be using the ImageIO API instead, which will block automatically while reading the image. See Reading/Loading an Image for more details
Don't use Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getScreenSize() in combination with JFrame#setSize, the getScreenSize method does not take into account things like the task bar or dock of some OS's, instead use the JFrame#setExtendedState and pass it JFrame.MAXIMIZED_BOTH
frame.setLocale(null); isn't doing what you think it is

What Layout Should I Use for This Project (Java)

I am making a platformer game for a project for class and need to have a chicken character jump on some platforms. I have a start screen and a button, and when the button is clicked, it will change the frame to the first level. When I add the chicken character to the frame as well as the background image, all I can see is the background image. Should I be using a different layout or is there something else I can do. This is my code:
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.*;
import javax.imageio.ImageIO;
import javax.swing.*;
public class Main extends JFrame {
public Main(){
//Creates Chicken Character
final JLabel chicken = new JLabel(" ");
ImageIcon chick1 = new ImageIcon("chicken.gif");
ImageIcon chick2 = new ImageIcon("chicken2.gif");
chicken.setIcon(chick1);
//Sets Chicken Location
chicken.setLocation(1, 1);
//Creates Title Image
JLabel title = new JLabel(" ");
ImageIcon tl = new ImageIcon("title.gif");
title.setIcon(tl);
//Creates Start Image
final JButton start = new JButton("");
ImageIcon st = new ImageIcon("start.gif");
start.setIcon(st);
//Creates Options Image
JButton options = new JButton("");
ImageIcon opt = new ImageIcon("options.gif");
options.setIcon(opt);
options.setBackground(Color.BLACK);
//Creates label for level 0 background image
JLabel background = new JLabel(" ");
ImageIcon back = new ImageIcon("level0.gif");
background.setIcon(back);
//Creates a panel for level 0
final JPanel p5 = new JPanel();
chicken.setLocation(1, 1);
p5.add(background);
//Create first frame for "Start" button
final JPanel p1 = new JPanel();
p1.setLayout(new GridLayout(1, 1));
p1.add(start, BorderLayout.CENTER);
//Create second panel for title label
final JPanel p2 = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
p2.setLayout(new GridLayout(1, 3));
p2.add(title, BorderLayout.WEST);
//Create third panel for "Options" button
final JPanel p3 = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
p3.setLayout(new GridLayout(1, 1));
p3.add(options, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
//Creates fourth panel to organize all other primary
final JPanel p4 = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
p4.setLayout(new GridLayout(1, 3));
p4.add(p1, BorderLayout.WEST);
p4.add(p2, BorderLayout.CENTER);
p4.add(p3, BorderLayout.EAST);
//When button is clicked, it changes the level
start.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if(start.isEnabled()) {
remove(p4);
add(new ContentPanel());
add(chicken);
chicken.setLocation(100, 100);
setSize(1440, 500);
setLocale(null);
chicken.isOpaque();
validate();
}
else {
return;
}
}
});
//Adds fourth panel to frame
add(p4, BorderLayout.CENTER);
}
public static void main(String arg[]) {
Main frame = new Main();
//Finds screen size of monitor
Dimension screenSize = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getScreenSize();
//Creates the frame
frame.setTitle("Cockadoodle Duty: Awakening");
frame.setSize(screenSize);
frame.setLocale(null);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setVisible(true);
String background = "#000000";
frame.setBackground(Color.decode(background));
}
}
class ContentPanel extends JPanel{
Image bgimage = null;
ContentPanel() {
MediaTracker mt = new MediaTracker(this);
bgimage = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getImage("level0.gif");
mt.addImage(bgimage, 0);
try {
mt.waitForAll();
} catch (InterruptedException e){
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
protected void paintComponent(Graphics g){
super.paintComponent(g);
int imwidth = bgimage.getWidth(null);
int imheight = bgimage.getHeight(null);
g.drawImage(bgimage, 1, 1, null);
}
}

Note: It's been a while since I used the Graphics API
Quick Answer:
You need to draw everything in your paintComponent method. Your drawing routine should check the state of all game objects and draw them accordingly. Right now the panel is drawing the background image - that's it. Add your chicken image the same way you added your bgImage.
Some more things to consider:
If you experience screen flicker look into Double Buffering.
Not to overwhelm you but you might want to do some light reading on game coding. Get a general idea on how to code your game loop and what happens each time the loop is executed.
Since you are using an OO language you should also probably make a Chicken class.
public class Chicken {
private int x;
private int y;
private Image chickenSprtie;
//add get / set for access
}
Or even a general Super Class - Sprite with int x, int y. Or even a "Drawable" interface to forces all your drawable game objects to have common methods....

Efficient way to add lots of different swing objects to a panel/frame. (Java)

I'm trying to do as the title says.
I've got an efficient way for posting several of the same swing objects to a frame by storing them in an array and adding them using a for loop like so:
JLabel[] contrllabels= new JLabel[8];
contrllabels[0] = new JLabel("SCF Type: ");
contrllabels[1] = new JLabel("Units: ");
contrllabels[2] = new JLabel("Spherical Harmonics: ");
contrllabels[3] = new JLabel("Molecular Charge: ");
contrllabels[4] = new JLabel("PP: ");
contrllabels[5] = new JLabel("DFT Type: ");
contrllabels[6] = new JLabel("Max Iterations: ");
contrllabels[7] = new JLabel("Mult: ");
for(int i = 0;i<contrllabels.length;i++){
c.gridy = i;
frame.add(contrllabels[i],c);
}
But what if there are several swing objects of different types? I've got several combo boxes and textfields which I'd like to be added to the frame in a similar manner. I use gridbaglayout so if I don't use a for loop, I end up with lots of unnecessary code due to giving the constraints new values every time I want a different object added.
Is there such thing as an array of references which point to these different objects which I can then iterate through to add to the frame? Something like
JTextField tf = new JTextField(5);
JComboBox cb = new JComboBox("example");
Swing[] array = {tf,cb}
for(int i = 0;i<array.length;i++){
c.gridy = i;
frame.add(array[i],c);
}
I know such an array doesn't exist, but is there some way of implementing such a thing? It would greatly reduce the number of lines in my code and make it less confusing.
Thank you

You could use an array or collection of a common super type such as an array or ArrayList of JComponent. I'm curious if you're using a parallel array of GridBagConstraints to go with each component that is being added -- ugh. I often use arrays of components but usually if they are like components such as JLabel/JTextField pairs or a cluster of JRadioButtons.
As an aside, for my money, I try to avoid GridBagLayout as much as possible and instead nest containers that use the more coder-friendly layouts.
For instance this small GUI was made with a combination of FlowLayout, BoxLayout, BorderLayout and GridLayout:
The large JPanel that holds the whole GUI uses BorderLayout, The JTextArea in the center is placed BorderLayout.CENTER, the Provider JLabel and JTextField at the top are in a FlowLayout JPanel that is placed overall BorderLayout.NORTH, the bottom buttons are in a JPanel that uses GridLayout(1, 0, 5, 0) which is held in another JPanel that uses FlowLayout which is placed in the GUI BorderLayout.SOUTH, and the stuff on the right are in a BoxLayout using JPanel.
For example:
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import java.awt.Window;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.UIManager;
import javax.swing.UIManager.LookAndFeelInfo;
import javax.swing.UnsupportedLookAndFeelException;
#SuppressWarnings("serial")
public class GetLetterTextGui extends JPanel {
private static final int TA_ROWS = 20;
private static final int TA_COLS = 35;
private static final int PROVIDER_FIELD_COLS = 10;
private static final String GUI_TITLE = "Get Letter Text";
private JList letterList;
private JTextArea textarea = new JTextArea(TA_ROWS, TA_COLS);
private JTextField providerField = new JTextField(PROVIDER_FIELD_COLS);
private JCheckBox addValedictionChkBox = new JCheckBox("Add Valediction", true);
public GetLetterTextGui() {
letterList = new JList(new String[]{"Fe", "Fi", "Fo", "Fum"});
providerField.setText("John Smith, MD");
textarea.setWrapStyleWord(true);
textarea.setLineWrap(true);
JPanel northPanel = new JPanel();
northPanel.add(new JLabel("Provider:"));
northPanel.add(providerField);
JPanel southPanel = new JPanel();
JPanel btnPanel = new JPanel(new GridLayout(1, 0, 5, 0));
btnPanel.add(new JButton("Copy to Clipboard"));
btnPanel.add(new JButton("Clear"));
btnPanel.add(new JButton(new ExitAction()));
southPanel.add(btnPanel);
JPanel eastPanel = new JPanel();
eastPanel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(eastPanel, BoxLayout.PAGE_AXIS));
eastPanel.add(new JScrollPane(letterList));
eastPanel.add(new JPanel() {{add(addValedictionChkBox);}});
int eb = 0;
setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(eb, eb, eb, eb));
setLayout(new BorderLayout(eb, eb));
add(northPanel, BorderLayout.PAGE_START);
add(eastPanel, BorderLayout.LINE_END);
add(new JScrollPane(textarea), BorderLayout.CENTER);
add(southPanel, BorderLayout.PAGE_END);
}
private class ExitAction extends AbstractAction {
private final Object MNEMONIC = new Integer(KeyEvent.VK_X);
public ExitAction() {
super("Exit");
putValue(MNEMONIC_KEY, MNEMONIC);
}
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
Window win = SwingUtilities.getWindowAncestor(GetLetterTextGui.this);
win.dispose();
}
}
private static void createAndShowGui() {
GetLetterTextGui mainPanel = new GetLetterTextGui();
JFrame frame = new JFrame(GUI_TITLE);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.getContentPane().add(mainPanel);
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationByPlatform(true);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
try {
for (LookAndFeelInfo info : UIManager.getInstalledLookAndFeels()) {
if ("Nimbus".equals(info.getName())) {
UIManager.setLookAndFeel(info.getClassName());
break;
}
}
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
createAndShowGui();
}
});
} catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} catch (InstantiationException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} catch (IllegalAccessException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} catch (UnsupportedLookAndFeelException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}

All GUI components are JComponent objects. ArrayList<JComponent> can hold references to all of them. Give it a try:
JFrame frame = new JFrame("test");
ArrayList<JComponent> cps = new ArrayList<JComponent>();
cps.add(new JLabel("Hello"));
cps.add(new JPanel());
cps.add(new JButton("OK"));
for (JComponent widget : cps) {
frame.add(widget);
}