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Change color with JButton, set the for loop terminating condition to infinite

I'm doing a Coursework assignment for the Uni, the assignment is to create a RectanglesGUI with JPanel, but I have a problem with the buttons I have created.
The buttonSOUTH supposed to do the following:
When the user clicks on the JButton in the SOUTH region, the
rectangles filled with color1 should all change to a random Color,
while the rectangles filled with color2 should not change. A second
click on the JButton should make the rectangles filled with color2 all
change to a random Color, while the rectangles filled with a random
Color by the first click should stay the same Color. The user should be
able to continue clicking on the button indefinitely, and with each click
one set of rectangles will be filled with a random Color.
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.util.*;
public class RectanglesGUI {
JFrame frame;
RectangleDrawPanel drawPanel;
Color color1 = Color.orange;
Color color2 = Color.blue;
public static void main (String[] args) {
RectanglesGUI gui = new RectanglesGUI();
gui.go();
}
//this method sets up the JFrame
public void go() {
frame = new JFrame();
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
drawPanel = new RectangleDrawPanel();
frame.getContentPane().add(BorderLayout.CENTER, drawPanel);
frame.getContentPane().setBackground(Color.black);
frame.setSize(600,600);
frame.setVisible(true);
CreateButton newButton = new CreateButton();
newButton.CreateButton();
frame.repaint();
}
// To Create a new Button
public class CreateButton {
JButton buttonSOUTH;
JButton buttonNORTH;
public void CreateButton () {
buttonSOUTH = new JButton("Change Colors");
buttonSOUTH.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(100, 50));
buttonSOUTH.setVisible(true);
frame.add(buttonSOUTH, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
buttonSOUTH.addActionListener(new RandomColorListener());
buttonNORTH = new JButton("Reset Colors");
buttonNORTH.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(100, 50));
buttonNORTH.setVisible(true);
frame.add(buttonNORTH, BorderLayout.NORTH);
buttonNORTH.addActionListener(new ResetListener());
}
// ActionListener for buttonSOUTH
private class ResetListener implements ActionListener {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
color1 = Color.orange;
color2 = Color.blue;
frame.repaint();
}
}
// ActionListener for buttonNORTH
private class RandomColorListener implements ActionListener {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
ChangeColor c = new ChangeColor();
for (int i = 0; i < 100; i++){
if (i % 2 == 0) {
color1 = c.getColor1();
frame.repaint();
} else {
color2 = c.getColor2();
frame.repaint();
}
}
}
}
// Change Color Class
private class ChangeColor {
private Color getColor1(){
Random fill1 = new Random();
color1 = new Color (fill1.nextInt(256), fill1.nextInt(256),
fill1.nextInt(256));
return color1;
}
private Color getColor2(){
Random fill2 = new Random();
color2 = new Color (fill2.nextInt(256), fill2.nextInt(256),
fill2.nextInt(256));
return color2;
}
}
}
class RectangleDrawPanel extends JPanel {
public void paintComponent (Graphics g){
super.paintComponent(g);
Graphics2D g2=(Graphics2D)g;
int width = getWidth();
int height = getHeight();
for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
for (int j = 0; j < 5; j++) {
int x = (getWidth() / 5) * i;
int y = (getHeight() / 5) * j;
if ((i % 2) == (j % 2)) {
g2.setColor(color1);
} else
g2.setColor(color2);
g2.fill3DRect(x,y,width,height,true);
}
}
}
}
}
But I don't know how to set this to be infinite
for (int i = 0; i < 100; i++){
if (i % 2 == 0) {
color1 = c.getColor1();
frame.repaint();
}
else {
color2 = c.getColor2();
frame.repaint();
}
}

this part for (int i = 0; i < 100; i++)
is not useful for checking.
both part inside condition checking will always executed. that mean both color2 and color1 will change. since i%2 will return 0 and 1
add this property to RectangleGui class boolean status=false;
then change code inside method actionPerformed in class RandomColorListener to:
if (status) {
color1 = c.getColor1();
frame.repaint();
} else {
color2 = c.getColor2();
frame.repaint();
}
status=!status;

Cannot replace JLabels with other JLabels using GridBagLayout

I have a program that displays a 4x4 grid of squares through a GridBagLayout layout manager. 16 JLabels which all contain a square.gif are displayed. When one of the rectangles is clicked, it is supposed to be replaced with a JLabel that contains an image (e.g, such as a hat). So, the image takes the place of the rectangle that is clicked on.
However, what happens at the moment is that the rectangle that is clicked only gets replaced sometimes. Other times, the rectangle disappears but the image does not replace it. Other times, the image displays in a rectangle that has been clicked previously but only after clicking a different rectangle. I have placed the most relevant code below.
public void displayGrid() {
c.gridx = 0;
c.gridy = 0;
try {
squareImage = ImageIO.read(this.getClass().getResource("stimulus(0).gif")); //line 37
} catch (IOException e) {
// TODO Auto-generated catch block
e.printStackTrace();
}
JLabel squareLabel = new JLabel(new ImageIcon(squareImage));
for(int i = 0; i < 16; i++){
c.gridx = i % 4;
c.gridy = i / 4;
squareLabel = new JLabel(new ImageIcon(squareImage));
squareLabels[i] = squareLabel;
panel.add(squareLabels[i], c);
squareLabels[i].addMouseListener(this);
System.out.println(c.gridx + "" + c.gridy);
}
panel.validate();
}
public void mousePressed(MouseEvent e) {
for(int i = 0; i < squareLabels.length; i++){
if(e.getSource() == squareLabels[i]){
//JLabel removedLabel = squareLabels[i];
c.gridx = (i/4);
c.gridy = (i%4);
panel.remove(squareLabels[i]);
panel.revalidate();
panel.repaint();
panel.add(stimuliLabels[0], c);
panel.validate();
}
}
}
In the mousePressed() method, I have attempted to write code that determines the JLabel that is pressed, gets the GridBagConstraints of that JLabel, removes the JLabel that is clicked on, and then replaces that JLabel with the new JLabel with the given GridBagConstraints. However, as I have already said, the program is not working as planned, and I don't know why.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Any help would be appreciated.

Why would you want to swap JLabels? JLabels are built to hold Icons, usually ImageIcons, and if you want to swap images, best to leave the JLabels in place, and simply swap the ImageIcon that it displays which is easily done by calling setIcon(...). This is much easier than what you're trying to do, and this works with the library, not against it as you're trying to do.
public void mousePressed(MouseEvent e) {
// assuming that only JLabels are given this MouseListener:
JLabel label = (JLabel) e.getSource();
label.setIcon(desiredNewIcon);
}
For example, from my answer to a similar question:
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import java.awt.event.MouseAdapter;
import java.awt.event.MouseEvent;
import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.net.URL;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Random;
import javax.imageio.ImageIO;
import javax.swing.*;
#SuppressWarnings("serial")
public class RandomChessMen extends JPanel {
// for this example I get a sprite sheet that holds several sprite images in it
// the images can be found here: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/19209650
private static final String IMAGE_PATH = "http://i.stack.imgur.com/memI0.png";
private static final int LABEL_COUNT = 2;
private static final int ICON_COLUMNS = 6;
private Random random = new Random();
public RandomChessMen() throws IOException {
URL url = new URL(IMAGE_PATH);
BufferedImage largeImg = ImageIO.read(url);
setLayout(new GridLayout(1, 0));
// break down large image into its constituent sprites and place into ArrayList<Icon>
int w = largeImg.getWidth() / ICON_COLUMNS;
int h = largeImg.getHeight() / LABEL_COUNT;
for (int i = 0; i < LABEL_COUNT; i++) {
final List<Icon> iconList = new ArrayList<>();
int y = (i * largeImg.getHeight()) / LABEL_COUNT;
// get 6 icons out of large image
for (int j = 0; j < ICON_COLUMNS; j++) {
int x = (j * largeImg.getWidth()) / ICON_COLUMNS;
// get subImage
BufferedImage subImg = largeImg.getSubimage(x, y, w, h);
// create ImageIcon and add to list
iconList.add(new ImageIcon(subImg));
}
// create JLabel
final JLabel label = new JLabel("", SwingConstants.CENTER);
int eb = 40;
label.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(eb, eb, eb, eb));
// get random index for iconList
int randomIndex = random.nextInt(iconList.size());
Icon icon = iconList.get(randomIndex); // use index to get random Icon
label.setIcon(icon); // set label's icon
label.addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter() {
#Override
public void mousePressed(MouseEvent e) {
Icon secondIcon = label.getIcon();
// so we don't repeat icons
while (label.getIcon() == secondIcon) {
int randomIndex = random.nextInt(iconList.size());
secondIcon = iconList.get(randomIndex);
}
label.setIcon(secondIcon);
}
});
// add to GUI
add(label);
}
}
private static void createAndShowGui() {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("RandomImages");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
try {
frame.getContentPane().add(new RandomChessMen());
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
System.exit(-1);
}
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
createAndShowGui();
}
});
}
}

How to add Player to Maze

I have constructed a maze and made a player class. When I compile it, I only see the maze and not the player. I have tried different techniques and still it doesn't work for me.
What exactly do I have to do in order to see the player and be able to move it?
Also, is there a way to adjust the maze and make it bigger or same size as frame?
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.event.*; // Needed for ActionListener
import javax.swing.event.*; // Needed for ActionListener
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.KeyEvent;
import java.awt.event.KeyListener;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.Timer;
class www extends JFrame
{
static Maze maze = new Maze ();
static Timer t;
//======================================================== constructor
public www ()
{
// 1... Create/initialize components
// 2... Create content pane, set layout
JPanel content = new JPanel (); // Create a content pane
content.setLayout (new BorderLayout ()); // Use BorderLayout for panel
JPanel north = new JPanel ();
north.setLayout (new FlowLayout ()); // Use FlowLayout for input area
DrawArea board = new DrawArea (500, 500);
// 3... Add the components to the input area.
content.add (north, "North"); // Input area
content.add (board, "South"); // Output area
// 4... Set this window's attributes.
setContentPane (content);
pack ();
setTitle ("MAZE");
setSize (490, 500);
setDefaultCloseOperation (JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
setLocationRelativeTo (null); // Center window.
}
public static void main (String[] args)
{
www window = new www ();
window.setVisible (true);
player p = new player ();
JFrame jf = new JFrame ();
//jf.setTitle("Tutorial");
//jf.setSize(600,400);
jf.setVisible(true);
}
class DrawArea extends JPanel
{
public DrawArea (int width, int height)
{
this.setPreferredSize (new Dimension (width, height)); // size
}
public void paintComponent (Graphics g)
{
maze.show (g); // display current state of colony
}
}
}
class Maze
{
private int grid [][];
public Maze ()
{
int [][] maze =
{ {1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1},
{1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,1},
{1,0,1,0,0,0,1,0,1,1,1,0,1},
{1,0,0,0,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,1},
{1,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,0,1},
{1,0,1,0,1,1,1,0,1,0,0,0,1},
{1,0,1,0,1,0,0,0,1,1,1,0,1},
{1,0,1,0,1,1,1,0,1,0,1,0,1},
{1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,1},
{1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1}};
grid = maze;
}
public void show (Graphics g)
{
for (int row = 0 ; row < grid.length ; row++)
for (int col = 0 ; col < grid [0].length ; col++)
{
if (grid [row] [col] == 1) // life
g.setColor (Color.black);
else
g.setColor (Color.white);
g.fillRect (col * 30 + 30, row * 30 + 30, 30, 30); // draw life form
}
}
public class player extends JPanel implements ActionListener,KeyListener
{
Timer tm = new Timer(5,this);
private int x = 0;
private int y = 0;
private int velX = 0 ;
private int velY = 0;
public void player ()
{
tm.start();
addKeyListener(this);
setFocusable(true);
setFocusTraversalKeysEnabled(false);
}
public void paintComponent (Graphics g)
{
super.paintComponent(g);
g.setColor(Color.RED);
g.fillRect(20,30,50,50);
}
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
{
x = x+velX;
y = y +velY;
repaint();
}
public void keyPressed(KeyEvent e)
{
int c = e.getKeyCode();
if(c == KeyEvent.VK_LEFT)
{
velX = -1;
velY = 0;
}
if (c == KeyEvent.VK_UP)
{
velX = 0;
velY = -1;
}
if( c==KeyEvent.VK_RIGHT)
{
velX = 1;
velY = 0;
}
if(c==KeyEvent.VK_DOWN)
{
velX = 0;
velY = 1;
}
}
public void keyTyped(KeyEvent e){}
public void keyReleased(KeyEvent e){}
}
}

PipeGame -Why are the game objects not moving?

I'm wondering why my game objects are not showing. I am able to draw to the JPanel if I use g.drawRect outside of the for-each loop, but calling PipeObject inside of the loop doesn't seem to work for me. Am I doing something wrong here? Thanks for any help or solutions.
This is an updated version of my old question, which can be found here.
UPDATE - The pipes are drawing correctly, but not moving to the left by calling pipe.move().
Game
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
//import javax.swing.border.EmptyBorder;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
public class Game {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Runnable r = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
// the GUI as seen by the user (without frame)
final CardLayout cl = new CardLayout();
final JPanel gui = new JPanel(cl);
// remove if no border is needed
//gui.setBorder(new EmptyBorder(10,10,10,10));
JPanel menu = new JPanel(new GridBagLayout());
JButton playGame = new JButton("Play!");
ActionListener playGameListener = new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
cl.show(gui, "game");
}
};
playGame.addActionListener(playGameListener);
Insets margin = new Insets(20, 50, 20, 50);
playGame.setMargin(margin);
menu.add(playGame);
gui.add(menu);
cl.addLayoutComponent(menu, "menu");
final JPanel pipes = new Pipes();
gui.add(pipes);
cl.addLayoutComponent(pipes, "game");
JFrame f = new JFrame("PipeGame");
f.add(gui);
// Ensures JVM closes after frame(s) closed and
// all non-daemon threads are finished
f.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
// See https://stackoverflow.com/a/7143398/418556 for demo.
f.setLocationByPlatform(true);
// ensures the frame is the minimum size it needs to be
// in order display the components within it
f.pack();
// should be done last, to avoid flickering, moving,
// resizing artifacts.
f.setVisible(true);
}
};
// Swing GUIs should be created and updated on the EDT
// http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/concurrency
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(r);
}
}
Pipes
import java.util.*;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.Timer;
public class Pipes extends JPanel {
boolean gameNotOver = true;
int x1 = 754;
int y1 = setHeightVal();
int y2 = setHeightVal();
int y3 = setHeightVal();
List<PipeObject> pipes = new ArrayList<PipeObject>();
public Pipes() {
pipes.add(new PipeObject(x1, y1));
pipes.add(new PipeObject(x1 + 300, y2));
pipes.add(new PipeObject(x1 + 600, y3));
}
public void drawEndlessPipes() {
if (gameNotOver) {
Timer pipeSpeed = new Timer(10, new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
for (PipeObject pipe : pipes) {
pipe.move();
}
}
});
pipeSpeed.start();
}
}
protected void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
super.paintComponent(g);
for (PipeObject pipe : pipes) {
pipe.drawPipe(g);
}
}
public int setHeightVal() { //Get a random number and select a preset height
int num = (int)(9*Math.random() + 1);
int val = 0;
if (num == 9)
{
val = 295;
}
else if (num == 8)
{
val = 246;
}
else if (num == 7)
{
val = 216;
}
else if (num == 6)
{
val = 185;
}
else if (num == 5)
{
val = 156;
}
else if (num == 4)
{
val = 125;
}
else if (num == 3)
{
val = 96;
}
else if (num == 2)
{
val = 66;
}
else
{
val = 25;
}
return val;
}
public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
return new Dimension(751,501);
}
}
PipeObject
import java.awt.Graphics;
public class PipeObject {
//Declare and initialiaze variables
int x1;
int x2 = 75; //pipe width, total is 83
int y1 = -1; // Y should be -1
int y2;
int gap = 130; //gap height
public PipeObject(int x, int y) {
this.x1 = x;
this.y2 = y;
}
public void drawPipe(Graphics g/*, int x1, int y2*/) {
g.drawRect(x1,y1,x2,y2); //Draw part 1
g.drawRect(x1-3,y2-1,x2+6,25); //Draw part 2
g.drawRect(x1-3,y2+25+gap,x2+6,25); //Draw part 3
g.drawRect(x1,y2+25+gap+25,x2,500-y2-49-gap); //Draw part 4
}
public void move() {
x1--;
}
public int getMyX() { //To determine where the pipe is horizontally
return x1-3;
}
public int getMyY() { //To determine where the pipe is vertically
return y2+25;
}
}

You are painting the pipes beyond the visual bounds of the panel. The dimension of Pipes panel is 751x501, but the pipes begin at x1 = 754. Try changing x1 to 1 in Pipes and you should see the three pipes. Or, you can maximize the frame, and you should see the missing pipes far on the right side.

As CyberStorm said, you never called drawEndlessPipes() to start the swing timer at all.
Also I don't see a repaint() call to Pipes panel inside your timer, just changing the x value won't magically move anything, you need to call repaint() in Pipes.java to make it repaint the screen and show animation.
So here it goes:
Modified Runnable in Game.java
Runnable r = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
// the GUI as seen by the user (without frame)
final CardLayout cl = new CardLayout();
final JPanel gui = new JPanel(cl);
// remove if no border is needed
//gui.setBorder(new EmptyBorder(10,10,10,10));
JPanel menu = new JPanel(new GridBagLayout());
JButton playGame = new JButton("Play!");
ActionListener playGameListener = new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
cl.show(gui, "game");
}
};
playGame.addActionListener(playGameListener);
Insets margin = new Insets(20, 50, 20, 50);
playGame.setMargin(margin);
menu.add(playGame);
gui.add(menu);
cl.addLayoutComponent(menu, "menu");
final JPanel pipes = new Pipes();
gui.add(pipes);
cl.addLayoutComponent(pipes, "game");
JFrame f = new JFrame("PipeGame");
f.add(gui);
// Ensures JVM closes after frame(s) closed and
// all non-daemon threads are finished
f.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
// See http://stackoverflow.com/a/7143398/418556 for demo.
f.setLocationByPlatform(true);
// ensures the frame is the minimum size it needs to be
// in order display the components within it
f.pack();
// should be done last, to avoid flickering, moving,
// resizing artifacts.
f.setVisible(true);
((Pipes) pipes).drawEndlessPipes();
}
};
Modified drawEndlessPipes() in Pipes.java
public void drawEndlessPipes() {
if (gameNotOver) {
Timer pipeSpeed = new Timer(10, new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
for (PipeObject pipe : pipes) {
pipe.move();
Pipes.this.repaint();
}
}
});
pipeSpeed.start();
}
}

dragging a jlabel around the screen

So I am trying to click and drag a JLabel around a JFrame. The following code allows a JLabel to be moved around the screen when the mouse is pressed / dragged at any point on the screen, but I am not sure how to add a second ActionListener to check if the mouse is clicking on the label, assuming that is the solution.
I would like to have multiple JLabels on the screen so that the only label being moved is the one that the mouse has clicked and is now dragging.
Thanks.
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
#SuppressWarnings("serial")
public class test extends JFrame implements MouseMotionListener {
private JPanel panel = new JPanel(null);
private JLabel dragLabel = new JLabel("drag test");
private int mouseX = 200;
private int mouseY = 200;
public test() {
this.add(panel);
panel.setBackground(Color.WHITE);
panel.add(dragLabel);
dragLabel.setForeground(Color.RED);
dragLabel.setBounds(mouseX, mouseY, 100, 50);
panel.addMouseMotionListener(this);
}
#Override
public void mouseDragged(MouseEvent e) {
mouseX = e.getX();
mouseY = e.getY();
dragLabel.setBounds(mouseX, mouseY, 100, 50);
}
#Override
public void mouseMoved(MouseEvent e) {}
public static void main(String[] args) {
test frame = new test();
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.setSize(600, 400);
frame.setResizable(false);
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
}
}

Another way to do this is to add the JLabel to a JLayeredPane or to a JPanel held by a JLayeredPane and add a MouseAdapter as the JLayeredPane's MouseListener and MouseMotionListener. Then when clicking on the label, move it to the JLayeredPane's JLayeredPane.DRAG_LAYER so it moves on top of everything else, then place the JLabel on whichever is the most appropriate level on mouse release. I've found this to work well when moving chess pieces on a chess board, for instance, and you want to make sure that the piece you're moving is displayed above all the other pieces when dragging.
Addition: You've probably left this thread, but if you come back, or for the benefit of others, I wanted to clarify what I meant by using a JLayeredPane by posting an example.
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class DragLabelOnLayeredPane extends JLayeredPane {
public static final int WIDTH = 680;
public static final int HEIGHT = 480;
private static final int GRID_ROWS = 8;
private static final int GRID_COLS = 6;
private static final int GAP = 3;
private static final Dimension LAYERED_PANE_SIZE = new Dimension(WIDTH, HEIGHT);
private static final Dimension LABEL_SIZE = new Dimension(60, 40);
private GridLayout gridlayout = new GridLayout(GRID_ROWS, GRID_COLS, GAP, GAP);
private JPanel backingPanel = new JPanel(gridlayout);
private JPanel[][] panelGrid = new JPanel[GRID_ROWS][GRID_COLS];
private JLabel redLabel = new JLabel("Red", SwingConstants.CENTER);
private JLabel blueLabel = new JLabel("Blue", SwingConstants.CENTER);
public DragLabelOnLayeredPane() {
backingPanel.setSize(LAYERED_PANE_SIZE);
backingPanel.setLocation(2 * GAP, 2 * GAP);
backingPanel.setBackground(Color.black);
for (int row = 0; row < GRID_ROWS; row++) {
for (int col = 0; col < GRID_COLS; col++) {
panelGrid[row][col] = new JPanel(new GridBagLayout());
backingPanel.add(panelGrid[row][col]);
}
}
redLabel.setOpaque(true);
redLabel.setBackground(Color.red.brighter().brighter());
redLabel.setPreferredSize(LABEL_SIZE);
panelGrid[4][3].add(redLabel);
blueLabel.setOpaque(true);
blueLabel.setBackground(Color.blue.brighter().brighter());
blueLabel.setPreferredSize(LABEL_SIZE);
panelGrid[1][1].add(blueLabel);
backingPanel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(GAP, GAP, GAP, GAP));
setPreferredSize(LAYERED_PANE_SIZE);
add(backingPanel, JLayeredPane.DEFAULT_LAYER);
MyMouseAdapter myMouseAdapter = new MyMouseAdapter();
addMouseListener(myMouseAdapter);
addMouseMotionListener(myMouseAdapter);
}
private class MyMouseAdapter extends MouseAdapter {
private JLabel dragLabel = null;
private int dragLabelWidthDiv2;
private int dragLabelHeightDiv2;
private JPanel clickedPanel = null;
#Override
public void mousePressed(MouseEvent me) {
clickedPanel = (JPanel) backingPanel.getComponentAt(me.getPoint());
Component[] components = clickedPanel.getComponents();
if (components.length == 0) {
return;
}
// if we click on jpanel that holds a jlabel
if (components[0] instanceof JLabel) {
// remove label from panel
dragLabel = (JLabel) components[0];
clickedPanel.remove(dragLabel);
clickedPanel.revalidate();
clickedPanel.repaint();
dragLabelWidthDiv2 = dragLabel.getWidth() / 2;
dragLabelHeightDiv2 = dragLabel.getHeight() / 2;
int x = me.getPoint().x - dragLabelWidthDiv2;
int y = me.getPoint().y - dragLabelHeightDiv2;
dragLabel.setLocation(x, y);
add(dragLabel, JLayeredPane.DRAG_LAYER);
repaint();
}
}
#Override
public void mouseDragged(MouseEvent me) {
if (dragLabel == null) {
return;
}
int x = me.getPoint().x - dragLabelWidthDiv2;
int y = me.getPoint().y - dragLabelHeightDiv2;
dragLabel.setLocation(x, y);
repaint();
}
#Override
public void mouseReleased(MouseEvent me) {
if (dragLabel == null) {
return;
}
remove(dragLabel); // remove dragLabel for drag layer of JLayeredPane
JPanel droppedPanel = (JPanel) backingPanel.getComponentAt(me.getPoint());
if (droppedPanel == null) {
// if off the grid, return label to home
clickedPanel.add(dragLabel);
clickedPanel.revalidate();
} else {
int r = -1;
int c = -1;
searchPanelGrid: for (int row = 0; row < panelGrid.length; row++) {
for (int col = 0; col < panelGrid[row].length; col++) {
if (panelGrid[row][col] == droppedPanel) {
r = row;
c = col;
break searchPanelGrid;
}
}
}
if (r == -1 || c == -1) {
// if off the grid, return label to home
clickedPanel.add(dragLabel);
clickedPanel.revalidate();
} else {
droppedPanel.add(dragLabel);
droppedPanel.revalidate();
}
}
repaint();
dragLabel = null;
}
}
private static void createAndShowUI() {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("DragLabelOnLayeredPane");
frame.getContentPane().add(new DragLabelOnLayeredPane());
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();
}
});
}
}
Please feel free to post any questions, need for clarification, or corrections.

Inspired by your code and user compilex's answer, follows demonstration:
Full code:
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Component;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.Point;
import java.awt.event.MouseAdapter;
import java.awt.event.MouseEvent;
import java.util.Random;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.border.LineBorder;
/**
* A demonstration of moving around labels in a panel.
* <p>
* Some labels show up layed out in a grid. Then the
* user can drag any label anywhere on the panel.
* </p>
*/
public class LabelDragger {
public static void main(final String[] args) {
final int labelRows = 5, //How many rows of labels.
labelColumns = 5, //How many columns of labels.
labelWidth = 55, //Width for each label.
labelHeight = 20; //Height for each label.
//Border colors for labels:
final Color[] colors = new Color[]{Color.BLUE, Color.GREEN, Color.BLACK, Color.GRAY};
final Random prng = new Random(); //For selecting border color for each label.
final JPanel dragP = new JPanel(null); //Nicely set to null! :D Did not know that trick.
//Creating the listener for the panel:
final MouseAdapter ma = new MouseAdapter() {
private JLabel selectedLabel = null; //Clicked label.
private Point selectedLabelLocation = null; //Location of label in panel when it was clicked.
private Point panelClickPoint = null; //Panel's click point.
//Selection of label occurs upon pressing on the panel:
#Override
public void mousePressed(final MouseEvent e) {
//Find which label is at the press point:
final Component pressedComp = dragP.findComponentAt(e.getX(), e.getY());
//If a label is pressed, store it as selected:
if (pressedComp != null && pressedComp instanceof JLabel) {
selectedLabel = (JLabel) pressedComp;
selectedLabelLocation = selectedLabel.getLocation();
panelClickPoint = e.getPoint();
//Added the following 2 lines in order to make selectedLabel
//paint over all others while it is pressed and dragged:
dragP.setComponentZOrder(selectedLabel, 0);
selectedLabel.repaint();
}
else {
selectedLabel = null;
selectedLabelLocation = null;
panelClickPoint = null;
}
}
//Moving of selected label occurs upon dragging in the panel:
#Override
public void mouseDragged(final MouseEvent e) {
if (selectedLabel != null
&& selectedLabelLocation != null
&& panelClickPoint != null) {
final Point newPanelClickPoint = e.getPoint();
//The new location is the press-location plus the length of the drag for each axis:
final int newX = selectedLabelLocation.x + (newPanelClickPoint.x - panelClickPoint.x),
newY = selectedLabelLocation.y + (newPanelClickPoint.y - panelClickPoint.y);
selectedLabel.setLocation(newX, newY);
}
}
};
dragP.addMouseMotionListener(ma); //For mouseDragged().
dragP.addMouseListener(ma); //For mousePressed().
//Filling the panel with labels:
for (int row = 0; row < labelRows; ++row)
for (int col = 0; col < labelColumns; ++col) {
//Create label for (row, col):
final JLabel lbl = new JLabel("Label" + (row * labelColumns + col));
lbl.setHorizontalAlignment(JLabel.CENTER);
//lbl.setVerticalAlignment(JLabel.CENTER);
lbl.setBounds(col * labelWidth, row * labelHeight, labelWidth, labelHeight); //Grid-like positioning.
lbl.setBorder(new LineBorder(colors[prng.nextInt(colors.length)], 2)); //Set a border for clarity.
//Add label to panel:
dragP.add(lbl);
}
//Creating and showing the main frame:
final JFrame frame = new JFrame(LabelDragger.class.getSimpleName());
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
//The size of the content pane adds some extra room for moving the labels:
final Dimension paneSize = new Dimension((int)(1.5 * labelWidth * labelColumns),
(int)(1.5 * labelHeight * labelRows));
frame.getContentPane().setPreferredSize(paneSize);
frame.getContentPane().add(dragP);
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
}
Explanations are added as comments.
Tips:
Take a look at the documentation on Container.findComponentAt(int x, int y), if you are going to add Components on the dragP Container, other than "draggable" labels.
Also, you can instead use Container.getComponentAt(int x, int y), in this case. I suggest you read their (small) documentation first.

Add a mouse listener to the label instead of the panel. (You might still need a mouse listener on the panel for the dragging but at least the one on the label can tell you if it was selected).

Create two global variables:
int x_pressed = 0;
int y_pressed = 0;
then create two events (mousePressed and mouseDragged over JLabel):
lbl_banner.addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter()
{
#Override
public void mousePressed(MouseEvent e) {
//catching the current values for x,y coordinates on screen
x_pressed = e.getX();
y_pressed = e.getY();
}
});
lbl_banner.addMouseMotionListener(new MouseMotionAdapter(){
#Override
public void mouseDragged(MouseEvent e){
//and when the Jlabel is dragged
setLocation(e.getXOnScreen() - x_pressed, e.getYOnScreen() - y_pressed);
}
});