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Most efficient way of using an action listener in Java?

I was tasked with creating a program that displays a numeric keypad (like one on a phone) and has a screen that displays the numbers that are picked. Also included is a clear button that clears the screen.
In creating my program, I created three classes. The Phone class simply creates a JFrame that adds a PhonePanel to the screen. The PhonePanel class adds a JLabel which acts as a screen, a JButton which acts as a clear button, and a KeypadPanel which is a GridLayout of JButtons which acts as the numeric keys.
The clear button and numeric buttons both use separate action listeners. Is this the most efficient way of going about this? Is there a way I can use one action listener instead of two?
// ******************************************************************************************
// Phone.java
// David Read
// This class creates a JFrame that contains a PhonePanel. The PhonePanel provides a
// user interface that allows one to input numeric symbols on a screen and allows clearing
// of the screen.
// ******************************************************************************************
package lab5;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
public class Phone {
public static void main(String[] args)
{
// Create a JFrame object.
JFrame frame = new JFrame ("Phone");
// Set the default close operation for the JFrame.
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation (JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
// Add a Phone panel to the screen.
frame.getContentPane().add(new PhonePanel());
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
}
// ******************************************************************************************
// PhonePanel.java
// David Read
// This class creates a JPanel that includes an output label which displays inputed numeric
// symbols, a clear button that clears what is displayed on the output label, and a KeypadPanel
// which displays a GridLayout of buttons that when pressed, display their corresponding symbols
// on the output label.
// ******************************************************************************************
package lab5;
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
public class PhonePanel extends JPanel
{
private static JLabel labelOutput;
private JButton buttonClear;
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------
// Creates a JPanel that arranges three objects in a Border layout. The
// north component contains a JLabel, the east component contains a JButton
// and the center component contains a KeypadPanel.
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------
public PhonePanel()
{
// Set the layout manager, size and background color of the Phone Panel.
setLayout(new BorderLayout());
setPreferredSize (new Dimension(400, 200));
setBackground (Color.yellow);
// Output label created.
labelOutput = new JLabel(" ");
// Clear button created, assigned a button title and assigned an action listener.
buttonClear = new JButton();
buttonClear.setText("Clear");
buttonClear.addActionListener(new ClearButtonListener());
// Add the JLabel, JButton and KeypadPanel to the PhonePanel.
add(labelOutput, BorderLayout.NORTH);
add(buttonClear, BorderLayout.EAST);
add(new KeypadPanel(), BorderLayout.CENTER);
}
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------
// Adds the specified symbol to the output label.
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------
public static void addToOutputLabel(String input)
{
// Create a String object to hold the current value of the output label.
String label = labelOutput.getText();
// Append the inputed String onto the String.
label += input;
// Update the output label with the appended String.
labelOutput.setText(label);
}
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------
// Listens for the clear button to be pressed. When pressed, the output
// label is reassigned as blank.
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------
private class ClearButtonListener implements ActionListener
{
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
{
labelOutput.setText(" ");
}
}
}
// ******************************************************************************************
// KeypadPanel.java
// David Read
// This class creates a JPanel that contains several buttons which when pressed, adds their
// corresponding numeric symbol to the output label in the PhonePanel.
// ******************************************************************************************
package lab5;
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
public class KeypadPanel extends JPanel
{
private JButton button1, button2, button3, button4, button5, button6, button7, button8, button9, buttonStar, button0, buttonNumber;
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------
// Creates a JPanel that arranges several JButtons in a GridLayout. Each
// of the buttons are assigned button titles, action listeners and
// action commands.
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------
public KeypadPanel()
{
// Set layout to a GridLayout with 4 rows and 3 columns.
setLayout(new GridLayout(4,3));
// Create new JButtons.
button1 = new JButton();
button2 = new JButton();
button3 = new JButton();
button4 = new JButton();
button5 = new JButton();
button6 = new JButton();
button7 = new JButton();
button8 = new JButton();
button9 = new JButton();
buttonStar = new JButton();
button0 = new JButton();
buttonNumber = new JButton();
// Assign button titles to the JButtons.
button1.setText("1");
button2.setText("2");
button3.setText("3");
button4.setText("4");
button5.setText("5");
button6.setText("6");
button7.setText("7");
button8.setText("8");
button9.setText("9");
buttonStar.setText("*");
button0.setText("0");
buttonNumber.setText("#");
// Create a new KeypadButtonListener.
KeypadButtonListener listener = new KeypadButtonListener();
// Assign the listener as an action listener for all of the JButton objects.
button1.addActionListener(listener);
button2.addActionListener(listener);
button3.addActionListener(listener);
button4.addActionListener(listener);
button5.addActionListener(listener);
button6.addActionListener(listener);
button7.addActionListener(listener);
button8.addActionListener(listener);
button9.addActionListener(listener);
buttonStar.addActionListener(listener);
button0.addActionListener(listener);
buttonNumber.addActionListener(listener);
// Set the action commands for all of the JButtons.
button1.setActionCommand("1");
button2.setActionCommand("2");
button3.setActionCommand("3");
button4.setActionCommand("4");
button5.setActionCommand("5");
button6.setActionCommand("6");
button7.setActionCommand("7");
button8.setActionCommand("8");
button9.setActionCommand("9");
buttonStar.setActionCommand("*");
button0.setActionCommand("0");
buttonNumber.setActionCommand("#");
// Add the JButtons to the KeypadPanel.
add(button1);
add(button2);
add(button3);
add(button4);
add(button5);
add(button6);
add(button7);
add(button8);
add(button9);
add(buttonStar);
add(button0);
add(buttonNumber);
}
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------
// Listens for all of the buttons to be pressed. When a particular button
// is pressed, the addToOutputLabel method of the PhonePanel is called
// with the input being the action command of the button pressed.
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------
private class KeypadButtonListener implements ActionListener
{
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
{
// Add the action command string to the output label.
PhonePanel.addToOutputLabel(e.getActionCommand());
}
}
}

In this case it is better to use two separate action listeners as functionality for clear button and for number buttons is different.
It is considered as best practice to use single responsibility principle (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_responsibility_principle) when developing your classes. This will make your code more maintainable and easier to read and modify.

It is better to use multiple ActionListeners here, however, if you still desire to use one ActionListener instead you may make a separate class to handle all actions similar to this.
public class KeyListener implements ActionListener {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
//Get the name of the ActionEvent
String cmd = e.getActionCommand();
//Here the Actionevent is only checked to see if it is a "Clear" or not
//If you need to impliment more then a switch statment may be appropriate
if(cmd.equals("Clear")) {
//Clear Label with additional setter method
PhonePanel.clearLabel();
}
else {
PhonePanel.addToOutputLabel(e.getActionCommand());
}
}

Applet and Swing not showing components in eclipse

I've run the following code in eclipse as an application and it works perfectly, however when I try to run it as an applet I get the window that says "Button to text" but none of the buttons appear. Also, an empty "applet viewer" windows pops up. Here is the code.
/**This program completes the requirements described
* in Option 3 which is to create a frame that contains 3 buttons.
* These buttons then will update the text shown on the frame.
* The program uses AWT and Swing to accomplish this task.
* For more information on the particular methods of this program, look below.
* Press a button to change the text on the bottom to the text displayed on the button
*/
import java.applet.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class SwingOption3 extends Applet {
private JFrame mainFrame;
private JLabel header;
private JLabel status;
private JPanel control;
//initialize the variables by creating them
public SwingOption3(){
prepareGUI();
//this constructor runs the prepareGUI method
}
public static void main(String[] args){
SwingOption3 swingOption3 = new SwingOption3();
swingOption3.showEvent();
//creates an object from the main class and runs the showEvent method
}
/** The following method performs these actions
* 1. Adds a title to the frame ("Button to Text")
* 2. Sets the size to 400 by 400
* 3. Uses the GridLayout to proportion the frame
* 4. Initializes the header and status variables
* 5. Adds a listener to the main frame
* 6. Adds the header, status, and control to the main frame
* 7. Sets the main frame to visible
* 8. Sets the control layout to flow
*/
private void prepareGUI(){
mainFrame = new JFrame("Button to Text");
mainFrame.setSize(400,400);
mainFrame.setLayout(new GridLayout(3, 1));
header = new JLabel("",JLabel.CENTER );
status = new JLabel("", JLabel.CENTER);
status.setSize(350, 100);
mainFrame.addWindowListener(new WindowAdapter() {
//this method allows the program window to be closed
public void windowClosing(WindowEvent windowEvent) {
System.exit(0);
}
});
control = new JPanel();
control.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
mainFrame.add(header);
mainFrame.add(control);
mainFrame.add(status);
mainFrame.setVisible(true);
}
/**The following method completes these tasks:
* 1. Sets the text of the header to inform the user what they should do
* 2. Adds the buttons to the JPanel "control"
* 3. Creates the listener methods and describes the ActionEvent
* that will be sent for each button press
**/
private void showEvent(){
header.setText("Press a button to change the text at the bottom");
//informs the user to press a button in order to change the text
JButton appleButton = new JButton("Apple");
JButton pearButton = new JButton("Pear");
JButton bananaButton = new JButton("Banana");
//creates the buttons and titles them
appleButton.setActionCommand("Apple");
pearButton.setActionCommand("Pear");
bananaButton.setActionCommand("Banana");
//sets the command that will be received and interpreted by the program
appleButton.addActionListener(new ButtonClickListener());
pearButton.addActionListener(new ButtonClickListener());
bananaButton.addActionListener(new ButtonClickListener());
//creates listeners for the button clicks
control.add(appleButton);
control.add(pearButton);
control.add(bananaButton);
//adds the buttons to the JPanel "control"
mainFrame.setVisible(true);
//makes the frame visible
}
private class ButtonClickListener implements ActionListener {
/**
* This method performs the following actions
* 1.Receives the command/ActionEvent from the previous method
* 2. Displays the appropriate text based on the ActionEvent
*/
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
String command = e.getActionCommand();
if(command.equals("Apple")) {
status.setText("Display: Apple");
} //sets the display to "Display: Apple"
else if( command.equals("Pear")) {
status.setText("Display: Pear");
} //sets the display to "Display: Pear"
else {
status.setText("Display: Banana");
} //sets the display to "Display: Banana"
}
}
}
`
I'm not quite sure where I'm going wrong so I posted the whole thing. I appreciate your help.

You don't create new JFrames in applets, you use the applet itself as the container for your controls. And your contructor doesn't call showEvent()--the other controls never got instantiated.

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).

Button is filling up the entire cell in GridLayout, Java

I'm a beginner and doing my homework. My button is filling up the whole cell in the gridLayout. I've read about GridBagLayout but my book doesn't mention anything about it so I think there's just an error with my current code. The teacher has been trying to help me but we can't figure it out so I thought I would try here. Any help would be appreciated! Here is what I have:
package riddle;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.awt.*;
public class Riddle implements ActionListener {
private final String LABEL_TEXT = "Why did the chicken cross the road?";
JFrame frame;
JPanel contentPane;
JLabel label, label1;
JButton button;
JButton button1;
private static int i;
public Riddle() {
/* Create and set up the frame */
frame = new JFrame(LABEL_TEXT);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
/* Create a content pane with a GridLayout and empty borders */
contentPane = new JPanel();
contentPane.setLayout(new GridLayout(0, 2, 10, 5));
/* Create and add label that is centered and has empty borders */
label = new JLabel("Why did the chicken cross the road?");
label.setAlignmentX(JButton.LEFT_ALIGNMENT);
label.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(20, 50, 20, 50));
contentPane.add(label);
label1 = new JLabel(" ");
label1.setAlignmentX(JButton.LEFT_ALIGNMENT);
label1.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(20, 50, 20, 50));
contentPane.add(label1);
/* Create and add button that is centered */
button = new JButton("Answer");
button.setAlignmentX(JButton.RIGHT_ALIGNMENT);
button.setActionCommand("Show Answer");
button.addActionListener(this);
contentPane.add(button);
/* Add content pane to frame */
frame.setContentPane(contentPane);
/* Size and then display the frame */
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
/** Handle button click action event
* pre:
* post: clicked button shows answer
*/
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
String eventName = event.getActionCommand();
if (eventName.equals("Show Answer")) {
label1.setText("To get to the other side. ");
button.setText("Answer");
button.setActionCommand("Answer");
}
}
/**
* Create and show the GUI
*/
private static void runGUI() {
JFrame.setDefaultLookAndFeelDecorated(true);
Riddle greeting = new Riddle();
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
javax.swing.SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
runGUI();
}
});
}
}

Here's a quote from the Swing tutorial about GridLayout:
A GridLayout object places components in a grid of cells. Each
component takes all the available space within its cell, and each cell
is exactly the same size.
If your book doesn't tell such an important thing, it's a bad book, and I would advise using the Swing tutorial instead. I'm astonished your teacher hasn't been able to tell you that.
If this behavior is not the one you want, choose another layout manager. The Swing tutorial has a guide for all standard ones.

About java GUI and clear JFrame to show new content?

I'm learning Java and GUI. I have some questions, and the first is if there are any major difference between creating a subclass of JFrame and an instance of JFrame. It seems like like a subclass is more powerful? I also wonder if it's necessary to use this code when creating a GUI:
Container contentPane = getContentPane();
contentPane.setLayot(new Flowlayout());
I add my GUI class, it's a simple test so far, to a task that I have to hand in. When a user has entered some text in the textfield and press the button to continue to the next step, how do I do to clear the frame and show a new content or is there a special way to do this is in Java? I guess there must be better to use the same window instead of creating a new!? Help id preciated! Thanks
// Gui class
import java.awt.FlowLayout; // layout
import java.awt.event.ActionListener; // listener
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent; // event
import javax.swing.JFrame; // windows properties
import javax.swing.JLabel; // row of text
import javax.swing.JTextField; // enter text
import javax.swing.JOptionPane; // pop up dialog
import javax.swing.JButton; // buttons
// import.javax.swing.*;
public class Gui extends JFrame {
private JLabel text1;
private JTextField textInput1;
private JTextField textInput2;
private JButton nextButton;
// constructor creates the window and it's components
public Gui() {
super("Bank"); // title
setLayout(new FlowLayout()); // set default layout
text1 = new JLabel("New customer");
add(text1);
textInput1 = new JTextField(10);
add(textInput1);
nextButton = new JButton("Continue");
add(nextButton);
// create object to handle the components (action listener object)
frameHandler handler = new frameHandler();
textInput1.addActionListener(handler);
nextButton.addActionListener(handler);
}
// handle the events (class inside another class inherits contents from class outside)
private class frameHandler implements ActionListener {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event){
String input1 = "";
// check if someone hits enter at first textfield
if(event.getSource() == textInput1){
input1 = String.format(event.getActionCommand());
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, input1);
}
else if(event.getSource() == nextButton){
// ??
}
}
}
}

This small code might help you explain things :
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class FrameDisplayTest implements ActionListener
{
/*
* Creating an object of JFrame instead of extending it
* has no side effects.
*/
private JFrame frame;
private JPanel panel, panel1;
private JTextField tfield;
private JButton nextButton, backButton;
public FrameDisplayTest()
{
frame = new JFrame("Frame Display Test");
// If you running your program from cmd, this line lets it comes
// out of cmd when you click the top-right RED Button.
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
panel = new JPanel();
panel1 = new JPanel();
tfield = new JTextField(10);
nextButton = new JButton("NEXT");
backButton = new JButton("BACK");
nextButton.addActionListener(this);
backButton.addActionListener(this);
panel.add(tfield);
panel.add(nextButton);
panel1.add(backButton);
frame.setContentPane(panel);
frame.setSize(220, 220);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae)
{
JButton button = (JButton) ae.getSource();
if (tfield.getText().length() > 0)
{
if (button == nextButton)
{
/*
* this will remove the first panel
* and add the new panel to the frame.
*/
frame.remove(panel);
frame.setContentPane(panel1);
}
else if (button == backButton)
{
frame.remove(panel1);
frame.setContentPane(panel);
}
frame.validate();
frame.repaint(); // prefer to write this always.
}
}
public static void main(String[] args)
{
/*
* This is the most important part ofyour GUI app, never forget
* to schedule a job for your event dispatcher thread :
* by calling the function, method or constructor, responsible
* for creating and displaying your GUI.
*/
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable()
{
#Override
public void run()
{
new FrameDisplayTest();
}
});
}
}

if you want to switch (add then remove) JComponents, then you have to
1) add/remove JComponents and then call
revalidate();
repaint()// sometimes required
2) better and easiest choice would be implements CardLayout

If your requirement is to make a wizard, a panel with next and prev buttons, and on clicking next/prev button showing some component. You could try using CardLayout.
The CardLayout manages two or more components (usually JPanel instances) that share the same display space. CardLayout let the user choose between the components.
How to Use CardLayout

If your class extends JFrame, you can do:
getContentPane().removeAll();