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Java swing Fade in/out Effect as a UI transition buffer?

I am a noob in java and am trying to make a kind of text adventure game. I want to be able to have the program have some kind of fade ability as it transitions from one layout of the UI to another.
I really have no idea what the best approach to this problem would be or if its really even feasible, but I have so far been trying to have a Jpanel that covers the entire window and uses a timer to fade in to cover everything else in black, or fades out from black to transparency thereby revealing everything underneath.
I have been testing this idea by trying to fade in/out the program at the start just to get the logic for the fade system working before trying to have it as a transition effect. The fade-out kind of works, but I have the program output the alpha level and the screen is turning black at around alpha 50 out of 255 which is confusing me. The fade-in does not work at all.
Here is the code for the fade method:
static int opacityCounter = 0;
public void fadeOut(JPanel frame){
System.out.println(opacityCounter);
opacityCounter = 0;
fadeTimer = new Timer(50, new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
frame.setBackground(new Color(0,0,0,opacityCounter));
opacityCounter++;
gui.window.add(frame);
if(opacityCounter >= 255){
opacityCounter = 255;
fadeTimer.stop();
}
System.out.println(opacityCounter);
}
});
fadeTimer.start();
}
This is the code where the "fadePanel" that covers the window is created and deployed in the method.
fadeScreen = new JPanel();
fadeScreen.setBounds(0,0,800,600);
fadeScreen.setBackground(Color.black);
window.add(fadeScreen);
game.visibilityManager.fadeOut(this.fadeScreen);
To clarify I want something that goes from a UI layout like this:
fades to black, before fading back to a UI that looks like this
This is a minimal reproducible example:
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
public class Test {
JFrame window;
JPanel fadeScreen, screen1, screen2;
JLabel text1, text2;
Timer fadeTimer;
public Test(){
//Frame Window
window = new JFrame();
window.setSize(800,600);
window.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
window.getContentPane().setBackground(Color.blue);
//Screen 1
screen1 = new JPanel();
screen1.setBounds(100, 100, 600, 125);
screen1.setBackground(Color.white);
text1 = new JLabel("Text1");
screen1.add(text1);
window.add(screen1);
//Screen 2
screen2 = new JPanel();
screen2.setBounds(100, 400, 600, 125);
screen2.setBackground(Color.white);
text2 = new JLabel("Text2");
screen2.add(text2);
window.add(screen2);
//Cover Panel
fadeScreen = new JPanel();
fadeScreen.setBounds(0,0,800,600);
fadeScreen.setBackground(Color.black);
window.add(fadeScreen);
window.setVisible(true);
//Comment out which method you don't want to use
fadeOut(this.fadeScreen);
//fadeIn(this.fadeScreen);
}
//Fade methods
int opacityCounter = 0;
public void fadeOut(JPanel frame){
System.out.println(opacityCounter);
opacityCounter = 0;
fadeTimer = new Timer(50, new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
frame.setBackground(new Color(0,0,0,opacityCounter));
opacityCounter++;
window.add(frame);
if(opacityCounter >= 255){
opacityCounter = 255;
fadeTimer.stop();
}
System.out.println(opacityCounter);
}
});
fadeTimer.start();
}
public void fadeIn(JPanel frame){
System.out.println(opacityCounter);
opacityCounter = 255;
fadeTimer = new Timer(50, new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
frame.setBackground(new Color(0,0,0,opacityCounter));
opacityCounter--;
window.add(frame);
if(opacityCounter <= 0){
opacityCounter = 0;
fadeTimer.stop();
}
System.out.println(opacityCounter);
}
});
fadeTimer.start();
}
public static void main(String[] args){
new Test();
}
}
Thanks in advance!

I would try these things:
Use the GlassPane of the top-level window and make a section of it darker where you want to cover things up, using a Swing Timer.
Use a CardLayout to swap the underlying components, and make the swap when the covering JPanel is darkest.
Then undarken the covering panel after the swap.
For example (to write more code explanation later):
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.CardLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Font;
import java.awt.GridBagLayout;
import java.awt.Point;
import java.awt.Window;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.KeyEvent;
import javax.swing.*;
public class Test2 extends JPanel {
public static final String PANEL_1 = "panel 1";
public static final String PANEL_2 = "panel 2";
private CardLayout cardLayout = new CardLayout();
private JPanel cardPanel = new JPanel(cardLayout);
private JPanel panel1 = new JPanel();
private JPanel panel2 = new JPanel();
private Action fadeAction = new FadeAction(cardPanel);
public Test2() {
JLabel label = new JLabel("Panel 1");
label.setFont(label.getFont().deriveFont(Font.BOLD, 100f));
panel1.setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
int gap = 40;
panel1.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(gap, gap, gap, gap));
panel1.add(label);
panel1.setBackground(Color.PINK);
label = new JLabel("Panel 2");
label.setFont(label.getFont().deriveFont(Font.BOLD, 100f));
panel2.setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
panel2.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(gap, gap, gap, gap));
panel2.add(label);
panel2.setBackground(new Color(131, 238, 255));
cardPanel.add(panel1, PANEL_1);
cardPanel.add(panel2, PANEL_2);
JButton startFadeBtn = new JButton(fadeAction);
JPanel buttonPanel = new JPanel();
buttonPanel.add(startFadeBtn);
setLayout(new BorderLayout(5, 5));
add(cardPanel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
add(buttonPanel, BorderLayout.PAGE_END);
}
private static class FadeAction extends AbstractAction {
private static final int FADE_DELAY = 20;
private static final int UNFADE_VALUE = 255;
private JPanel cardPanel;
private JComponent glassPane;
private JPanel coverPanel = new JPanel();
private Timer fadeTimer;
private int counter = 0;
private boolean fade = true;
public FadeAction(JPanel cardPanel) {
super("Start Fade");
putValue(MNEMONIC_KEY, KeyEvent.VK_S);
this.cardPanel = cardPanel;
}
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
counter = 0;
fade = true;
setEnabled(false);
CardLayout cl = (CardLayout) cardPanel.getLayout();
cl.show(cardPanel, PANEL_1);
Window topLevelWindow = SwingUtilities.getWindowAncestor(cardPanel);
glassPane = (JComponent) ((RootPaneContainer) topLevelWindow).getRootPane().getGlassPane();
glassPane.setVisible(true);
glassPane.setLayout(null);
coverPanel.setSize(cardPanel.getSize());
int x = cardPanel.getLocationOnScreen().x - glassPane.getLocationOnScreen().x;
int y = cardPanel.getLocationOnScreen().y - glassPane.getLocationOnScreen().y;
Point coverPanelPoint = new Point(x, y);
coverPanel.setLocation(coverPanelPoint);
glassPane.add(coverPanel);
fadeTimer = new Timer(FADE_DELAY, e2 -> fadeTimerActionPerformed(e2));
fadeTimer.start();
}
private void fadeTimerActionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
coverPanel.setBackground(new Color(0, 0, 0, counter));
glassPane.repaint();
if (fade) {
counter++;
} else if (counter > 0) {
counter--;
} else {
glassPane.remove(coverPanel);
glassPane.setVisible(false);
setEnabled(true);
((Timer) e.getSource()).stop();
}
if (counter >= UNFADE_VALUE) {
fade = false;
CardLayout cl = (CardLayout) cardPanel.getLayout();
cl.show(cardPanel, PANEL_2);
}
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(() -> {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Test");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.add(new Test2());
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
});
}
}

Oracle has a helpful tutorial, Creating a GUI With Swing. Skip the Learning Swing with the NetBeans IDE section. Pay close attention to the Concurrency in Swing and the Laying Out Components Within a Container sections.
This is Hovercraft Full Of Eels' answer. All I did was clean up the GUI creation and demonstrate how this would work with more than two JPanels.
I created five JPanels and displayed them in order with the fade-out/fade-in effect.
Here's the complete runnable code.
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.CardLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.FlowLayout;
import java.awt.Font;
import java.awt.Window;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.KeyEvent;
import javax.swing.AbstractAction;
import javax.swing.BorderFactory;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JComponent;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.RootPaneContainer;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
import javax.swing.Timer;
public class FadeEffectsTesting {
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(() -> {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Fade Effects Testing");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.add(new FadeEffectsTesting().getMainPanel());
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationByPlatform(true);
frame.setVisible(true);
});
}
public static final String[] PANEL_SEQUENCE = { "Panel 1", "Panel 2", "Panel 3", "Panel 4",
"Panel 5" };
private int sequence = 0;
private CardLayout cardLayout;
private FadeAction action;
private JPanel cardPanel, mainPanel;
public FadeEffectsTesting() {
this.mainPanel = new JPanel(new BorderLayout(5, 5));
this.cardPanel = createCardPanel();
this.action = new FadeAction(cardPanel);
mainPanel.add(cardPanel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
mainPanel.add(createButtonPanel(), BorderLayout.PAGE_END);
}
private JPanel createCardPanel() {
cardLayout = new CardLayout();
JPanel panel = new JPanel(cardLayout);
panel.add(createTextPanel(Color.PINK, PANEL_SEQUENCE[0]),
PANEL_SEQUENCE[0]);
panel.add(createTextPanel(new Color(131, 238, 255),
PANEL_SEQUENCE[1]), PANEL_SEQUENCE[1]);
panel.add(createTextPanel(Color.PINK, PANEL_SEQUENCE[2]),
PANEL_SEQUENCE[2]);
panel.add(createTextPanel(new Color(131, 238, 255),
PANEL_SEQUENCE[3]), PANEL_SEQUENCE[3]);
panel.add(createTextPanel(Color.PINK, PANEL_SEQUENCE[4]),
PANEL_SEQUENCE[4]);
return panel;
}
private JPanel createTextPanel(Color color, String text) {
JPanel panel = new JPanel(new FlowLayout());
panel.setBackground(color);
int gap = 40;
panel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(gap, gap, gap, gap));
JLabel label = new JLabel(text);
label.setFont(label.getFont().deriveFont(Font.BOLD, 72f));
panel.add(label);
return panel;
}
private JPanel createButtonPanel() {
JPanel panel = new JPanel(new FlowLayout());
setFadeAction();
JButton startFadeBtn = new JButton(action);
panel.add(startFadeBtn);
return panel;
}
public void setFadeAction() {
action.setFromPanel(PANEL_SEQUENCE[sequence]);
action.setToPanel(PANEL_SEQUENCE[sequence + 1]);
}
public JPanel getMainPanel() {
return mainPanel;
}
public class FadeAction extends AbstractAction {
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
private static final int FADE_DELAY = 20;
private static final int UNFADE_VALUE = 255;
private JPanel cardPanel;
private JComponent glassPane;
private JPanel coverPanel;
private Timer fadeTimer;
private int alphaValue;
private boolean fadeOut;
private String fromPanel, toPanel;
public FadeAction(JPanel cardPanel) {
super("Start Fade");
this.putValue(MNEMONIC_KEY, KeyEvent.VK_S);
this.cardPanel = cardPanel;
this.alphaValue = 0;
this.fadeOut = true;
}
public void setFromPanel(String fromPanel) {
this.fromPanel = fromPanel;
}
public void setToPanel(String toPanel) {
this.toPanel = toPanel;
}
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
alphaValue = 0;
fadeOut = true;
setEnabled(false);
CardLayout cl = (CardLayout) cardPanel.getLayout();
cl.show(cardPanel, fromPanel);
Window topLevelWindow = SwingUtilities.getWindowAncestor(cardPanel);
glassPane = (JComponent) ((RootPaneContainer) topLevelWindow).getRootPane()
.getGlassPane();
glassPane.setLayout(null);
coverPanel = new JPanel();
coverPanel.setSize(cardPanel.getSize());
glassPane.add(coverPanel);
glassPane.setVisible(true);
fadeTimer = new Timer(FADE_DELAY, e2 -> fadeTimerActionPerformed(e2));
fadeTimer.start();
}
private void fadeTimerActionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
coverPanel.setBackground(new Color(0, 0, 0, alphaValue));
glassPane.repaint();
if (fadeOut) {
alphaValue += 3;
} else if (alphaValue > 0) {
alphaValue -= 3;
} else {
glassPane.remove(coverPanel);
glassPane.setVisible(false);
((Timer) event.getSource()).stop();
if (++sequence < (PANEL_SEQUENCE.length - 1)) {
setFadeAction();
setEnabled(true);
}
}
if (alphaValue >= UNFADE_VALUE) {
fadeOut = false;
CardLayout cl = (CardLayout) cardPanel.getLayout();
cl.show(cardPanel, toPanel);
}
}
}
}

Dynamic GridLayout with fixed size

Guidance required..
Would like to achieve something like the image below whereby the child panel stays the same size but contains up to 4 components. I realize I can achieve this by changing the number of columns in my gridlayout below but in order to keep the child panel the same size I would have to change the border sizes which is something I don't mind doing but it seems a bit cumbersome and am wondering if there is a smart way to go about this. The code I have provided is based on sample code provided to me here
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.border.EmptyBorder;
import javax.swing.border.TitledBorder;
public class DynamicGridLayout {
private JPanel ui = null;
DynamicGridLayout() {
initUI();
}
public final void initUI() {
if (ui!=null) return;
ui = new JPanel(new GridBagLayout());
ui.setBorder(new TitledBorder("Parent Panel"));
JPanel controls = new JPanel(new GridLayout(2,0,10,10));
ui.add(controls);
controls.setBackground(Color.RED);
controls.setBorder(new TitledBorder("Child Panel"));
for (int ii=1; ii<5; ii++) {
addLabel(controls, "String " + ii);
}
}
public JComponent getUI() {
return ui;
}
private void addLabel(JPanel panel, String text) {
JPanel controls1 = new JPanel(new GridLayout(3,0,3,3));
controls1.setBackground(Color.green);
controls1.setBorder(new EmptyBorder(75,75,75,75));
panel.add(controls1);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
Runnable r = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
JFrame f = new JFrame("Three Button/Text Field Combo");
f.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
f.setLocationByPlatform(true);
DynamicGridLayout dgl = new DynamicGridLayout();
f.setContentPane(dgl.getUI());
f.setSize(1050, 720);
f.setMinimumSize(f.getSize());
f.setVisible(true);
}
};
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(r);
}
}

just for my enjoy, fun,
note have to notify (deepest child required override for min/max/preferredsize from) parent JPanel after LayoutManager is switched back from GridLayout to BorderLayout (unwanted output to see in figure 5th.)
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from
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import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.border.EmptyBorder;
import javax.swing.border.TitledBorder;
public class DynamicGridLayout {
private JFrame f = new JFrame("Three Button/Text Field Combo");
private JPanel ui = new JPanel(new GridBagLayout()) {
#Override
public Dimension getMinimumSize() {
return new Dimension(400, 300);
}
#Override
public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
return new Dimension(800, 600);
}
#Override
public Dimension getMaximumSize() {
return new Dimension(800, 600);
}
};
private JPanel controls = new JPanel() {
#Override
public Dimension getMinimumSize() {
return new Dimension(400, 300);
}
#Override
public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
return new Dimension(800, 600);
}
#Override
public Dimension getMaximumSize() {
return new Dimension(1050, 720);
}
};
private JCheckBox checkValidate, checkReValidate, checkRepaint, checkPack;
DynamicGridLayout() {
initUI();
}
public final void initUI() {
ui.setBorder(new TitledBorder("Parent Panel"));
ui.add(controls);
controls.setBackground(Color.RED);
controls.setBorder(new TitledBorder("Child Panel"));
f.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
f.setLocationByPlatform(true);
f.add(ui);
f.add(getCheckBoxPanel(), "South");
f.setMinimumSize(ui.getPreferredSize());
f.setVisible(true);
}
public JComponent getUI() {
return ui;
}
private void addLabel() {
JPanel controls1 = new JPanel(new GridLayout(3, 0, 3, 3));
controls1.setBackground(Color.green);
controls1.setBorder(new EmptyBorder(75, 75, 75, 75));
controls.add(controls1);
}
private JPanel getCheckBoxPanel() {
checkValidate = new JCheckBox("validate");
checkValidate.setSelected(false);
checkReValidate = new JCheckBox("revalidate");
checkReValidate.setSelected(true);
checkRepaint = new JCheckBox("repaint");
checkRepaint.setSelected(true);
checkPack = new JCheckBox("pack");
checkPack.setSelected(false);
JButton addComp = new JButton("Add New One");
addComp.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if (controls.getComponentCount() < 1) {
controls.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
addLabel();
makeChange();
} else if (controls.getComponentCount() == 1) {
controls.setLayout(new GridLayout(0, 2, 10, 10));
addLabel();
makeChange();
} else {
controls.setLayout(new GridLayout(2, 0, 10, 10));
addLabel();
makeChange();
}
System.out.println(" Components Count after Adds :" + controls.getComponentCount());
}
});
JButton removeComp = new JButton("Remove One");
removeComp.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
int count = controls.getComponentCount();
if (count > 0) {
if (controls.getComponentCount() == 2) {
controls.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
controls.remove(0);
} else if (controls.getComponentCount() == 3) {
controls.setLayout(new GridLayout(0, 2, 10, 10));
controls.remove(0);
} else {
controls.remove(0);
}
}
makeChange();
System.out.println(" Components Count after Removes :" + controls.getComponentCount());
}
});
JPanel panel2 = new JPanel();
panel2.add(checkValidate);
panel2.add(checkReValidate);
panel2.add(checkRepaint);
panel2.add(checkPack);
panel2.add(addComp);
panel2.add(removeComp);
return panel2;
}
private void makeChange() {
if (checkValidate.isSelected()) {
ui.validate();
}
if (checkReValidate.isSelected()) {
ui.revalidate();
}
if (checkRepaint.isSelected()) {
ui.repaint();
}
if (checkPack.isSelected()) {
f.pack();
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
Runnable r = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
DynamicGridLayout dgl = new DynamicGridLayout();
}
};
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(r);
}
}

Changing/setting the height of a JTextField in a BorderLayout

I'm trying to set the height of a JTextField. At present its the full size of the displayed JFrame. Any ideas how I set the height to 50?
Edit: Here is the amended code along with screenshot thanks!
public class Display extends JFrame {
private DrawCanvas canvas;
private JTextField Altitude;
private JTextField TASpeed;
private JLabel altButton;
private int countA = 0;
private int countS = 0;
private int Bcount1 = 0;
public String Ccount = Integer.toString(Bcount1);
public Display() {
canvas = new DrawCanvas();
canvas.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(CANVAS_WIDTH, CANVAS_HEIGHT));
canvas.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
Container cp = getContentPane();
cp.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
cp.add(canvas, BorderLayout.LINE_START);
//here are the 2 side fields![enter image description here][2]
Altitude = new JTextField("0", 5);
Altitude.setHorizontalAlignment(JTextField.CENTER);
Altitude.setEditable(false);
Altitude.setOpaque(false);
Altitude.setFont(Altitude.getFont().deriveFont(25f));
TASpeed = new JTextField("0", 5);
TASpeed.setHorizontalAlignment(JTextField.CENTER);
TASpeed.setEditable(false);
TASpeed.setOpaque(false);
TASpeed.setFont(Altitude.getFont().deriveFont(25f));
altButton = new JLabel();
altButton.setText(Ccount);
canvas.add(altButton, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
canvas.add(Altitude, BorderLayout.LINE_END);
canvas.add(TASpeed, BorderLayout.LINE_START);
canvas.add(new JLabel(Ccount), BorderLayout.SOUTH);
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
setTitle("FLIGHT DISPLAY");
pack();
setVisible(true);
requestFocus();
}
class DrawCanvas extends JPanel {
public void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
super.paintComponent(g);
setBackground(CANVAS_BACKGROUND);
g.setColor(GROUND_COLOR);
g.drawString(Ccount, 100, 100);
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
new Display();
}
});
}
}

As #kleopatra correctly comments, the JTextField can calculate it's own preferred size based on the platform designer's choice of Font. This example changes the size.
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.EventQueue;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JTextField;
/** #see http://stackoverflow.com/a/14734937/230513 */
public class Test {
private void display() {
JFrame f = new JFrame("Test");
f.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
JTextField tfCount = new JTextField("42", 8);
tfCount.setHorizontalAlignment(JTextField.CENTER);
tfCount.setFont(tfCount.getFont().deriveFont(50f));
f.add(tfCount, BorderLayout.NORTH);
f.add(new JPanel() { //placeholder
#Override
public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
return new Dimension(320, 240);
}
}, BorderLayout.CENTER);
f.pack();
f.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
f.setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
new Test().display();
}
});
}
}

Layout method breaks after first execution

When the addComponents() method is run once, I get the desired layout of my JPanel. However, when the code in addComponents() is executed more than once, the layout of the JPanel is completely wrong. Is there anything that I seem to be doing wrong?
public class DeleteStudent extends JPanel {
public SearchPanel search = new SearchPanel();
private final JButton deleteButton = new JButton("Delete from database");
private GridBagConstraints cons = new GridBagConstraints();
private final GridBagLayout gridBag = new GridBagLayout();
public DeleteStudent() {
super();
setLayout(gridBag);
setPreferredSize(new Dimension(400, 300));
addComponents();
addComponents(); //Method fails when run more than once!
}
public void addComponents() {
cons.gridy = 1;
cons.insets = new Insets(50, 0, 0, 0);
gridBag.setConstraints(deleteButton, cons);
removeAll();
add(search);
add(deleteButton);
update();
}
private void update() {
revalidate();
repaint();
}
Screenshots:
JPanel after 1 method call: http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/6409/oncer.png
JPanel after 2 method calls: http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/254/twiced.png

Adding to my comment:
Seems problem is you set the JPanels GridBagLayout constraints before calling removeAll() it should be done after calling removeAll(); so that when we add the new components the LayoutManager is still in effect and hasnt been reset to its defaults values.
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.GridBagConstraints;
import java.awt.GridBagLayout;
import java.awt.Insets;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
public class Test {
public Test() {
createAndShowGui();
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
new Test();
}
});
}
private void createAndShowGui() {
JFrame frame = new JFrame();
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.add(new DeleteStudent());
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
}
class DeleteStudent extends JPanel {
public JPanel search = new JPanel() {//for testing
#Override
public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
return new Dimension(200, 200);
}
};
private final JButton deleteButton = new JButton("Delete from database");
private GridBagConstraints cons = new GridBagConstraints();
private final GridBagLayout gridBag = new GridBagLayout();
public DeleteStudent() {
super();
setLayout(gridBag);
addComponents();
addComponents(); //Method fails when run more than once!
}
#Override
public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
return new Dimension(400, 300);
}
public void addComponents() {
removeAll();//must call this before resetting Layout and adding new components
cons.gridy = 1;
cons.insets = new Insets(50, 0, 0, 0);
gridBag.setConstraints(deleteButton, cons);
add(search);
add(deleteButton);
update();
}
private void update() {
revalidate();
repaint();
}
}

Removing JPanel from a JFrame

I am trying to remove a JPanel not hide it but i can't find anything that works.
This is the code in the panel that needs to remove itself when a button is pressed:
play.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
Frame frame = new Frame(); //referencing to my JFrame class (this class is a JPanel)
//need to remove this panel on this line
frame.ThreeD(); // adds a new panel
}
});
UPDATED
This is the full code:
package ThreeD;
import java.awt.Rectangle;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.UIManager;
import Run.Frame;
public class Launcher extends JPanel{
private JButton play, options, help, mainMenu;
private Rectangle rplay, roptions, rhelp, rmainMenu;
private int buttonWidthLocation, buttonWidth, buttonHeight;
private int width = 1280;
public Launcher() {
this.setLayout(null);
drawButtons();
}
private void drawButtons() {
try {
UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.getSystemLookAndFeelClassName());
} catch(Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
play = new JButton("Play");
options = new JButton("Options");
help = new JButton("Help");
mainMenu = new JButton("Main Menu");
buttonWidthLocation = (width / 2) - (buttonWidth / 2);
buttonWidth = 80;
buttonHeight = 40;
rplay = new Rectangle(buttonWidthLocation, 150, buttonWidth, buttonHeight);
roptions = new Rectangle(buttonWidthLocation, 300, buttonWidth, buttonHeight);
rhelp = new Rectangle(buttonWidthLocation, 450, buttonWidth, buttonHeight);
rmainMenu = new Rectangle(buttonWidthLocation, 600, buttonWidth, buttonHeight);
play.setBounds(rplay);
options.setBounds(roptions);
help.setBounds(rhelp);
mainMenu.setBounds(rmainMenu);
add(play);
add(options);
add(help);
add(mainMenu);
play.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
Frame frame = new Frame();
//need to remove this panel here
frame.ThreeD();
}
});
options.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
System.out.println("options");
}
});
help.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
System.out.println("help");
}
});
mainMenu.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
System.out.println("mainMenu");
}
});
}
}
And this is my Frame class:
package Run;
import javax.swing.*;
import ThreeD.Display;
import ThreeD.Launcher;
import TowerDefence.Window;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
public class Frame extends JFrame{
public static String title = "Game";
/*public static int GetScreenWorkingWidth() {
return java.awt.GraphicsEnvironment.getLocalGraphicsEnvironment().getMaximumWindowBounds().width;
}*/
/*public static int GetScreenWorkingHeight() {
return java.awt.GraphicsEnvironment.getLocalGraphicsEnvironment().getMaximumWindowBounds().height;
}*/
//public static Dimension size = new Dimension(GetScreenWorkingWidth(), GetScreenWorkingHeight());
public static Dimension size = new Dimension(1280, 774);
public static void main(String args[]) {
Frame frame = new Frame();
System.out.println("Width of the Frame Size is "+size.width+" pixels");
System.out.println("Height of the Frame Size is "+size.height+" pixels");
}
public Frame() {
setTitle(title);
setSize(size);
setResizable(false);
setLocationRelativeTo(null);
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
ThreeDLauncher();
}
public void ThreeDLauncher() {
Launcher launcher = new Launcher();
add(launcher);
setVisible(true);
}
public void TowerDefence() {
setLayout(new GridLayout(1, 1, 0, 0));
Window window = new Window(this);
add(window);
setVisible(true);
}
public void ThreeD() {
BufferedImage cursor = new BufferedImage(16, 16, BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_ARGB);
Cursor blank = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().createCustomCursor(cursor, new Point(0, 0), "blank");
getContentPane().setCursor(blank);
Display display = new Display();
add(display);
setVisible(true);
display.start();
}
}

Basically - you are creating new instance of Frame in line:
Frame frame = new Frame(); //referencing to my JFrame class (this class is a JPanel)
New instance of Frame is not visible, and you're try to remove your Launcher from not visible new Frame. But this is wrong - you should remove Launcher from Frame that you created previously in main function (that is: parent of Launcher component).
Here goes an example:
public class TestFrame extends JFrame {
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
TestFrame frame = new TestFrame();
frame.getContentPane().add(new MyPanel(frame));
frame.setSize(200, 200);
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
});
}
}
And MyPanel class:
public class MyPanel extends JPanel {
public MyPanel(final TestFrame frame) {
JButton b = new JButton("Play");
add(b);
b.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
Container pane = frame.getContentPane();
pane.remove(MyPanel.this);
JPanel otherPanel = new JPanel();
otherPanel.add(new JLabel("OtherPanel"));
pane.add(otherPanel);
pane.revalidate();
}
});
}
}
In your example you should add a reference to Frame in your Launcher constructor:
public Launcher(Frame frame) {
this.frame = frame;
...
Init Launcher:
public void ThreeDLauncher() {
Launcher launcher = new Launcher(this);
and use:
play.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
//need to remove this panel here
frame.getContentPane().remove(Launcher.this);
frame.ThreeD();
}
});

Say your panel is myPanel you can remove it from the main frame by:
frame.getContentPane().remove(myPanel);