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Is there a way in Java to be able to click through a JFrame?

I'm trying to make an overlay for a HTML-based game running in a browser window and created an JFrame which is opaque. I'd like to be able to still play the game whilst having the overlay above the window. I tried some solutions that I've found but those didn't work for me.
I've thought of catching the click-event on my JFrame and "simulating" the click on the game window. But sadly I don't have an idea how thats possible.
My current code is using the JNA libarys to access the position and scale of the window (in my test code Task-Manager).
I'm fine with using another libary or something like that, if it's even possible.
Thats my code so far:
import com.sun.jna.platform.DesktopWindow;
import com.sun.jna.platform.WindowUtils;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
public class Test {
public static void main(String[] args) throws InterruptedException {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("title");
frame.setUndecorated(true);
frame.setBackground(new Color(255, 69, 0, 100));
frame.setAlwaysOnTop(true);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
Rectangle rect = null;
while (true) {
for (DesktopWindow desktopWindow : WindowUtils.getAllWindows(true)) {
if (desktopWindow.getTitle().contains("Task-Manager")) {
rect = desktopWindow.getLocAndSize();
frame.setSize(rect.width - 16, rect.height - 8);
frame.setLocation(rect.x + 8, rect.y);
frame.setVisible(true);
Thread.sleep(10);
}
}
}
}
}

A JFrame is a heavyweight component. There is a window in the host OS GUI system to go with it. The host OS GUI directs mouse events to the window. Perhaps using a lightweight component for your overlay and then disabling mouse events on it would be a better solution.
Your idea of catching the click event and "simulating it" on you game window should be fairly easy. If your JFrame event processing code has a reference to your game engine, it can determine the relative position of the windows and tell your game engine the corresponding point at which it should act as if it received a click. I.e. just call the same method of your game engine for click events that it received normally and also for the simulated ones.
An ugly hack (there is noticeable flicker) would be to hide the window and send the click through with the Robot class... like this:
import java.awt.AWTException;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Frame;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.Point;
import java.awt.Robot;
import java.awt.event.InputEvent;
import java.awt.event.MouseEvent;
import java.awt.event.MouseListener;
import java.awt.event.MouseMotionListener;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
public class ClickThrough extends Frame implements MouseListener, MouseMotionListener {
private final Robot robot;
private Color bgColor = new Color(0x80808080, true);
private Point dragPoint;
public ClickThrough() throws AWTException {
setAlwaysOnTop(true);
robot = new Robot();
}
public static void main(String[] args) throws AWTException {
ClickThrough w = new ClickThrough();
w.setUndecorated(true);
w.setSize(200, 100);
w.setOpacity(0.7f);
w.addMouseListener(w);
w.addMouseMotionListener(w);
w.setVisible(true);
}
#Override
public void paint(Graphics g) {
int w = getWidth();
int h = getHeight();
g.setColor(Color.GRAY);
g.fillRect(0, 0, w, 16);
g.setColor(bgColor);
g.fillRect(0, 16, w, h-16);
g.setColor(Color.BLACK);
g.drawString("Go ahead, click on me...", 20, 50);
}
private void makeHole(MouseEvent e) {
// Tried making a shape with a hole where the mouse was clicked,... didn't work (macOS).
//setShape(windowWithHoleShape);
setVisible(false);
}
private void repairHole(MouseEvent e) {
//setShape(windowShape);
setVisible(true);
}
#Override
public void mousePressed(MouseEvent e) {
Point p = e.getPoint();
// give it a draggable area at the top
if (p.y < 16) {
dragPoint = p;
return;
}
dragPoint = null;
SwingUtilities.convertPointToScreen(p,this);
makeHole(e);
robot.mouseMove(p.x, p.y);
robot.mousePress(InputEvent.getMaskForButton(e.getButton()));
repairHole(e);
}
#Override public void mouseReleased(MouseEvent e) { }
#Override public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent e) { }
#Override public void mouseEntered(MouseEvent e) { }
#Override public void mouseExited(MouseEvent e) { }
#Override
public void mouseDragged(MouseEvent e) {
if (dragPoint != null) {
Point p = e.getPoint();
SwingUtilities.convertPointToScreen(p, this);
p.translate(-dragPoint.x, -dragPoint.y);
setLocation(p);
}
}
#Override
public void mouseMoved(MouseEvent e) { }
}
I tried to see if I could cut a hole in the window by setting the window Shape, but at least on macOS the hole does not allow the mouse events through.
I should also point out that if you switch your GUI framework to JAvaFX, then you have the option of running your HTML-based game UI in a JavaFX WebView, so you can integrate your game and overlay into a single coherent application. You could specifically make your overlay "mouse transparent". IMO that would be a much better approach than hacking around with the mouse events.

Java repaint() doesn't call the paint() in applet

To be clear, I've been researching for more than five hours now, I read all the related questions and more than 20 google searches, none of them worked for me and none of them described my case specifically.
First of all here's my code :
import java.util.*;
import java.applet.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.image.*;
import java.io.IOException;
import static Debug.StaticVar.*;
/*
<applet code="ImageTest" width=300 height=100>
</applet>
*/
public class ImageTest extends Applet {
Image img;
MediaTracker tracker;
public void init() {
tracker = new MediaTracker(this);
Thread Loader = new Thread(() -> {
img = getImage(getCodeBase(), "1.jpg");
tracker.addImage(img, 1);
});
Loader.setPriority(10);
Loader.start();
}
public void start() {
try {
tracker.waitForAll();
repaint();
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
}
}
public void paint(Graphics g) {
g.drawImage(img, 0, 0, null);
}
}
My Problem is the repaint method not calling paint method. To be more specific the paint method executes if I call repaint from another thread, or if I add the paint method to a child class and call repaint but it doesn't work in my code, where I directly call it from the applet main thread. Please HEEEEELP, I'm tired

How do I make a (keyPressed) KeyListener?

Im trying to write a very simple program that allows you to control a sprite with arrow keys and move around the screen. From what I understand, to do this I need a keyPressed() KeyListener. I believe Im doing this correctly based on the Java Doc but its not returning the correct output when I press the designated key. Can someone please tell me what is wrong with my code, and if possible, provide a simple example of the usage of this class? Thanks!
(Note, code is unfinished)
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.awt.event.KeyEvent;
import java.awt.event.KeyListener;
import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;
import javax.imageio.ImageIO;
import javax.swing.*;
public class Display extends JPanel implements ActionListener, KeyListener {
Display() {
// super();
loadImages();
initTimer();
this.addKeyListener(this);
}
BufferedImage sprite;
Timer timer;
int up = 0;
public void loadImages() {
File spriteImage = new File("Pacman_sprite.png");
try {
sprite = ImageIO.read(spriteImage);
} catch (IOException e) {
System.out.println("Sprite import failed");
}
}
public void initTimer() {
timer = new Timer(100, this);
timer.start();
this.addKeyListener(this);
}
#Override
public void keyTyped(KeyEvent e) {
}
#Override
public void keyPressed(KeyEvent e) {
int key = e.getKeyCode();
System.out.println("Key press registered"); //does not print this?
if (key == KeyEvent.VK_UP) {
System.out.println("sucess"); // does not print this?
up++;
repaint();
}
}
#Override
public void keyReleased(KeyEvent e) {
System.out.println("release");
}
public void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
super.paintComponent(g);
setBackground(Color.WHITE);
Graphics2D g2d = (Graphics2D) g;
g2d.drawImage(sprite, 500, 500 + up, null);
}
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
repaint();
}
}
EDIT:
May have found the answer here. I moved the key handling code to a new class called KeyHandler then added these two lines to the constructor:
addKeyListener(new KeyHandler());
setFocusable(true);
It now appears to be working just fine (sort of, at least it is detecting when the up key is hit. My graphics aren't.)

You are not adding the listener to the JPanel.
Note: I would suggest you to change your design. Right now, Display class is both a JPanel and a Listener (which doesn't make sense in my opinion).
But to add the listener in your code do something like,
this.addKeyListener(this); // This looks awkward right. That's why you should change the design.
in your constructor.

motion of rectangle by keyboard

I made the following code to move a rectangle using arrowkeys of keyboard. The "keyPressed" function does not seem to be working properly.Infact, i don't think it is even getting called when a key is pressed bcz when i tried to print some text when a key is pressed, it was not getting printed.All i see in the output window is a stationary rectangle fixed at the top left corner of the window.Here is my code....pls help me...i need it desperately
import javax.swing.JFrame;
public class Main
{
public static void main(String args[])
{
JFrame window=new JFrame();
window.setSize(600,400);
window.setTitle("window");
window.setVisible(true);
window.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
drawingComponent DC=new drawingComponent();
window.add(DC);
}
}
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Graphics2D;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.Rectangle;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.awt.event.KeyEvent;
import java.awt.event.KeyListener;
import javax.swing.JComponent;
import javax.swing.Timer;
public class drawingComponent extends JComponent implements ActionListener,KeyListener
{
Timer t=new Timer(2000,this);//moving after 5 milliseconds
static int x=0;
static int y=0;
private static int velx=0;
private static int vely=0;
public drawingComponent()
{
t.start();
addKeyListener(this);
setFocusable(true);
setFocusTraversalKeysEnabled(false);
System.out.println("tr1");
}
public void paintComponent(Graphics g)
{
Graphics2D g2=(Graphics2D) g;
Rectangle rect1=new Rectangle(x,y,50,30);
g2.setColor(Color.RED);
g2.fill(rect1);
System.out.println("tr2");
}
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) //inbuilt fncn f actionListener(interface) which needs to be created
{
x+=velx; //changing values
y+=vely;
System.out.println("tr3");
repaint(); //inbuilt fncn to repeat the paintComponent method
}
public void keyPressed(KeyEvent e)
{
int code=e.getKeyCode();
if(code==KeyEvent.VK_UP)
{ velx=0; vely=-1;repaint(); }
if(code==KeyEvent.VK_DOWN)
{ velx=0; vely=1; repaint(); }
if(code==KeyEvent.VK_LEFT)
{vely=0; velx=-1; repaint(); }
if(code==KeyEvent.VK_RIGHT)
{vely=0; velx=1; repaint();}
}
public void keyTyped(KeyEvent e)
{}
public void keyReleased(KeyEvent e)
{}
}

Welcome to the wonderful world of KeyListeners...
While you have set the component focusable, you've not requested that the component be focused.
You could try calling requestFocusInWindow, but he this raises the question of when to call it.
You could call it within the constructor, but because the component doesn't belong to a valid visible component yet, the call may fail. You could override the components addNotify method and add the call to it, after you call super.addNotify, but the requestFocusInWindow method doesn't gurentee that focus will be given the component
Instead, you could simply avoid all this hassle and use the key bindings API instead, which will give you control over the level of focus require for key events to be triggered
As a side note, you should call setVisible on your frame after you've set up the UI completely

draw and save an image

I'm coding the simple project to draw lines and save likes an image,but when I run, it shows an errors that I can't fix. Please help me.
Here is my code:
package image;
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Button;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Point;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.event.MouseAdapter;
import java.awt.event.MouseEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;
import javax.imageio.ImageIO;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JOptionPane;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
public class paint extends JFrame{
private Point points[] = new Point[10000];
private Point pointends[] = new Point[10000];
private int pointCount = 0;
private JButton save_btn;
public paint()
{
panel paint2 = new panel();
add(paint2,BorderLayout.CENTER);
}
private class panel extends JPanel
{
public panel()
{
setBackground(Color.WHITE);
save_btn = new JButton();
save_btn.setText("123");
this.add(save_btn);
/* save btnhandler = new save();
save_btn.addActionListener(btnhandler);*/
MouseHandler handler = new MouseHandler();
this.addMouseMotionListener(handler);
this.addMouseListener(handler);
}
#Override
protected void paintComponent(Graphics g)
{
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
super.paintComponent(g);
for(int i = 0;i <pointCount;i++)
{
g.setColor(Color.RED);
g.drawLine(points[i].x, points[i].y, pointends[i].x, pointends[i].y);
}
}
}
private class MouseHandler extends MouseAdapter
{
#Override
public void mouseDragged(MouseEvent e)
{
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
pointends[ pointCount-1] = e.getPoint();
repaint();
}
#Override
public void mousePressed(MouseEvent e) {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
super.mousePressed(e);
//find point
if(pointCount < points.length)
{
points[ pointCount ] = e.getPoint();//find point
pointends[ pointCount ] = e.getPoint();
pointCount++;
repaint();
}
}
#Override
public void mouseReleased(MouseEvent e) {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
super.mouseReleased(e);
/*pointends[pointCount]=e.getPoint();
repaint();
pointCount++;
*/
}
}
}
and the class of save event
package image;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.nio.Buffer;
import javax.imageio.ImageIO;
import javax.swing.JOptionPane;
public class save implements ActionListener{
private paint paint1 = new paint();
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
String str = JOptionPane.showInputDialog(null, "Enter file name: ");
//
BufferedImage bufImage = new BufferedImage(paint1.getWidth(), paint1.getHeight(),BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_RGB);
try {
ImageIO.write(bufImage, "jpg", new File(str + ".jpg"));
} catch (IOException ox) {
// TODO: handle exception
ox.printStackTrace();
}
}
}//end class

The Problem is that Your paint JFrame creates an instance of your save ActionListener, and your save ActionListener creates an instance of your paint JFrame. Thus you run into an infinite loop of constructors.
Instead of creating a new paint object, pass the current one in the constructor for save.
private paint paint1 = null;
public save(paint panel) {
this.paint1 = panel;
}
Now, in your panel constructor, pass a reference to the current instance to the ActionListener:
save btnhandler = new save(my_paint); // see Update below
save_btn.addActionListener(btnhandler);
This should fix your immediate problem. However, I recommend restructuring your code a bit, and you should also try to follow Java coding conventions, e.g., using CamelCase names for classes, and using correct indentation. This will make it much easier for others (and yourself) to read and undertand your code.
Update: I just realized that your object structure is a bit more complicated... your paint JFrame creates a panel JPanel, which creates a save ActionListener, which again creates a paint JFrame. The basic argument and solution remain the same, but instead of using new save(this) you have to either pass a reference to the JFrame containing the JPanel, or change the type of the field in your ActionListener.
Alternatively you could make bothe the JPanel and the ActionListener inner classes of the paint JFrame. This way you can access the JFrame directly from within the ActionListener and do not have to pass a reference at all, thus circumvent the problem entirely and giving a bit more structure to the code.