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How do I make a loop start and end with a key press and release?

Here is my code... How can I make it work so that it runs the loop while the user is holding a button and stops when the user releases the button?
public void nextPrimeNum()
{
x = false;
int b = 2;
ArrayList<Integer> next = new ArrayList<Integer>();
while(x)
{
next = factors(b);
if(next.size()==2)
{
System.out.println(b);
}
b++;
}
System.out.println("End");
}
public void keyPressed(KeyEvent e)
{
if(e.getKeyCode() == 401)
{
x = true;
}
}
public void keyRealesed(KeyEvent e)
{
if(e.getKeyCode() == 402)
{
x = false;
}
}

GUI and multi-thread programming is inherently difficult.
So, this is as simple as it could be, without violating best practices too much.
You need several things:
A separate Thread for printing primes:
Its run method loops for ever, but pauses when the Space key is not pressed.
(see Defining and Starting a Thread for more info)
A KeyListener which will be called from AWT's event dispatch thread:
The event handling methods are designed to finish fast, so that other events
(like moving, resizing and closing the frame) still are handled fast.
(see How to Write a Key Listener
and The Event Dispatch Thread for more info)
A visible GUI component (JFrame) for adding the KeyListener
Some synchronization between the 2 threads (via synchronized, notify and wait)
so that the prime-printing starts/continues on keyPressed
and suspends on keyReleased
(see Guarded Blocks for more info)
Initialize and start the whole GUI by invoking initGUI.
(see Initial Threads for more info)
import java.awt.event.KeyEvent;
import java.awt.event.KeyListener;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
public class Main implements Runnable, KeyListener {
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(Main::initGUI);
}
private static void initGUI() {
JFrame frame = new JFrame();
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.add(new JLabel("Press SPACE key for printing primes"));
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null); // center on screen
frame.setVisible(true);
Main main = new Main();
frame.addKeyListener(main);
Thread thread = new Thread(main);
thread.start();
}
private boolean spaceKeyPressed;
private boolean isPrime(int n) {
for (int i = 2; i < n; i++) {
if (n % i == 0)
return false;
}
return true;
}
#Override
public void run() {
for (int n = 2; /**/; n++) {
while (!spaceKeyPressed) {
synchronized (this) {
try {
wait(); // waits until notify()
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
// do nothing
}
}
}
if (isPrime(n)) {
System.out.println(n);
}
}
}
#Override
public void keyTyped(KeyEvent e) {
// do nothing
}
#Override
public synchronized void keyPressed(KeyEvent e) {
if (e.getKeyCode() == KeyEvent.VK_SPACE) {
spaceKeyPressed = true;
notifyAll(); // cause wait() to finish
}
}
#Override
public synchronized void keyReleased(KeyEvent e) {
if (e.getKeyCode() == KeyEvent.VK_SPACE) {
spaceKeyPressed = false;
notifyAll(); // cause wait() to finish
}
}
}

So, the answer is - it's complicated. It covers broad topics such as concurrency (in general), GUI development, best practices with the specific API (Swing) which are better covered in more detail by reading through the various tutorials (and experimenting)
Concurrency
Creating a GUI With JFC/Swing
Concurrency in Swing
Worker Threads and SwingWorker
How to Use Actions
How to Use Key Bindings
The example presents two ways to execute the "loop" (which is presented in the doInBackground method of the CalculateWorker class).
You can press and hold the JButton or press and hold the [kbd]Space[kbd] bar, both will cause the "main loop" to run, updating the JTextArea with the results...
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.EventQueue;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.KeyEvent;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
import java.util.concurrent.locks.Condition;
import java.util.concurrent.locks.ReentrantLock;
import javax.swing.AbstractAction;
import javax.swing.ActionMap;
import javax.swing.InputMap;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JScrollPane;
import javax.swing.JTextArea;
import javax.swing.KeyStroke;
import javax.swing.SwingWorker;
import javax.swing.UIManager;
import javax.swing.UnsupportedLookAndFeelException;
import javax.swing.event.ChangeEvent;
import javax.swing.event.ChangeListener;
public class Test {
public static void main(String[] args) {
new Test();
}
public Test() {
EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
try {
UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.getSystemLookAndFeelClassName());
} catch (ClassNotFoundException | InstantiationException | IllegalAccessException | UnsupportedLookAndFeelException ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
}
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Testing");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.add(new TestPane());
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
});
}
public class TestPane extends JPanel {
private JTextArea ta;
private CalculateWorker worker;
public TestPane() {
setLayout(new BorderLayout());
ta = new JTextArea(20, 20);
ta.setEditable(false);
add(new JScrollPane(ta));
worker = new CalculateWorker(ta);
JButton btn = new JButton("Press");
btn.getModel().addChangeListener(new ChangeListener() {
#Override
public void stateChanged(ChangeEvent e) {
System.out.println("...isRunning = " + worker.isRunning());
if (!worker.isRunning()) {
return;
}
System.out.println("...isPressed = " + btn.getModel().isPressed());
System.out.println("...isPaused = " + worker.isPaused());
if (btn.getModel().isPressed()) {
worker.pause(false);
} else {
worker.pause(true);
}
}
});
add(btn, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
worker.execute();
InputMap im = getInputMap(WHEN_IN_FOCUSED_WINDOW);
ActionMap am = getActionMap();
im.put(KeyStroke.getKeyStroke(KeyEvent.VK_SPACE, 0, false), "Space.released");
im.put(KeyStroke.getKeyStroke(KeyEvent.VK_SPACE, 0, true), "Space.pressed");
am.put("Space.released", new CalculateAction(false, worker));
am.put("Space.pressed", new CalculateAction(true, worker));
}
public class CalculateWorker extends SwingWorker<List<String>, String> {
private AtomicBoolean run = new AtomicBoolean(true);
private AtomicBoolean paused = new AtomicBoolean(false);
private ReentrantLock pausedLocked = new ReentrantLock();
private Condition pausedCondition = pausedLocked.newCondition();
private JTextArea ta;
public CalculateWorker(JTextArea ta) {
this.ta = ta;
pause(true);
}
public void stop() {
run.set(false);
pausedLocked.lock();
pausedCondition.signalAll();
pausedLocked.unlock();
}
public void pause(boolean pause) {
paused.set(pause);
pausedLocked.lock();
pausedCondition.signalAll();
pausedLocked.unlock();
}
public boolean isPaused() {
return paused.get();
}
public boolean isRunning() {
return run.get();
}
#Override
protected List<String> doInBackground() throws Exception {
List<String> values = new ArrayList<>(256);
long value = 0;
System.out.println("!! Start running");
while (run.get()) {
while (paused.get()) {
System.out.println("!! I'm paused");
pausedLocked.lock();
try {
pausedCondition.await();
} finally {
pausedLocked.unlock();
}
}
System.out.println("!! Start loop");
while (!paused.get() && run.get()) {
value++;
values.add(Long.toString(value));
publish(Long.toString(value));
Thread.sleep(5);
}
System.out.println("!! Main loop over");
}
System.out.println("!! Run is over");
return values;
}
#Override
protected void process(List<String> chunks) {
for (String value : chunks) {
ta.append(value);
ta.append("\n");
}
ta.setCaretPosition(ta.getText().length());
}
}
public class CalculateAction extends AbstractAction {
private boolean start;
private CalculateWorker worker;
public CalculateAction(boolean start, CalculateWorker worker) {
putValue(NAME, "Calculate");
this.start = start;
this.worker = worker;
}
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
worker.pause(start);
}
}
}
}
Is there a simpler solution?
Of course, I always go for the most difficult, hard to understand solutions first (sarcasm)
While it "might" be possible to reduce the complexity, the example presents a number of "best practice" concepts which you would do well to learn and understand.
The solution could also be done differently depending on the API used, so, it's the "simplest" solution for the specific API choice.
I wanted to do it from the console!
Java can't do that - it's console support is rudimentary at best and doesn't support a concept of "key pressed/released" actions (since it's running in a single thread, it would be impossible for it to do otherwise).
There "are" solutions you might try, but they would require a third party library linked to native binaries to implement, which would (possibly) reduce the number of platforms it would run on

Swing - timer not firing event at the inteval

I'm making a program that, for the time being, just prints Printing... every half second. Here is my code:
package mainPackage;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.Timer;
public class Ticker {
public static void tick() {
System.out.println("Printing...");
}
public static void main(String args[]) {
ActionListener timerListener = new ActionListener(){
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
{
tick();
}
};
Timer mainTimer = new Timer(500,timerListener);
mainTimer.start();
}
}
From my understanding the mainTimer object should be firing the event handled by timerListener every 500ms. When I execute this code nothing happens, am I missing something obvious?

Use swing timer under swing event dispatch thread:
public static void main(String args[]) {
ActionListener timerListener = new ActionListener(){
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
tick();
}
};
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
Timer mainTimer = new Timer(500,timerListener);
mainTimer.start();
}
});
}
If you don't plan on changing the GUI from the timer, consider using java.util.Timer

Why does this swing app hang?

The program hangs after trying to construct another instance of itself when I wait for the reference returned by the constructor to be set.
If I click on the button, the program will hang.
edit: removed silly second wait loop.
edit 2: change true to false when calling constructor. program seems to work now.
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
import javax.swing.*;
public class Problem extends JPanel {
public Problem(boolean wait) {
frame=new JFrame();
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
setLayout(new BorderLayout());
if(wait) try {
System.out.println("calling invoke and wait");
SwingUtilities.invokeAndWait(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
Problem.this.run();
}
});
} catch(InvocationTargetException|InterruptedException e) {
throw new RuntimeException(e);
}
else {
System.out.println("calling invoke later");
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
Problem.this.run();
}
});
}
}
public String title() {
return "title";
}
public void addContent() {
JButton button=new JButton("click");
add(button,BorderLayout.CENTER);
button.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0) {
Runnable runnable=new Runnable() {
#Override public void run() {
System.out.println("before new "+Thread.currentThread());
problem=new Problem(false);
System.out.println("after new "+Thread.currentThread());
}
};
new Thread(runnable).start();
System.out.println("before first wait "+Thread.currentThread());
while (problem==null)
;
}
});
}
void run() {
frame.setTitle(title());
frame.getContentPane().add(this,BorderLayout.CENTER);
addContent();
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
new Problem(false);
}
Problem problem;
public final JFrame frame;
private static final long serialVersionUID=1;
}

p1 = problem instance from main function
State 1: Creation - p1 is initialized. p1.problem is null
State 2: User clicks button. Eventually, in another thread, p1.problem is created. However, p1.problem.problem had never been initialized and won't be until the user clicks a button, which will never happen. I'm not sure what you're trying to do but it seems like your program is hanging on while (problem.problem==null);

Using a thread loop to update a JFrame

ive done some extensive searching on using threads in a loop and whilst I understand the concept how how seperate threads work, I still cant seem to grasp how to implement it in my simple application.
My application consists of a form with a text box. This textbox needs to be updated once ever iteration of a loop. It starts with the press of a button but the loop should also finish with the press of a stop button. Ive used a boolean value to track if its been pressed.
Here is my form code:
package threadtester;
public class MainForm extends javax.swing.JFrame {
public MainForm() {
initComponents();
}
private void RunButtonActionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent evt) {
ThreadTester.setRunnable(true);
ThreadTester example = new ThreadTester(2,this);
example.run();
}
private void StopButtonActionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent evt) {
ThreadTester.setRunnable(false);
}
public static void main(String args[]) {
java.awt.EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
new MainForm().setVisible(true);
}
});
}
public void setTextBox(String myString){
MainTextbox.setText(myString);
}
}
As you can see I have a button that is pressed. When the button is pressed this executes the code thats in a different class called ThreadTester. Here is the code for that class:
package threadtester;
import java.util.logging.Level;
import java.util.logging.Logger;
public class ThreadTester implements Runnable
{
int thisThread;
MainForm myMainForm;
private static boolean runnable;
// constructor
public ThreadTester (int number,MainForm mainForm)
{
thisThread = number;
myMainForm = mainForm;
}
public void run ()
{
for (int i =0;i< 20; i++) {
if(runnable==false){
break;
}
System.out.println("I'm in thread " + thisThread + " line " + i);
myMainForm.setTextBox(i + "counter");
try {
Thread.sleep(1000);
} catch (InterruptedException ex) {
Logger.getLogger(ThreadTester.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
}
} }
public static void setRunnable(Boolean myValue){
runnable = myValue;
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
MainForm.main(args);
}
}
as you can see the loop has been created on a seperate thread... but the textbox only updates after the loop has finished. Now as far as im aware in my MainForm I created a seperate thread to run the loop on, so I dont understand why its not running? Any guidence would be much appreciated, ive tried looking at examples on stack exchange but I cant seem to get them to fit into my implemntation.
With the recommendation suggested by Tassos my run method now looks like this:
public void run ()
{
for (int i =0;i< 20; i++) {
if(runnable==false){
break;
}
System.out.println("I'm in thread " + thisThread + " line " + i);
final String var = i + "counter";
java.awt.EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
myMainForm.setTextBox(var);
}
});
try {
Thread.sleep(1000);
} catch (InterruptedException ex) {
Logger.getLogger(ThreadTester.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
}
} }

In order for Tassos' answer to work, you actually have to create an new thread, which you did not do. Simply calling
ThreadTester example = new ThreadTester(2,this);
example.run();
is not enough, sice that just calls the run method from EDT. You need to do the following:
Thread t = new Thread(new ThreadTester(2,this));
t.start();
Please refer to Defining and Starting a Thread.
Also, you want modify the same field from two different threads (runnable), which is a bug. You should read more about java concurrency.

Change this line
myMainForm.setTextBox(i + "counter");
into
final String var = i + "counter";
java.awt.EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
myMainForm.setTextBox(var);
}
});
}
Why? Because you can't do UI work in non-UI threads.

The problem is that you are blocking the EDT (Event Dispatching Thread), preventing the UI to refresh until your loop is finished.
The solutions to these issues is always the same, use a Swing Timer or use a SwingWorker.
Here is an example of the usage of a SwingWorker:
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.util.List;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JTextField;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
import javax.swing.SwingWorker;
public class TestSwingWorker {
private JTextField progressTextField;
protected void initUI() {
final JFrame frame = new JFrame();
frame.setTitle(TestSwingWorker.class.getSimpleName());
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
JButton button = new JButton("Clik me to start work");
button.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
doWork();
}
});
progressTextField = new JTextField(25);
progressTextField.setEditable(false);
frame.add(progressTextField, BorderLayout.NORTH);
frame.add(button, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
protected void doWork() {
SwingWorker<Void, Integer> worker = new SwingWorker<Void, Integer>() {
#Override
protected Void doInBackground() throws Exception {
// Here not in the EDT
for (int i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
// Simulates work
Thread.sleep(10);
publish(i); // published values are passed to the #process(List) method
}
return null;
}
#Override
protected void process(List<Integer> chunks) {
// chunks are values retrieved from #publish()
// Here we are on the EDT and can safely update the UI
progressTextField.setText(chunks.get(chunks.size() - 1).toString());
}
#Override
protected void done() {
// Invoked when the SwingWorker has finished
// We are on the EDT, we can safely update the UI
progressTextField.setText("Done");
}
};
worker.execute();
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
new TestSwingWorker().initUI();
}
});
}
}

Make method that returns when JButton is pressed

I need to make a method that returns only when a JButton is pressed. I have a custom JButton class
public class MyButton extends JButton {
public void waitForPress() {
//returns only when user presses this button
}
}
and I want to implement waitForPress. Basically, the method should only return when the user presses the button with their mouse. I have achieved similar behavior for JTextField (to return only when user presses Space):
public void waitForTriggerKey() {
final CountDownLatch latch = new CountDownLatch(1);
KeyEventDispatcher dispatcher = new KeyEventDispatcher() {
public boolean dispatchKeyEvent(KeyEvent e) {
if (e.getID() == KeyEvent.KEY_PRESSED && e.getKeyCode() == KeyEvent.VK_SPACE) {
System.out.println("presed!");
latch.countDown();
}
return false;
}
};
KeyboardFocusManager.getCurrentKeyboardFocusManager().addKeyEventDispatcher(dispatcher);
try {
//current thread waits here until countDown() is called (see a few lines above)
latch.await();
} catch (InterruptedException e1) {
e1.printStackTrace();
}
KeyboardFocusManager.getCurrentKeyboardFocusManager().removeKeyEventDispatcher(dispatcher);
}
but I would like to do the same thing with JButton.
In advance: Please, if you wish to comment saying that this is not a good idea and that one should simply wait for actionPerformed event on a JButton and then do some action, please realize I already know that and have a good reason for doing what I'm asking here. Please try to only help with what I've asked. Thanks!!
In advance: Please, also realize that implementing actionPerformed also will not directly solve the problem. Because the code will progress even without the button being pressed. I need the program to stop, and only return when the button has been pressed. Here is a terrible solution if I were to use actionPerformed:
public class MyButton extends JButton implements ActionPerformed {
private boolean keepGoing = true;
public MyButton(String s) {
super(s);
addActionListener(this);
}
public void waitForPress() {
while(keepGoing);
return;
}
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
keepGoing = false;
}
}

For what it's worth, here is how you can do it with wait() and notify() but yet I feel that there is a deeper problem here. I would not consider this as a satisfying solution:
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
import java.util.concurrent.ScheduledExecutorService;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
public class TestBlockingButton {
boolean clicked = false;
private Object toNotify;
private void initUI() {
JFrame frame = new JFrame(TestBlockingButton.class.getSimpleName());
JButton button = new JButton("Click me");
button.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
clicked = true;
if (toNotify != null) {
synchronized (TestBlockingButton.this) {
toNotify.notify();
}
}
}
});
frame.add(button);
frame.setSize(400, 400);
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
public void waitForProcess() {
toNotify = this;
while (!clicked) {
synchronized (this) {
try {
wait();
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
// TODO Auto-generated catch block
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
System.out.println("continuing work");
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
final TestBlockingButton test = new TestBlockingButton();
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
test.initUI();
}
});
ScheduledExecutorService pool = Executors.newScheduledThreadPool(1);
pool.execute(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
System.out.println("I was doing something and now I will wait for button click");
test.waitForProcess();
System.out.println("User has now cliked the button and I can continue my work");
}
});
}
}

As you asked for an implementation with a mutex, here's what it would be like.
I'm using an ActionListener though, but there's no busy wait in it. If that isn't what you desire, you atleast saw what Burkhard meant ;)
public class MyButton extends JButton implements ActionListener
{
private Semaphore sem = new Semaphore(1);
public MyButton(String text) throws InterruptedException
{
super(text);
addActionListener(this);
sem.acquire();
}
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
sem.release();
}
public void waitForPress() throws InterruptedException {
sem.acquire();
//do your stuff
sem.acquire();
//or just
//waitForPress()
//if you dont want it to end.
}
public static void main(String[] args) throws InterruptedException {
JFrame frame = new JFrame();
MyButton m = new MyButton("test");
frame.add(m);
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
m.waitForPress();
//another time, if you only want it to block twice
m.waitForPress();
}
}
But I don't think this is a clean approach, but it doesn't consume CPU-time like a while(isStatementTrue)-implementation.
An important thing here is: you're blocking the main thread with m.waitForPress() but as you wrote you're quite experienced and you know how to handle that.