Java - Trigger swing timer with a mouseEvent? - java

I'm trying to turn on the timer using mouseEntered event with MouseListener it doesn't seem to work. Am i doing somthing wrong? I'm new to Java. Thanks in advance!
int counter = 0;
Timer timer = new Timer(1000,this);
public void mouseEntered(e MouseEvent)
{
if(e.getComponent == mouseEnteredArea)
{
timer.start()
counter++;
if(counter == 10)
{
timer.stop();
}
}
}

What's happening is when the mouse enters the area, your code starts the timer, adds one to counter (so counter == 1), checks if counter is equal to 10. Since it isn't, the code then skips the if statement and exits the method.
It's difficult to tell your actual intentions from that question, so if that wasn't enough to help, please explain what you're trying to do.

I think you may not understand how the timer works. Basically the timer has an ActionListener. Every 1000 milliseconds (in your case), the actionPerformed will be called. So I believe the code you have above should be in the ActionListener, and just call timer.start() in the mouse method. Something like.
Timer timer = new Timer(1000, new ActionListener(){
private int counter = 0;
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if (counter == 10) {
((Timer)e.getSource()).stop();
counter = 0;
} else {
System.out.println("Count: " + (++counter));
}
}
});
....
#Override
public void mouseEntered(MouseEvent e) {
timer.start();
}
Resources
How to Use Swing Timers
How to Write a Mouse Listener

Related

Java: Perform Action Every X Seconds

I've got a working Java program and I would like to draw an object on the display every X seconds. What is the best way to do this? I was thinking of using a for loop and some sleep statements, but I'm curious if there is an easier or more efficient way to go about this.
Thanks.
The simplest way would be to use a javax.swing.Timer
Timer timer = new Timer(X, new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
// Update the variables you need...
repaint();
}
});
timer.setRepeats(true);
timer.setCoalesce(true);
timer.start();
You might also like to have a read through
The Event Dispatching Thread
Concurrency in Swing
So you can understand why you should never use a while (true) { Thread.sleep(X) } call in Swing (inside the EDT)
ScheduledExecutorService might help here. The Javadoc shows example usage. Don't forget to call the shutdown method when you're finished.
Using Thread, this will draw a rectangle on the screen every XMilSeconds. This will stop after 5 runs. Edit the xMilSeconds for slower runs, and j > 4 for how many runs before stoping. It does freeze though, that I can't fix.
int i = 0;
private long xMilSeconds = 300;
private boolean paint;
public boolean running = true;
public void paint(Graphics g)
{
super.paint(g);
if(paint)
{
for(;i < i+1;)
{
g.drawRect(i+49,i+49,i+299,i+99);
g.setColor(Color.RED);
g.fillRect(i+49,i+49,i+299,i+99);
}
paint = false;
}
}
public void run()
{
while(running)
{
try
{
Thread.sleep(xSeconds);
paint = true;
repaint();
i++;
j++;
if(j > 4)
{
running = false;
}
}
catch(Exception e)
{
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}

Flashing color of a JTextField

I have a JTextField that is cleared if it has invalid content. I would like the background to flash red one or two times to indicate to the user that this has happened. I have tried:
field.setBackground(Color.RED);
field.setBackground(Color.WHITE);
But it is red for such a brief time that it cannot possibly be seen. Any tips?
The correct solution, almost arrive at by just eric, is to use a Swing Timer, since all the code in the Timer's ActionListener will be called on the Swing event thread, and this can prevent intermittent and frustrating errors from occurring. For example:
public void flashMyField(final JTextField field, Color flashColor,
final int timerDelay, int totalTime) {
final int totalCount = totalTime / timerDelay;
javax.swing.Timer timer = new javax.swing.Timer(timerDelay, new ActionListener(){
int count = 0;
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
if (count % 2 == 0) {
field.setBackground(flashColor);
} else {
field.setBackground(null);
if (count >= totalCount) {
((Timer)evt.getSource()).stop();
}
}
count++;
}
});
timer.start();
}
And it would be called via flashMyField(someTextField, Color.RED, 500, 2000);
Caveat: code has been neither compiled nor tested.
You need to extend public class Timer
Do it like so:
private class FlashTask extends TimerTask{
public void run(){
// set colors here
}
}
You can set Timer to execute in whatever intervals you prefer to create the flashing effect
From documentation:
public void scheduleAtFixedRate(TimerTask task, long delay, long period)
Schedules the specified task for repeated fixed-rate execution, beginning after the specified delay.

Rectangle colouring logic

I have one three rectangles in my canvas. I wanted to change the colours of three rectangles
in a slow manner one by one.
For example: When starting the application, user should be able to see three rectangles with the same colour (blue).
After 2 secons that rectangles colour should change to red.
Again after 2 secons the next rectangles colour should get changed.
The last one is also done the same way, that means after 2 seconds of the 2nd rectangle.
I wrote in my own way. But it is not working. All the rectanlges are changed together. I want one by one.
Could anyone give me the logic.
final Runnable timer = new Runnable() {
public void run() {
//list of rectangles size =3; each contain Rectangle.
for(int i = 0 ; i < rectangleList.size();i++){
if(rectangleListt.get(i).getBackgroundColor().equals(ColorConstants.blue)){
try {
rectangleList.get(i).setBackgroundColor(ColorConstants.yellow);
Thread.sleep(1500);
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
// TODO Auto-generated catch block
e.printStackTrace();
}
//rectSubFigureList.get(i).setBorder(null);
}/*else{
rectSubFigureList.get(i).setBackgroundColor(ColorConstants.blue);
}*/
}
You're likely calling Thread.sleep inside of Swing's event thread or EDT (for event dispatch thread), and this will cause the thread itself to sleep. Since this thread is responsible for all of Swing's graphics and user interactions, this will in effect put your entire application to sleep, and is not what you want to have happen. Instead, read up on and use a Swing Timer for this.
References:
Swing Timer tutorial
Swing Event Dispatch Thread and Swingworker tutorial
To expand on Hidde's code, you could do:
// the timer:
Timer t = new Timer(2000, new ActionListener() {
private int changed = 0; // better to keep this private and in the class
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if (changed < rectangleList.size()) {
rectangleList.setBackgroundColor(someColor);
} else {
((Timer) e.getSource()).stop();
}
changed++;
}
});
t.start();
You can set a Timer:
// declaration:
static int changed = 0;
// the timer:
Timer t = new Timer(2000, new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
// Change the colour here:
if (changed == 0) {
// change the first one
} else if (changed == 1) {
// change the second one
} else if (changed == 2) {
// change the last one
} else {
((Timer) e.getSource()).stop();
}
changed ++;
}
});
t.start();

Counter to Close JFrame, bring up Confirm Dialog

This post relates to my last one regarding a timer. I decided the easiest thing to do for immediate results was to just write a Counter thread that counts down from a certain time (in this case 5 seconds) and if the counter reaches 0, the JFrame closes and let's the user know that time has expired.
I'm running into some trouble, however. I cannot seem to make the JFrame close when the counter reaches 0. I'm not sure if I'm missing something stupid or if I am misunderstanding the way threads work and the way JFrames work. Here is the code, let me know what you think.
On a side note, I understand it would probably be most efficient to use a swing.Timer, but I just don't quite grasp the nature of them yet. I'm under self-imposed time constraints (I'm not a student or anything, I just like to stay motivated) and so I'm "jerry-rigging" this thing for now.
Anyway, on to the code!
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.event.*;
import java.awt.*;
public class RacerDoom extends JFrame {
boolean timesUp=false;
public RacerDoom() {
//create JFrame
super("Racer Doom Squared");
setSize(WIDTH,HEIGHT);
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
setVisible(true);
if(timesUp==true) {
dispose();
JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(null, "Time's Up! Click Okay to try again!");
}
Counter c1 = new Counter();
c1.start();
//Counter
private class Counter extends Thread {
public Counter() {}
public void run() {
for(int i=5;i>=0;i--) {
if(i==0) {
timesUp=true;
}
System.out.println(i);
try{
Thread.sleep(1000);
}
catch(InterruptedException e){}
}
}
}
...
EDIT: I have the timer implemented and working. It does exactly what I need it to, but I can't get the timer.stop(); command to work. I get the error "The local variable timer may not have been initialized.
Like I said, the timer works, it just never stops working until the program is terminated. Here is the constructor code for the JFrame, where the timer is located.
int counter = 0;
public RacerDoom() {
//create JFrame
super("Racer Doom Squared");
setSize(WIDTH,HEIGHT);
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
setVisible(true);
final Timer timer=new Timer(1000, new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if(counter>=10) {
timer.stop(); //the error occurs here
dispose();
JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(null, "Time's Up!");
}
else{
counter++;
}
System.out.println(counter);
}
});
//inner thread
Move1 m1 = new Move1();
m1.start();
timer.start();
}
Thats easy to do with the help of a swing timer.. See this code sample:
final java.swing.Timer timer=new Timer(1000, new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if(counter>5) {
timer.stop();
<dispose the fram here>
}else{
counter++;
}
}
});
timer.start();
I put this code in the constructor of my JFrame which will run in the Event despatch thread. If you dont want hang up your GUI, make sure that you run this timer on another thread and when you are disposing the JFrame wrap the call with SwingUtilities.invokeLater() - This ensures that the call gets queued on the event despatch thread.
I think your code is not working for the same reason, that you trying to something that does not get queued up in the event despatch thread. Here's an article that will get you going
http://java.sun.com/products/jfc/tsc/articles/threads/threads1.html

Stopping a Swing timer until the user clicks

I'm writing a card game. Right now I'm having problems with mouse handling. Below is the timer that handles the game flow of drawing and discarding cards.
final Timer timer = new Timer(1000, null);
timer.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
b.players[p].drawCard();
if(p==0) // player zero is the human player
{
timer.stop();
// ...
b.players[p].discardCard(i);
timer.start();
}
else
b.players[p].discardCard(0);
p=(p+1)%4;
b.repaint();
}
});
The thing is that I want to stop the timer, wait until the user clicks the card he wants to discard, then start the timer again. b implements MouseListener in a basic way:
public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent arg0)
{
clickX = arg0.getX();
clickY = arg0.getY();
}
There's also the xYtoCardIndex() method somewhere out there.
What do I do here? I assume I have to do nothing in a nonblocking way, right?
In pseudo-code, in your MouseEventListener :
public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent arg0)
{
clickX = arg0.getX();
clickY = arg0.getY();
Card discarded = getCard(clickX,clickY);
b.players[p].discardCard(discarded);
// The card has been discarded, I can start my timer again.
timer.start();
}
In your drawCard function :
public void drawCard() {
// Stop the timer
timer.stop();
// Do the drawing.
}
This way, when the player draws a card, the timer stops until a card is discarded.
First, your code is not compiled:
b.players[p].discardCard(int i); contains a syntax error int i.
Second, I do not really understand the problem. Stop the timer when you want, implement your listener (i.e. mouse listener) that starts the timer.
Or probably I did not understand your question?
BTW I have just checked Timer API. It does not have neither start nor stop methods. You have to deal with specific tasks to control execution.

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