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java gui paintComponent refresh

I am learning java gui interface and wrote a program that has a button. Each time the button is clicked, a random sized rectangle will be added to the screen. But instead of adding it to the screen, the program keeps erasing the old one, which I want to keep on the screen. Here is my code. I tried to do paint() and it did not work. Thanks in advance.
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.awt.*;
public class SimpleGui implements ActionListener {
JFrame frame = new JFrame();
public static void main(String[] args){
SimpleGui gui = new SimpleGui();
gui.go();
}
public void go(){
JButton button = new JButton("Add a rectangle");
MyDrawPanel panel = new MyDrawPanel();
button.addActionListener(this);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.getContentPane().add(BorderLayout.SOUTH, button);
frame.getContentPane().add(BorderLayout.CENTER, panel);
frame.setSize(300, 300);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event){
frame.repaint();
}
class MyDrawPanel extends JPanel{
public void paintComponent(Graphics g){
g.setColor(Color.blue);
int height = (int) (Math.random()*120 + 10);
int width = (int) (Math.random()*120 + 10);
int x = (int) (Math.random()*40 + 10);
int y = (int) (Math.random()*40 + 10);
g.fillRect(x, y, height, width);
}
}
}

Your paintComponent method is written to draw only one rectangle, so its behavior should come as no shock to you. If you want it to draw multiple, you have one of two options:
Create an ArrayList<Rectangle>, and in the actionPerformed method, add a new random Rectangle to this List and then call repaint(). In the paintComponent method, iterate through this List with a for-loop, painting each Rectangle.
Or you could draw the new random rectangle onto a BufferedImage that is displayed by the paintComponent method.
The first method is the easier of the two, the 2nd is better if you're worried about program responsiveness, say in an animation program.
For example:
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.Graphics2D;
import java.awt.Rectangle;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Random;
import javax.swing.*;
#SuppressWarnings("serial")
public class TwoDrawRectMethods extends JPanel {
// Array to hold our two drawing JPanels
private AddRandomRect[] addRandomRects = {
new DrawList("Using List"),
new DrawBufferedImage("Using BufferedImage")};
// constructor
public TwoDrawRectMethods() {
// add drawing rectangles onto GUI
for (AddRandomRect addRandomRect : addRandomRects) {
add(addRandomRect);
}
// button to tell rectangles to add a new Rectangle
add(new JButton(new DrawAction("Add New Rectangle")));
}
// The button's Action -- an ActionListener on "steroids"
private class DrawAction extends AbstractAction {
public DrawAction(String name) {
super(name);
int mnemonic = (int) name.charAt(0);
putValue(MNEMONIC_KEY, mnemonic);
}
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
// tell both drawing JPanels to add a new rectangle
for (AddRandomRect addRandomRect : addRandomRects) {
addRandomRect.addRectangle();
}
}
}
private static void createAndShowGui() {
TwoDrawRectMethods mainPanel = new TwoDrawRectMethods();
JFrame frame = new JFrame("TwoDrawRectMethods");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
frame.getContentPane().add(mainPanel);
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(() -> createAndShowGui());
}
}
#SuppressWarnings("serial")
class DrawList extends AddRandomRect {
private static final Color RECT_COLOR = Color.RED;
private List<Rectangle> rectList = new ArrayList<>();
public DrawList(String title) {
super(title);
}
#Override
public void addRectangle() {
rectList.add(createRandomRect());
repaint();
}
#Override
protected void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
super.paintComponent(g);
Graphics2D g2 = (Graphics2D) g;
g2.setColor(RECT_COLOR);
for (Rectangle rectangle : rectList) {
g2.draw(rectangle);
}
}
}
#SuppressWarnings("serial")
class DrawBufferedImage extends AddRandomRect {
private static final Color RECT_COLOR = Color.BLUE;
private BufferedImage img = null;
public DrawBufferedImage(String title) {
super(title);
}
#Override
public void addRectangle() {
if (img == null) {
img = new BufferedImage(getWidth(), getHeight(), BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_ARGB);
}
Rectangle rect = createRandomRect();
Graphics2D g2 = img.createGraphics();
g2.setColor(RECT_COLOR);
g2.draw(rect);
g2.dispose();
repaint();
}
#Override
protected void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
super.paintComponent(g);
if (img != null) {
g.drawImage(img, 0, 0, null);
}
}
}
#SuppressWarnings("serial")
abstract class AddRandomRect extends JPanel {
private static final int PREF_W = 500;
private static final int PREF_H = PREF_W;
private Random random = new Random();
public AddRandomRect(String title) {
setBorder(BorderFactory.createTitledBorder(title));
}
abstract void addRectangle();
protected Rectangle createRandomRect() {
int x1 = random.nextInt(PREF_W);
int x2 = random.nextInt(PREF_W);
int y1 = random.nextInt(PREF_H);
int y2 = random.nextInt(PREF_H);
int x = Math.min(x1, x2);
int y = Math.min(y1, y2);
int width = Math.abs(x1 - x2);
int height = Math.abs(y1 - y2);
return new Rectangle(x, y, width, height);
}
#Override
public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
if (isPreferredSizeSet()) {
return super.getPreferredSize();
}
return new Dimension(PREF_W, PREF_H);
}
}

Two ScheduledExecutorService overriding eachother?

I'm trying to make two blinking circles that blink at different rates. I'm using ScheduledExecutorService in the Circle class to regulate the blinking, and its duration is set by the ms (milliseconds) variable in each Circle.
When I make one car individually, they blink at the correct rates (I have the black one set to 1000ms, the red set to 10ms). However, when I create them both and add them to my JLayeredPane, they both blink at the shorter period.
I'm not too familiar with the use of ScheduledExecutorService, so if someone could help me out with what's going wrong it'd be greatly appreciated!
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
import java.util.concurrent.ScheduledExecutorService;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class blinker extends JFrame
{
JLayeredPane lp = new JLayeredPane();
public carlight()
{
lp.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
lp.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(450, 450));
car c1 = new car(new Color(0, 0, 0), "1", 10, 0, 0);
c1.setOpaque(false);
car c2 = new car(new Color(255, 0, 0), "2", 1000, 100, 100);
c2.setOpaque(false);
c1.setBounds(0, 0, 450, 450);
c2.setBounds(0, 0, 450, 450);
lp.add(c2);
lp.add(c1);
add(lp);
setTitle("Carlights");
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
setSize(500, 500);
setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String[] args)
{
carlight cl = new carlight();
}
}
class Circle extends JPanel
{
private Color color;
private String name;
private long ms;
private int x, y;
private boolean on = true;
ScheduledExecutorService service = Executors.newSingleThreadScheduledExecutor();
#Override
public void paintComponent(Graphics g)
{
super.paintComponents(g);
if(on)
{
g.setColor(color);
int r = 50;
g.fillOval(x, y, r, r);
on = false;
}
else
{
on = true;
}
}
public car(Color c, String s, long l, int x, int y)
{
color = c;
name = s;
ms = l;
this.x = x;
this.y = y;
this.service.scheduleAtFixedRate(new Runnable()
{
public void run()
{
repaint();
}
}, 0, ms, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
}
}

Your problem is that you have program logic in the paintComponent method, where you change the state of the boolean variable. You don't have full control over when or even if this method will be called, and in fact both paintComponents will be called when repaint is called which is why your blinkers aren't working. The solution: get the logic out of the paintComponent method by changing the state of the boolean field, on, elsewhere. Also you'll want to use a Swing Timer for better Swing threading.
You also will want to fix your use of layouts including avoiding use of setBounds. This is especially dangerous and unpredictable in your setup, using it with a BorderLayout. Myself, I'd not make the Circle class extend a JPanel but rather make it a logical class, not a component class, and then I'd have the drawing component, a class that does extend JPanel, hold instances of Circle classes and then draws them in its paintComponent. For example:
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.Graphics2D;
import java.awt.RenderingHints;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import javax.swing.*;
#SuppressWarnings("serial")
public class BlinkerEg extends JPanel {
private static final int PREF_W = 450;
private static final int PREF_H = PREF_W;
private List<Circle> circles = new ArrayList<>();
public BlinkerEg() {
circles.add(new Circle(Color.red, 1000, 0, 0, 450, this));
circles.add(new Circle(Color.black, 60, 0, 0, 450, this));
}
#Override
public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
return new Dimension(PREF_W, PREF_H);
}
#Override
protected void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
super.paintComponent(g);
Graphics2D g2 = (Graphics2D) g;
g2.setRenderingHint(RenderingHints.KEY_ANTIALIASING,
RenderingHints.VALUE_ANTIALIAS_ON);
for (Circle circle : circles) {
circle.paint(g2);
}
}
private static void createAndShowGui() {
BlinkerEg mainPanel = new BlinkerEg();
JFrame frame = new JFrame("BlinkerEg");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
frame.getContentPane().add(mainPanel);
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationByPlatform(true);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
createAndShowGui();
}
});
}
}
class Circle {
private Color color;
private int x, y;
private int diam;
private JComponent component;
private boolean on = true;
public Circle(Color color, int ms, int x, int y, int diam, JComponent component) {
this.color = color;
this.x = x;
this.y = y;
this.diam = diam;
this.component = component;
new Timer(ms, new TimerListener()).start();
}
public void paint(Graphics g) {
if (on) {
g.setColor(color);
g.fillOval(x, y, diam, diam);
}
}
public boolean isOn() {
return on;
}
public void setOn(boolean on) {
this.on = on;
}
private class TimerListener implements ActionListener {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
setOn(!isOn());
component.repaint();
}
}
}

Change the background color on a custom Button?

I want my button to change color on the mod == 0 of i % 3. The paintComponent(...) is called when the form is re-sized and index is passed in so I would think that this should change the color of my button ever time I start moving the form around the screen.
I have two components on the screen but both will not show up this might be a factor.
Code:
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
public class testform {
public static void main (String[] p) {
testBall3 j1 = new testBall3();
myButton b1 = new myButton("test");
JPanel testPane = new JPanel();
testPane.setBackground(Color.green);
testPane.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
j1.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(10,10));
//testPane.add(b1);
testPane.add(j1);
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Testing");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
frame.add(testPane);
frame.pack();
frame.setSize(300, 200);
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
//j1.setColorBall(Color.BLACK);
//j1.repaint();
}
}
class myButton extends JButton {
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
public myButton(String s) {
super(s);
}
public void setPrefferedSize(Dimension d) {
//this.setBounds(x, y, width, height)
setPreferredSize(d);
}
public void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
super.paintComponent(g);
index += i;
System.out.println(i);
if (index % 3 == 0) {
setBackground(Color.RED);
}
else {
setBackground(Color.BLACK);
}
}
}
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import javax.swing.JComponent;
class testBall3 extends JComponent
{
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
private Color colorBall = Color.red;
private int x1, y1;
int index = 0;
public void setColorBall(Color c)
{
this.colorBall = c;
}
public testBall3()
{
super();
System.out.println("MyBall (0)");
}
public testBall3(int x, int y, int diameter)
{
super();
this.setLocation(x, y);
this.setSize(diameter, diameter);
System.out.println("MyBall (1)");
x1 = x;
y1 = y;
}
public void paintBorder(Graphics g)
{
super.paintBorder(g);
g.setColor(Color.YELLOW);
g.fillOval(100, 100, 50, 50);
System.out.println("PaintBorder");
}
public void paintComponent(Graphics g)
{
super.paintComponent(g);
g.setColor(colorBall);
g.fillOval(x1, y1, 10, 10);
System.out.println("paintComponent");
}
public void paint(Graphics g)
{
super.paint(g);
paintComponent(g);
paintBorder(g);
paintChildren(g);
System.out.println("Paint");
}
}

But paintComponent doesn't take a second parameter, how are you passing it? I would think that instead of trying to pass i, you would want make i an attribute of class myButton instead and initialize it to 0 upon instantiation. That is, if you want each button to have its own counter. That sounds like the better plan.

You've got a lot of strange stuff going on...
You've got a component where you override all four major painting methods for no good reason.
In this component, your paint method override calls the super method, and calls the other 3 methods, which in essence will make those 3 methods be called twice.
You've got program logic (advancement of i) inside of your myButton's paintComponent method -- something that should never be done. You do not have full control over when or even if this method is called.
You are calling setBackground(...) from within paintComponent, something which shouldn't be done.
Your class names do not begin with an upper case letter, going against coding conventions, and potentially confusing anyone who tries to read your code.
If you want to change the state of a component on resize, use a ComponentListener.
e.g.
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.Toolkit;
import java.awt.Window;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.awt.event.ComponentAdapter;
import java.awt.event.ComponentEvent;
import javax.swing.*;
#SuppressWarnings("serial")
public class Foo2 extends JPanel {
protected static final Color MAGIC_BACKGROUND = Color.red;
protected static final int MAGIC_NUMBER = 3;
private static final int TIMER_DELAY = 20;
private int index = 0;
private JButton myButton = new JButton("My Button");
protected int DELTA_SIZE = 2;
public Foo2() {
add(myButton);
addComponentListener(new ComponentAdapter() {
#Override
public void componentResized(ComponentEvent e) {
index++;
if (index % MAGIC_NUMBER == 0) {
myButton.setBackground(MAGIC_BACKGROUND);
} else {
myButton.setBackground(null);
}
}
});
new Timer(TIMER_DELAY, new ActionListener() {
private Toolkit toolkit = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit();
private int screenWidth = toolkit.getScreenSize().width;
private int screenHeight = toolkit.getScreenSize().height;
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if (getWidth() >= screenWidth || getHeight() >= screenHeight) {
((Timer)e.getSource()).stop();
} else {
int width = getWidth() + DELTA_SIZE;
int height = getHeight() + DELTA_SIZE;
setPreferredSize(new Dimension(width, height));
Window win = SwingUtilities.getWindowAncestor(Foo2.this);
win.pack();
win.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
}
}
}).start();
}
private static void createAndShowGui() {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Foo2");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.getContentPane().add(new Foo2());
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
createAndShowGui();
}
});
}
}

How to change locations of drawn objects with user input

I'm attempting to draw multiple fish (very simple ones), as many as the user specifies. But the circles aren't drawn in the proper places when the user specifies they want more than one fish to be drawn. All ovals are drawn, they just aren't in the right spots, so they no longer look like fish.
public class FishList extends JPanel {
static int fn = Integer.parseInt(JOptionPane.showInputDialog(null, "How many fish would you like to draw? "));
static int w = 200;
static int h = 100;
static int x;
static int y;
static int a = x + 20;
static int b = y + 30;
static int d = 50;
static int c = x + 195;
public FishList() {
setPreferredSize(
new Dimension(400,400));
}
public void paint(Graphics g) {
g.setColor(Color.GREEN);
g.fillOval(x, y, w, h);
g.fillOval(c, y, d, h);
g.setColor(Color.BLACK);
g.fillOval(a, b, 25, 25);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
MyFrame frame1 = new MyFrame("Drawing Fish");
JPanel outer = new JPanel();
for(int i=0; i<fn; i++){
x = 0 + (i*(w+d+1));
y = 0;
FishList sPanel1 = new FishList();
outer.add(sPanel1);
}
frame1.add(outer);
frame1.pack();
frame1.setVisible(true);
}
}

JPanel, by default, uses a FlowLayout. FlowLayout also uses the component's preferred size to determine how to layout each component within the Container.
Failing to call super.paint is going to cause you serious issues. In fact, you should use paintComponent instead of paint and make sure you are calling super.paintComponent.
Take a look at Performing Custom Painting and Painting in AWT and Swing for more details
Components already have a sense of location and size, which you are ignoring. The use of static variables in this context isn't going to help, because basically, each instance of your fish will be painted in the exact same location, as they will share the same value of the each of the static variables...
A better solution would be to generate a class that is capable of begin painted, which then paints the "fish".
These would be included inside a component capable of painting them, which you could then just add to a Container which is using a BorderLayout.
For example...
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.EventQueue;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.Graphics2D;
import java.awt.Rectangle;
import java.awt.geom.Ellipse2D;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.UIManager;
import javax.swing.UnsupportedLookAndFeelException;
public class Fishies {
public static void main(String[] args) {
new Fishies();
}
public Fishies() {
EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
try {
UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.getSystemLookAndFeelClassName());
} catch (ClassNotFoundException | InstantiationException | IllegalAccessException | UnsupportedLookAndFeelException ex) {
}
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Testing");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.add(new FishBowel());
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
});
}
public class FishBowel extends JPanel {
private List<Fish> fishes = new ArrayList<>(25);
public FishBowel() {
for (int index = 0; index < 10; index++) {
int width = random(20);
int height = width;
int x = random(200 - 20);
int y = random(200 - 20);
fishes.add(new Fish(new Rectangle(x, y, width, height)));
}
}
#Override
public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
return new Dimension(200, 200);
}
#Override
protected void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
super.paintComponent(g);
Graphics2D g2d = (Graphics2D) g.create();
for (Fish fish : fishes) {
fish.paint(g2d);
}
g2d.dispose();
}
}
public static int random(int max) {
return (int)(Math.round(Math.random() * max));
}
public class Fish {
private Color color;
private Ellipse2D fish;
public Fish(Rectangle bounds) {
this(new Color(random(255), random(255), random(255)), bounds);
}
public Fish(Color color, Rectangle bounds) {
this.color = color;
fish = new Ellipse2D.Float(bounds.x, bounds.y, bounds.width, bounds.height);
}
public Ellipse2D getFish() {
return fish;
}
public Color getColor() {
return color;
}
public void paint(Graphics2D g2d) {
g2d.setColor(getColor());
g2d.fill(fish);
}
}
}

java swing: in paintComponent method how to know what to repaint?

My component is bigger than the screen and parts of it are not shown (I will use scrollbars).
When I receive a call in paintComponent(g) how do I know what area should I paint?

I'm not sure if this is what you mean, but the problem is you will have to call repaint() on the JScrollPane each time you get a call in paintComponent(Graphics g) of the JPanel or else updates on the JPanel will not be visible in the JScrollPane.
Also I see you want to use JScrollBar (or maybe you confused the terminology)? I'd recommend a JScrollPane
I made a small example which is a JPanel with a grid that will change its colour every 2 seconds (Red to black and vice versa). The JPanel/Grid is larger then the JScrollPane; regardless we have to call repaint() on the JScrollPane instance or else the grid wont change colour:
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JScrollPane;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
import javax.swing.Timer;
public class Test {
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
new Test().createAndShowUI();
}
});
}
private void createAndShowUI() {
JFrame frame = new JFrame();
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
initComponents(frame);
frame.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(400, 400));
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
private void initComponents(JFrame frame) {
JScrollPane jsp = new JScrollPane();
jsp.setViewportView(new Panel(800, 800, jsp));
frame.getContentPane().add(jsp);
}
}
class Panel extends JPanel {
private int across, down;
private Panel.Tile[][] tiles;
private Color color = Color.black;
private final JScrollPane jScrollPane;
public Panel(int width, int height, JScrollPane jScrollPane) {
this.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(width, height));
this.jScrollPane = jScrollPane;
createTiles();
changePanelColorTimer();//just something to do to check if its repaints fine
}
#Override
protected void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
super.paintComponent(g);
for (int i = 0; i < across; i++) {
for (int j = 0; j < down; j++) {
g.setColor(color);
for (int k = 0; k < 5; k++) {
g.drawRect(tiles[i][j].x + k, tiles[i][j].y + k, tiles[i][j].side - k * 2, tiles[i][j].side - 2 * k);
}
}
}
updateScrollPane();//refresh the pane after every paint
}
//calls repaint on the scrollPane instance
private void updateScrollPane() {
jScrollPane.repaint();
}
private void createTiles() {
across = 13;
down = 9;
tiles = new Panel.Tile[across][down];
for (int i = 0; i < across; i++) {
for (int j = 0; j < down; j++) {
tiles[i][j] = new Panel.Tile((i * 50), (j * 50), 50);
}
}
}
//change the color of the grid lines from black to red and vice versa every 2s
private void changePanelColorTimer() {
Timer timer = new Timer(2000, new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if (color == Color.black) {
color = Color.red;
} else {
color = Color.black;
}
}
});
timer.setInitialDelay(2000);
timer.start();
}
private class Tile {
int x, y, side;
public Tile(int inX, int inY, int inSide) {
x = inX;
y = inY;
side = inSide;
}
}
}
In the Panel class if we comment the line updateScrollPane(); in paintComponent(Graphics g) we wont see the grid change colour.

You can find out the area that actually has to be painted by querying the clip bounds of the Graphics object.
The JavaDoc seems to be a bit out-dated for this method: It says, that it may return a null clip. However, this is obviously never the case (and other Swing classes also rely on the clip never being null!).
The follwing MCVE illustrates the difference between using a the clip or painting the whole component:
It contains a JPanel with a size of 800x800 in a scroll pane. The panel paints a set of rectangles, and prints how many rectangles have been painted.
One can use the "Use clip bounds" checkbox to enable and disable using the clip. When the clip is used, only the visible area of the panel is repainted, and the number of rectangles is much lower. (Note that the test whether a rectangle has to be painted or not is rather simple here: It only performs an intersection test of the rectangle with the visible region. For a real application, one would directly use the clip bounds to find out which rectangles have to be painted).
This example also shows some of the tricky internals of scroll panes: When the blinking is switched off, and the scroll bars are moved, one can see that - although the whole visible area changes - only a tiny area actually has to be repainted (namely the area that has become visible due to the scrolling). The other part is simply moved as-it-is, by blitting the previous contents. This behavior can be modified with JViewport.html#setScrollMode.
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.FlowLayout;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.Graphics2D;
import java.awt.Rectangle;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.JCheckBox;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JScrollPane;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
import javax.swing.Timer;
public class PaintRegionTest
{
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception
{
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable()
{
#Override
public void run()
{
createAndShowGUI();
}
});
}
private static void createAndShowGUI()
{
JFrame frame = new JFrame();
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
final PaintRegionPanel paintRegionPanel = new PaintRegionPanel();
paintRegionPanel.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(800, 800));
final Timer timer = new Timer(1000, new ActionListener()
{
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
{
paintRegionPanel.changeColor();
}
});
timer.setInitialDelay(1000);
timer.start();
JScrollPane scrollPane = new JScrollPane(paintRegionPanel);
frame.getContentPane().setLayout(new BorderLayout());
frame.getContentPane().add(scrollPane, BorderLayout.CENTER);
JPanel controlPanel = new JPanel(new FlowLayout());
final JCheckBox blinkCheckbox = new JCheckBox("Blink", true);
blinkCheckbox.addActionListener(new ActionListener()
{
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
{
if (blinkCheckbox.isSelected())
{
timer.start();
}
else
{
timer.stop();
}
}
});
controlPanel.add(blinkCheckbox);
final JCheckBox useClipCheckbox = new JCheckBox("Use clip bounds");
useClipCheckbox.addActionListener(new ActionListener()
{
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
{
paintRegionPanel.setUseClipBounds(
useClipCheckbox.isSelected());
}
});
controlPanel.add(useClipCheckbox);
frame.getContentPane().add(controlPanel, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
frame.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(400, 400));
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
}
class PaintRegionPanel extends JPanel
{
private Color color = Color.BLACK;
private boolean useClipBounds = false;
void setUseClipBounds(boolean useClipBounds)
{
this.useClipBounds = useClipBounds;
}
void changeColor()
{
if (color == Color.BLACK)
{
color = Color.RED;
}
else
{
color = Color.BLACK;
}
repaint();
}
#Override
protected void paintComponent(Graphics gr)
{
super.paintComponent(gr);
Graphics2D g = (Graphics2D)gr;
g.setColor(color);
Rectangle clipBounds = g.getClipBounds();
Rectangle ownBounds = new Rectangle(0,0,getWidth(),getHeight());
System.out.println("clipBounds: " + clipBounds);
System.out.println(" ownBounds: " + ownBounds);
Rectangle paintedRegion = null;
if (useClipBounds)
{
System.out.println("Using clipBounds");
paintedRegion = clipBounds;
}
else
{
System.out.println("Using ownBounds");
paintedRegion = ownBounds;
}
int counter = 0;
// This loop performs a a simple test see whether the objects
// have to be painted. In a real application, one would
// probably use the clip information to ONLY create the
// rectangles that actually have to be painted:
for (int x = 0; x < getWidth(); x += 20)
{
for (int y = 0; y < getHeight(); y += 20)
{
Rectangle r = new Rectangle(x + 5, y + 5, 10, 10);
if (r.intersects(paintedRegion))
{
g.fill(r);
counter++;
}
}
}
System.out.println("Painted "+counter+" rectangles ");
}
}
An aside: For many application cases, such an "optimization" should hardly be necessary. The painted elements are intersected against the clip anyhow, so one will probably not gain much performance. When "preparing" the elements to be painted is computationally expensive, one can consider this as one option. (In the example, "preparing" refers to creating the Rectangle instance, but there may be more complicated patterns). But in these cases, there may also be more elegant and easier solutions than manually checking the clip bounds.

All answers are wrong. So I decided to answer the question despide the fact that the question is two years old.
I believe that the correct answer is calling g.getClipBounds() inside of paintComponent(Graphics g) method. It will return the rectangle in the control's coordinate system of the area which is invalidated and must be redrawn.