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JDesktopPane not displaying any component

I'm experimenting with desktop panes so I can use them in my work projects. The problem here is that I want to use an JInternalFrame within a JDesktopPane, in a normal JPanel it shows normally but cannot move it, using the desktop pane doesn't display any component added.
Here is the code of the last try, is simple just for learning how it works:
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
public class Internal_FrameShowtst extends JFrame{
Internal_FrameShowtst(){
BorderLayout bl = new BorderLayout();
JDesktopPane p = new JDesktopPane();
JPanel p1 = new JPanel();
JButton b = new JButton("click");
JInternalFrame in = new JInternalFrame("Test");
Internal_Frametst ift = new Internal_Frametst();
b.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
//p1.add(new JLabel("hola"));
//in.add(p1);
//in.setVisible(true);
ift.setVisible(true);
}
});
p1.add(b);
bl.addLayoutComponent(p,BorderLayout.CENTER);
//p.add(in);
p.add(ift);
p.repaint();
setLayout(bl);
add(p);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
new Internal_FrameShowtst().setVisible(true);
}
});
}
}
custom internal frame class:
import javax.swing.*;
public class Internal_Frametst extends JInternalFrame {
Internal_Frametst(){
JPanel p = new JPanel();
JLabel label = new JLabel("Halo");
setIconifiable(true);
//setIcon(true);
setClosable(true);
p.add(label);
p.setSize(300,300);
add(p);
//setVisible(true);
}
}
I've read and tried the following:
Components inside JDesktopPane not showing
JDesktopPane not displaying components when adding JInternalFrame
I've tried adding the components directly, adding a JPanel, adding the internal frame, trying without it, creating the internal frame in the main class, creating my own internal frame in its own class, using layout managers with both panels (normal and desktop), all with the same result.

Your code creates several components that are never added to the visible UI at all. In the version you have posted, the internal frame is invisible and the button to make it visible is not part of the frame. But there are also problems with the initial sizes of the components.
I strongly recommend to keep the creation of a component, the setting of its initial properties, and the code to add it to a parent component close together in your source code.
Further, consider the points discussed in Prefer composition over inheritance? Your subclasses are entirely unnecessary.
Here is a revised version of your code that will open the internal frame when the button is clicked:
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.EventQueue;
import javax.swing.*;
public class UiExample {
public static void main(String[] args) {
EventQueue.invokeLater(UiExample::initializeUI);
}
static void initializeUI() {
JPanel p1 = new JPanel();
JButton b = new JButton("Show Internal Frame");
p1.add(b);
JInternalFrame ift = initializeInternalFrame();
b.addActionListener(e -> {
ift.pack();
ift.setVisible(true);
});
JDesktopPane p = new JDesktopPane();
p.add(ift);
JFrame mainFrame = new JFrame();
mainFrame.setSize(300, 200);
mainFrame.getContentPane().add(p, BorderLayout.CENTER);
mainFrame.getContentPane().add(p1, BorderLayout.PAGE_START);
mainFrame.setVisible(true);
}
static JInternalFrame initializeInternalFrame() {
JInternalFrame iFrame = new JInternalFrame();
iFrame.setIconifiable(true);
// setIcon(true);
iFrame.setClosable(true);
iFrame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JInternalFrame.HIDE_ON_CLOSE);
JPanel p = new JPanel();
p.add(new JLabel("Hello"));
iFrame.add(p);
return iFrame;
}
}
Note that setDefaultCloseOperation(JInternalFrame.HIDE_ON_CLOSE) is necessary for being able to show the frame again via setVisible(true) after the internal frame has been closed.

Assigning current JPanel to new instance of JPanel but does not refresh

I have sub-classed JPanel to provide a generic JPanel container that contains options for a filter selected from a JComboBox.
When the JComboBox is changed from one filter to another, I have a switch statement that checks which filter is now selected and reassigns the "options" JPanel to a new instance of the options class associated with that filter:
public void setFilterOptions(String choice){
switch(choice){
case "Gaussian": options = new GaussianFilterOptions();break;
case "Sobel": options = new SobelFilterOptions();System.out.println("?");break;
}
}
The problem is that the JPanel "options" does not get refreshed in the GUI after setFilterOptions is called. Whichever filter is set to show by default appears upon startup and remains even if I switch the JComboBox selection. I have tried repainting, revalidating, and validating "options" as well as the JPanel containing "options" and the JFrame enclosing the entire application.
I added print statements in each case to verify that they were working when the combo box is switched and not falling through, so I'm sure that is not the problem.

You're confusing variable with object. You have likely originally placed a JPanel object that options referred to into your GUI, but understand, you didn't place the options variable into the GUI, but rather (and again) the JPanel object that it referred to into the GUI.
If later you change the JPanel that the options variable refers to, this will have no effect on the GUI, since it still holds the same original JPanel object that it held before. If you want to change the JPanel displayed, you have to do that directly by swapping out JPanels in the GUI. This is best accomplished by using a CardLayout.
e.g.,
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.CardLayout;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.*;
public class SwapPanels extends JPanel {
private static final String GAUSSIAN = "Gaussian";
private static final String SOBEL = "Sobel";
private static final String[] FILTER_OPTIONS = {GAUSSIAN, SOBEL};
private CardLayout cardLayout = new CardLayout();
private JPanel cardHolderPanel = new JPanel(cardLayout);
private JPanel gaussianPanel = new JPanel();
private JPanel sobelPanel = new JPanel();
private JComboBox<String> filterCombo = new JComboBox<>(FILTER_OPTIONS);
public SwapPanels() {
JPanel comboPanel = new JPanel();
comboPanel.add(filterCombo);
filterCombo.addActionListener(new ComboListener());
gaussianPanel.add(new JLabel("Gaussian Filtering Done Here"));
sobelPanel.add(new JLabel("Sobel Filtering Done Here"));
cardHolderPanel.add(gaussianPanel, GAUSSIAN);
cardHolderPanel.add(sobelPanel, SOBEL);
int gap = 50;
cardHolderPanel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(gap, gap, gap, gap));
setLayout(new BorderLayout());
add(cardHolderPanel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
add(comboPanel, BorderLayout.PAGE_END);
}
private class ComboListener implements ActionListener {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
String key = (String) filterCombo.getSelectedItem();
cardLayout.show(cardHolderPanel, key);
}
}
private static void createAndShowGui() {
SwapPanels mainPanel = new SwapPanels();
JFrame frame = new JFrame("SwapPanels");
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();
}
});
}
}

Also you could do it like this instead of the switch
public void setFilterOptions(String choice){
options = (choice.equals("Gaussian"))? new GaussianFilterOptions():
new SobelFilterOptions();
}
}

How to display one Jframe at a time? [duplicate]

I'm trying to make a little game that will first show the player a simple login screen where they can enter their name (I will need it later to store their game state info), let them pick a difficulty level etc, and will only show the main game screen once the player has clicked the play button. I'd also like to allow the player to navigate to a (hopefully for them rather large) trophy collection, likewise in what will appear to them to be a new screen.
So far I have a main game window with a grid layout and a game in it that works (Yay for me!). Now I want to add the above functionality.
How do I go about doing this? I don't think I want to go the multiple JFrame route as I only want one icon visible in the taskbar at a time (or would setting their visibility to false effect the icon too?) Do I instead make and destroy layouts or panels or something like that?
What are my options? How can I control what content is being displayed? Especially given my newbie skills?

A simple modal dialog such as a JDialog should work well here. The main GUI which will likely be a JFrame can be invisible when the dialog is called, and then set to visible (assuming that the log-on was successful) once the dialog completes. If the dialog is modal, you'll know exactly when the user has closed the dialog as the code will continue right after the line where you call setVisible(true) on the dialog. Note that the GUI held by a JDialog can be every bit as complex and rich as that held by a JFrame.
Another option is to use one GUI/JFrame but swap views (JPanels) in the main GUI via a CardLayout. This could work quite well and is easy to implement. Check out the CardLayout tutorial for more.
Oh, and welcome to stackoverflow.com!

Here is an example of a Login Dialog as #HovercraftFullOfEels suggested.
Username: stackoverflow Password: stackoverflow
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.util.Arrays;
import javax.swing.*;
public class TestFrame extends JFrame {
private PassWordDialog passDialog;
public TestFrame() {
passDialog = new PassWordDialog(this, true);
passDialog.setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
JFrame frame = new TestFrame();
frame.getContentPane().setBackground(Color.BLACK);
frame.setTitle("Logged In");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setExtendedState(JFrame.MAXIMIZED_BOTH);
}
});
}
}
class PassWordDialog extends JDialog {
private final JLabel jlblUsername = new JLabel("Username");
private final JLabel jlblPassword = new JLabel("Password");
private final JTextField jtfUsername = new JTextField(15);
private final JPasswordField jpfPassword = new JPasswordField();
private final JButton jbtOk = new JButton("Login");
private final JButton jbtCancel = new JButton("Cancel");
private final JLabel jlblStatus = new JLabel(" ");
public PassWordDialog() {
this(null, true);
}
public PassWordDialog(final JFrame parent, boolean modal) {
super(parent, modal);
JPanel p3 = new JPanel(new GridLayout(2, 1));
p3.add(jlblUsername);
p3.add(jlblPassword);
JPanel p4 = new JPanel(new GridLayout(2, 1));
p4.add(jtfUsername);
p4.add(jpfPassword);
JPanel p1 = new JPanel();
p1.add(p3);
p1.add(p4);
JPanel p2 = new JPanel();
p2.add(jbtOk);
p2.add(jbtCancel);
JPanel p5 = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
p5.add(p2, BorderLayout.CENTER);
p5.add(jlblStatus, BorderLayout.NORTH);
jlblStatus.setForeground(Color.RED);
jlblStatus.setHorizontalAlignment(SwingConstants.CENTER);
setLayout(new BorderLayout());
add(p1, BorderLayout.CENTER);
add(p5, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
pack();
setLocationRelativeTo(null);
setDefaultCloseOperation(DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
addWindowListener(new WindowAdapter() {
#Override
public void windowClosing(WindowEvent e) {
System.exit(0);
}
});
jbtOk.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if (Arrays.equals("stackoverflow".toCharArray(), jpfPassword.getPassword())
&& "stackoverflow".equals(jtfUsername.getText())) {
parent.setVisible(true);
setVisible(false);
} else {
jlblStatus.setText("Invalid username or password");
}
}
});
jbtCancel.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
setVisible(false);
parent.dispose();
System.exit(0);
}
});
}
}

I suggest you insert the following code:
JFrame f = new JFrame();
JTextField text = new JTextField(15); //the 15 sets the size of the text field
JPanel p = new JPanel();
JButton b = new JButton("Login");
f.add(p); //so you can add more stuff to the JFrame
f.setSize(250,150);
f.setVisible(true);
f.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
Insert that when you want to add the stuff in. Next we will add all the stuff to the JPanel:
p.add(text);
p.add(b);
Now we add the ActionListeners to make the JButtons to work:
b.addActionListener(this);
public void actionPerforemed(ActionEvent e)
{
//Get the text of the JTextField
String TEXT = text.getText();
}
Don't forget to import the following if you haven't already:
import java.awt.event*;
import java.awt.*; //Just in case we need it
import java.x.swing.*;
I hope everything i said makes sense, because sometimes i don't (especially when I'm talking coding/Java) All the importing (if you didn't know) goes at the top of your code.

Instead of adding the game directly to JFrame, you can add your content to JPanel (let's call it GamePanel) and add this panel to the frame. Do the same thing for login screen: add all content to JPanel (LoginPanel) and add it to frame. When your game will start, you should do the following:
Add LoginPanel to frame
Get user input and load it's details
Add GamePanel and destroy LoginPanel (since it will be quite fast to re-create new one, so you don't need to keep it memory).

Why is my frame not resizing?

When you choose a state, the frame's content pane removes its components. Then depending on the state you chose, another class takes the content pane and adds onto it. After doing so, the frame gets packed to resize accordingly.
I want free control over whats in the Frame, such as being able to put panels side by side, above one another, ect.. so I really don't want to use CardLayout. (I'd much rather have 1 panel handle both loginscreen and chat. Then, be able to display another panel next to that one).
I'm using the JFrame's content pane for my login and chat screen, but when I run my code, I get a small frame (has SOME size, but hardly any) that's white on the inside.
show frame
switch to chat
remove everything on pane (currently nothing)
add components onto pane
pack frame so it can size accordingly to the pane
revalidate if needed (not sure when I need to revalidate or not)
Please tell me what I'm doing wrong, and maybe guide me in the right direction.
PS: There are no errors
EDIT: The only thing I can think of is that since I'm passing frame.getContentPane() through the method, and methods are pass-by-value, the actual reference to frame.getContentPane() might not be noticing the changes I'm asking for. But then I don't know why the inside of the frame would be white (as if my JTextArea tried rendering), and there's padding on the inside of the frame, so there has to be something happening..
Main.java:
package main;
import ui.Frame;
public class Main {
public static Frame frame = new Frame();
public static void main(String[] args) {
frame.show();
frame.switchState(State.chat);
}
public static enum State {
login, chat;
}
}
Frame.java:
package ui;
import main.Main.State;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
public class Frame {
private Panel currentpanel; //from package ui, not AWT
private ChatPanel chatpanel = new ChatPanel();
private JFrame frame;
public Frame() {
frame = new JFrame();
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setResizable(false);
}
public void show() {
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
public void switchState(State state) {
frame.removeAll();
switch(state) {
case chat:
currentpanel = chatpanel;
currentpanel.addComponentsTo(frame.getContentPane());
break;
}
frame.pack();
frame.revalidate();
}
}
Panel.java:
package ui;
import java.awt.Container;
public interface Panel {
public void addComponentsTo(Container pane);
}
ChatPanel.java:
package ui;
import java.awt.Container;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.GridBagConstraints;
import java.awt.GridBagLayout;
import javax.swing.JTextArea;
public class ChatPanel implements Panel {
private JTextArea toparea = new JTextArea();
private JTextArea bottomarea = new JTextArea();
#Override
public void addComponentsTo(Container pane) {
pane.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(500, 500));
pane.setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
gbc.gridy = 0;
gbc.gridx = 0;
gbc.ipadx = 450;
gbc.ipady = 350;
pane.add(toparea, gbc);
gbc.gridy = 1;
gbc.ipady = 100;
pane.add(bottomarea);
}
}

I know that can be quite frustrating.
have you tried calling
pack(); or repaint();

I found the problem. It was calling frame.removeAll(); before adding anything to it.
When I tried if(frame.getComponents().length > 0), it still triggered removeAll(), but the problem wasn't fixed. Seeing how I haven't added anything yet, I checked to see what the component was (by printing out the object), and it was a JRootPane.
After that, I tried printing out frame.getContentPane().getComponents().length, it gave me 0 as expected.
Long story short: This is how switchPanel(State state) should look:
public void switchState(State state) {
if(frame.getContentPane().getComponents().length > 0)
frame.removeAll();
switch(state) {
case chat:
currentpanel = chatpanel;
currentpanel.addComponentsTo(frame.getContentPane());
break;
}
frame.pack();
frame.revalidate();
}

NOTE: I still recommend CardLayout, but if you insists in dynamically setting the frame's content pane the here it is.
The frame class
public class SwitchingFrame extends JFrame {
public static enum State {ONE, TWO}
private PanelONE panel1 = new PanelONE();
private PanelTWO panel2 = new PanelTWO();
public SwitchingFrame() {
getContentPane().setLayout(new BorderLayout());
pack();
setVisible(true);
}
public void switchState(State state) {
setVisible(false);
getContentPane().removeAll();
if (state.equals(State.ONE))
getContentPane().add(panel1, BorderLayout.CENTER);
else
getContentPane().add(panel2, BorderLayout.CENTER);
pack();
setVisible(true);
}
}
The two panel classes which are switched
public class PanelONE extends JPanel {
public PanelONE() {
add(new JLabel("ONE"));
}
}
public class PanelONE extends JPanel {
public PanelTWO() {
add(new JLabel("TWO"));
}
}
The main method which includes buttons to simulate changing the panels
public class TestSwitchingFrame {
public static void main(String[] args) {
final SwitchingFrame sframe = new SwitchingFrame();
JFrame frame = new JFrame();
JButton b1 = new JButton("ONE");
b1.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
sframe.switchState(SwitchingFrame.State.ONE);
}
});
JButton b2 = new JButton("TWO");
b2.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
sframe.switchState(SwitchingFrame.State.TWO);
}
});
frame.getContentPane().setLayout(new FlowLayout());
frame.getContentPane().add(b1);
frame.getContentPane().add(b2);
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
}
You do not need (not should) write your own interface (Panel). Your two panels should extend JPanel and set within the frames content pane. Your frame should extend JFrame and does not need to override its show method (let Swing do it for you). The specific implementation of the switchState function should eventually depend on the end result you want. There are similar ways to accomplish almost the same result.

Does Container.getComponents() return references to the original components?

I'm using Container.getComponents() to get an array of Components stored inside the Container. I'm then modifying one of these Components (which happens to be a JLabel), but the changes are not showing on the GUI.
So I'm thinking maybe the method creates new instances of each Component which prevents me from making changes to the original component?
Here's my code:
Component[] components = source.getComponents();
if(components.length >= 2) {
if(components[1] instanceof JLabel) {
JLabel htmlArea = (JLabel) components[1];
htmlArea.setText("<html>new changes here</html>");
htmlArea.revalidate();
}
}

It is either another problem outside of the code, or you are doing this from the wrong thread.
Any changes on Swing components should be done in the event dispatch thread. Often is it most easy to surround the changing code with EventQueue.invokeLater(...) (or SwingUtilities.invokeLater, this is the same).
And make sure your component is actually visible on the screen.

There is no need to revalidate() or repaint() anything (unless you are doing something really strange)!
Where is your SSCCE that demonstrates your problem???
It works fine for me:
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.util.*;
public class TabbedPaneLabel extends JFrame
{
JTabbedPane tabbedPane;
public TabbedPaneLabel()
{
tabbedPane = new JTabbedPane();
add(tabbedPane);
tabbedPane.addTab("First", createPanel("<html>label with text</html>"));
tabbedPane.addTab("Second", createPanel("another label"));
JButton remove = new JButton("Change Label on first tab");
add(remove, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
remove.addActionListener( new ActionListener()
{
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
{
Component[] components = tabbedPane.getComponents();
JPanel panel = (JPanel)components[0];
JLabel label = (JLabel)panel.getComponent(0);
String date = new Date().toString();
label.setText("<html>" + date + "</html>");
}
});
}
private JPanel createPanel(String text)
{
JPanel panel = new JPanel();
panel.add( new JLabel(text) );
return panel;
}
public static void main(String args[])
{
TabbedPaneLabel frame = new TabbedPaneLabel();
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation( EXIT_ON_CLOSE );
frame.setSize(300, 200);
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
}