We Keep Coding

How to properly update a transparent swing overlay?

I used transparent click-through overlay based on the answer (that uses jna to enable click-through)
https://stackoverflow.com/a/28772306/1093872.
However the actual visible overlay is always behind one step, ie. when a repaint() gets called on the component, the update that should have been shown in the previous update is shown.
At first I suspected memory inconsistency issue because of the different thread. But I also tried the sure-to-be-correct approach using SwingWorker, and still faced the same problem.
AWTUtilities.setWindowOpaque(w, false); seems to be causing the problem in some way, because after I comment that out or set it to true, the problem disappears, but unfortunately the window is also not transparent (obviously).
I suspect the problem might be something related to double-buffering (the buffer is not swapped after painting only before next paint), but I don't really know. I also tried calling setDoubleBuffered(false) and setDoubleBuffered(true) on the component, but that does not change anything.
Also I realized that the problem isn't related to the jna part, because after removing that, the problem remains exactly the same.
Note that the index printing occurs at the same time as the drawing, so I know the paintComponent gets called in time, but the visible update only happens on the next call to it.
Any ideas on what can be the cause, and how to fix this?
import com.sun.awt.AWTUtilities;
import com.sun.jna.Native;
import com.sun.jna.platform.win32.User32;
import com.sun.jna.platform.win32.WinDef;
import com.sun.jna.platform.win32.WinUser;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
public class OverlayUpdateTest {
private static MyJComponent myJComponent;
public static void main(String[] args) {
setupOverlayWindow();
new Thread(() -> {
for (int i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
myJComponent.increaseIndex();
myJComponent.repaint();
try {
Thread.sleep(2000);
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}).start();
}
private static void setupOverlayWindow() {
Window w = new Window(null);
myJComponent = new MyJComponent();
w.add(myJComponent);
w.pack();
w.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
w.setVisible(true);
w.setAlwaysOnTop(true);
/**
* This sets the background of the window to be transparent.
*/
AWTUtilities.setWindowOpaque(w, false);
setTransparent(w);
}
private static void setTransparent(Component w) {
WinDef.HWND hwnd = getHWnd(w);
int wl = User32.INSTANCE.GetWindowLong(hwnd, WinUser.GWL_EXSTYLE);
wl = wl | WinUser.WS_EX_LAYERED | WinUser.WS_EX_TRANSPARENT;
User32.INSTANCE.SetWindowLong(hwnd, WinUser.GWL_EXSTYLE, wl);
}
/**
* Get the window handle from the OS
*/
private static WinDef.HWND getHWnd(Component w) {
WinDef.HWND hwnd = new WinDef.HWND();
hwnd.setPointer(Native.getComponentPointer(w));
return hwnd;
}
private static class MyJComponent extends JComponent {
private int index = 0;
/**
* This will draw a black cross on screen.
*/
protected void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
g.setColor(Color.BLACK);
g.fillRect(0, getHeight() / 2 - 10, getWidth(), 20);
g.fillRect(getWidth() / 2 - 10, 0, 20, getHeight());
g.setColor(Color.RED);
g.drawString("i: " + index, 10, getFont().getSize() + 10);
System.out.println("i: " + index);
}
public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
return new Dimension(100, 100);
}
void increaseIndex() {
index++;
}
}
}

After much trial and error I found a working solution...
Changing Window w = new Window(null); to Window w = new JWindow(); solved the problem. I don't know why, but I'm happy with it.

Can Java have text in the background of a graphics file?

I have this code and its supposed to have the text "Simple Animation" scroll across the screen in swirling colors. Right now, it does that, but even after the text moves along, the color still stays. I was wondering if there was a way to have text in the background. For example, I was thinking I could just print out the exact same "Simple Animation" but in the same color as the background and about 10 pixels behind the actual text. However, when I tried this, the white text (that's the background color) just covered the swirling colors. I tried googling if I could have background text, but from I read, the only thing that a background can do is set the color. So, is there a way to have text in the background in a Java Graphics file?
Here is my Code:
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Font;
import javax.swing.*;
public class Scrolling_Sign extends JApplet implements Runnable {
String mesag = "Simple Animation";
Font f = new Font("Bauhaus 93",Font.BOLD,72);
Color colors[] = new Color[100000];
Thread runThread;
int Xposition = 600;
public void init() {
setBackground(Color.white);
}
public void start() {
if (runThread == null) {
runThread = new Thread(this);
runThread.start();
}
}
public void stop() {
if (runThread != null) {
runThread.stop();
runThread = null;
}
}
public void run() {
float c = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < colors.length; i++) {
colors[i] = Color.getHSBColor(c, (float)1.0,(float)1.0);
c += .02;
}
int i = 0;
while (true) {
setForeground(colors[i]);
repaint();
i++;
try { Thread.sleep(100); }
catch (InterruptedException e) { }
if (i == colors.length ) i = 0;
}
}
public void paint(Graphics g) {
g.setFont(f);
g.drawString(mesag,Xposition,100);
Xposition--;
if (Xposition < -290) {
Xposition = 600;
}
}
}
Thank you!

Suggestions:
Never draw directly within a JApplet or other top-level window.
Instead draw in the paintComponent of a JPanel that is displayed within the applet. The Swing tutorials will show you how.
Be sure to call the super.paintComponent(g) method within your override, and again read the Swing tutorials to see why. For more tutorials see: Swing Info
This is Swing -- use a Swing Timer to drive your animation, not threads.
If you ever do use Threads, never call Thread#stop() or use any other deprecated methods. Please read Why is Thread.stop deprecated?.
Please look at this answer for an example of Swing animation using a Swing Timer.
Unless this is for a class assignment, don't create JApplets as this is a dead technology, something even Oracle will tell you.
To display text in the background use the java.awt.Graphics method for writing text: drawString(...). Either that or place a JLabel over your background image.

How to take control over a canvas loaded using a ClassLoader?

Say that I use a UrlClassLoader to load an applet from a website and attach it as a component to a frame. How can I gain control over the canvas so that I can draw to it myself? There is not much information about this as far as I can tell. Someone mentioned something about XBOOTING, but I have no idea what that is and I can't find anything about it.

The problem is that 'every applet is different'. That applet for instance, has no Canvas in it, but instead draws directly to the applet surface. As soon as you have an instance of the applet, you might draw directly to that, but it will be overwritten the moment that the user selects a button.
import java.applet.Applet;
import java.awt.*;
import java.net.*;
import javax.swing.JOptionPane;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
public class GrabThatCanvas {
GrabThatCanvas() {
try {
String string = "http://mainline.brynmawr.edu/Courses/cs110/spring2002/Applets/Smiley/";
URL[] urls = {
new URL(string)
};
URLClassLoader urlcl = new URLClassLoader(urls);
Class<?> clss = urlcl.loadClass("Smiley");
Object o = clss.newInstance();
Applet applet = (Applet)o;
applet.init();
applet.start();
applet.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(200,200));
Canvas canvas = findFirstCanvas(applet);
if (canvas!=null) {
System.out.println("We have the Canvas!");
} else {
System.out.println("No Canvas found!");
}
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, applet);
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
/* Very naive implementation that assumes the canvas is added
* directly to the applet. */
public Canvas findFirstCanvas(Container parent) {
Canvas canvas = null;
Component[] components = parent.getComponents();
for (Component c : components) {
System.out.println(c);
if (c instanceof Canvas) {
canvas = (Canvas)c;
break;
}
}
return canvas;
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
new GrabThatCanvas();
}
});
}
}
Output
java.awt.Button[button0,0,0,0x0,invalid,label=Smile]
java.awt.Button[button1,0,0,0x0,invalid,label=Sad]
No Canvas found!
Of course, you might put the applet in a Swing GUI, account for the weird mix of Swing and AWT, and use the layered pane to draw 'over the top' of the entire applet. But that introduces new problems.

Why is paint()/paintComponent() never called?

For the last two days I have tried to understand how Java handles graphics, but have failed miserably at just that. My main problem is understanding exactly how and when paint() (or the newer paintComponent() ) is/should be called.
In the following code I made to see when things are created, the paintComponent() is never called, unless I manually add a call to it myself or calls to JFrame.paintAll()/JFrame.paintComponents().
I renamed the paint() method to paintComponent() in hoping that would fix my problem of it never being called (even at repaint()), but no luck.
package jpanelpaint;
import java.awt.*;
import javax.imageio.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.io.*;
import java.util.ArrayList;
public class ImageLoadTest extends JComponent {
ArrayList<Image> list;
public ImageLoadTest() {
list = new ArrayList<Image>();
try { //create the images (a deck of 4 cards)
for(String name : createImageFileNames(4)){
System.err.println(name);
list.add(ImageIO.read(new File(name)));
}
} catch (IOException e) { }
}
protected void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
int yOffset=0;
System.err.println("ImageLoadTest.paintComponent()");
for(Image img : list) {
g.drawImage(img, 0, yOffset, null);
yOffset+=20;
}
}
public static void main(String args[]) throws InterruptedException {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Empty JFrame");
frame.setSize(new Dimension(1000, 500));
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setVisible(true);
Thread.sleep(1000);
frame.setTitle("Loading images");
ImageLoadTest ilt = new ImageLoadTest();
frame.add(ilt);
//update the screen
//DOESN'T WORK. only works if I call frame.paintAll(frame.getGraphics())
ilt.repaint();
frame.repaint();
Thread.sleep(1000);
frame.setTitle("Setting background");
ilt.setBackground(Color.BLACK);
//update the screen - DOESN'T WORK even if I call paintAll ..
ilt.repaint();
frame.repaint();
//have to call one of these to get anything to display
// ilt.paintComponent(frame.getGraphics()); //works
frame.paintComponents(frame.getGraphics()); //works
}
//PRIVATE HELPER FUNCTIONS
private String[] createImageFileNames(int count){
String[] fileNames = new String[count];
for(int i=0; i < count; i++)
fileNames[i] = "Cards" + File.separator + (i+1) + ".bmp";
return fileNames;
}
}

One of the reasons the paintComponent() doesn't get invoked in the original code is because the component has a "zero size" and the RepaintManger is smart enough not to try and paint something with no size.
The reason the reordering of the code works is because when you add the component to the frame and then make the frame visible the layout manager is invoked to layout the component. By default a frame uses a BorderLayout and by default a component is added to the center of the BorderLayout which happens give all the space available to the component so it gets painted.
However, you change the layout manager of the content pane to be a FlowLayout, you would still have a problem because a FlowLayout respects the preferred size of the component which is zero.
So what you really need to do is assign a preferred size to you your component so layout managers can do their job.

One major issue here is you are not updating your swing components on the Event Dispatch Thread (EDT). Try wrapping all the code in your main method in the following:
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
// swing code here...
}
});
Also: add your ImageLoadTest to the frame before setting the frame visible. This is based on a quick cursory read of the code -- I will read it further and see what else I can find.
EDIT:
Follow my original advice above, and simplify your main method to look like the following and your paintComponent() will be called:
public static void main(String args[]) throws InterruptedException {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Empty JFrame");
frame.setSize(new Dimension(1000, 500));
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
PaintComponentTest ilt = new PaintComponentTest();
frame.add(ilt);
frame.setVisible(true);
ilt.setBackground(Color.BLACK);
}
});
}
Also I would read up on using timers to perform animation, as well as general Swing event dispatching and how/when to override various paint methods.
http://java.sun.com/products/jfc/tsc/articles/painting/
http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/uiswing/misc/timer.html
http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/uiswing/concurrency/dispatch.html

To make Tom Hawtin - tackline happy. I rewrote once again
There are several things I changed (check the lines with the //new comment)
Rewrote it completely
Split into a clean new component file (ImageLoadTest.java) and a file to test it (Tester.java)
Improvements on original posters code
call constructor of parent in ImageLoadTest constructor (super())
provided second constructor to set list of images which component should display
IMPORTANT: call to setPreferredSize() of component in constructor. If size isn't set swing of course won't paint your component. preferred size is based on max. width of all images and on sum of all image heights
call to super.paintComponent(g) in overriden paintComponent()
changed paintComponent to automatically base yOffset on height of images being drawn
GUI initialization done on EDT
as original code based on using sleep() to illustrate loading and loading of images could take a long time SwingWorker's are used
worker waits then sets new title and then loads images
on completion the worker in done() finally adds the component to the JFrame and displays it. Added component to content pane of JFrame as described in JFrame api. And as described in javadoc made necessary call to validate() on JFrame after calling add(), as the JFrame is an already visible container whichs children changed.
javdoc citation from validate()
The validate method is used to cause a
container to lay out its subcomponents
again. It should be invoked when this
container's subcomponents are modified
(added to or removed from the
container, or layout-related
information changed) after the
container has been displayed.
second worker just does some more waiting then sets background color to black
used JPanel as baseclass for ImageLoadTest to fix setBackground() which I couldn't get to work with JComponent.
So your main problems where that you didn't set the preferred size of the component and that you did not call validate() on the JFrame after adding something to the already visible container.
This should work
jpanelpaint/ImageLoadTest.java
package jpanelpaint;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.Image;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import java.util.List;
public class ImageLoadTest extends JPanel {
private List<Image> list;
public ImageLoadTest() {
super();
}
public ImageLoadTest(List<Image> list) {
this();
this.list = list;
int height = 0;
int width = 0;
for (Image img : list) {
height += img.getHeight(this);
width = img.getWidth(this) > width ? img.getWidth(this) : width;
setPreferredSize(new Dimension(width, height));
}
}
#Override
protected void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
int yOffset=0;
super.paintComponent(g);
System.err.println("ImageLoadTest.paintComponent()");
for(Image img : list) {
g.drawImage(img, 0, yOffset, null);
yOffset+=img.getHeight(this);
}
}
}
Tester.java
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Image;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;
import javax.imageio.ImageIO;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.SwingWorker;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
import jpanelpaint.ImageLoadTest;
public class Tester {
private JFrame frame;
private ImageLoadTest ilt;
private final int NUMBEROFFILES = 4;
private List<Image> list;
//will load the images
SwingWorker worker = new SwingWorker<List<Image>, Void>() {
#Override
public List<Image> doInBackground() throws InterruptedException {
//sleep at start so user is able to see empty jframe
Thread.sleep(1000);
//let Event-Dispatch-Thread (EDT) handle this
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
frame.setTitle("Loading images");
}
});
//sleep again so user is able to see loading has started
Thread.sleep(1000);
//loads the images and returns list<image>
return loadImages();
}
#Override
public void done() {
//this is run on the EDT anyway
try {
//get result from doInBackground
list = get();
frame.setTitle("Done loading images");
ilt = new ImageLoadTest(list);
frame.getContentPane().add(ilt);
frame.getContentPane().validate();
//start second worker of background stuff
worker2.execute();
} catch (InterruptedException ignore) {}
catch (ExecutionException e) {
String why = null;
Throwable cause = e.getCause();
if (cause != null) {
why = cause.getMessage();
} else {
why = e.getMessage();
}
System.err.println("Error retrieving file: " + why);
}
}
};
//just delay a little then set background
SwingWorker worker2 = new SwingWorker<Object, Void>() {
#Override
public List<Image> doInBackground() throws InterruptedException {
Thread.sleep(1000);
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
frame.setTitle("Setting background");
}
});
Thread.sleep(1000);
return null;
}
#Override
public void done() {
ilt.setBackground(Color.BLACK);
frame.setTitle("Done!");
}
};
public static void main(String args[]) {
new Tester();
}
public Tester() {
//setupGUI
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
frame = new JFrame("Empty JFrame");
frame.setSize(new Dimension(1000, 500));
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
});
//start the swingworker which loads the images
worker.execute();
}
//create image names
private String[] createImageFileNames(int count){
String[] fileNames = new String[count];
for(int i=0; i < count; i++)
fileNames[i] = "Cards" + File.separator + (i+1) + ".bmp";
return fileNames;
}
//load images
private List<Image> loadImages() {
List<Image> tmpA = new ArrayList<Image>();
try {
for(String name : createImageFileNames(NUMBEROFFILES)){
System.err.println(name);
tmpA.add(ImageIO.read(new File(name)));
}
} catch (IOException e) { }
return tmpA;
}
}

These were the main problems with the original code that caused it not to work:
not calling validate() after an add() operation
not setting the preferred size of the component.
not calling super.paintComponent() when overriding it (this made the
setBackground() call not work)
I needed to inherit from JPanel in order for it to get painted. Neither Component nor JComponent was sufficient for the setBackground() call to work, even when fixing point 3.
Having done the above, it really didn't matter if calling the method paintComponent or paint, both seemed to work as long as I remembered to call the super constructor at the start.
This info was assembled from what #jitter, #tackline, and #camickr wrote, so big kudos!
P.S. No idea if answering your own question is considered bad form, but since the information I needed was assembled from several answers, I thought the best way was upmodding the other answers and writing a sum up like this.

I recommend reading the first couple of chapters of "Filthy Rich Clients". I had been using Swing for years, but only after reading this book did I finally fully understand exactly how Java's painting mechanism works.

Capturing image from webcam in java?

How can I continuously capture images from a webcam?
I want to experiment with object recognition (by maybe using java media framework).
I was thinking of creating two threads
one thread:
Node 1: capture live image
Node 2: save image as "1.jpg"
Node 3: wait 5 seconds
Node 4: repeat...
other thread:
Node 1: wait until image is captured
Node 2: using the "1.jpg" get colors
from every pixle
Node 3: save data in arrays
Node 4: repeat...

This JavaCV implementation works fine.
Code:
import org.bytedeco.javacv.*;
import org.bytedeco.opencv.opencv_core.IplImage;
import java.io.File;
import static org.bytedeco.opencv.global.opencv_core.cvFlip;
import static org.bytedeco.opencv.helper.opencv_imgcodecs.cvSaveImage;
public class Test implements Runnable {
final int INTERVAL = 100;///you may use interval
CanvasFrame canvas = new CanvasFrame("Web Cam");
public Test() {
canvas.setDefaultCloseOperation(javax.swing.JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
}
public void run() {
new File("images").mkdir();
FrameGrabber grabber = new OpenCVFrameGrabber(0); // 1 for next camera
OpenCVFrameConverter.ToIplImage converter = new OpenCVFrameConverter.ToIplImage();
IplImage img;
int i = 0;
try {
grabber.start();
while (true) {
Frame frame = grabber.grab();
img = converter.convert(frame);
//the grabbed frame will be flipped, re-flip to make it right
cvFlip(img, img, 1);// l-r = 90_degrees_steps_anti_clockwise
//save
cvSaveImage("images" + File.separator + (i++) + "-aa.jpg", img);
canvas.showImage(converter.convert(img));
Thread.sleep(INTERVAL);
}
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
Test gs = new Test();
Thread th = new Thread(gs);
th.start();
}
}
There is also post on configuration for JavaCV
You can modify the code and be able to save the images in regular interval and do rest of the processing you want.

Some time ago I've created generic Java library which can be used to take pictures with a PC webcam. The API is very simple, not overfeatured, can work standalone, but also supports additional webcam drivers like OpenIMAJ, JMF, FMJ, LTI-CIVIL, etc, and some IP cameras.
Link to the project is https://github.com/sarxos/webcam-capture
Example code (take picture and save in test.jpg):
Webcam webcam = Webcam.getDefault();
webcam.open();
BufferedImage image = webcam.getImage();
ImageIO.write(image, "JPG", new File("test.jpg"));
It is also available in Maven Central Repository or as a separate ZIP which includes all required dependencies and 3rd party JARs.

JMyron is very simple for use.
http://webcamxtra.sourceforge.net/
myron = new JMyron();
myron.start(imgw, imgh);
myron.update();
int[] img = myron.image();

Here is a similar question with some - yet unaccepted - answers. One of them mentions FMJ as a java alternative to JMF.

This kind of goes off of gt_ebuddy's answer using JavaCV, but my video output is at a much higher quality then his answer. I've also added some other random improvements (such as closing down the program when ESC and CTRL+C are pressed, and making sure to close down the resources the program uses properly).
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.KeyEvent;
import java.awt.event.WindowAdapter;
import java.awt.event.WindowEvent;
import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
import javax.swing.AbstractAction;
import javax.swing.ActionMap;
import javax.swing.InputMap;
import javax.swing.JComponent;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.KeyStroke;
import com.googlecode.javacv.CanvasFrame;
import com.googlecode.javacv.OpenCVFrameGrabber;
import com.googlecode.javacv.cpp.opencv_core.IplImage;
public class HighRes extends JComponent implements Runnable {
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
private static CanvasFrame frame = new CanvasFrame("Web Cam");
private static boolean running = false;
private static int frameWidth = 800;
private static int frameHeight = 600;
private static OpenCVFrameGrabber grabber = new OpenCVFrameGrabber(0);
private static BufferedImage bufImg;
public HighRes()
{
// setup key bindings
ActionMap actionMap = frame.getRootPane().getActionMap();
InputMap inputMap = frame.getRootPane().getInputMap(JComponent.WHEN_IN_FOCUSED_WINDOW);
for (Keys direction : Keys.values())
{
actionMap.put(direction.getText(), new KeyBinding(direction.getText()));
inputMap.put(direction.getKeyStroke(), direction.getText());
}
frame.getRootPane().setActionMap(actionMap);
frame.getRootPane().setInputMap(JComponent.WHEN_IN_FOCUSED_WINDOW, inputMap);
// setup window listener for close action
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.addWindowListener(new WindowAdapter()
{
public void windowClosing(WindowEvent e)
{
stop();
}
});
}
public static void main(String... args)
{
HighRes webcam = new HighRes();
webcam.start();
}
#Override
public void run()
{
try
{
grabber.setImageWidth(frameWidth);
grabber.setImageHeight(frameHeight);
grabber.start();
while (running)
{
final IplImage cvimg = grabber.grab();
if (cvimg != null)
{
// cvFlip(cvimg, cvimg, 1); // mirror
// show image on window
bufImg = cvimg.getBufferedImage();
frame.showImage(bufImg);
}
}
grabber.stop();
grabber.release();
frame.dispose();
}
catch (Exception e)
{
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
public void start()
{
new Thread(this).start();
running = true;
}
public void stop()
{
running = false;
}
private class KeyBinding extends AbstractAction {
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
public KeyBinding(String text)
{
super(text);
putValue(ACTION_COMMAND_KEY, text);
}
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
{
String action = e.getActionCommand();
if (action.equals(Keys.ESCAPE.toString()) || action.equals(Keys.CTRLC.toString())) stop();
else System.out.println("Key Binding: " + action);
}
}
}
enum Keys
{
ESCAPE("Escape", KeyStroke.getKeyStroke(KeyEvent.VK_ESCAPE, 0)),
CTRLC("Control-C", KeyStroke.getKeyStroke(KeyEvent.VK_C, KeyEvent.CTRL_DOWN_MASK)),
UP("Up", KeyStroke.getKeyStroke(KeyEvent.VK_UP, 0)),
DOWN("Down", KeyStroke.getKeyStroke(KeyEvent.VK_DOWN, 0)),
LEFT("Left", KeyStroke.getKeyStroke(KeyEvent.VK_LEFT, 0)),
RIGHT("Right", KeyStroke.getKeyStroke(KeyEvent.VK_RIGHT, 0));
private String text;
private KeyStroke keyStroke;
Keys(String text, KeyStroke keyStroke)
{
this.text = text;
this.keyStroke = keyStroke;
}
public String getText()
{
return text;
}
public KeyStroke getKeyStroke()
{
return keyStroke;
}
#Override
public String toString()
{
return text;
}
}

You can try Java Webcam SDK library also.
SDK demo applet is available at link.

I have used JMF on a videoconference application and it worked well on two laptops: one with integrated webcam and another with an old USB webcam. It requires JMF being installed and configured before-hand, but once you're done you can access the hardware via Java code fairly easily.

You can try Marvin Framework. It provides an interface to work with cameras. Moreover, it also provides a set of real-time video processing features, like object tracking and filtering.
Take a look!
Real-time Video Processing Demo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5mBt0kRYvk
You can use the source below. Just save a frame using MarvinImageIO.saveImage() every 5 second.
Webcam video demo:
public class SimpleVideoTest extends JFrame implements Runnable{
private MarvinVideoInterface videoAdapter;
private MarvinImage image;
private MarvinImagePanel videoPanel;
public SimpleVideoTest(){
super("Simple Video Test");
videoAdapter = new MarvinJavaCVAdapter();
videoAdapter.connect(0);
videoPanel = new MarvinImagePanel();
add(videoPanel);
new Thread(this).start();
setSize(800,600);
setVisible(true);
}
#Override
public void run() {
while(true){
// Request a video frame and set into the VideoPanel
image = videoAdapter.getFrame();
videoPanel.setImage(image);
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SimpleVideoTest t = new SimpleVideoTest();
t.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
}
}
For those who just want to take a single picture:
WebcamPicture.java
public class WebcamPicture {
public static void main(String[] args) {
try{
MarvinVideoInterface videoAdapter = new MarvinJavaCVAdapter();
videoAdapter.connect(0);
MarvinImage image = videoAdapter.getFrame();
MarvinImageIO.saveImage(image, "./res/webcam_picture.jpg");
} catch(MarvinVideoInterfaceException e){
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}

I used Webcam Capture API. You can download it from here
webcam = Webcam.getDefault();
webcam.open();
if (webcam.isOpen()) { //if web cam open
BufferedImage image = webcam.getImage();
JLabel imageLbl = new JLabel();
imageLbl.setSize(640, 480); //show captured image
imageLbl.setIcon(new ImageIcon(image));
int showConfirmDialog = JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(null, imageLbl, "Image Viewer", JOptionPane.YES_NO_OPTION, JOptionPane.QUESTION_MESSAGE, new ImageIcon(""));
if (showConfirmDialog == JOptionPane.YES_OPTION) {
JFileChooser chooser = new JFileChooser();
chooser.setDialogTitle("Save Image");
chooser.setFileFilter(new FileNameExtensionFilter("IMAGES ONLY", "png", "jpeg", "jpg")); //this file extentions are shown
int showSaveDialog = chooser.showSaveDialog(this);
if (showSaveDialog == 0) { //if pressed 'Save' button
String filePath = chooser.getCurrentDirectory().toString().replace("\\", "/");
String fileName = chooser.getSelectedFile().getName(); //get user entered file name to save
ImageIO.write(image, "PNG", new File(filePath + "/" + fileName + ".png"));
}
}
}

http://grack.com/downloads/school/enel619.10/report/java_media_framework.html
Using the Player with Swing
The Player can be easily used in a Swing application as well. The following code creates a Swing-based TV capture program with the video output displayed in the entire window:
import javax.media.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.net.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.event.*;
public class JMFTest extends JFrame {
Player _player;
JMFTest() {
addWindowListener( new WindowAdapter() {
public void windowClosing( WindowEvent e ) {
_player.stop();
_player.deallocate();
_player.close();
System.exit( 0 );
}
});
setExtent( 0, 0, 320, 260 );
JPanel panel = (JPanel)getContentPane();
panel.setLayout( new BorderLayout() );
String mediaFile = "vfw://1";
try {
MediaLocator mlr = new MediaLocator( mediaFile );
_player = Manager.createRealizedPlayer( mlr );
if (_player.getVisualComponent() != null)
panel.add("Center", _player.getVisualComponent());
if (_player.getControlPanelComponent() != null)
panel.add("South", _player.getControlPanelComponent());
}
catch (Exception e) {
System.err.println( "Got exception " + e );
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
JMFTest jmfTest = new JMFTest();
jmfTest.show();
}
}

Java usually doesn't like accessing hardware, so you will need a driver program of some sort, as goldenmean said. I've done this on my laptop by finding a command line program that snaps a picture. Then it's the same as goldenmean explained; you run the command line program from your java program in the takepicture() routine, and the rest of your code runs the same.
Except for the part about reading pixel values into an array, you might be better served by saving the file to BMP, which is nearly that format already, then using the standard java image libraries on it.
Using a command line program adds a dependency to your program and makes it less portable, but so was the webcam, right?

I believe the web-cam application software which comes along with the web-cam, or you native windows webcam software can be run in a batch script(windows/dos script) after turning the web cam on(i.e. if it needs an external power supply). In the bacth script , u can add appropriate delay to capture after certain time period. And keep executing the capture command in loop.
I guess this should be possible
-AD

There's a pretty nice interface for this in processing, which is kind of a pidgin java designed for graphics. It gets used in some image recognition work, such as that link.
Depending on what you need out of it, you might be able to load the video library that's used there in java, or if you're just playing around with it you might be able to get by using processing itself.

FMJ can do this, as can the supporting library it uses, LTI-CIVIL. Both are on sourceforge.

Recommand using FMJ for multimedia relatived java app.

Try using JMyron How To Use Webcam Using Java. I think using JMyron is the easiest way to access a webcam using java. I tried to use it with a 64-bit processor, but it gave me an error. It worked just fine on a 32-bit processor, though.