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Generating Random Graphics + Questions About Learning Java

Before anything: Is it alright to submit a question to Stack Overflow when you're trying to learn to code? I've really put about 20 hours into this problem and am entirely stuck, but if I should remain stuck for the experience of realizing how to craft my own solutions, please say the word Stack Overlords.
I am attempting to create a function that creates ten circles of a semi-random size and location and a random color.
The size and location are semi-random because the circle's radius must be between 5 - 50 pixels; the location must be within the Jpanel.
The color can be anything. The production of the circles must stop at ten and all the circles must be static in the same Jpanel at once.
I've finished the problem almost entirely asides from being able to get the ten circles to remain static within the Jpanel after they've been generated.
I've tried applying a basic for-loop around various sections of the code I thought could produce the desired result. My for-loop is shown below.
for(int i = 0; i < 10; ++i) {
}
package assignment3;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.util.Random;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
public class Random_Circles extends JPanel{
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
// Below is the input for our random size.
public static int RandomSize() {
double randomDouble = Math.random();
randomDouble = randomDouble * 50 + 1;
int randomInt = (int) randomDouble;
return randomInt;
}
// Below is the input for our random X-coordinate.
public static int RandomPosition1() {
double randomDouble = Math.random();
randomDouble = randomDouble * 900 + 1;
int randomInt = (int) randomDouble;
return randomInt;
}
// Below is the input for our random Y-coordinate.
public static int RandomPosition2() {
double randomDouble = Math.random();
randomDouble = randomDouble * 400 + 1;
int randomInt = (int) randomDouble;
return randomInt;
}
// I don't really know what this does, but I've gotta do it apparently.
Random rand = new Random();
// Below is the input for our random color.
public void paintComponent(Graphics RC) {
super.paintComponent(RC);
this.setBackground(Color.white);
// Random Size
int RS;
RS = RandomSize();
// X-coordinate
int RP1;
RP1 = RandomPosition1();
// Y-coordinate
int RP2;
RP2 = RandomPosition2();
// Color inputs
float r = rand.nextFloat();
float g = rand.nextFloat();
float b = rand.nextFloat();
Color randomColor = new Color(r, g, b);
// Color function
RC.setColor(randomColor);
// Location and size function
RC.fillOval(RP1, RP2, RS, RS);
}
}
Main function that produces Jpanel, calls previous code.
package assignment3;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import assignment3.Random_Circles;
public class Random_Circles_Exe {
public static void main(String[] args) {
JFrame f = new JFrame("Random Cirlces");
f.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
Random_Circles r = new Random_Circles();
f.add(r);
f.setSize(1000,500);
f.setVisible(true);
}
}
Expected: Ten circles with the required parameters appearing and remaining in the JPanel.
Actual: Ten circles being generated the second the function runs, but with each new circle the old one expires. With re-sizing the JPanel ( just by clicking and dragging its border ), more circles are generated.

How can I edit JPanel Graphics in one class?

So I'm trying to program snake on a JFrame and doing all graphical stuff (moving the 'snake', random food generation, etc.) on a JPanel. I'm in the beginning stages so all I'm trying to do right now is move a black square around on my frame using arrow keys. My while loop in the Panel class won't get interrupted by a key press in the Snake class, so is there a way to edit JPanel graphics from the same class with all my other code?
Here's all the code. My Panel class at the bottom follows the template I found here.
public class Snake {
// panel width and height
static int pW;
static int pH;
static int x = 10;
static int y = 10;
static int k;
static JFrame frame = new JFrame("SNAKE");
// getters for panel class
public int getPW() { return pW; }
public int getPH() { return pH; }
public int getX() { return x; }
public int getY() { return y; }
public static void main(String[] args) {
// get screen dimensions
Dimension screenSize = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getScreenSize();
int sH = (int) screenSize.getHeight();
int sW = (int) screenSize.getWidth();
pW = (int) sW/2;
pH = (int) sH/2;
// initialize frame
frame.setSize (pW/1,pH/1);
frame.setLocation(pW/2,pH/2);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.addKeyListener( new KeyAdapter() {
public void keyPressed(KeyEvent e) {
k = e.getKeyCode();
switch(k) {
case 38: /* y -= square size */ break; // up
case 40: /* y += square size */ break; // down
case 37: /* x -= square size */ break; // left
case 39: /* x += square size */ break; // right
case 27: System.exit(0);
}
}
});
Panel panel = new Panel();
frame.add(panel);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
}
class Panel extends JPanel {
Snake snake = new Snake();
//square size and separation between squares
int sep = 0;
int size = 50;
// initial location of square on the panel/frame
int x = sep + size;
int y = sep + size;
// holding values to check if x or y have changed
int xH = x;
int yH = x;
public void paint(Graphics g) {
int pW = snake.getPW();
int pH = snake.getPH();
int i; int o;
Color on = Color.BLACK;
Color off = Color.GRAY;
// gray background
g.setColor(Color.GRAY);
g.fillRect(0,0,pW,pH);
// black square initialization
g.setColor(Color.BLACK);
g.fillRect(x, y, size, size);
/* this loop is supposed to check if the black
* rectangle has moved by repeatedly grabbing x & y
* values from the Snake class. When a key is pressed
* and the values change, a gray rectangle is placed at the old location
* and a black one is placed at the new location.
*
* When I run the program, I get stuck in this while loop.
* If I had the while loop in the same class I check for keys,
* I don't think I would have this problem
*/
while(true) {
x = snake.getX();
y = snake.getY();
if(x != xH || y != yH) {
g.setColor(off);
g.fillRect(xH, yH, size, size);
g.setColor(on);
g.fillRect(snake.getX(), snake.getY(), size, size);
xH = x;
yH = y;
}}
}
}

You should never have a while(true) loop in a painting method. This will just cause an infinite loop and your GUI will not be able to respond to events.
Instead you need to add methods to your snake class to move the snake. So when one of the arrow keys is pressed you update the starting position of the snake. Then the method will invoke repaint() and the snake will repaint itself when the paintComponent() method is invoked by Swing.
So your painting code should override paintComponent() not paint() and you should invoke super.paintComponent(g) as the first statement in the method.
Don't call your custom class "Panel", there is an AWT class with that name. Make your class name more descriptive.

Error passing array as parameter - Java

A program I'm modifying is supposed to use a drawing panel to randomly move a square, starting from the center, either left or right and use an array to tally the position it moves to while the square stays on screen (the panel is 400 x 400 and the square is 10 x 10, so there are only 40 possible positions it can move to) After the square goes off screen, I have to print a histogram that shows how many times the square moved to that index (i.e if the square moved from the x coordinate of 200 to 190, index 19 would get a tally) Here is my code:
import java.awt.*;
import java.util.*;
public class RandomWalkCountSteps {
// DrawingPanel will have dimensions HEIGHT by WIDTH
public static final int HEIGHT = 100;
public static final int WIDTH = 400;
public static final int CENTER_X = WIDTH / 2;
public static final int CENTER_Y = HEIGHT / 2;
public static final int CURSOR_DIM = 10;
public static final int SLEEP_TIME = 25; // milliseconds
public static void main( String[] args ) {
DrawingPanel panel = new DrawingPanel( WIDTH, HEIGHT );
Random rand = new Random();
walkRandomly( panel, rand );
}
public static void walkRandomly( DrawingPanel panel, Random rand ) {
Graphics g = panel.getGraphics();
int[] positionCounts = new int[ WIDTH / CURSOR_DIM ];
// start in center of panel
int x = CENTER_X;
int y = CENTER_Y;
// Draw the cursor in BLACK
g.fillRect(x, y, CURSOR_DIM, CURSOR_DIM);
// randomly step left, right, up, or down
while ( onScreen( x, y ) ) {
panel.sleep( SLEEP_TIME );
// Show a shadow version of the cursor
g.setColor(Color.GRAY);
g.fillRect(x, y, CURSOR_DIM, CURSOR_DIM);
if ( rand.nextBoolean() ) { // go left
x -= CURSOR_DIM;
}
else { // go right
x += CURSOR_DIM;
}
positionCounts[ x / CURSOR_DIM ]++;
histogram(positionCounts, x, y);
// draw the cursor at its new location
g.setColor(Color.BLACK);
g.fillRect(x, y, CURSOR_DIM, CURSOR_DIM);
}
}
public static boolean onScreen( int x, int y ) {
return 0 <= x && x < WIDTH
&& 0 <= y && y < HEIGHT;
}
public static void histogram(int[] positionCounts, int x, int y) {
if (onScreen(x, y) == false) {
for (int i = 0; i < WIDTH / CURSOR_DIM; i++) {
System.out.print(i + ": ");
for (int j = 1; j <= positionCounts[i]; j++) {
System.out.print("*");
}
System.out.println();
}
}
}
}
My problem was that I couldn't find a good place to initialize the array so that it wouldn't re-initialize every time I passed the x coordinate to the histogram method. Now that I thought I had it in the right place, I get this error message on both calls to histogram in the method walkRandomly "error: method histogram in class RandomWalkCountSteps cannot be applied to given types;" I'm fairly new to java and programming in general, so there's probably something I'm missing regarding arrays as parameters. Thanks in advance.

histogram takes two parameters, positionCounts of type int[] and x of type int. In walkRandomly, you call histogram twice: once with an argument positionCounts of type int[] and once with an argument x of type int. That’s why the compiler complains that the method ”cannot be applied to given types”: the method histogram(int[], int) can’t be applied to (called with) the given types, i.e., histogram(int[]) and histogram(int).
I’m not sure what you’re trying to do with this code, but I’d guess that you want remove the first call and change the second call (inside of the while loop) to histogram(positionCounts, x).
(You’ve edited your code, so my answer doesn’t make much sense.)

Mapping rgbMap to depthMap

So I'm trying to map the pixel on the rgbMap to one on the depthMap so I can get the depth from a color tracked object.
I've noticed the depth map is smaller than the rgb map in addition to the different POV from being on a different spot on the kinect itself.
Is there an efficient way to do this that I'm unaware of? Currently I'm thinking of trying to line up the example pixels and then try to figure out an equation for the offset as you get farther away.
Code below, please not that the color tracking is far from done, and that I'm using mouse pressed for testing the pixel position.
/**
* ControlP5 Controlframe
* with controlP5 2.0 all java.awt dependencies have been removed
* as a consequence the option to display controllers in a separate
* window had to be removed as well.
* this example shows you how to create a java.awt.frame and use controlP5
*
* by Andreas Schlegel, 2012
* www.sojamo.de/libraries/controlp5
*
*/
import java.awt.Frame;
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import controlP5.*;
import SimpleOpenNI.*;
private ControlP5 cp5;
ControlFrame cf;
SimpleOpenNI context;
Ktracker p,o,b;
float rx,ry,dx,dy;
int def;
void setup() {
size((2 * 640),480);
cp5 = new ControlP5(this);
o = new Ktracker(188,57,49);
// by calling function addControlFrame() a
// new frame is created and an instance of class
// ControlFrame is instanziated.
cf = addControlFrame("Output", 640,480);
// add Controllers to the 'extra' Frame inside
// the ControlFrame class setup() method below.
context = new SimpleOpenNI(this);
context.enableRGB();
context.enableDepth();
smooth();
rx=context.rgbWidth()/2;
ry=height/2;
}
void draw() {
context.update();
background(0,150,0);
image(context.depthImage(),context.rgbWidth(),0);
image(context.rgbImage(), 0,0);
int[] dm = context.depthMap();
o.run();
rectMode(CENTER);
noStroke();
fill(255,255,0);
rect(rx,ry,5,5);
dx=rx;
dy=ry;
fill(0,255,255);
rect(dx+context.rgbWidth(),dy,5,5);
rectMode(CORNER);
if(o.wr<10){
fill(0,0,255);
noStroke();
ellipse(o.currentPoints[0]+context.rgbWidth(),o.currentPoints[1],10,10);
cf.z = dm[int(o.currentPoints[0]*o.currentPoints[1])];
} else {
cf.z=0;
}
}
void mousePressed(){
rx=mouseX;
ry=mouseY;
}
ControlFrame addControlFrame(String theName, int theWidth, int theHeight) {
Frame f = new Frame(theName);
ControlFrame p = new ControlFrame(this, theWidth, theHeight);
f.add(p);
p.init();
f.setTitle(theName);
f.setSize(p.w, p.h);
f.setLocation(100, 100);
f.setResizable(false);
f.setVisible(true);
return p;
}
// the ControlFrame class extends PApplet, so we
// are creating a new processing applet inside a
// new frame with a controlP5 object loaded
public class ControlFrame extends PApplet {
int w, h;
float z;
int abc = 100;
public void setup() {
size(w, h, P3D);
frameRate(25);
z=0;
}
public void draw() {
background(abc);
translate(width/2,height/2,z/100);
sphere(250);
}
private ControlFrame() {
}
public ControlFrame(Object theParent, int theWidth, int theHeight) {
parent = theParent;
w = theWidth;
h = theHeight;
}
public ControlP5 control() {
return cp5;
}
ControlP5 cp5;
Object parent;
}
class Ktracker{
float mx,my,wr;
// A variable for the color we are searching for.
color trackColor;
float[] currentPoints, prevPoints;
Ktracker(int r,int g, int b){
trackColor = color(r,g,b);
currentPoints = new float[2];
prevPoints = new float[2];
prevPoints[0]=0;
prevPoints[1]=0;
}
void run(){
loadPixels();
// Before we begin searching, the "world record" for closest color is set to a high number that is easy for the first pixel to beat.
float worldRecord = 500;
// XY coordinate of closest color
int closestX = 0;
int closestY = 0;
// Begin loop to walk through every pixel
for (int x = 0; x < width/2; x ++ ) {
for (int y = 0; y < height; y ++ ) {
int loc = x + y*width;
// What is current color
color currentColor = pixels[loc];
float r1 = red(currentColor);
float g1 = green(currentColor);
float b1 = blue(currentColor);
float r2 = red(trackColor);
float g2 = green(trackColor);
float b2 = blue(trackColor);
// Using euclidean distance to compare colors
float d = dist(r1,g1,b1,r2,g2,b2); // We are using the dist( ) function to compare the current color with the color we are tracking.
// If current color is more similar to tracked color than
// closest color, save current location and current difference
if (d < worldRecord) {
worldRecord = d;
closestX = x;
closestY = y;
currentPoints[0] = closestX;
currentPoints[1] = closestY;
}
}
}
wr=worldRecord;
// We only consider the color found if its color distance is less than 10.
// This threshold of 10 is arbitrary and you can adjust this number depending on how accurate you require the tracking to be.
if (worldRecord < 10) {
// Draw a circle at the tracked pixel
fill(255,0,0);
//strokeWeight(4.0);
stroke(0,0);
ellipse(currentPoints[0],currentPoints[1],16,16);
}
println("wr: "+wr);
println("worldRecord: "+worldRecord);
}
}

If you want to align the depth map with the RGB map you need to simply tell OpenNI to do so fo you in setup:
context.alternativeViewPointDepthToImage();
Have a look at the AlternativeViewpoint3d sketch in Examples > SimpleOpenNI > OpenNI
OpenNI has the registration done already so all you need to do is enable it when you need it.

Animated line graphs with primitive line graphic functions Java

In the effort to learn more about applets and Java, I am experimenting making wave applets by drawing lines (drawLine) and making animated line graphs.
I can make a static graph just fine. However I am struggling with the animated aspect of the graph: the axes of the graph should move from left to right, increasing and growing larger than 0.
My problem is translating my needs into a solution. Can anyone give me any pointers with my problem?
I have a multidimensional array indexed by points containing the x and y of a particular point. I have tried modifying my render function to decrease the Xs to make it appear as if it is moving left but this doesn't work right.
What approach am I looking to take? How different will my approach be if the values of Y could change due to user action or added data?
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.util.Random;
/**
* A graph that should in the future represent a wave according to my inputs
*
* #authorImprofane
* #version 1
*/
public class Graph extends JFrame
{
private InnerGraph inner;
private int width;
private Random RNG;
private int height;
private int[][] series;
private int xoffset;
int prevx = 0;
int prevy = 0;
/**
* Constructor for objects of class Graph
*/
public Graph(int width, int height) throws InterruptedException
{
RNG = new Random();
setTitle(" Graph");
series = new int[width][2];
this.width = width;
this.height = height;
inner = new InnerGraph(width, height);
add(inner, BorderLayout.CENTER);
setVisible(true);
inner.preparePaint();
pack();
updateGraph();
}
public static void main(String[] args) throws InterruptedException
{
new Graph(300, 300);
}
public void updateGraph() throws InterruptedException
{
// virtual x is how far along on the x axis we are, I ignore the 'real' X axis
int vx = 0;
int point = 0;
int xdecay = 0;
int inc = 5;
// how many times we need to plot a point
int points = (int) java.lang.Math.floor( width / inc );
System.out.println(points);
inner.preparePaint();
// draw all points to graph
// make some junk data, a saw like graph
for (vx = 0 ; vx < points ; vx++) {
series[vx] = new int[] { vx*inc, ( (vx*inc) % 120 ) };
}
Thread.sleep(150);
int n = 5;
while(n > 0) {
System.out.println(xdecay);
inner.preparePaint();
for (vx = 0 ; vx < points ; vx++) {
inner.updateSeries(vx, xdecay);
inner.repaint();
Thread.sleep(50);
}
xdecay += inc;
// shift the data points to the left
int[][] nseries = new int[points][2];
// System.arraycopy(series, 1, nseries, 0, points-1);
n--;
}
}
public class InnerGraph extends JPanel
{
private Graphics g;
private Image img;
private int gwidth;
private int gheight;
Dimension size;
public InnerGraph(int width, int height)
{
gwidth = width;
gheight = height;
size = new Dimension(1, 1);
}
/**
* Try make panel the requested size.
*/
public Dimension getPreferredSize()
{
return new Dimension(gwidth, gheight);
}
/**
* Create an image and graphics context
*
*/
public void preparePaint()
{
size = getSize();
img = inner.createImage( (size.width | gwidth), (size.height | gheight) );
g = img.getGraphics();
}
/**
* Draw a point to the chart given the point to use and the decay.
* Yes this is bad coding style until I work out the mathematics needed
* to do what I want.
*/
public void updateSeries(int point, int decay)
{
g.setColor(Color.blue);
int nx = series[point][0];
series[point][0] -= decay;
if ( point-1 >= 0 ) {
series[point-1][0] -= decay;
}
int ny = series[point][1];
prevx -= decay;
g.drawLine(prevx-decay, prevy, nx-decay, ny );
prevx = nx-decay;
prevy = ny;
}
public void paintComponent(Graphics g)
{
g.drawImage(img, 0, 0, null);
}
}
}

First, it looks like you are subtracting the decay too often in the updateSeries method.
Below is a new version of that method.
public void updateSeries(int point, int decay)
{
g.setColor(Color.blue);
int nx = series[point][0];
series[point][0] -= decay;
if ( point-1 >= 0 ) {
series[point-1][0] -= decay;
}
int ny = series[point][1];
// prevx -= decay;
// g.drawLine(prevx-decay, prevy, nx-decay, ny );
g.drawLine(prevx, prevy, nx-decay, ny );
prevx = nx-decay;
prevy = ny;
}
With those changes, the lines draw better, but they draw so slowly that the animation is hard to see. You probably need to build a new graphics and swap the whole thing so that you don't have to watch each individual line segment being drawn.

For a starter you could check out the following example (and the ones related to this)
Scroll Chart #java2s.com