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Why is my code in Swing just returning a black screen? [duplicate]

I'm creating a graphical front-end for a JBox2D simulation. The simulation runs incrementally, and in between the updates, the contents of the simulation are supposed to be drawn. Similar to a game except without input.
I only need geometric primitives to draw a JBox2D simulation. This API seemed like the simplest choice, but its design is a bit confusing.
Currently I have one class called Window extending JFrame, that contains as a member another class called Renderer. The Window class only initializes itself and provides an updateDisplay() method (that is called by the main loop), that calls updateDisplay(objects) method on the Renderer. I made these two methods myself and their only purpose is to call repaint() on the Renderer.
Is the JPanel supposed to be used that way? Or am I supposed to use some more sophisticated method for animation (such that involves events and/or time intervals in some back-end thread)?

If you are wanting to schedule the updates at a set interval, javax.swing.Timer provides a Swing-integrated service for it. Timer runs its task on the EDT periodically, without having an explicit loop. (An explicit loop would block the EDT from processing events, which would freeze the UI. I explained this more in-depth here.)
Ultimately doing any kind of painting in Swing you'll still be doing two things:
Overriding paintComponent to do your drawing.
Calling repaint as-needed to request that your drawing be made visible. (Swing normally only repaints when it's needed, for example when some other program's window passes over top of a Swing component.)
If you're doing those two things you're probably doing it right. Swing doesn't really have a high-level API for animation. It's designed primarily with drawing GUI components in mind. It can certainly do some good stuff, but you will have to write a component mostly from scratch, like you're doing.
Painting in AWT and Swing covers some of the 'behind the scenes' stuff if you do not have it bookmarked.
You might look in to JavaFX. I don't know that much about it personally, but it's supposed to be more geared towards animation.
As somewhat of an optimization, one thing that can be done is to paint on a separate image and then paint the image on to the panel in paintComponent. This is especially useful if the painting is long: repaints can be scheduled by the system so this keeps when it happens more under control.
If you aren't drawing to an image, then you'd need to build a model with objects, and paint all of them every time inside paintComponent.
Here's an example of drawing to an image:
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.image.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
/**
* Holding left-click draws, and
* right-clicking cycles the color.
*/
class PaintAnyTime {
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
new PaintAnyTime();
}
});
}
Color[] colors = {Color.red, Color.blue, Color.black};
int currentColor = 0;
BufferedImage img = new BufferedImage(256, 256, BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_ARGB);
Graphics2D imgG2 = img.createGraphics();
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Paint Any Time");
JPanel panel = new JPanel() {
#Override
protected void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
super.paintComponent(g);
// Creating a copy of the Graphics
// so any reconfiguration we do on
// it doesn't interfere with what
// Swing is doing.
Graphics2D g2 = (Graphics2D) g.create();
// Drawing the image.
int w = img.getWidth();
int h = img.getHeight();
g2.drawImage(img, 0, 0, w, h, null);
// Drawing a swatch.
Color color = colors[currentColor];
g2.setColor(color);
g2.fillRect(0, 0, 16, 16);
g2.setColor(Color.black);
g2.drawRect(-1, -1, 17, 17);
// At the end, we dispose the
// Graphics copy we've created
g2.dispose();
}
#Override
public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
return new Dimension(img.getWidth(), img.getHeight());
}
};
MouseAdapter drawer = new MouseAdapter() {
boolean rButtonDown;
Point prev;
#Override
public void mousePressed(MouseEvent e) {
if (SwingUtilities.isLeftMouseButton(e)) {
prev = e.getPoint();
}
if (SwingUtilities.isRightMouseButton(e) && !rButtonDown) {
// (This just behaves a little better
// than using the mouseClicked event.)
rButtonDown = true;
currentColor = (currentColor + 1) % colors.length;
panel.repaint();
}
}
#Override
public void mouseDragged(MouseEvent e) {
if (prev != null) {
Point next = e.getPoint();
Color color = colors[currentColor];
// We can safely paint to the
// image any time we want to.
imgG2.setColor(color);
imgG2.drawLine(prev.x, prev.y, next.x, next.y);
// We just need to repaint the
// panel to make sure the
// changes are visible
// immediately.
panel.repaint();
prev = next;
}
}
#Override
public void mouseReleased(MouseEvent e) {
if (SwingUtilities.isLeftMouseButton(e)) {
prev = null;
}
if (SwingUtilities.isRightMouseButton(e)) {
rButtonDown = false;
}
}
};
PaintAnyTime() {
// RenderingHints let you specify
// options such as antialiasing.
imgG2.setRenderingHint(RenderingHints.KEY_ANTIALIASING,
RenderingHints.VALUE_ANTIALIAS_ON);
imgG2.setStroke(new BasicStroke(3));
//
panel.setBackground(Color.white);
panel.addMouseListener(drawer);
panel.addMouseMotionListener(drawer);
Cursor cursor =
Cursor.getPredefinedCursor(Cursor.CROSSHAIR_CURSOR);
panel.setCursor(cursor);
frame.setContentPane(panel);
frame.pack();
frame.setResizable(false);
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
}
If the routine is long-running and repaints could happen concurrently, double buffering can also be used. Drawing is done to an image which is separate from the one being shown. Then, when the drawing routine is done, the image references are swapped so the update is seamless.
You should typically use double buffering for a game, for example. Double buffering prevents the image from being shown in a partial state. This could happen if, for example, you were using a background thread for the game loop (instead of a Timer) and a repaint happened the game was doing the painting. Without double buffering, this kind of situation would result in flickering or tearing.
Swing components are double buffered by default, so if all of your drawing is happening on the EDT you don't need to write double buffering logic yourself. Swing already does it.
Here is a somewhat more complicated example which shows a long-running task and a buffer swap:
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.image.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.util.*;
/**
* Left-click to spawn a new background
* painting task.
*/
class DoubleBuffer {
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
new DoubleBuffer();
}
});
}
final int width = 640;
final int height = 480;
BufferedImage createCompatibleImage() {
GraphicsConfiguration gc =
GraphicsEnvironment
.getLocalGraphicsEnvironment()
.getDefaultScreenDevice()
.getDefaultConfiguration();
// createCompatibleImage creates an image that is
// optimized for the display device.
// See http://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/awt/GraphicsConfiguration.html#createCompatibleImage-int-int-int-
return gc.createCompatibleImage(width, height, Transparency.TRANSLUCENT);
}
// The front image is the one which is
// displayed in the panel.
BufferedImage front = createCompatibleImage();
// The back image is the one that gets
// painted to.
BufferedImage back = createCompatibleImage();
boolean isPainting = false;
final JFrame frame = new JFrame("Double Buffer");
final JPanel panel = new JPanel() {
#Override
protected void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
super.paintComponent(g);
// Scaling the image to fit the panel.
Dimension actualSize = getSize();
int w = actualSize.width;
int h = actualSize.height;
g.drawImage(front, 0, 0, w, h, null);
}
};
final MouseAdapter onClick = new MouseAdapter() {
#Override
public void mousePressed(MouseEvent e) {
if (!isPainting) {
isPainting = true;
new PaintTask(e.getPoint()).execute();
}
}
};
DoubleBuffer() {
panel.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(width, height));
panel.setBackground(Color.WHITE);
panel.addMouseListener(onClick);
frame.setContentPane(panel);
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
void swap() {
BufferedImage temp = front;
front = back;
back = temp;
}
class PaintTask extends SwingWorker<Void, Void> {
final Point pt;
PaintTask(Point pt) {
this.pt = pt;
}
#Override
public Void doInBackground() {
Random rand = new Random();
synchronized(DoubleBuffer.this) {
Graphics2D g2 = back.createGraphics();
g2.setRenderingHint(RenderingHints.KEY_ANTIALIASING,
RenderingHints.VALUE_ANTIALIAS_ON);
g2.setRenderingHint(RenderingHints.KEY_STROKE_CONTROL,
RenderingHints.VALUE_STROKE_PURE);
g2.setBackground(new Color(0, true));
g2.clearRect(0, 0, width, height);
// (This computes pow(2, rand.nextInt(3) + 7).)
int depth = 1 << ( rand.nextInt(3) + 7 );
float hue = rand.nextInt(depth);
int radius = 1;
int c;
// This loop just draws concentric circles,
// starting from the inside and extending
// outwards until it hits the outside of
// the image.
do {
int rgb = Color.HSBtoRGB(hue / depth, 1, 1);
g2.setColor(new Color(rgb));
int x = pt.x - radius;
int y = pt.y - radius;
int d = radius * 2;
g2.drawOval(x, y, d, d);
++radius;
++hue;
c = (int) (radius * Math.cos(Math.PI / 4));
} while (
(0 <= pt.x - c) || (pt.x + c < width)
|| (0 <= pt.y - c) || (pt.y + c < height)
);
g2.dispose();
back.flush();
return (Void) null;
}
}
#Override
public void done() {
// done() is completed on the EDT,
// so for this small program, this
// is the only place where synchronization
// is necessary.
// paintComponent will see the swap
// happen the next time it is called.
synchronized(DoubleBuffer.this) {
swap();
}
isPainting = false;
panel.repaint();
}
}
}
The painting routine is just intended draw garbage which takes a long time:

For a tightly coupled simulation, javax.swing.Timer is a good choice. Let the timer's listener invoke your implementation of paintComponent(), as shown here and in the example cited here.
For a loosely coupled simulation, let the model evolve in the background thread of a SwingWorker, as shown here. Invoke publish() when apropos to you simulation.
The choice is dictated in part by the nature of the simulation and the duty cycle of the model.

Why not just use stuff from the testbed? It already does everything. Just take the JPanel, controller, and debug draw. It uses Java 2D drawing.
See here for the JPanel that does the buffered rendering:
https://github.com/dmurph/jbox2d/blob/master/jbox2d-testbed/src/main/java/org/jbox2d/testbed/framework/j2d/TestPanelJ2D.java
and here for the debug draw:
https://github.com/dmurph/jbox2d/blob/master/jbox2d-testbed/src/main/java/org/jbox2d/testbed/framework/j2d/DebugDrawJ2D.java
See the TestbedMain.java file to see how the normal testbed is launched, and rip out what you don't need :)
Edits:
Disclaimer: I maintain jbox2d
Here is the package for the testbed framework: https://github.com/dmurph/jbox2d/tree/master/jbox2d-testbed/src/main/java/org/jbox2d/testbed/framework
TestbedMain.java is in the j2d folder, here:
https://github.com/dmurph/jbox2d/tree/master/jbox2d-testbed/src/main/java/org/jbox2d/testbed/framework/j2d

Why does this keyListener not work?

public class game extends Applet implements KeyListener {
int movex = 10;
int movey = 10;
int x = 50, y = 50;
JTextArea typingArea;
Random rand = new Random();
public void paint(Graphics page){
typingArea = new JTextArea();
typingArea.addKeyListener(this);
//Drawing borders w/ Random colors
page.setColor(new Color(rand.nextFloat(), rand.nextFloat(), rand.nextFloat()));
page.drawRect(0,0,200,200);
//delay
try {
Thread.sleep(1);
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
}
//Draws square
page.drawRect(x, y, 10, 10);
x+=movex;
y+=movey;
try {
Thread.sleep(100);
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
}
Dimension d = getSize();
page.setColor(Color.WHITE);
page.fillRect(0, 0, d.width, d.height);
paint(page);
}
public void keyPressed(KeyEvent e) {
int keyCode = e.getKeyCode();
System.out.println("Key is pressed");
switch( keyCode ) {
case KeyEvent.VK_UP:
movex = 0;
movey = 10;
break;
case KeyEvent.VK_DOWN:
movex = 0;
movey = -10;
break;
case KeyEvent.VK_LEFT:
movex = -10;
movey = 0;
break;
case KeyEvent.VK_RIGHT :
movex = 10;
movey = 0;
break;
}
}
#Override
public void keyReleased(KeyEvent arg0) {
}
#Override
public void keyTyped(KeyEvent e) {
}}
Currently I am making a quick snake game as programming practice, as I am relatively new to Java, but not to programming. Using an Applet I am drawing a square and moving it over by incrementing x,y coordinates and then calling the paint method recursively. Did I use the wrong object(JTextArea) or is there a problem with my methods. Please answer quickly, Thank You.

Let's see if we can break this down a bit...
In you paint method, you create a new instance of JTextArea and add yourself as the KeyListener.
public void paint(Graphics page) {
typingArea = new JTextArea();
typingArea.addKeyListener(this);
Three problems here...
You really shouldn't be creating new components within a paint method. The paint method will be called when ever you component needs to be repainted (and may be called often in quick succession) and paint should only paint the current state of the component, never change it
You really shouldn't be using a KeyListener with a text component
You never actually add the JTextArea to a displayed component, meaning it can never obtain keyboard focus and therefore never trigger KeyEvents
Then you call...
//delay
try {
Thread.sleep(1);
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
}
//...
try {
Thread.sleep(100);
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
}
in your paint method. This is a really bad idea, painting should occur as fast as possible, as until the paint method exists, the contents of the Graphics context may not be painted to the screen
And finally, you call...
paint(page);
}
This is a bad idea, as you will never actually exit the paint method once it's called (see the previous comment) and you will end up with a StackOverflowException.
AWT will call your paint method when it wants you to repaint the component. You can request a update by calling repaint, but you should be aware that the painting will occur when the repaint manager decides something needs to be updated, so it may not occur immediately.
I'd start by having a look at Painting in AWT and Swing and Performing Custom Painting to understand how painting works.
I'd then drop the applet/AWT API and use either Swing or JavaFX, you'll get better, general support.
If you want to use Swing, I'd have a look at How to use Swing Timers for some ideas about how you might generate a game loop
If you're going to use Swing, I'd recommend having a look at How to Use Key Bindings and forget about KeyListener
And you could just have a look at this example for some ideas.

Java Swing - JFreeChart works slowly [duplicate]

I create JFreeChart program that can:
move points of splines
don't allow to cross black splines (boundary splines)
create new splines in real-time (as Grapher)
mouse wheel zoom
For adding new series to dataset I use this function:
public static XYSeriesCollection createSplineDataset(File[] polFiles) {
dataset = new XYSeriesCollection();
for (File polFile : polFiles) {
XYSeries series = new XYSeries(polFile.getName());
Scanner s = null;
try {
s = new Scanner(new File(polFile.getAbsolutePath()));
}catch (FileNotFoundException ex) {
System.out.println("Scanner error!");
}
s.useLocale(Locale.US);
while (s.hasNext()) {
float x = s.nextFloat();
float y = s.nextFloat();
series.add(x, y);
}
dataset.addSeries(series);
}
return dataset;
}
Main program (there 500+ strings of code, so this is part of it):
public class SplineDemo {
// declaration of variables
private static void display(){
final File[] polFiles = new File("FORPLOT").listFiles();
polFiles[0] = new File("FORPLOT/InitPolin1");
polFiles[1] = new File("FORPLOT/InitPolin0");
for (int i = 2; i <= 36; i++)
polFiles[i] = new File("FORPLOT/P"+(i-2));
dataset = JFunc.createSplineDataset(polFiles); // create dataset
// --------some code-----------
NumberAxis domain = new NumberAxis("\u03C1");
NumberAxis range = new NumberAxis("g(\u03C1)");
SplineRenderer r = new SplineRenderer(20);
xyplot = new XYPlot(dataset, domain, range, r);
final XYLineAndShapeRenderer render = (XYLineAndShapeRenderer) xyplot.getRenderer();
render.setBaseShapesVisible(true);
final JFreeChart chart = new JFreeChart(xyplot);
// --------some code-----------
chartPanel = new ChartPanel(chart){
#Override
public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
return new Dimension(640, 480);
}
};
chart.removeLegend();
chartPanel.addMouseListener(new MouseListener() {
//------ for creating new splines and to move points of splines ---------
});
chartPanel.addMouseWheelListener(new MouseWheelListener() {
//--------- zoom ------------
});
chartPanel.addMouseMotionListener(new MotionListener());
chartPanel.addChartMouseListener(new ChartMouseListener() {
//------ for creating new splines and to move points of splines ---------
});
chartPanel.setDomainZoomable(false);
chartPanel.setRangeZoomable(false);
chartPanel.setPopupMenu(null);
frame = new JFrame(Title);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.add(chartPanel);
//------ buttons -------
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.addComponentListener(new ComponentListener() {
#Override
public void componentResized(ComponentEvent ce) {
// ---- to move points when window was resized
}
});
}
public static class MotionListener implements MouseMotionListener {
//------ to move points -----------
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
display();
}
});
}
}
So, #trashgod adviced here to modify useBuffer but it didn't help me.
So, my problem is that when at there are 1-5 splines at the same time plotted, everything works ideally quickly. When them becomes more than 30 splines as on a screenshot, working is decelerated (for example, points aren't in time behind a mouse in case of moving, zoom works slower, etc.). In what the problem can consist? Here the report from YourKit, but I don't understand it. Slowly the new draw of all diagrams or what works?
I don't understand how 30 diagrams can already brake so. What will be in case of 100+? If it is necessary, I can throw off a full code and project in zip archive

The XYSplineRenderer "connects data points with natural cubic splines." Not unexpectedly, its performance scales poorly for thousands points. If the goal is to render smoothed data, it may be advantageous to do the interpolation in the background, as suggested here, and revert to the parent XYLineAndShapeRenderer for rendering only.
In addition, scores of curves, each having hundreds of points, may be difficult to distinguish visually. Consider controlling the visibility of related series, a shown in this example that uses JCheckBox to toggle the display of individual series.

How to tell when Graphics.drawImage() has actually completed

This is my first time asking a question on here, and I'm hoping I get an answer or an idea that will help me.
I am drawing a large image and scaling it down with drawImage(). I then immediately draw another image with drawImage() that I expect to be drawn on top of the previous one (second). The problem is that drawImage returns immediately, even if it takes ~50 ms to scale and render the first image. Most of the time the second image ends up underneath the first one because it's painted first while the big first one is being processed. Basically is there anyway to force drawImage() to block until it's done, or to somehow check when it has completed?
I'm aware of the ImageObserver parameter, which works fine when downloading an image from the Internet or something, but when using an already-loaded BufferedImage, it never fires ImageUpdate() just after scaling and drawing. Basically since the first image is already "loaded" it never contacts the ImageObserver, it just takes like ~50 ms in it's own thread to process, never notifying when it completes.
Does anyone know how to either force it to block or wait until it's completely done scaling and blitting an image? And obviously using Thread.sleep(xx) is a complete hack and not viable due to differences between computer speeds. All this rendering is happened on the Event thread inside the paint(Graphics g) method.
Thanks!
EDIT: The following is code I currently have to give you an idea of the issue:
public void paint(Graphics window)
{
window.setColor(Color.WHITE);
window.fillRect(0, 0, Settings.width * Settings.aaFactor, Settings.height * Settings.aaFactor);
Graphics2D window2D = (Graphics2D) window;
window2D.setRenderingHint(RenderingHints.KEY_INTERPOLATION, RenderingHints.VALUE_INTERPOLATION_BICUBIC);
window2D.drawImage(this.image, 0, 0, Settings.width, Settings.height, null);
try
{
Thread.sleep(50);
}
catch (InterruptedException e)
{
e.printStackTrace();
}
window2D.drawImage(this.image2, 0, 0, null);
repaint();
}
EDIT 2: To better explain the problem I'm talking about, I made some sample code that does better what I'm trying to explain. Run it and you will see it flickering where sometimes the first image is on bottom (like it's supposed to be), but most of the time it will be one top (second), which is wrong. Just change the File paths to a small image and a large image.
public class Main extends Applet implements ImageObserver
{
private BufferedImage imageA;
private BufferedImage imageB;
#Override
public void init()
{
try
{
this.imageA = ImageIO.read(new File("C:\\LargeImage.jpg"));
this.imageB = ImageIO.read(new File("C:\\SmallImage.jpg"));
}
catch (IOException e)
{
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
#Override
public void update(Graphics g)
{
paint(g);
}
#Override
public void paint(Graphics g)
{
Graphics2D w = (Graphics2D) g;
w.setRenderingHint(RenderingHints.KEY_INTERPOLATION, RenderingHints.VALUE_INTERPOLATION_BICUBIC);
w.drawImage(this.imageA, 0, 0, 50, 50, this);// This takes a while to do (scaling down and drawing)...
w.drawImage(this.imageB, 10, 10, null);// While this is drawn quickly, before A is done.
repaint();
}
#Override
public boolean imageUpdate(Image img, int infoflags, int x, int y, int width, int height)
{
System.out.println("ImageObserver fired, done drawing image. NEVER CALLED!");
return false;
}
}

The last argument to drawImage (where you pass null) is an ImageObserver. If you provide your own implementation of that interface (see JavaDoc), you will be informed when the image has been actually drawn.

It is impossible to know when Swing will actually render the contents of a Graphics object to the screen. What is know is it won't happen until AFTER the paint methods return (as the Graphics object hasn't been finalised for rendering until it does).
What you should do is let the Component you are painting to make the decision as to when something needs to updated, this is the way it was designed...(Component implements ImageObserver)
The below example continuously re-scales the master background image as the frame is resized
public class TestPaint03 {
public static void main(String[] args) {
new TestPaint03();
}
public TestPaint03() {
EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
try {
UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.getSystemLookAndFeelClassName());
} catch (Exception ex) {
}
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Test");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
frame.add(new PaintPane());
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
});
}
public class PaintPane extends JPanel {
private BufferedImage background;
private BufferedImage foreground;
private Image scaled;
public PaintPane() {
try {
background = ImageIO.read(new File("/path/to/background/image));
foreground = ImageIO.read(new File("path/to/foreground/image"));
} catch (Exception e) {
}
}
#Override
public void invalidate() {
scaled = null;
super.invalidate();
}
#Override
public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
return new Dimension(200, 200);
}
#Override
protected void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
super.paintComponent(g);
if (background != null) {
if (scaled == null) {
int size = Math.min(getWidth(), getHeight());
scaled = background.getScaledInstance(-1, size, Image.SCALE_SMOOTH);
}
int x = (getWidth() - scaled.getWidth(this)) / 2;
int y = (getHeight() - scaled.getHeight(this)) / 2;
g.drawImage(scaled, x, y, this);
x = (getWidth() - foreground.getWidth()) / 2;
y = (getHeight() - foreground.getHeight()) / 2;
g.drawImage(foreground, x, y, this);
}
}
}
}
While I'm sure you have your reasons, personally I would avoid Applet in favor of JApplet and in fact, I would personally avoid applets or together. I started my career coding applets, they are simply a pain, especially when all you're trying to do is test an idea.

Java MouseEvent position is inaccurate

I've got a problem in Java using a "canvas" class I created, which is an extended JPanel, to draw an animated ring chart. This chart is using a MouseListener to fetch click events.
The problem is that the mouse position does not seem to be accurate, meaning it does not seem to be relative to the "canvas" but instead relative to the window (in the left, upper corner I got about 30px for y coord).
This is my code:
I created a class, that extends JPanel and does have a BufferedImage as member.
public class Canvas extends JPanel {
public BufferedImage buf;
private RingChart _parent;
public Canvas(int width, int height, RingChart parent){
buf = new BufferedImage(width, height, 1);
...
In the paint component method I just draw the buffered image, so I am able to paint on the canvas from 'outside' by painting on the buffered image, which is public.
public void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
super.paintComponent(g);
Graphics2D g2 = (Graphics2D)g;
g2.drawImage(buf, null, 0, 0);
}
Now there's a class RingChart which contains a "canvas":
public class RingChart extends JFrame{
public Canvas c;
...
And I create a Graphics2D from the bufferedImage in the canvas class. This g2d is used for painting:
public RingChart(){
c = new Canvas(1500,980,this);
add(c);
setSize(1500, 1000);
setTitle("Hans");
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
g2d = (Graphics2D)c.buf.createGraphics();
...
What I now was trying to achieve, was a mouse listener that listened to mouse events happening on the canvas. So when the user clicks on the canvas I could retrieve the position he clicked on, upon the canvas, through the event variable.
So I created a mouse listener:
class MouseHandler implements MouseListener {
#Override
public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent e){
RingChart r = ((Canvas)e.getSource()).getParent();
r.mouseClick(e);
}
...
...and added this mouse listener to the canvas of the RingChart class (myChart is an instance of RingChart and c is the canvas it contains):
...
MouseHandler mouse = new MouseHandler();
myChart.c.addMouseListener(mouse);
...
But as I mentioned above, the mouse position, that's returned when the click event is called, does not seem to be accurate. I think the mistake must be somehow in the way I created that mouseListener or maybe assigned it to the wrong element or something like that. But I've tried quite a couple of things and it didn't change. Can maybe someone tell me, what I've done wrong?
UPDATE:
The code of the function "mouseClick" that is a member of RingChart and is called in the mouse listener:
public void mouseClick(MouseEvent evt){
//evt = SwingUtilities.convertMouseEvent(this, evt, c);
if(evt.getButton() == MouseEvent.BUTTON1 && animation == null){
for(Element e : elements){
if(e.getShape() != null && e.getShape().contains(evt.getPoint())){
//do some stuff
}
}
}
}
Again, the hierarchy of my classes:
RingChart --contains a--> Canvas --got a--> MouseListener.
The shapes in this function are shapes that have been painted on the canvas c. Now I want to check, if the user has clicked on one of them. So as I thought, the shapes should be in canvas-coordinates and the event position should be in canvas-coordinates and everything should fit together. But it doesn't.
Now user MadProgrammer told me, to use the ConvertMouseEvent function. But I currently don't see which exact way I should use this sensibly.
UPDATE:
I found a solution: All I had to do is adding the canvas not directly to the JFrame but to the ContentPane of the JFrame instead:
So instead:
public RingChart(){
c = new Canvas(1500,980,this);
add(c);
...
I do:
public RingChart(){
c = new Canvas(1500,980,this);
getContentPane().add(c);
...
Then I give the MouseListener to the ContentPane.
getContentPane().addMouseListener(new MouseHandler());
getContentPane().addMouseMotionListener(new MouseMoveHandler());
I don't know, if this is an elegant solution, but it works.

The mouse event is automatically converted to be relative to the component that it occurred in that is, point 0x0 is always the top left corner of the component.
By using RingChart r = ((Canvas)e.getSource()).getParent(), you've effectively changed the reference, which now means the location is no longer valid.
You need to convert the location so that its coordinates are in the context of the parent component. Take a look at SwingUtilities.convertMouseEvent(Component, MouseEvent, Component)
UPDATE with PICTURES
Lets take this example...
The blue box has a relative position of 50px x 50px to the red box. If you click in the blue box, lets say at 25x25, the mouse coordinates will be relative to the blue box (0x0 will be the top left of the blue box).
If you then pass this event to the red box and try and use the coordinates from it, you will find that the coordinates will now be half way between the top left of the red box and the blue box, because the coordinates are context sensitive.
In order to get it to work, you need to translate the mouse events location from the blue box to the red box, which would make it 75x75
Now, I don't know what you're doing when you pass the mouse event to the RingChart so I'm only guessing that this is the issue you're facing.
UPDATED with Click Code
Okay, lets say, you have a Canvas at 100x100. You click on that Canvas at 50x50. You then pass that value back up the chain.
public void mouseClick(MouseEvent evt){
//evt = SwingUtilities.convertMouseEvent(this, evt, c);
if(evt.getButton() == MouseEvent.BUTTON1 && animation == null){
for(Element e : elements){
// Here, we are asking the shape if it contains the point 50x50...
// Not 150x150 which would be the relative position of the click
// in the context to the RingChart, which is where all your objects
// are laid out.
// So even the original Canvas you clicked on will return
// false because it's position + size (100x100x width x height)
// does not contain the specified point of 50x50...
if(e.getShape() != null && e.getShape().contains(evt.getPoint())){
//do some stuff
}
}
}
}
UPDATED
I think you have your references around the wrong way...
public static MouseEvent convertMouseEvent(Component source,
MouseEvent sourceEvent,
Component destination)
I think it should read something like
evt = SwingUtilities.convertMouseEvent(evt.getComponent(), evt, this);
UPDATE with Code Example
Okay, so, I put this little example together...
public class TestMouseClickPoint extends JFrame {
private ContentPane content;
public TestMouseClickPoint() throws HeadlessException {
setSize(600, 600);
setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
setLocationRelativeTo(null);
setLayout(new BorderLayout());
content = new ContentPane();
add(content);
}
protected void updateClickPoint(MouseEvent evt) {
content.updateClickPoint(evt);
}
protected class ContentPane extends JPanel {
private Point relativePoint;
private Point absolutePoint;
public ContentPane() {
setPreferredSize(new Dimension(600, 600));
setLayout(null); // For testing purpose only...
MousePane mousePane = new MousePane();
mousePane.setBounds(100, 100, 400, 400);
add(mousePane);
}
protected void updateClickPoint(MouseEvent evt) {
absolutePoint = new Point(evt.getPoint());
evt = SwingUtilities.convertMouseEvent(evt.getComponent(), evt, this);
relativePoint = new Point(evt.getPoint());
System.out.println(absolutePoint);
System.out.println(relativePoint);
repaint();
}
protected void paintCross(Graphics2D g2d, Point p) {
g2d.drawLine(p.x - 5, p.y - 5, p.x + 5, p.y + 5);
g2d.drawLine(p.x - 5, p.y + 5, p.x + 5, p.y - 5);
}
/*
* This is not recommended, but I want to paint ontop of everything...
*/
#Override
public void paint(Graphics g) {
super.paint(g);
Graphics2D g2d = (Graphics2D) g;
if (relativePoint != null) {
g2d.setColor(Color.BLACK);
paintCross(g2d, relativePoint);
}
if (absolutePoint != null) {
g2d.setColor(Color.RED);
paintCross(g2d, absolutePoint);
}
}
}
protected class MousePane extends JPanel {
private Point clickPoint;
public MousePane() {
addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter() {
#Override
public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent e) {
clickPoint = e.getPoint();
TestMouseClickPoint.this.updateClickPoint(e);
repaint();
}
});
setBorder(new LineBorder(Color.RED));
}
#Override
protected void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
super.paintComponent(g);
Graphics2D g2d = (Graphics2D) g;
g2d.setColor(Color.BLUE);
if (clickPoint != null) {
g2d.drawLine(clickPoint.x, clickPoint.y - 5, clickPoint.x, clickPoint.y + 5);
g2d.drawLine(clickPoint.x - 5, clickPoint.y, clickPoint.x + 5, clickPoint.y);
}
}
}
/**
* #param args the command line arguments
*/
public static void main(String[] args) {
try {
UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.getSystemLookAndFeelClassName());
} catch (ClassNotFoundException ex) {
} catch (InstantiationException ex) {
} catch (IllegalAccessException ex) {
} catch (UnsupportedLookAndFeelException ex) {
}
new TestMouseClickPoint().setVisible(true);
}
}
Basically, it will paint three points. The point that the mouse was clicked (relative to the source of the event), the unconverted point in the parent container and the converted point with the parent container.
The next thing you need to do is determine the mouse location is actually been converted, failing that. I'd probably need to see a working example of your code to determine what it is you're actually doing.