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How do i switch between screens in swing

This has been asked before but I would like clarification, I'm new to java coding (sort of, started coding last month) and would like to know simply how can I switch between UIs in one JFrame, Picture this, a settings menu, How do I make it in one JFrame window instead of just make a new window with all the settings, If you don't get it, ask for clarification.

You can implement a frame (JFrame) and, for example, two panels (JPanel). Initially you embed panel A inside frame, when you want to show panel B then call the method showPanelB()
public class MyFrame extends JFrame {
PanelA panelA = new PanelA();
PanelB panelB = new PanelB();
public static void main(String args[]) {
java.awt.EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
new MyFrame().setVisible(true);
}
});
}
public MyFrame() {
setDefaultCloseOperation(javax.swing.WindowConstants.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
getContentPane().setLayout(new BorderLayout());
showPanelA();
}
public void showPanelA() {
getContentPane().add(panelA, BorderLayout.CENTER);
}
public void showPanelB() {
getContentPane().add(panelB, BorderLayout.CENTER);
}
}
class PanelA extends JPanel {
// Panel implementation
}
class PanelB extends JPanel {
// Panel implementation
}

trying to use a frame in another frame but from two different classes [duplicate]

I have two JFrame.
public class Main extends JFrame
public class ColourOption extends JPanel implements ActionListener which is then set up in a JFrame.
I wanted to open the second JFrame when i click on button of first JFrame
.setVisible() is not working. I also tried revalidate(), as well as invalidate() , validate() in the second JFrame.
What could be the reason for it to not work?

You will have to instantiate the 2nd class which has the 2nd Frame(to be shown)..and then if you call the setVisible(true) .. then it must show .. what you doing .. could you provide your button's event handler..
and this is not good practice
so personally i would recommend you to switch over to better alternatives like JTABBEDPANES or CARDLAYOUT
and consider the comments as well .. good comments guys :) .. especially using JDialog for this context :)
well if you still want help in your context: a sample:
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
class JFrame1 extends JFrame
{
public JFrame1()
{
setLayout(new FlowLayout());
JButton b=new JButton("Click");
add(b);
b.addActionListener(new ActionListener()
{
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae)
{
JFrame jf = new JFrame2();
jf.setVisible(true);
jf.setSize(200, 200);
jf.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
}
}
);
}
public static void main(String args[])
{
JFrame jf = new JFrame1();
jf.setVisible(true);
jf.setSize(200, 200);
jf.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
}
}
and the second class:
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
class JFrame2 extends JFrame
{
public JFrame2()
{
setLayout(new FlowLayout());
add(new JLabel("2nd Frame"));
}
}
But again i would still recommend to switch to other methods as i mentioned earlier: tabbedpanes, cardlayout etc..
Hope i helped :)

Since they are from 2 different classes, you just have to define/instantiate an object of the other class... and if within that 2nd class (ColourOption) it already contains setVisible(true) then there must be no problem loading the window.
//this will be placed on your constructor
yourButton.addActionListener(new ButtonListener());
//listener class
class ButtonListener implements ActionListener{
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae){
if(ae.getSource() == yourButton){
new ColourOption();
}
}
}

adding to a textfield in panel1 from a button in panel2

Ok so I have 2 jPanels.
one of them has a number of buttons that when pressed should add text to the the textfield that is in the second jPanel.
I am brand spanking new to swing with previously only having to write back end code and web based code so I am having difficulty seeing how you would accomplish this.
I only have buttons created in one panel and a textfield in another so i suspect code would be irrelevant.
Any articles that someone could point me to or examples are greatly appreciated.

So I had this problem ones,
So Lets say you have two JFrame JFrame1 and JFrame2
In order to communicate with each other at runtime both has to have most recent initialized object of each individual frame.
Now lets say this is your first frame where is your textbox,
public class JFrame1 extends JFrame{
JTextField jTextField= null;
public JFrame1() throws HeadlessException {
super("JFrame");
setSize(200, 200);
jTextField = new JTextField();
add(jTextField);
setVisible(true);
}
public void setValueToText(String value){
jTextField.setText(value);
}
}
Then This is second and where is your Button,
public class JFrame2 extends JFrame{
JButton jButton= null;
JFrame1 frame1=null;
public JFrame2() throws HeadlessException {
super("JFrame");
frame1=new JFrame1();
jButton = new JButton("Clieck Me");
add(jButton);
setVisible(true);
jButton.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae) {
frame1.setValueToText("Hi");
}
});
setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
JFrame2 jf= new JFrame2();
jf.setSize(200, 200);
}
}
Now Just run second class file and click one button which will set hi on your textbox which is in second frame.
So As you see answer lay's in Initialized second object in frame.
My execution is like,
Run JFrame2
Initialized JFrame1 in JFame2 const.

you can make the JTextField an instance variable of the enclosing JFrame and make the two panels inner classes of it. By this, the two panels will have a reference to the same field which belongs to the outer class.
So, you will end up having something similar to:
public class Outer extends JFrame{
private JTextField text = new JTextField();
...
public Outer(){
this.add(new Inner1(), BorderLayout.NORTH);
this.add(new Inner2(), BorderLayout.SOUTH);
}
class Inner1 extends JPanel{
...
public Inner1(){
this.add(text);
}
}
class Inner2 extends JPanel implements ActionListener{
private JButton button = new JButton();
public Inner2(){
button.addActionListener(this);
}
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
if (e.getSource() == button)
text.setText("Hello StackOverFlow");
}
}
}

add your code to change the text in another panel, when a button clicked in the first panel.
mybutton.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
//do your logic to change the text in another panel
}
});

Passing values between classes

I have a JPanel form which contains a JList and some JButton.
The JPanel looks like this
When I click the Add List button, a separate JFrame form is displayed.
The JFrame form will look like this
When the add button on the JFrame is clicked, I need to add the value of the JTextfield (named List Name) to the JList on the previous JPanel. I wonder how to pass the value from the JFrame to the JPanel? Any suggestion would be appreciated.
Here is a code of the JPanel form (using Designer GUI)
package multimediaproject;
public class musicPlayerPanel extends javax.swing.JPanel {
public musicPlayerPanel() {
initComponents();
}
private void initComponents() {
//...here is the generated code by using designer GUI
}
// Variables declaration - do not modify
//..generated code
// End of variables declaration
}
Here is the code of JFrame form (using Designer GUI)
package multimediaproject;
public class addListFrame extends javax.swing.JFrame {
public addListFrame() {
initComponents();
this.setLocation(515, 0);
setVisible(true);
}
private void initComponents() {
//..here is the generated code by using Designer GUI
}
private void addBtnActionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent evt){
//some validation
if(...)
{
//validation
}
else
{
//IF VALUE IS CORRECT, ADD the List Name JTextfield value to the JList on the previous JPanel
errorMessage.setText("");
}
}
public static void main(String args[]) {
/* Create and display the form */
java.awt.EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
new addListFrame().setVisible(true);
}
});
}
// Variables declaration - do not modify
//....generated code
// End of variables declaration
}

UPDATE with your code.
You can take advantage of PropertyChangeListener and PropertyChangeSupport (This classes implements Observer Pattern).
I give you an example you for guidance:
public class MusicPlayerPanel extends JPanel {
private JList list;
private JButton addButton;
private PropertyChangeListener listener = new MyPropertyChangeListener();
//..in some place
addButton.addActionListener(new ActionListener(){
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
JFrame form = new FrameForm();
form.addPropertyChangeListener(FrameForm.BUTTON_CLICKED,listener);
form.setVisible(true);
}
});
//in another place
private class MyPropertyChangeListener implements PropertyChangeListener{
#Override
public void propertyChange(PropertyChangeEvent evt){
if(evt == null)
return;
if(evt.getPropertyName().equals(FrameForm.BUTTON_CLICKED)){
String value = (String) evt.getNewValue();
((DefaultListModel)list.getModel()).addElement(value);
}
}
}
}
And the frame form like this:
public class AddListFrame extends JFrame{
private JTextField textfield;
private JButton submitButton;
public static final String BUTTON_CLICKED ="buttonClicked";
// in some place
submitButton.addActionListener(new ActionListener(){
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt){
firePropertyChange(BUTTON_CLICKED,null,textfield.getText());
}
});
}
Note: In java by convention, classes start with uppercase and follow a camel style. This is very important for readability.

OK.This is easy if i understand your problem.
Step 1:Create setter and getter for your JList object reference.
Step 2:On button click , when you open new JFrame pass your panel reference in constructor of class which inherits JFrame.
Step 3:By doing this you are able to call getter method on panel reference.
Step 4:Now you have reference of JList,do what you want.
I hope this is best solution of your problem

"when I click the add button, a separate jFrame form is displayed. The jFrame contain a jTextfield and a submit button."
Did you seriously create an entirely new JFrame for a JTextField and a JButton?!
Have you not heard of JOptionPane? That's exactly what you are trying to replicate. The only code you need is this:
String s = JOptionPane.showInputDialog(component, message);
model.addElement(s);
The first line will cover all your code for your custom JFrame.
Take a look at this example
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.*;
public class JOPDemo extends JPanel {
JList list;
JButton button = new JButton("Add Name");
String name;
DefaultListModel model;
public JOPDemo() {
model = new DefaultListModel();
list = new JList(model);
setLayout(new BorderLayout());
add(list, BorderLayout.CENTER);
add(button, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
button.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
name = JOptionPane.showInputDialog(this, "Enter a name");
model.addElement(name);
}
});
}
public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
return new Dimension(300, 300);
}
private static void createAndShowGui() {
JFrame frame = new JFrame();
frame.add(new JOPDemo());
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
createAndShowGui();
}
});
}
}
Edit
What you can do is have an inner class which is your JFrame. Personally, I'd go with a JDialog though.
From comment: Have your frame as an inner class of your main class. That way it can access all the variables from your main class. You can have a String listName also in the GUI class. From the other frame when you hit add, it sets the listName in GUI class, then adds to the list.
public class GUI {
String listName;
JList list;
InnerFrame inner = new InnerFrame();
private class InnerFrame extends JFrame {
JButton addButton;
}
}

enabling/disabling a JFrame after hiding another JFrame

I have this 2 JFrame classes:
public class Frame1 extends javax.swing.JFrame {
setDefaultCloseOperation(javax.swing.WindowConstants.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
private JButton button1;
button1 = new JButton("Open Frame2");
private void button1ActionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent evt) {
this.setEnabled(false); // disable Frame1 until Frame2 is showing
java.awt.EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
Frame2 obj2 = new Frame2 ();
obj2.setVisible(true);
}
});
}
}
public class Frame2 extends javax.swing.JFrame {
setDefaultCloseOperation(javax.swing.WindowConstants.HIDE_ON_CLOSE);
public Frame2 () {
this.setVisible(false);
}
Frame1 obj1 = new Frame1 ();
private JButton button2;
button2 = new JButton("Hide Frame2 and go to Frame1");
private void button2ActionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent evt) {
this.setVisible(false);
}
}
As you can see, when I click on button1 Frame1 gets disabled and Frame2 obj2 is created.
First of all I'd to know whether what I have done is a correct way to disable/defocus one parent JFrame to show another on top with focus.
And then I just need to enable Frame1 after hiding Frame2, something like obj1.setEnabled(true). How can I do that?

All what you have to do is to create an ref of your first class frame right inside it:
public 1_class_name obj;
//call the second class method getobj(o)
getobj(obj);
and then create a method and a ref in the second class frame:
1_class_name a;
public void getobj(1_class_name o){
a=o;
}
After you do that, you create a listener in the second class frame:
public void windowClosing(WindowEvent e) {
a.setEnabled(true);
dispose();
}
};
addWindowListener(exitListener);
It worked for me, I hope it will work for you too ;)