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Java timer issue with starting application

very new to java so please explain at a basic level. Attempting to make a snake game. In the process of typing up the code for the games background. Having an issue with the timer. The lines with issues marked with ***
package snake;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.Toolkit;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
public class Snake implements ActionListener {
public JFrame jframe;
public RenderPanel renderPanel;
public static Snake snake;
public Snake() {
Dimension dim = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getScreenSize();
jframe = new JFrame("Snake");
jframe.setVisible(true);
jframe.setSize(800, 700);
jframe.setLocation(dim.width / 2 - jframe.getWidth() / 2, dim.height / 2 - jframe.getHeight() / 2);
jframe.add(renderPanel = new RenderPanel());
jframe.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
}
public static void main (String []args) {
snake = new Snake();
}
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0) {
renderPanel.repaint();
}

You cannot initialize a Timer with a int and a Snake object. That is not supported by the Timer class. Have a look at the Java Api. The Constructor Summary Shows you, which Constructors exist for the Timer class.
When you want to do something after a defined time do the following:
Timer timer = new Timer();
timer.schedule(new ReceiverTask(), 1000);
The 1000 is the delay in milliseconds untill the run method of the ReceiverTask will be called.
ReceiverTask should be a class extending TimeTask. For example:
class ReceiverTask extends TimerTask {
public void run() {
//update your Background her
}
}

Update a Label with a Swing Timer

I'm having some trouble with this piece of code.
I'm starting a timer with a random number, and I want to update a JLabel with the countdown, every second. But I haven't figured out how to do so, since the only listener the timer triggers is at the end of it (that I know).
here's the code:
int i = getTimer(maxWait);
te1 = new Timer(i, this);
label.setText(i+"");
te1.start();
...
public int getTimer(int max){
Random generator = new Random();
int i = generator.nextInt(max);
return i*1000;
}
...
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ev){
if(ev.getSource() == te1){
label.setText(i+"");
te1.stop();
}
}

I don't really understand your question why you are using the Random, but here are some observations:
I want to update a JLabel with the countdown, every second.
Then you need to set the Timer to fire every second. So the parameter to the Timer is 1000, not some random number.
Also, in your actionPerformed() method you stop the Timer the first time it fires. If you are doing a count down of some kind then you would only stop the Timer when the time reaches 0.
Here is a simple example of using a Timer. It just updates the time every second:
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.util.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.Timer;
public class TimerTime extends JPanel implements ActionListener
{
private JLabel timeLabel;
public TimerTime()
{
timeLabel = new JLabel( new Date().toString() );
add( timeLabel );
Timer timer = new Timer(1000, this);
timer.setInitialDelay(1);
timer.start();
}
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
{
//System.out.println(e.getSource());
timeLabel.setText( new Date().toString() );
}
private static void createAndShowUI()
{
JFrame frame = new JFrame("TimerTime");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.add( new TimerTime() );
frame.setLocationByPlatform( true );
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible( true );
}
public static void main(String[] args)
{
EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable()
{
public void run()
{
createAndShowUI();
}
});
}
}
If you need more help then update your question with a proper SSCCE demonstrating the problem. All questions should have a proper SSCCE, not just a few random lines of code so we can understand the context of the code.

Java make GUI wait for a timer

I simply want this program to wait for a timer. All I want is for the program to pause for two seconds. I want this program to do is display "Start," wait for two seconds until the timer has finished, then display "Start, Finished Waiting, Finished." How can I make this program wait for the timer to finish? I believe that it currently creates the timer in a separate thread, not pausing the main thread, so it displays,"Start, Finished" then waits for two seconds and then displays "Start, Finished, Finished Waiting." This is not the order that I want things to happen in, and I have looked all over for a simple timer example when running a GUI and have found none. Thank you for your help, here is the code:
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JTextArea;
import javax.swing.Timer;
public class GUI extends JFrame {
private static final long serialVersionUID = 3560258176733156660L;
public static void main(String[] args) {
new GUI().setVisible(true);
}
private Timer timer;
private JTextArea area;
private String text;
public GUI() {
setLayout(null);
setSize(500, 120);
setTitle("Timer");
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
setLocationRelativeTo(null);
text = "";
area = new JTextArea(text);
area.setBounds(0, 0, 500, 120);
add(area);
doThings();
}
public void doThings() {
text += "Start, ";
area.setText(text);
// Want program to wait for two seconds
waitForTwoSeconds();
text += "Finished ";
area.setText(text);
}
public void waitForTwoSeconds() {
timer = new Timer(2000, new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
text += "Finished Waiting, ";
area.setText(text);
timer.stop();
}
});
timer.start();
}
}

Take the code from after you call waitForTwoSeconds and place within the actionPerformed method...
public void doThings() {
area.setText("Start, ");
// Want program to wait for two seconds
waitForTwoSeconds();
}
public void waitForTwoSeconds() {
timer = new Timer(2000, new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
area.append("Finished Waiting, ");
area.append("Finished ");
timer.stop();
}
});
timer.setRepeats(false);
timer.start();
}
This will cause Finished Waiting, Finished to be append to the JTextArea 2 seconds after you click the button...
You DO NOT want to perform any long running/blocking operations within the context of the Event Dispatching Thread, this WILL make it look like your program as hang, cause it has.
See, Concurrency in Swing and How to use Swing Timers for more details
Updated...
Swing (and most UIs) are event driven, that is, something happens and you respond to it. For instance, with the Timer, the timer tripped and you responded to the event. You can't block/wait within the Event Dispatching Thread, it will simply cause the UI to stop responding and painting, this is the way the framework works, you can learn to live with it or continue to be frustrated by it (remember, wanting something and getting it to work, are two different things)
There are, however, things you can do, the Timer is one example, another is the SwingWorker
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.EventQueue;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.util.List;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JScrollPane;
import javax.swing.JTextArea;
import javax.swing.SwingWorker;
import javax.swing.UIManager;
import javax.swing.UnsupportedLookAndFeelException;
public class Test {
public static void main(String[] args) {
new Test();
}
public Test() {
EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
try {
UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.getSystemLookAndFeelClassName());
} catch (ClassNotFoundException | InstantiationException | IllegalAccessException | UnsupportedLookAndFeelException ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
}
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Testing");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.add(new TestPane());
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
});
}
public class TestPane extends JPanel {
private JTextArea ta;
public TestPane() {
setLayout(new BorderLayout());
ta = new JTextArea(10, 20);
JButton btn = new JButton("Make it so");
add(new JScrollPane(ta));
add(btn, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
btn.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
btn.setEnabled(false);
ta.append("Start, ");
SwingWorker<String, String> worker = new SwingWorker<String, String>() {
#Override
protected String doInBackground() throws Exception {
Thread.sleep(2000);
publish("Finished waiting, ");
return null;
}
#Override
protected void process(List<String> chunks) {
for (String text : chunks) {
ta.append(text);
}
}
#Override
protected void done() {
ta.append("Finished");
btn.setEnabled(true);
}
};
worker.execute();
}
});
}
}
}
What this basically does is, in a background thread, it waits two seconds and then (via the publish/process methods), prints "Finished Waiting", then after the doInBackground returns, done is (eventually) called and "Finished" is printed.
This is all done so that the UI updates occur from within the context of the Event Dispatching Thread, meeting the single thread requirements of Swing

Ok, so I guess my question should really look like this then:
How do i make the program wait until the waitForTwoSeconds() method is complete before doing area.append("Finished "); ? This is really what I want to accomplish.
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JTextArea;
import javax.swing.Timer;
public class GUI extends JFrame {
private static final long serialVersionUID = 3560258176733156660L;
public static void main(String[] args) {
new GUI().setVisible(true);
}
private Timer timer;
private JTextArea area;
public GUI() {
setLayout(null);
setSize(500, 120);
setTitle("Timer");
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
setLocationRelativeTo(null);
area = new JTextArea("");
area.setBounds(0, 0, 500, 120);
add(area);
doThings();
}
public void doThings() {
area.setText("Start, ");
// Want program to wait for two seconds
waitForTwoSeconds();
// Don't want to do this until waitForTwoSeconds() has finished...
area.append("Finished ");
}
public void waitForTwoSeconds() {
timer = new Timer(2000, new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
area.append("Finished Waiting, ");
timer.stop();
}
});
timer.setRepeats(false);
timer.start();
}
}

Im having trouble making an image update on intervals of 200

I am trying to make a thread that reads the screen and displays it in a frame, this code is meant to run at 5fps, so far it reads the screen, but I am having trouble making the JFrame display the updating Image each "frame" or 200 mili-seconds. when I use repaint(); or revalidate();
public static void startScreenRecorder()
{
Thread screenThread = new Thread()
{
public synchronized void run()
{
long time;
long lastFrameTime = 0;
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Screen capture");
ImagePanel panel = new ImagePanel(captureScreen());
frame.add(panel);
frame.setSize(300, 400);
frame.setVisible(true);
while (true)
{
time = System.currentTimeMillis();
while (time - lastFrameTime < 190)
{
try {
Thread.sleep(10);
} catch (Exception e) {
}
time = System.currentTimeMillis();
}
lastFrameTime = time;
panel = new ImagePanel(captureScreen());
panel.revalidate();
panel.repaint();
frame.revalidate();
frame.repaint();
}
}
};
screenThread.start();
}

Don't use Thread.sleep() to attempt to control animation.
Animation should be done by using a Swing Timer. When you use a Timer the GUI is automatically updated on the EDT.
panel = new ImagePanel(captureScreen());
The above code doesn't do anything. It just creates a panel in memory. Nowhere to you actually add the panel to the GUI. Changing the reference of a variable does not update the GUI.
Instead you should probably add a JLabel to the frame (when you initially create the frame). Then when you have a new Image you just do:
label.setIcon( new ImageIcon( your screen capture ) );

I wouldn't be surprised if your code shows no images at all since it ignores Swing threading rules:
All Swing code needs to be called on the Swing event dispatch thread (EDT) only.
All other long-running code needs to be called in a background thread. I assume that this means captureScreen().
You should never call Thread.sleep(...) on the Swing event thread unless you want to put your entire application to sleep.
Better perhaps to use a Swing Timer.
You create new ImagePanels but do nothing with them -- you never add them to the GUI for instance, except for the first JPanel. Note that if you change the object a variable refers to, here the panel variable, this will have absolutely no effect on instances of the object used elsewhere, there the JPanel displayed in the GUI.
Rather than create new JPanels, why not instead create ImageIcons with your images and swap a visualized JLabel's Icon with setIcon(...)?
Since you have a lot of background stuff going on, consider using a SwingWorker<Void, Icon> to do your work, and have it publish ImageIcons that are then displayed in the GUI's JLabel. If you did this, then you probably wouldn't use a Swing Timer since the timing would be done in the SwingWorker's background thread.
For example:
import java.awt.AWTException;
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.Rectangle;
import java.awt.Robot;
import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Timer;
import java.util.TimerTask;
import javax.swing.Icon;
import javax.swing.ImageIcon;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
import javax.swing.SwingWorker;
#SuppressWarnings("serial")
public class SwingWorkerEg extends JPanel {
private static final int PREF_W = 600;
private static final int PREF_H = 400;
private JLabel displayedLabel = new JLabel();
public SwingWorkerEg() {
setLayout(new BorderLayout());
add(displayedLabel);
try {
MySwingWorker mySwingWorker = new MySwingWorker();
mySwingWorker.execute();
} catch (AWTException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
public void setLabelIcon(Icon icon) {
displayedLabel.setIcon(icon);
}
#Override
public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
return new Dimension(PREF_W, PREF_H);
}
private class MySwingWorker extends SwingWorker<Void, Icon> {
private final Rectangle SCREEN_RECT = new Rectangle(0, 0, PREF_W,
PREF_H);
private Robot robot = null;
public MySwingWorker() throws AWTException {
robot = new Robot();
}
#Override
protected Void doInBackground() throws Exception {
Timer utilTimer = new Timer();
TimerTask task = new TimerTask() {
#Override
public void run() {
BufferedImage capturedImage = captureScreen();
publish(new ImageIcon(capturedImage));
}
};
long delay = 200;
utilTimer.scheduleAtFixedRate(task, delay, delay);
return null;
}
#Override
protected void process(List<Icon> chunks) {
for (Icon icon : chunks) {
setLabelIcon(icon);
}
}
private BufferedImage captureScreen() {
BufferedImage img = robot.createScreenCapture(SCREEN_RECT);
return img;
}
}
private static void createAndShowGui() {
SwingWorkerEg mainPanel = new SwingWorkerEg();
JFrame frame = new JFrame("SwingWorker Eg");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.getContentPane().add(mainPanel);
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationByPlatform(true);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
createAndShowGui();
}
});
}
}
Which would display...

Changing JButton Text Periodically

I would like to create a JButton that changes its text periodically after the first click. I'm not really familiar with Swing library. What would be a good starting point? May I update its text without an action?
Thank you.

for all periodical events in Swing I only suggest javax.swing.Timer
output by using Timer should be, for example
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.util.Random;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.Timer;
public class CrazyButtonTimer {
private JFrame frame = new JFrame(" Crazy Button Timer");
private JButton b = new JButton("Crazy Colored Button");
private Random random;
public CrazyButtonTimer() {
b.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(250, 35));
frame.getContentPane().add(b);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
javax.swing.Timer timer = new Timer(500, new TimerListener());
timer.setInitialDelay(250);
timer.start();
}
private class TimerListener implements ActionListener {
private TimerListener() {
}
#Override
public void actionPerformed(final ActionEvent e) {
Color c = b.getForeground();
if (c == Color.red) {
b.setForeground(Color.blue);
} else {
b.setForeground(Color.red);
}
}
}
public static void main(final String[] args) {
java.awt.EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
CrazyButtonTimer crazyButtonTimer = new CrazyButtonTimer();
}
});
}
}

If you to change it on every fixed amount of time then you can use Swing Timer or Thread to do this. But for this you have to listen at least one action so that you can initialize and start it.
You can also use TimerTask class from java.util like follow:
java.util.TimerTask timerTask = new java.util.TimerTask() {
#Override
public void run() {
//change button text here using button.setText("newText"); method
}
};
java.util.Timer myTimer = new java.util.Timer();
myTimer.schedule(timerTask, 3 * 1000, 3* 1000); // This will start timer task after 3 seconds and repeat it on every 3 seconds.

I suggest you to create a timer (here you can find some doc)
Timer timer = new Timer(100,this);
Your class has to extend action listener ed implements the following method which allow you to change the text of your JButton(I called it ``button).
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if(e.getSource.equals(timer)){
button.setText("newText");
}
}
Luca

All the other answers fail to mention how to update non-periodically. If you need it to update irregularly, you can make a method in your GUI class called something like: updateButton(); and just call that every time you want it to change your text.
public void updateButton(String newText)
{
Button.setText(newText);
}
Just thought I'd add this in case someone wanted to set it irregularly.

If you want to change it periodically (e.g. every 5th second) you could create a new Thread which sets the text of the button to the desired value and repaints it (if necessary).