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Java Swing timer does not do what I want it to

I need to write a program that uses a swing countdown timer to do something (in this case, print out a String in the console). It gets the needed delay info from a spinner and executes the code when I hit the Start button. However, when I enter a value in the spinner, it just waits for twice that many seconds and finishes the run without printing out anything.
private void StartActionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent evt) {
int x = (int) Spinner1.getValue() * 1000;
Timer TIMER = new Timer(x, new MyActionListener());
TIMER.start();
try {
Thread.sleep(x * 2);
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
}
TIMER.stop();
}
class MyActionListener implements ActionListener {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
System.out.println("Something");
}
}
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

The problem is that you are locking out yourself.
With
Thread.sleep(x * 2);
you are blocking the EventDispatchThread that would run your ActionListener. Still the timer internally keeps a flag that the timeout occured and that it should run your ActionListener at the next possible time.
But
TIMER.stop();
is resetting the TIMER, so that the notification is lost.

Timer doesn't work in java [duplicate]

I made a blackjack game, and I want the AI player to pause between taking cards. I tried simply using Thread.sleep(x), but that makes it freeze until the AI player is done taking all of his cards. I know that Swing is not thread safe, so I looked at Timers, but I could not understand how I could use one for this. Here is my current code:
while (JB.total < 21) {
try {
Thread.sleep(1000);
} catch (InterruptedException ex) {
System.out.println("Oh noes!");
}
switch (getJBTable(JB.total, JB.aces > 0)) {
case 0:
JB.hit();
break;
case 1:
break done;
case 2:
JB.hit();
JB.bet *= 2;
break done;
}
}
BTW, the hit(); method updates the GUI.

so I looked at Timers, but I could not understand how I could use one for this
The Timer is the solution, since as you say you are updating the GUI which should be done on the EDT.
I'm not sure what your concern is. You deal a card and start the Timer. When the Timer fires you decide to take another card or hold. When you hold your stop the Timer.

Well, the following code shows a JFrame with a JTextArea and a JButton. When the buttons is clicked, the Timer send the event repeatedly (with a second delay between them) to the actionListener related to the button which appends a line with the current time.
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.util.Calendar;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JTextArea;
import javax.swing.Timer;
public class TimerTest extends JFrame implements ActionListener{
private static final long serialVersionUID = 7416567620110237028L;
JTextArea area;
Timer timer;
int count; // Counts the number of sendings done by the timer
boolean running; // Indicates if the timer is started (true) or stopped (false)
public TimerTest() {
super("Test");
setBounds(30,30,500,500);
setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
setLayout(null);
area = new JTextArea();
area.setBounds(0, 0, 500, 400);
add(area);
JButton button = new JButton("Click Me!");
button.addActionListener(this);
button.setBounds(200, 400, 100, 40);
add(button);
// Initialization of the timer. 1 second delay and this class as ActionListener
timer = new Timer(1000, this);
timer.setRepeats(true); // Send events until someone stops it
count = 0; // in the beginning, 0 events sended by timer
running = false;
System.out.println(timer.isRepeats());
setVisible(true); // Shows the frame
}
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if (! running) {
timer.start();
running = true;
}
// Writing the current time and increasing the cont times
area.append(Calendar.getInstance().getTime().toString()+"\n");
count++;
if (count == 10) {
timer.stop();
count = 0;
running = false;
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Executing the frame with its Timer
new TimerTest();
}
}
Well, this code is a sample of how to use javax.swig.Timer objects. In relation with the particular case of the question. The if statement to stop the timer must change, and, obviously, the actions of the actionPerformed. The following fragment is a skeleton of the solution actionPerformed:
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if (e.getComponent() == myDealerComponent()) {
// I do this if statement because the actionPerformed can treat more components
if (! running) {
timer.start();
runnig = true;
}
// Hit a card if it must be hitted
switch (getJBTable(JB.total, JB.aces > 0)) {
case 0:
JB.hit();
break;
case 1:
break done;
case 2:
JB.hit();
JB.bet *= 2;
break done;
}
if (JB.total >= 21) { // In this case we don't need count the number of times, only check the JB.total 21 reached
timer.stop()
running = false;
}
}
}
IMHO this resolves the problem, now #user920769 must think where put the actionListener and the starting/stopping conditions...
#kleopatra: Thanks for show me the existence of this timer class, I don't know nothing about it and it's amazing, make possible a lot of tasked things into a swing application :)

Well, a quick explanation about Timers.
First of all, you need a java.util.Timer variable in your class and another class in your project which extends from java.util.TimerTask (let's call it Tasker).
The initialization of the Timer variable is so easy:
Timer timer = new Timer();
Now the Tasker class:
public class Tasker extends TimerTask {
#Override
public void run() {
actionToDo(); // For example take cards
}
// More functions if they are needed
}
Finally, the installation of the timer with its related Tasker:
long delay = 0L;
long period = pauseTime;
timer.schedule(new Tasker(),delay,period);
The schedule function indicates the following:
Fisrt param: Action to do each period milliseconds (Executes the run function of a TimerTask class or its extension)
Second param: When the timer must start. In this case, it starts when the schedule function is called. The following example indicates a starting 1 second after call the schedule function: timer.schedule(new Tasker(),1000,period);
Third param: milliseconds between one call of Tasker.run() function and the following call.
I hope you understand this microtutorial :). If you have any problem, ask for more detailed information!
Kind regards!

I think that in this tutorial is clear how to use Timers in order to achieve what you want, without having to deal with Threads.

converting to ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor

I am still a beginner at Java so I have not learned much about threads and concurrency. However, I would like to be able to use the ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor as a timer because of the problems I am having with java.util.Timer and TimerTask. I am extremely interested in the creation of threads and know that I will be learning about them in a few weeks. However, if possible could someone give me a basic example on how to convert my current mini test program using util.timer to using a ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor?
I would like to complete this example ASAP so I don't have much time to learn about threads - no matter how much I would like to. Having said this please include anything you feel is important that a java beginner should know with regards to ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor.
Example program
I have made a quick small example to represent the problem I am having in a larger program. What this program should do is allow the user to press a button to start a counter. The user must then be able to stop and restart the counter when ever s/he wants. In the larger program it is vital that this counter remains equal so I have used the
scheduleAtFixRate()
method. It is also important that the initial delay is always the same (in this case 0).
The problem (as I am sure you will see) is that once the timer is cancelled it cannot be restarted - something that I hope the ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor will resolve.
code:
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.util.TimerTask;
import java.util.Timer;
public class Tester extends JFrame {
JButton push = new JButton("Push");
static JTextArea textOut = new JTextArea();
Timer timer = new Timer();
boolean pushed = false;
static int i = 1;
public Tester() {
super();
add(push, BorderLayout.NORTH);
add(textOut);
push.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if (!pushed) {
timer.scheduleAtFixedRate(new Task(), 0, 1000);
pushed = true;
} else {
timer.cancel();
pushed = false;
}
}
});
}
static class Task extends TimerTask {
public void run() {
textOut.setText("" + i++);
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
Tester a = new Tester();
a.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
a.pack();
a.setVisible(true);
}
}
I use this class a lot for testing so there may be extra code (I think I removed it all).

Replace
Timer timer = new Timer();
with
ScheduledExecutorService service = Executors.newSingleThreadScheduledExecutor();
and
class Task extends TimerTask
with
class Task implements Runnable
and
timer.scheduleAtFixedRate(new Task(), 0, 1000);
with
service.scheduleAtFixedRate(new Task(), 0, 1000, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
BTW You should not be attempting to update the GUI on another thread. Instead you have to add a task to the Swing GUI Thread to perform the task
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
textOut.setText("" + i++);
}
});

Trigger event only after repaint in Java Swing?

I am making a simple board game in java, where I want to animate a dice roll. So I flash pictures of a dice like this:
public Timer roll_dice = new Timer(50, this);
...
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
if(roll_dice.getDelay() > 500){
roll_dice.setDelay(50);
roll_dice.stop();
movePiece();
}else{
roll_dice.setDelay(roll_dice.getDelay() + 50);
dice_panel.repaint(0);
}
}
}
movePiece(){
//do some more painting
}
So the die is going so show random numbers for a few times, and then slowly settle on a number. After that is done I would like to call the movePiece() method. However, as it is, the the repaint occurs sporadically and screws everything up so that movePiece() gets called before the dice roll is actually finished animating.
Does anyone have any ideas how I can call movePiece only after the final repaint has happened?

So the die is going so show random numbers for a few times, and then slowly settle on a number. After that is done I would like to call the movePiece() method. However, as it is, the the repaint occurs sporadically and screws everything up so that movePiece() gets called before the dice roll is actually finished animating.
What worries me here is why your painting is occurring sporadically -- it simply shouldn't be doing that, and perhaps that is what you need to fix. I wonder if you're reading in the images from the file each time you do the drawing or some other cause for slowing the drawing down. If you need more help regarding this issue, then you'll have to give us more information on how you do your painting. Regardless, you should avoid having program logic be dependent on painting as you don't have full control over when or even if painting will occur.
Rather than redrawing images and calling repaint(), why not simply put your rolling dice images into ImageIcons on program start up, and then in your Swing Timer, swap icons in a JLabel? Then stop your Timer when the delay gets long enough and in that if block, move your piece.
So, assuming that you have several dice, each can be displayed by a JLabel that is held in an array of JLabel called diceLabels, and the ImageIcons can be held in an array called diceIcons. Then you can do something like:
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if (roll_dice.getDelay() > 500) {
roll_dice.setDelay(50);
roll_dice.stop();
movePiece(); // I like this -- this shouldn't change
} else {
roll_dice.setDelay(roll_dice.getDelay() + 50);
// dice_panel.repaint(0);
for (JLabel dieLabel : diceLabels) {
int randomIndex = random.nextInt(diceIcons.length);
dieLabel.setIcon(diceIcons[randomIndex]);
}
}
}
I like your logic on when you call movePiece() and I think that this should remain unchanged.

You can call the rolling in another thread and join() the current thread to the rolling one. That way the main code will wait until the roll thread dies (finished rolling).
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
if(roll_dice.getDelay() > 500){
Thread rollerThread = new RollerThread();
rollerThread.start();
rollerThread.join();
movePiece();
}
else{
roll_dice.setDelay(roll_dice.getDelay() + 50);
dice_panel.repaint(0);
}
}
private RollerThread extends Thread
{
public void run(){
roll_dice.setDelay(50);
roll_dice.stop();
}
}
However, this might not work with the EDT - because repaints should be scheduled to the queue. Maybe you can shedule the event using the SwingUtilities.invokeAndWait():
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
Thread thread = new Thread(){
public void run(){
if(roll_dice.getDelay() > 500){
SwingUtilities.invokeAndWait(new Runnable(){
public void run(){
roll_dice.setDelay(50);
roll_dice.stop();
}
});
movePiece();
}
else{
roll_dice.setDelay(roll_dice.getDelay() + 50);
dice_panel.repaint(0);
}
}
};
thread.start();
}

Does anything change if you put that call to movePiece(); in a SwingUtilities.invokeLater(Runnable);?
if(roll_dice.getDelay() > 500){
roll_dice.setDelay(50);
roll_dice.stop();
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() { movePiece(); }
});
}
...

How to close a Java Swing application from the code

What is the proper way to terminate a Swing application from the code, and what are the pitfalls?
I'd tried to close my application automatically after a timer fires. But just calling dispose() on the JFrame didn't do the trick - the window vanished but the application did not terminate. However when closing the window with the close button, the application does terminate. What should I do?

Your JFrame default close action can be set to "DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE" instead of EXIT_ON_CLOSE (why people keep using EXIT_ON_CLOSE is beyond me).
If you have any undisposed windows or non-daemon threads, your application will not terminate. This should be considered a error (and solving it with System.exit is a very bad idea).
The most common culprits are java.util.Timer and a custom Thread you've created. Both should be set to daemon or must be explicitly killed.
If you want to check for all active frames, you can use Frame.getFrames(). If all Windows/Frames are disposed of, then use a debugger to check for any non-daemon threads that are still running.

I guess a EXIT_ON_CLOSE
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
before System.exit(0) is better since you can write a Window Listener to make some cleaning operations before actually leaving the app.
That window listener allows you to defined:
public void windowClosing(WindowEvent e) {
displayMessage("WindowListener method called: windowClosing.");
//A pause so user can see the message before
//the window actually closes.
ActionListener task = new ActionListener() {
boolean alreadyDisposed = false;
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if (frame.isDisplayable()) {
alreadyDisposed = true;
frame.dispose();
}
}
};
Timer timer = new Timer(500, task); //fire every half second
timer.setInitialDelay(2000); //first delay 2 seconds
timer.setRepeats(false);
timer.start();
}
public void windowClosed(WindowEvent e) {
//This will only be seen on standard output.
displayMessage("WindowListener method called: windowClosed.");
}

Try:
System.exit(0);
Crude, but effective.

May be the safe way is something like:
private JButton btnExit;
...
btnExit = new JButton("Quit");
btnExit.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
Container frame = btnExit.getParent();
do
frame = frame.getParent();
while (!(frame instanceof JFrame));
((JFrame) frame).dispose();
}
});

The following program includes code that will terminate a program lacking extraneous threads without explicitly calling System.exit(). In order to apply this example to applications using threads/listeners/timers/etc, one need only insert cleanup code requesting (and, if applicable, awaiting) their termination before the WindowEvent is manually initiated within actionPerformed().
For those who wish to copy/paste code capable of running exactly as shown, a slightly-ugly but otherwise irrelevant main method is included at the end.
public class CloseExample extends JFrame implements ActionListener {
private JButton turnOffButton;
private void addStuff() {
setDefaultCloseOperation(DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
turnOffButton = new JButton("Exit");
turnOffButton.addActionListener(this);
this.add(turnOffButton);
}
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent quitEvent) {
/* Iterate through and close all timers, threads, etc here */
this.processWindowEvent(
new WindowEvent(
this, WindowEvent.WINDOW_CLOSING));
}
public CloseExample() {
super("Close Me!");
addStuff();
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
java.awt.EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
CloseExample cTW = new CloseExample();
cTW.setSize(200, 100);
cTW.setLocation(300,300);
cTW.setVisible(true);
}
});
}
}

If I understand you correctly you want to close the application even if the user did not click on the close button. You will need to register WindowEvents maybe with addWindowListener() or enableEvents() whichever suits your needs better.
You can then invoke the event with a call to processWindowEvent(). Here is a sample code that will create a JFrame, wait 5 seconds and close the JFrame without user interaction.
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
public class ClosingFrame extends JFrame implements WindowListener{
public ClosingFrame(){
super("A Frame");
setSize(400, 400);
//in case the user closes the window
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
setVisible(true);
//enables Window Events on this Component
this.addWindowListener(this);
//start a timer
Thread t = new Timer();
t.start();
}
public void windowOpened(WindowEvent e){}
public void windowClosing(WindowEvent e){}
//the event that we are interested in
public void windowClosed(WindowEvent e){
System.exit(0);
}
public void windowIconified(WindowEvent e){}
public void windowDeiconified(WindowEvent e){}
public void windowActivated(WindowEvent e){}
public void windowDeactivated(WindowEvent e){}
//a simple timer
class Timer extends Thread{
int time = 10;
public void run(){
while(time-- > 0){
System.out.println("Still Waiting:" + time);
try{
sleep(500);
}catch(InterruptedException e){}
}
System.out.println("About to close");
//close the frame
ClosingFrame.this.processWindowEvent(
new WindowEvent(
ClosingFrame.this, WindowEvent.WINDOW_CLOSED));
}
}
//instantiate the Frame
public static void main(String args[]){
new ClosingFrame();
}
}
As you can see, the processWindowEvent() method causes the WindowClosed event to be fired where you have an oportunity to do some clean up code if you require before closing the application.

Take a look at the Oracle Documentation.
Starting from JDK 1.4 an Application terminates if:
There are no displayable AWT or Swing components.
There are no native events in the native event queue.
There are no AWT events in java EventQueues.
Cornercases:
The document states that some packages create displayable components without releasing them.A program which calls Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit() won't terminate. is among others given as an example.
Also other Processes can keep AWT alive when they, for what ever reason, are sending events into the native event queue.
Also I noticed that on some Systems it takes a coupple of seconds before the Application actually terminates.

I think, the idea is here the WindowListener - you can add any code there that you'd like to run before the thing shuts down

In response to other comments, DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE does not seem to properly exit the application - it only destroys the window, but the application will continue running. If you want to terminate the application use EXIT_ON_CLOSE.