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How to implement a smoothly falling JLabel without using Timer, but Threads instead

Alright, so I have a null layout JPanel with a single JLabel in it. The JLabel is positioned at (0,0). What I'm trying to do is use a while loop in a new Thread to sleep the new Thread and then shift the JLabel 10px down by using SwingUtilities.invokeLater . The problem is that the UI gets updated in a laggy sort of way. It doesn't update every time it should, but skips lots of updates and shifts in big chunks. I know I can easily do it with Timer, but the point is understanding Threads better. Thanks in advance!
Code:
private void start(){
Updater up = new Updater();
up.start();
}
public void updatePosition(){
int y = label1.getLocation.y;
label.setBounds(0,y+10, 10,10);
}
private class Updater extends Thread{
public void run(){
while(!shouldQuit){
try{
Updater.sleep(100);
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
updatePosition();
}
});
}catch(Exception e){
System.out.println(e);
}
}
}
}
EDIT:
I got it to work by replacing the while loop with a call to a new Thread instance in the updatePosition() method, to settle things down a bit. And also, it wasn't only the Thread that was causing the problem, so I had to force the panel to re-layout it's subviews by calling revalidate() on it.
Here's how it looks (the fully working one):
private void start(){
new Updater().start();
}
public void updatePosition(){
int y = label1.getLocation.y;
label.setBounds(0,y+10, 10,10);
panel.revalidate();
if(!shouldQuit) new Updater().start();
}
private class Updater extends Thread{
public void run(){
try{
Updater.sleep(100);
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
updatePosition();
}
});
}catch(Exception e){
System.out.println(e);
}
}
}

You should try to use visibility and GridLayout to maximize movement. You can use a int var to count threads and reciprocate that to the label. As well, you should be using your ability o create Updaters, more and smoother. Just do the start() mwthod while trolling for threads :-)
You could have something besides an infinity call to start. I think you've lost the inheritance from the class, itself. The object label1 must ave been lost in tbe fray. If that's not it, then I'm pretty sure I'm not really able to answer this one.

Closing A JOptionPane Programmatically

I am working on a project in which I would like to close a generic JOptionPane programmatically (by not physically clicking on any buttons). When a timer expires, I would like to close any possible JOptionPane that may be open and kick the user back to the login screen of my program. I can kick the user back just fine, but the JOptionPane remains unless I physically click a button on it.
I have looked on many sites with no such luck. A doClick() method call on the "Red X" of the JOptionPane does not seem possible, and using JOptionpane.getRootFrame().dispose() does not work.

Technically, you can loop through all windows of the application, check is they are of type JDialog and have a child of type JOptionPane, and dispose the dialog if so:
Action showOptionPane = new AbstractAction("show me pane!") {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
createCloseTimer(3).start();
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog((Component) e.getSource(), "nothing to do!");
}
private Timer createCloseTimer(int seconds) {
ActionListener close = new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
Window[] windows = Window.getWindows();
for (Window window : windows) {
if (window instanceof JDialog) {
JDialog dialog = (JDialog) window;
if (dialog.getContentPane().getComponentCount() == 1
&& dialog.getContentPane().getComponent(0) instanceof JOptionPane){
dialog.dispose();
}
}
}
}
};
Timer t = new Timer(seconds * 1000, close);
t.setRepeats(false);
return t;
}
};

This code gotten from
https://amp.reddit.com/r/javahelp/comments/36dv3t/how_to_close_this_joptionpane_using_code/ seems to be the best approach to me. It involves Instantiating the JOptionPane class rather that using the static helper methods to do it for you. The benefit is you have a JOptionPane object that you can dispose when you want to close the dialog.
JOptionPane jop = new JOptionPane();
jop.setMessageType(JOptionPane.PLAIN_MESSAGE);
jop.setMessage("Hello World");
JDialog dialog = jop.createDialog(null, "Message");
// Set a 2 second timer
new Thread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
try {
Thread.sleep(2000);
} catch (Exception e) {
}
dialog.dispose();
}
}).start();
dialog.setVisible(true);

Blinking in JFrame Java

Hello guys I am doing a thread to update a ball over JFrame so I repaint the screen... and then paint the ball update its position .. and then draw the screen again ... draw the ball and the same cycle ... here is the code
private void jButton3ActionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent evt) {
Thread t = new Thread()
{
public void run()
{
while(true)
{
repaint();
b2.update(ob,2);
b2.paint(ob.getGraphics());
b2.setT(b2.getT() + 1);
try {
Thread.sleep(50);
} catch (InterruptedException ex) {
System.out.println("Error in Sleeping");
}
}
}
};
t.start();
}
but the problem is that I don't see the ball... the paint of the screen always overrides the ball and the ball is like down under the Jframe ..

If you want to have animations in Swing, the recommended class to use is the javax.swing.Timer . This class allows you to perform operations on the Event Dispatch Thread at regular intervals.
The Swing Timer tutorial
An animation example posted here on SO (which is linked in the Swing wiki here on SO btw)

Some General Rules
Swing is not thread safe, you should only ever update UI components from within the context of the Event Dispatching Thread.
You do not control the paint process, the repaint manager does. You can request updates to occur by calling repaint, but you should never call update and paint directly when trying to update the display.
The Graphics context used by the paint sub system is a shared resource and is not guaranteed to be the same between paint cycles, you should never maintain a reference to it. You should also not rely on the results from JComponent#getGraphics this method is capable of returning null.
An Example Solution
You have a number of options, depending on what you want to ultimately achieve.
You could use a SwingWorker, but given the fact that all your going to is enter an infinite loop and it would easier to use SwingUtilities#invokeLater then actually use the publish method, this approach would actually be more work.
You could also use a Thread, but you'd end up with the same problems as using a SwingWorker
The simpliset solution, for what you're presented, is actually a javax.swing.Timer
public class Blinky {
public static void main(String[] args) {
new Blinky();
}
public Blinky() {
EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
try {
UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.getSystemLookAndFeelClassName());
} catch (ClassNotFoundException | InstantiationException | IllegalAccessException | UnsupportedLookAndFeelException ex) {
}
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Test");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
frame.add(new BlinkyPane());
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
});
}
protected class BlinkyPane extends JPanel {
private JLabel blinkyLabel;
private boolean blink = false;
public BlinkyPane() {
setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
blinkyLabel = new JLabel("I'm blinking here");
blinkyLabel.setBackground(Color.RED);
add(blinkyLabel);
Timer timer = new Timer(250, new ActionListener() {
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
blink = !blink;
if (blink) {
blinkyLabel.setForeground(Color.YELLOW);
} else {
blinkyLabel.setForeground(Color.BLACK);
}
blinkyLabel.setOpaque(blink);
repaint();
}
});
timer.setRepeats(true);
timer.setCoalesce(true);
timer.start();
}
#Override
public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
return new Dimension(200, 100);
}
}
}
You can take a look at Swing Timer and Concurrency in Swing for more info

If you access GUI components outside the EDT (Event Dispatch Thread) then you might encounter strange problems, Contrary if you perform long running tasks in the EDT then also you will get problems.
Check this post for more info on GUI Threading in Java

Updating the JPanel in a JFrame

I have a JFrame with a CardLayout component. I am using the CardLayout to switch between different JPanel's at different moments of the application execution. At some point I am using a SwingWorker Object to generate some XML files. In this time I want to display another JPanel in my window to tell the user to wait. On this JPanel I want to switch between 3 labels.
JLabel 1 would be : "Please wait."
JLabel 2 would be : "Please wait.."
JLabel 3 would be : "Please wait..."
Right now the code looks like this:
ConvertersWorker.execute();
CLayout.show(Cards, WAIT_PANEL);
Timer t =new Timer(500, new ActionListener()
{
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
WaitPanel.SwitchLabels();
}
});
t.start();
while (!this.finishedConverting)
{
}
//After this im am executing other methods based on the generated XML files
The SwingWorker code:
SwingWorker<Boolean, Void> ConvertersWorker = new SwingWorker<Boolean, Void>() {
public Boolean doInBackground() {
Boolean result = RunConverters();
return result;
}
public void done() {
try {
finishedConverting = get();
} catch (InterruptedException ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
} catch (ExecutionException ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
}
}
} ;
The second JPanel is not even displayed because the JFrame blocks. It blocks because of the while loop but I don't know how to implement it differently. And also the method done() from the SwingWorker is never executed. If it were executed then the finishedConverting variable would have been set to true and the while loop would have stopped. Can anyone help me to find a better solution?

I know you solved this but that's happening because you are using just one thread, and it blocked because of the While, so you need to create a new thread to handle this
new Thread(){
public void run() {
//code here
}
}.start();
and to refresh the content of a JPanel you can use
myJpanel.doLayout();
or
myJpanel.repaint();

I removed the while loop and moved the code which was after the loop in another method which is executed in the done() method of the SwingWorker so now it works.

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.