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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

Java Mousepress() to draw images

I create this to draw a fish when the mouse is pressed at the mouse's x and y coordinate. but i seems then that the drawfish method is not being called. I can't find the reason why is it is not working. I would be me very grateful for any help.
/*FishTank*/
import java.awt.Graphics;
import javax.swing.JComponent;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.geom.*;
/*FishTank class-contains a frame and the WinstonCanvas.*/
public class FishTank{
public static void main ( String[] args ){
javax.swing.SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable(){
public void run(){
JFrame window = new JFrame();
window.setTitle("Fish Tank");
window.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
window.setBounds(30, 30, 700, 430);
window.getContentPane().add(new FishTankCanvas());
window.setVisible(true);
}
});
}
}
/*FishTankCanvas is a component that allows drawing shapes.*/
class FishTankCanvas extends JComponent {
static Graphics2D g;
int x = 11;
Timer myTimer;
public FishTankCanvas(){
myTimer = new Timer (2, new ActionListener(){
public void actionPerformed (ActionEvent evt){
repaint();
}
});
myTimer.start();
}
public void paint(Graphics graphics) {
g = (Graphics2D)graphics;
//makes the background white
Color backgroundColor = new Color(89, 216, 255);//light blue
g.setColor(backgroundColor);
g.fillRect(0,0,this.getWidth(),this.getHeight());
// drawfish (Graphics graphics, int bodyX, int bodyY, int bodyLength,int bodyHeight, int tailwidth, int eyesize,int tailcolor, int bodycolor)
// Mouselistener and mouseadapter
this.addMouseListener (new MouseAdapter() {
public void mousePressed(MouseEvent e) {
//call drawfish method
drawfish(FishTankCanvas.g,e.getX(), e.getY(),118,74,1,((int) (Math.random()*(4 - 0))));
repaint();
}
});
// x coordinate plus 1 of fish (animate)
x= x + 1;
}
// drawfish method
public void drawfish(Graphics graphics, int bodyX, int bodyY, int bodyLength,int bodyHeight,int tailcolor, int bodycolor ){
Graphics2D g = (Graphics2D)graphics;
bodyX +=x;
//colours
Color[] colours= new Color[5];
colours[0] = new Color(0, 0, 0);//black
colours[1] = new Color(162, 0, 255);//purple
colours[2] = Color.red;//red
colours[3] = new Color(255,255,0);// yellow
colours[4] = new Color(60,179,113);//green
//draw fish
// body
g.setColor(colours[bodycolor]);
g.fillOval(bodyX, bodyY, bodyLength, bodyHeight);
// tail
g.setColor(colours[tailcolor]);
int tailWidth = bodyLength/4;
int tailHeight = bodyHeight/2;
int[] tailPointx = new int[3];
int[] tailPointy = new int[3];
tailPointx[0]=bodyX;
tailPointy[0]=bodyY+bodyHeight/2;
tailPointx[1]=bodyX-tailWidth;
tailPointy[1]=bodyY+bodyHeight/2-tailHeight;
tailPointx[2]=bodyX-tailWidth;
tailPointy[2]=bodyY+tailHeight+tailHeight;
g.fillPolygon(tailPointx, tailPointy, 3);
// eye
g.setColor(colours[0]);
g.fillOval(bodyX+3*bodyLength/4, bodyY+bodyHeight/2-bodyHeight/5, bodyHeight/5, bodyHeight/5);
}
}

i seems then that the drawfish method is not being called.
Well that is easy enough to verify. All you need to do is add debug code to the method to determine if this is true or not. Then you can tell us if that is the problem instead of guessing.
Other problems:
Don't add the MouseListener to the component in a painting method. The listener should be added in the constructor of your class.
Don't override paint(). Custom painting is done by overriding the paintComponent() method. And don't forget to invoke super.paintComponent(...).
Extend JPanel instead of JComponent. Then you can just use the setBackground() method to paint the background.
However, the real problem is that when you click the mouse the fish might get drawn, but then the Timer does a repaint which will clear the panel 2ms later, so you never really see the fish. Get rid of the Timer. There is no need for the Timer to draw a fish.
Assuming you want to paint multiple fish you need to keep track of every place you click and then paint all the fish. The two way of doing this are:
Keep an ArrayList of the points where you want to paint the fish and then iterate through this list in your painting method
Paint the fish on a BufferedImage when the mouse click happens, and then just paint the image.
See Custom Painting Approaches for working examples of both of these approaches.

Getting the font metrics before the paint method id called

Hi I am creating a news ticker/ text scroller.
I am using the following method:
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.FontMetrics;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
public class Scroll1 extends JPanel{
private int x;
private int x2;
private int y;
private String text;
final int startX=-100;
public Scroll1(int startX)
{
x2=-650;
x = 20;
y=150;
text= "Some Words and others, and now this must be a longer text that takes up the whole panel/ frame for this test to work ";
}
#Override
public void paint(Graphics g)
{
g.setColor(Color.white);
g.fillRect(0, 0, 400, 300);
g.setColor(Color.black);
g.drawString(text, x, y);
g.drawString(text, x2, y);
FontMetrics fm= g.getFontMetrics();
System.out.println(fm.stringWidth(text));;
}
public void start() throws InterruptedException{
while(true){
while(x<= 650){
x++;
x2++;
y = getHeight()/2;
repaint();
Thread.sleep(10);
if(x2>650)
x2=-650;
}
if(x>=0)
{
x=-650;
}
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Scrolling Panel");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
Scroll1 scrolling = new Scroll1(-100);
frame.getContentPane().add(scrolling);
frame.setSize(400, 300);
frame.setVisible(true);
try {
scrolling.start();
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
// TODO Auto-generated catch block
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
Basically it has two strings that are being drawn. One starts at the 0 position and the other starts at -650. I got the -650 number by using the font metrics inside of the paint method. The problem is that I had to hard code that number, and if I did a different string that has different metrics, it would not work. I tried making a instance variable called width that stores the font metrics, but it seems that the width is not inputted until the paint method is called. Is there anyway I can get the metrics before it starts drawing it?

Is there anyway I can get the metrics before it starts drawing it?
Just initialize the variable in the first call to paint (or better yet, paintComponent - see below) - you can do this using a boolean flag, or initialize it's value to an extreme and do a check on the value.
int x = Integer.MIN_VALUE;
...
protected void paintComponent(Graphics g){
super.paintComponent(g);
if ( x == Integer.MIN_VALUE ){
x = -g.getFontMetrics().stringWidth(text);
}
...
}
Some other tips:
Use a Swing Timer to perform animation, or be sure to dispatch Swing specific calls to the EDT using SwingUtilities.
Don't override paint, rather override paintComponent (and be sure to call the parent method super.paintComponent(g))

Swing double Buffering and Animation

I am trying to prevent redrawing an animation by the EDT. The first thing i have done is excluding the actual drawing tasks into a different thread, writing into a VolatileImage, which gets redrawn by EDT within paintComponent method of my corresponding JPanel.
If i exclude the repaint into another thread, this works properly. Nevertheless, i do have positioned a couple of other panels above my animation.
In result, having called the repaint method of my painter (animation) panel, has caused the others to also get redrawn without flickering.
Therefore to redraw the other panels, calling repaint on painter, results in flickering. Repaint of a single panel results in an opaque redraw with rarely flickering.
Does somebody know, how to synchronize an own repaint of a jpanel, for instance into my already available bufferimage. Id say the repaint triggered to EDT results in flickering, since its not synchronized.
My repaint call to animation
#Override
public void KeyframeChanged(Keyframe frame) {
if (painter.isVisible()) {
map.getMainMap().doPaintComponent(painter.getBuffer().getGraphics());
painter.renderAnimation();
painter.updateScreen();
}
}
painter methods:
public void updateScreen() {
Graphics g = this.getGraphics();
if (g != null) // component already visible?
{
// is there a backBuffer to draw?
if (backBuffer != null) {
g.drawImage(backBuffer, 0, 0, null);
} else {
// if not, create one and render on it
createBackBuffer();
renderAnimation();
}
}
}
public void renderAnimation() {
// Do drawing stuff here
}
#Override
protected void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
// super.paintComponent(g);
}// end of paint
Thanks
Thanks for answers and links. I still need to read a few of them. Nevertheless in order to illustrate the current behavior, this small SSCCE shall help.
package repaintexample;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.Graphics2D;
import java.awt.RenderingHints;
import java.awt.image.VolatileImage;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLayeredPane;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
class Painter extends JPanel {
private VolatileImage backBuffer;
private Graphics2D g2d;
public Painter() {
setDoubleBuffered(false);
setOpaque(false);
}
#Override
public boolean isOptimizedDrawingEnabled() {
return false;
}
private void createBackBuffer() {
backBuffer = this.getGraphicsConfiguration().createCompatibleVolatileImage(1920, 1200);
}
public void adjustBackBufferSize() {
if (backBuffer != null) {
if (getWidth() > backBuffer.getWidth() || getHeight() > backBuffer.getHeight()) {
createBackBuffer();
}
}
}
public void updateScreen(Graphics g) {
if (g != null) // component already visible?
{
// is there a backBuffer to draw?
if (backBuffer != null) {
g.drawImage(backBuffer, 0, 0, null);
} else {
// if not, create one and render on it
createBackBuffer();
}
}
}
public void renderAnimation(int i, int j) {
if (backBuffer == null) {
createBackBuffer();
}
do {
if (backBuffer.validate(getGraphicsConfiguration()) == VolatileImage.IMAGE_INCOMPATIBLE) {
createBackBuffer();
}
g2d = (Graphics2D) backBuffer.getGraphics();
g2d.setRenderingHint(RenderingHints.KEY_ANTIALIASING, RenderingHints.VALUE_ANTIALIAS_ON);
g2d.setColor(Color.white);
g2d.fillRect(0, 0, getWidth(), getHeight());
g2d.setColor(Color.red);
g2d.fillOval(i, j, 50, 50);
} while (backBuffer.contentsLost());
}
#Override
protected void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
// super.paintComponent(g);
updateScreen(g);
}// end of paint
public VolatileImage getBuffer() {
return backBuffer;
}
}
class ContainerFrame extends JFrame {
private Painter mapPainter;
private JPanel informationPanel; // covers a lot of metainformation - Actually own JTable instance updating the same objects for repainting in each circle
private JPanel controller; // Maptools
private JPanel tabbedPabe; // Change redraw content
public ContainerFrame() {
this.setSize(1600, 1024);
this.setVisible(true);
initComponents();
initPositions();
Thread animation = new Thread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
// My application is a mapping application, in which i first draw the tiles, before goin on with the "real" animated stuff
// clearing backbuffer content with g.fillRect(0, 0, getWidth(), getHeight());
while (true) {
for (int i = 0; i < mapPainter.getWidth(); i += 100) {
for (int j = 0; j < mapPainter.getHeight(); j += 5) {
mapPainter.renderAnimation(i, j);
int repaintCase = 2;
switch (repaintCase) {
case 0:
// Default case redrawing via EDT, triggering the others in proper order
mapPainter.repaint();
break;
case 1:
// case repainting by current Thread - necessity of repainting above positioned panels
// results in flickering, since not synchronized
mapPainter.updateScreen(mapPainter.getGraphics());
informationPanel.repaint();
controller.repaint();
tabbedPabe.repaint();
break;
case 2:
// painting components on buffer
// Results in rarely flickering and opague repaint
// is there any common way, to manually repaint onto anything - like image
informationPanel.paintAll(mapPainter.getBuffer().getGraphics());
controller.paintAll(mapPainter.getBuffer().getGraphics());
tabbedPabe.paintAll(mapPainter.getBuffer().getGraphics());
mapPainter.updateScreen(mapPainter.getGraphics());
break;
}
}
}
try {
Thread.sleep(30);
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
});
animation.start();
}
private void initComponents() {
mapPainter = new Painter();
mapPainter.setSize(this.getSize());
informationPanel = new JPanel();
informationPanel.setSize(new Dimension(360, 800));
controller = new JPanel();
controller.setSize(new Dimension(500, 250));
tabbedPabe = new JPanel();
tabbedPabe.setSize(new Dimension(300, 300));
this.getLayeredPane().add(mapPainter, JLayeredPane.DEFAULT_LAYER);
this.getLayeredPane().add(controller, JLayeredPane.MODAL_LAYER);
this.getLayeredPane().add(tabbedPabe, JLayeredPane.MODAL_LAYER);
this.getLayeredPane().add(informationPanel, JLayeredPane.MODAL_LAYER);
}
private void initPositions() {
controller.setLocation(mapPainter.getWidth() - controller.getWidth(), mapPainter.getHeight() - controller.getHeight());
tabbedPabe.setLocation(this.getWidth() - tabbedPabe.getWidth(), mapPainter.getHeight() - controller.getHeight() - tabbedPabe.getHeight() - 400);
informationPanel.setLocation(10, mapPainter.getHeight() - informationPanel.getHeight() - 200);
}
}
public class RepaintExample {
/**
* #param args the command line arguments
*/
public static void main(String[] args) {
// TODO code application logic here
ContainerFrame f = new ContainerFrame();
}
}
I do use case 0 at the moment and do see having either great or pretty bad fps - either 30 or around 6. I am not certain, how that may be possible and i may be able to find sth. in the already posted links. I thought making sure to relieve the EDT at best, could become a proper solution.
Additionally the content of the 3 panels, i illustrated do not need a repaint in the same frequency as the animation does. Unfortunately i haven't found a proper way to prevent the repaint. The only way i have used for quite a while was a paintimmediately in an invokelater call for those areas, which are known as "animated". A common repaint(Rectangle rec) has not been working, since single calls have been summarized to a big one, covering more pixels, than i have passed in.
public void drawCachedSprite(Graphics2D g, CachedSprites sprites, int zoom, double cog, double x, double y, double w, double h) {
try{
pos_x = x;
pos_y = y;
RenderingUtil.getRenderQuality();
transform.setToIdentity();
// Compute the corner, the drawing needs to start with
transform.translate(x - (w / 2.0), y - (h / 2.0));
g.drawImage(sprites.getSprite(DefaultResources.getType(), spriteColor, zoom, cog), transform, null);
} catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
System.out.println("width or height not set properly");
}
}

How to get rid of the flicker that appears during my animation?

I'm learning Java by making a small game in a JApplet.
I got a little problem with my sprite's animation.
Here is the code :
this.sprite.setBounds(0,0,20,17);
this.sprite.setIcon(this.rangerDown);
for(int i = 0; i< 16;i++)
{
this.sprite.setBounds(this.sprite.getX(), this.sprite.getY()+1, 20, 17);
this.sprite.update(this.sprite.getGraphics());
try{
Thread.currentThread().sleep(100);
}catch(InterruptedException e){
}
}
It left some flicker during the animation. Once the animation end, the flicker disappears, but it's kind of ugly... I guess there is some step I missed.
I use this method because it gives the better result for now, but I would like to stay without AWT if possible, using Swing instead.
Any ideas how to get rid of the flicker?
Thanks for reading.
Screenshoot (Can't post images, sorry).

This is not a shadow. Its the border of your sprite. It just happens to be black and appears as a shadow. If you change the amount you shift your sprite (lets say by 50 pixels, not just 1) you will see what i mean.
To fix it what you need to do is to draw the background as well each time you update the location of your sprite. Although this will probably produce flickering.
The correct way to do it is to change the way you draw your objects. You need to override the paintComponent method of your panel and then simply call repaint each time you have updated the locations of your sprites.
EDIT:
See this code sample for basic usage. NOTE: This is NOT how you should write animation using Threads. I wrote that to show you what goes in the paintComponent method and wrote the animation Thread to show you that the "shadow" you mentioned is gone. NEVER have a non ending run loop in a thread :)
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.Graphics2D;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
public class Test {
public static void main(String[] args) {
JFrame f = new JFrame("Test");
MyPanel c = new MyPanel();
f.getContentPane().add(c);
f.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
f.setSize(350, 100);
f.setVisible(true);
}
}
class MyPanel extends JPanel {
int x = 0;
boolean toTheRight = true;
public MyPanel() {
new Thread(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
while (true) {
x = (toTheRight)?x+5:x-5;
if (x>300)
toTheRight = false;
if (x<0)
toTheRight = true;
repaint();
try {
Thread.sleep(50);
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
}).start();
}
#Override
protected void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
Graphics2D g2 = (Graphics2D)g.create();
g2.setPaint(Color.white);
g2.fillRect(0, 0, getWidth(), getHeight());
g2.setPaint(Color.red);
g2.fillOval(x-2, 50, 4, 4);
}
}

The problem is double buffering.
In Applets:
Double buffering is done almost automatically. Call repaint() instead of paint in your method.
In Swing, there are many ways to do it. I usually go for the BufferStrategy route. When you're initializing your frame, do this:
JFrame frame;
... code to init frame here
frame.createBufferStrategy(2);
Then in your draw methods:
Graphics g = getBufferStrategy().getDrawGraphics();
..code to do drawing here...
g.dispose();
getBufferStrategy().show();