order of operation

[inadaze]

I have a gui that I am working on. I have a frame "myFrame" which i add a panel "centerPanel" to in the center of the BorderLayout. I want to add graphics to my center panel when i click on a button.
It works fine when I create it all in my GUI construction:

myPersonArray = new MyDraw[1];
myPersonArray[0] = new MyDraw(50,Color.black);
centerPanel.add(myPersonArray[0]);
myFrame.getContentPane().add(BorderLayout.CENTER, centerPanel);

But when I take the first three lines and put them into my ActionListener it doesn't work. I guess that I don't understand the order of operation. I don't want to have myPersonArray to have a limit until the user sets it in a JTextField and then presses the button to draw it.

Could someone please help me?

Thanks
Jay

[sjalle]

From this minimal code fragment it looks to me like you should make a JPanel extension
and override its paint/update methods and use that as your centerPanel. This panel
should have an ArrayList that stores the MyDraw objects. The MyDraw objects
(whatever they are) should have a draw(Graphics g) method that renders the object.

I have no idea what MyDraw is, so this is all I can say for now.

[inadaze]

Sorry, I never know how much code to write so that it makes sense. I also don't want to put down a whole bunch of pointless code too.
Maybe this will make more sense:


public class JavaTwo {
//*****Global Variables*****
JFrame myFrame; //create global frame name
MyDraw[] myPersonArray;
MyDraw rect;

JComboBox sizeBox; //create global var for people size
JComboBox speedBox; // speed of game
JComboBox activeBox; //active people color
JComboBox inactiveBox; //inactive people color
JCheckBox soundControl; //sound on/off

JTextField gridWidthField; //number of people in a row
JTextField gridHeightField; //number of people in a column
JComboBox numbTypeBox; //number type of people
JCheckBox randStartControl; //create a random start on/off

int gridWidth = 0; //Global variables for the grid constructor
int gridHeight = 0;
boolean gridRand = false;
int gridNumType = 0;
CA2D hisCode; //make instance of Code Class

JPanel centerPanel;

Color[] myColorArray = {Color.black,Color.black,Color.white,Color.blue,Color.green,Color.red,Color.yellow};//for choosing people color

public static void main (String args[]) {
JavaTwo myProgram = new JavaTwo(); //Make instance of GUI class
myProgram.makeGui(); //tell instance to run the GUI method
}

//GUI Method
void makeGui(){

//*****Panels*****
myFrame = new JFrame("Cellular Automata"); //create my program frame
myFrame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE); //close program when close window
JPanel southPanel = new JPanel(); //make panel for SOUTH
JPanel eastPanel = new JPanel();
eastPanel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(eastPanel,BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
JPanel eastBottomPanel1 = new JPanel(); //create panels to shrink size of text fields
JPanel eastBottomPanel2 = new JPanel();

centerPanel = new JPanel(); //Create a panel to hold people
FlowLayout DrawLayout = new FlowLayout(); //create layout for panel
DrawLayout.setHgap(0); //make sure the layout has no gaps between people next to each other
DrawLayout.setVgap(0); //make sure the layout has no gaps between people above or below
centerPanel.setLayout(DrawLayout); //give the panel the layout

//****Buttons*****
JButton StartButton = new JButton("Start"); //Make button
StartButton.addActionListener(new StartListener()); //Tell the button I'm listening for events
southPanel.add(StartButton); //add button to panel

JButton StopButton = new JButton("Stop");
StopButton.addActionListener(new StopListener());
southPanel.add(StopButton);

JButton ResetButton = new JButton("Reset");
ResetButton.addActionListener(new ResetListener());
southPanel.add(ResetButton);

JLabel sizeName = new JLabel("Size"); //create name for box
eastPanel.add(sizeName); //place name in panel
String[] sizeCombo = {"Size","10%","20%","30%","40%","50%","60%","70%","80%","90%","100%"}; //list to put in size box
sizeBox = new JComboBox(sizeCombo); //make size box
sizeBox.addActionListener(new SizeListener()); //Tell it to listen
eastPanel.add(sizeBox); //place box in panel

JLabel speedName = new JLabel("Speed");
eastPanel.add(speedName);
String[] speedCombo = {"Speed","10%","20%","30%","40%","50%","60%","70%","80%","90%","100%"};
speedBox = new JComboBox(speedCombo);
speedBox.addActionListener(new SpeedListener());
eastPanel.add(speedBox);

JLabel activeColor = new JLabel("Active Color");
eastPanel.add(activeColor);
String[] activeCombo = {"Active Color","Black","White","Blue","Green","Red","Yellow"};
activeBox = new JComboBox(activeCombo);
activeBox.addActionListener(new ActiveListener());
eastPanel.add(activeBox);

JLabel inactiveName = new JLabel("Inactive Color");
eastPanel.add(inactiveName);
String[] inactiveCombo = {"Inactive Color","Black","White","Blue","Green","Red","Yellow"};
inactiveBox = new JComboBox(inactiveCombo);
inactiveBox.addActionListener(new InactiveListener());
eastPanel.add(inactiveBox);

JLabel numbTypeName = new JLabel("Number Type");
eastPanel.add(numbTypeName);
String[] numbTypeCombo = {"0","1","2","3","4","5","6","7","8","9","10"};
numbTypeBox = new JComboBox(numbTypeCombo);
numbTypeBox.addActionListener(new NumbTypeListener());
eastPanel.add(numbTypeBox);

randStartControl = new JCheckBox("Random Start");
randStartControl.addItemListener(new RandStartListener());
eastPanel.add(randStartControl);

JLabel widthName = new JLabel("Width");
eastBottomPanel1.add(widthName);
gridWidthField = new JTextField(5);
gridWidthField.addFocusListener(new GridWidthListener());
eastBottomPanel1.add(gridWidthField);

JLabel heightName = new JLabel("Height");
eastBottomPanel2.add(heightName);
gridHeightField = new JTextField(5);
gridHeightField.addFocusListener(new GridHeightListener());
eastBottomPanel2.add(gridHeightField);

eastPanel.add(eastBottomPanel1); //add Width text panel to eastpanel
eastPanel.add(eastBottomPanel2); //add height text panel to east panel

soundControl = new JCheckBox("Sound");
soundControl.addItemListener(new SoundListener());
eastPanel.add(soundControl);



myFrame.getContentPane().add(BorderLayout.SOUTH, southPanel);//add panel to frame
myFrame.getContentPane().add(BorderLayout.CENTER, centerPanel); //put rect in the center
myFrame.getContentPane().add(BorderLayout.EAST, eastPanel);


myFrame.setSize(800,600); //set its size
myFrame.setLocation(100,100); //set where it appears on screen
myFrame.setVisible(true); //make visible
}

//****Button Events*****
//Start button
class StartListener implements ActionListener { //inner class for multiple ActionListeners
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event){
myPersonArray = new MyDraw[1];
myPersonArray[0] = new MyDraw(50,Color.black);
centerPanel.add(myPersonArray[0]);


}
}
}

class MyDraw extends JPanel{

int rectSize = 20;
Color rectColor;

public MyDraw(int theSize, Color rectColor) {
super();
this.rectSize = theSize;
this.rectColor = rectColor;
setPreferredSize(new Dimension(theSize,theSize)); //create canvas to draw square.
}

public void paint(Graphics g) {

Graphics2D myGraphic = (Graphics2D)g;
myGraphic.setColor(rectColor);
myGraphic.fill(new Rectangle2D.Float(0,0,rectSize,rectSize));



}
}

[inadaze]

Okay I got my problem. I needed to put centerPanel.validate() in my button to update the images in my panel.

Thanks for your time.
Jay

[sjalle]

As you have implemented this you really don't have to make a special
MyDraw class. All you have to to is create a JPanel, set its background
color and its preferred size, and you're there.