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Introduction
Using a layout manager to arrange components within a
container may result in a GUI that looks good, but in order to
make it do anything ( for example to get user input), you have to
handle events.
An event typically signifies an
action by the user, such as striking a key or clicking the mouse
over a JButton component.
For example, an event can be generated when the value of
component's property changes or when a specified amount of time
elapses.
In the event handling process, there are three important players :
Event, Event Source, and Event Listener (or Handler)
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 Event and Event Source
An event can be defined as a type of signal to the program
that something has happened.

The event is generated by external user actions such as mouse

movements, mouse clicks, and keystrokes, or by the operating
system, such as a timer.

Event is represented by an Event class (e.g., ActionEvent,

ComponentEvent , FocusEvent, KeyEvent, MouseEvent, etc).

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 Event and Event Source…..
An event is created when an event occurs (i.e., user interacts
with a GUI component).
An event is an instance (object) of an event class.
The component on which an event is fired or generated is
called the source object or source component (Event
source).
Example
A button is the source object for a button-clicking action
event.(i.e. an ActionEvent Object is generated. )

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 Event and Event Source ….

An event object contains all necessary information about

the event that has occurred
Type of event that has occurred
Source of the event using getSource() instance method in the
EventObject class.

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 User Action, Source Object, and Event Type
Source Event Type
User Action Object Generated
Click a button JButton ActionEvent
Click a check box JCheckBox ItemEvent, ActionEvent
Click a radio button JRadioButton ItemEvent, ActionEvent
Press return on a text field JTextField ActionEvent
Select item(s) JList ListSelectionEvent
Select a new item JComboBox ItemEvent, ActionEvent
Window opened, closed, etc. Window WindowEvent
Mouse pressed, released, etc. Component MouseEvent
Key released, pressed, etc. Component KeyEvent

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 Listeners, Registrations, and Handling Events

Java uses Event-Delegation Model for event handling: a

source object fires an event, and an object interested in the
event handles the event.

The latter object is called a Event Listener ( or handler).

In java, there are different Event Listener interface to

create listener object to handle every type of GUI events.

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 Listeners, Registrations, and Handling Events
Two things needed for an object to be a listener for an event on
the source object.
1) The listener object must be an instance of the corresponding
event- listener interface to ensure that the listener has the
correct method for processing the event.

The listener interface is usually named XListener for XEvent,

Example:
The corresponding listener interface for ActionEvent is
ActionListener; each listener for ActionEvent should
implement the ActionListener interface.
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 Events, Event Listener, and Listener Methods

Event Class Listener Interface Listener Methods (Handlers)

ActionEvent ActionListener actionPerformed(ActionEvent)
ItemEvent ItemListener itemStateChanged(ItemEvent)
WindowEvent WindowListener windowClosing(WindowEvent)
windowOpened(WindowEvent)
windowIconified(WindowEvent)
windowDeiconified(WindowEvent)
windowClosed(WindowEvent)
windowActivated(WindowEvent)
windowDeactivated(WindowEvent)
ContainerEvent ContainerListener componentAdded(ContainerEvent)
componentRemoved(ContainerEvent)
MouseEvent MouseListener mousePressed(MouseEvent)
mouseReleased(MouseEvent)
mouseClicked(MouseEvent)
mouseExited(MouseEvent)
mouseEntered(MouseEvent)
KeyEvent KeyListener keyPressed(KeyEvent)
keyReleased(KeyEvent)
keyTypeed(KeyEvent)
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 Listeners, Registrations, and Handling Events…

2. The listener object must be registered by the source

object.
To register listener object, we have a registration methods
which are dependent on the event type.

Example: For ActionEvent, the method is addActionListener.

In general, the method is named addXListener for XEvent.

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 Steps for Creating GUI Applications with Event Handling

1. Create a GUI class

Describes and displays the appearance of your GUI application
2. Create Event Listener class (a class implementing the
appropriate listener interface)
Override all methods of the appropriate listener interface
Describe in each method how you would like the event to be
handled
May give empty implementations for methods you don't need
3. Register the listener object with the event source
The object is an instantiation of the listener class in step 2
Use the add<Type>Listener method of the event source
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 Listeners, Registrations, and Handling Events…

Example 1:
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.awt.*;
public class SimpleEventDemo {
public static void main(String[] args) {
JFrame frame = new JFrame();

JButton jbtOK = new JButton("OK");

frame.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
frame.add(jbtOK);

OKListener listener = new OKListener();

jbtOK.addActionListener(listener);

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 Listeners, Registrations, and Handling Events…

frame.setTitle("SimpleEventDemo");
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setSize(200, 200);
frame.setVisible(true);
}// End of main() method
}//end of class SimpleEventDemo

class OKListener implements ActionListener {

public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
System.out.println("OK button is Clicked");
}
} // end of class OKListener

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 Listeners, Registrations, and Handling Events…
Example 2
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
public class MyEvent extends JFrame {
JButton b1;
public MyEvent(){
super("Window Title: Event Handling");
b1 = new JButton("Click Me");
add(b1, BorderLayout.NORTH);

ButtonListener listen = new ButtonListener();

b1.addActionListener(listen);

setSize(200,200);
setVisible(true);
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 Listeners, Registrations, and Handling Events…

public static void main (String arg[]){

MyEvent event = new MyEvent();
}
}
class ButtonListener implements ActionListener {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
JButton source = (JButton)evt.getSource();
source.setText("Button Has Been Clicked, ...!");
}
}

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 Event-listeners

ActionListener Method
Contains exactly one method

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 Event-listeners…
MouseListener Methods

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 Event-listeners…
MouseMotionListener Methods

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 Event-listeners…
WindowListener Methods

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 Event-listeners…
Other Listeners are
KeyListener
Methods
keyPressed(KeyEvent e) - Invoked when a key has been pressed.
keyReleased(KeyEvent e) - Invoked when a key has been released.
keyTyped(KeyEvent e) - Invoked when a key has been typed.
FocusListeners
Methods
focusGained(FocusEvent e) - Invoked when a component gains the
keyboard focus.
focusLost(FocusEvent e) - Invoked when a component loses the
keyboard focus.
ItemListeners
Method
itemStateChanged(ItemEvent e) - Invoked when an item has been
selected or deselected by the user
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 Event-listeners…
TextListner
Method
textValueChanged(TextEvent e) - Invoked when the value of
the text has changed.
ContainerListner
Methods –
componentAdded(ContainerEvent e) - Invoked when a
component has been added to the container.
componentRemoved(ContainerEvent e) - Invoked when a
component has been removed from the container.

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 Sources-events-listeners
Source Event object Listener Methods
<state change> (argument:
corresponding
event)
Mouse MouseEvent MouseListener mouseClicked
<mouse clicked, pressed, mousePressed
dragged, moved/ entered, mouseReleased etc
exited a component etc>
MouseMotionListener mouseDragged
mouseMoved

MouseWheelEvent MouseWheelListener mouseWheelMoved

<page-up and down>
Keyboard KeyEvent KeyListener keyPressed
keyReleased
keyTyped

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 Sources-events-listeners
Source Event Listener Methods
<state change> (argument:
corresponding
event)
Button ActionEvent ActionListener ActionPerformed
<GUI button clicked>

List ActionEvent ActionListener ActionPerformed

<item double clicked>
ItemEvent ItemListener
ItemStateChanged
<item
selected/deselected>

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 Inner Class Listeners …
public class Test { // OuterClass.java: inner class demo
... public class OuterClass {
} private int data;

public class A { /** A method in the outer class */

... public void m() {
} // Do something
}
(a)
// An inner class
class InnerClass {
public class Test { /** A method in the inner class */
... public void mi() {
// Directly reference data and method
// Inner class // defined in its outer class
public class A { data++;
... m();
} }
} }
}
(b)
(c)

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 Inner Class Listeners …

Inner class: A class is a member of another class.

Advantages: In some applications, you can use an inner
class to make programs simple.
An inner class can reference the data and methods defined
in the outer class in which it nests, so you do not need to
pass the reference of the outer class to the constructor of
the inner class.

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 Inner Class….
Inner classes can make programs simple and concise.
An inner class can be declared public, protected, or
private subject to the same visibility rules applied to a
member of the class.

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 Inner Class Example

Example 1:
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.awt.*;
public class SimpleEventDemo {
public static void main(String[] args) {
JFrame frame = new JFrame();

JButton jbtOK = new JButton("OK");

frame.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
frame.add(jbtOK);

OKListener listener = new OKListener();

jbtOK.addActionListener(listener);

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 Inner Class Example…

frame.setTitle("SimpleEventDemo");
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setSize(200, 200);
frame.setVisible(true);
}// End of main() method

class OKListener implements ActionListener {

public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
System.out.println("It is OK");
}
} // end of class OKListener

}//end of class SimpleEventDemo

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 Anonymous Inner Classes

Inner class listeners can be shortened using anonymous inner

classes.
An anonymous inner class is an inner class without a name.
It combines declaring an inner class and creating an instance
of the class in one step.
An anonymous inner class is declared as follows:
new SuperClassName/InterfaceName() {
// Implement or override methods in superclass or interface
// Other methods if necessary
}

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 Anonymous Inner Classes ….
Example:
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.awt.*;

public class SimpleEventDemo {

public static void main(String[] args) {

JFrame frame = new JFrame();

JButton jbtOK = new JButton("OK");

frame.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
frame.add(jbtOK);

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 Anonymous Inner Classes…
jbtOK.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
System.out.println("It is OK");
}
});

frame.setTitle("SimpleEventDemo");
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setSize(200, 200);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
} // end of class SimpleEventDemo

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 Multiple Listeners for a Single Source
Example
setLayout(new FlowLayout());
add(jbtOK);
add(jbtCancel);

// Register the first listeners

ActionListener firstListener = new FirstListener();

jbtOK.addActionListener(firstListener);
jbtCancel.addActionListener(firstListener);

// Register the second listener for buttons

ActionListener secondListener = new SecondListener();

jbtOK.addActionListener(secondListener);
jbtCancel.addActionListener(secondListener);
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 Multiple Listeners for a Single Source
private class FirstListener implements ActionListener {
/** This method will be invoked when a button is clicked */
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
System.out.print("First listener: ");
if (e.getSource() == jbtOK) {
System.out.println("The OK button is clicked");
}
else if (e.getSource() == jbtCancel) {
System.out.println("The Cancel button is clicked");
}
}
}

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 Multiple Listeners for a Single Source
private class SecondListener implements ActionListener {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
System.out.print("Second listener: ");
if (e.getActionCommand().equals("OK")) {
System.out.println("The OK button is clicked");
}
else if (e.getActionCommand().equals("Cancel")) {
System.out.println("The Cancel button is clicked");
}
}
}

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 Adapter classes
Many event-listener interfaces, such as MouseListener and
MouseMotionListener, contain multiple methods.
It is not always desirable to declare every method in an event-
listener interface.
For instance, an application may need only the mouseClicked
handler from MouseListener or the mouseDragged handler
from MouseMotionListener.
For many of the listener interfaces that have multiple methods,
packages java.awt.event and javax.swing.event provide event-
listener adapter classes.
An adapter class implements an interface and provides a
default implementation (with an empty method body) of each
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 Adapter classes…
You can extend an adapter class to inherit the default
implementation of every method and subsequently override
only the method(s) you need for event handling.
The convenience adapter is named XAdapter for XListener.
Examlpe:
WindowAdapter is a convenience listener adapter for
WindowListener.

See TestWindowEvent.java and AdapterDemo.java

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 Adapter classes…

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 Exercise:
Develop a scientific calculator in java

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