Event-Driven Programming: Key Terms
Event-Driven Programming: Key Terms
Just like designing GUIs, you also will probably not write Java code like the program examples given in these notes. You will use IDEs like Netbeans, Eclipse JDT, Kdeveloper etc. to help you write event handling classes/methods/listeners in your GUIs. You must fill in the infrastructure that your preferred IDE provides you, of course. (An IDE can not know what to do when you press a button ) Java codes given in these notes are for reference for understanding the underlying workings and design of event handling in Java. Key Terms: event, event class, event source, event type, event listener class, listener interface, listener method (event handler)
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Motivations
Suppose you wish to write a GUI program that lets the user enter the loan amount, annual interest rate, and number of years, and click the Compute Loan button to obtain the monthly payment and total payment. How do you accomplish the task? You have to use event-driven programming to write the code to respond to the buttonclicking event.
LoanCalculator Run
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Motivations
Suppose you wish to write a program that animates a rising flag, as shown in the figure below. How do you accomplish the task? There are several solutions to this problem. An effective way to solve it is to use a timer in event-driven programming, which is the subject of this chapter.
Objectives
To describe events, event sources, and event classes. To define listener classes, register listener objects with the source object, and write the code to handle events. To define listener classes using inner classes. To define listener classes using anonymous inner classes. To explore various coding styles for creating and registering listeners. To get input from text field upon clicking a button. To write programs to deal with WindowEvent. To simplify coding for listener classes using listener interface adapters. To write programs to deal with MouseEvent. To write programs to deal with KeyEvent. To use the javax.swing.Timer class to control animations.
In
example displays a button in the frame. A message is displayed on the console when a button is clicked.
HandleEvent
Run
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Events
An
event can be defined as a type of signal to the program that something has happened. event is generated by external user actions such as mouse movements, mouse clicks, and keystrokes, or by the operating system, such as a timer.
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The
Event Classes
ActionEvent AdjustmentEvent EventObject AWTEvent ComponentEvent ItemEvent TextEvent ListSelectionEvent ChangeEvent ContainerEvent FocusEvent InputEvent PaintEvent WindowEvent KeyEvent MouseEvent
Event Information
An event object contains whatever properties are pertinent to the event. You can identify the source object of the event using the getSource() instance method in the EventObject class. The subclasses of EventObject deal with special types of events, such as button actions, window events, component events, mouse movements, and keystrokes. Following table lists external user actions, source objects, and event types generated.
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Click a button Click a check box Click a radio button Press return on a text field
JComboBox
Window Component Component
ItemEvent, ActionEvent
WindowEvent MouseEvent KeyEvent
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+handler(event: XEvent)
ActionListener
+actionPerformed(event: ActionEvent)
Register by invoking source.addActionListener(listener); listener: CustomListenerClass
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event: XEvent
event: ActionEvent
+handler(
+handler(
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Listener Interface
ActionListener ItemListener WindowListener
ContainerEvent MouseEvent
ContainerListener MouseListener
KeyEvent
KeyListener
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java.awt.event.ActionEvent
java.util.EventObject
+getSource(): Object Returns the object on which the event initially occurred.
java.awt.event.AWTEvent java.awt.event.ActionEvent
+getActionCommand(): String +getModifiers(): int +getWhen(): long Returns the command string associated with this action. For a button, its text is the command string. Returns the modifier keys held down during this action event. Returns the timestamp when this event occurred. The time is the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 GMT.
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ControlCircle1
Run
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ControlCircle2
Run
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Inner Classes
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.
ShowInnerClass
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classes can make programs simple and concise. inner class supports the work of its containing outer class and is compiled into a class named OuterClassName$InnerClassName.class. For example, the inner class InnerClass in OuterClass is compiled into OuterClass$InnerClass.class.
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An
inner class can be declared public, protected, or private subject to the same visibility rules applied to a member of the class.
An
inner class can be declared static. A static inner class can be accessed using the outer class name. A static inner class cannot access nonstatic members of the outer class
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An anonymous inner class must always extend a superclass or implement an interface, but it cannot have an explicit extends or implements clause. An anonymous inner class must implement all the abstract methods in the superclass or in the interface. An anonymous inner class always uses the no-arg constructor from its superclass to create an instance. If an anonymous inner class implements an interface, the constructor is Object(). An anonymous inner class is compiled into a class named OuterClassName$n.class. For example, if the outer class Test has two anonymous inner classes, these two classes are compiled into Test$1.class and Test$2.class.
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DetectSourceDemo
Run
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FrameAsListenerDemo
Run
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LoanCalculator Run
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Objective: Demonstrate handling the window events. Any subclass of the Window class can generate the following window events: window opened, closing, closed, activated, deactivated, iconified, and deiconified. This program creates a frame, listens to the window events, and displays a message to indicate the occurring event.
TestWindowEvent
Run
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MouseEvent
java.awt.event.InputEvent
+getWhen(): long +isAltDown(): boolean +isControlDown(): boolean +isMetaDown(): boolean +isShiftDown(): boolean Returns the timestamp when this event occurred. Returns whether or not the Alt modifier is down on this event. Returns whether or not the Control modifier is down on this event. Returns whether or not the Meta modifier is down on this event Returns whether or not the Shift modifier is down on this event.
java.awt.event.MouseEvent
+getButton(): int +getClickCount(): int +getPoint(): java.awt.Point +getX(): int +getY(): int Indicates which mouse button has been clicked. Returns the number of mouse clicks associated with this event. Returns a Point object containing the x and y coordinates. Returns the x-coordinate of the mouse point. Returns the y-coordinate of the mouse point.
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Java provides two listener interfaces, MouseListener and MouseMotionListener, to handle mouse events. The MouseListener listens for actions such as when the mouse is pressed, released, entered, exited, or clicked. The MouseMotionListener listens for actions such as dragging or moving the mouse.
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java.awt.event.MouseMotionListener
+mouseDragged(e: MouseEvent): void +mouseMoved(e: MouseEvent): void Invoked when a mouse button is moved with a button pressed. Invoked when a mouse button is moved without a button pressed.
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program to display a message in a panel. You can use the mouse to move the message. The message moves as the mouse drags and is always displayed at the mouse point.
MoveMessageDemo Run
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keyPressed(KeyEvent e)
keyReleased(KeyEvent e)
keyTyped(KeyEvent e)
Methods:
getKeyChar() method
getKeyCode() method
Keys:
Home End Page Up Page Down etc... VK_HOME VK_END VK_PGUP VK_PGDN
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The Timer class can be used to control animations. For example, you can use it to display a moving message. AnimationDemo Run
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Clock Animation
In Chapter 14, you drew a StillClock to show the current time. The clock does not tick after it is displayed. What can you do to make the clock display a new current time every second? The key to making the clock tick is to repaint it every second with a new current time. You can use a timer to control how to repaint the clock.
ClockAnimation Run
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