Java

Java Event
Event Handling
Handling
--

Mari Göransson - KaU - Datavete 1

nskap - DAVD11
 Event Handling
• Happens every time a user
interacts with a user interface. For
example, when a user pushes a
button, or types a character.

Mari Göransson - KaU - Datavete 2

nskap - DAVD11
 A Typical Situation:
Scrollbar
AWTEvent source interface
AdjustmentEvent Adjustable
<<use>> <<create>>

Component
EventListener ScrollBar
interface *
AdjustmentListener adjustmentListeners
+addAdjustmentListener:

InputScrollbarAdapter

+adjustmentValueChanged:
Mari Göransson - KaU - Datavete 3
nskap - DAVD11
 Event Representation
• Each event is represented by an
object that gives information
about the event and identifies the
event source.
• In Java, every event is a subclass
of EventObject.

Mari Göransson - KaU - Datavete 4

nskap - DAVD11
 Abstract class
EventObject
• getSource returns
the object on
which the event
occured.
• Each subclass
adds its own
specialized
methods.

Mari Göransson - KaU - Datavete 5

nskap - DAVD11
 Event Sources
• Event sources are usually
components, but they can be
other kind of objects too.
• An event source can have multiple
event listeners registered on it.
• Examples of event sources are
e.g. buttons and windows.

Mari Göransson - KaU - Datavete 6

nskap - DAVD11
 Event Listeners
• An event listener is an object that
wants to be notified when an
event has occured on a
component.
• The common interface that all
event listener interfaces must
extend is EventListener.

Mari Göransson - KaU - Datavete 7

nskap - DAVD11
 Event Listeners
• For example, to listen for
ActionEvents the class must
implement the interface
ActionListener, that in turn is an
implementation of EventListener.
• An example is shown on the next
slide

Mari Göransson - KaU - Datavete 8

nskap - DAVD11
 An ActionListener
Object Object
#source
EventObject

Component
AWTEvent

By the classes
TextComponent
implementing <<use>> ActionEvent <<create>>
the interface

EventListener
interface * TextField
ActionListener
+addActionListener:

ItemListener InputTextAdapter
AdjustmentListener
ConverterModel
+actionPerformed:

+itemStateChanged:
+actionPerformed:

Mari Göransson - KaU - Datavete 9

nskap - DAVD11
 Event Adapters
• To highten the ease of use, most
eventlistener interfaces have
corresponding adapter classes
that have all of the interface
methods implemented.
• Must be subclassed.

Mari Göransson - KaU - Datavete 10

nskap - DAVD11
 A Complex Listener
with Adapter
EventListener AWTEvent source interface
interface TreatmentEvent Treatable
TreatmentListener <<use>>
<<create>>
+treatment1Occured:
+treatment2Occured: * Manick
+treatmentnOccured: -listeners
-listeners:TreatmentListeners[*]

+addTreatmentListener:
ManickAdapter

+treatment1Occured: MySimpleListener
+treatment2Occured:
+treatmentnOccured:
+treatmentxOccured:

Mari Göransson - KaU - Datavete 11

nskap - DAVD11
 Three Required Parts
• public class MyClass implements
ActionListener
• someComponent.addActionListene
r(aMyClass)
• public void
actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){}

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nskap - DAVD11
An Example

Mari Göransson - KaU - Datavete 13

nskap - DAVD11
 Threads and Event
Handling
• All event handling code executes
in a single thread, the event-
dispatching thread.
• Ensures that one event handler
finishes before the next one can
start.

Mari Göransson - KaU - Datavete 14

nskap - DAVD11
 Components and
Events
• Every component support
component, focus, key, mouse and
mouse-motion listeners.
• Fires only events for which
listeners has registered an interest
in.

Mari Göransson - KaU - Datavete 15

nskap - DAVD11
 Java Event Handling
and the Observer
Pattern
• Java’s current event handling was
introduced in JDK 1.1.
• It is a specialized version of the
Observer pattern.

Mari Göransson - KaU - Datavete 16

nskap - DAVD11
 Java Event Handling
and the Observer
Pattern
• The observer pattern is used when
an object wants to be informed of
a state change in another object.
• In java, the observer object listens
for events to happen.

Mari Göransson - KaU - Datavete 17

nskap - DAVD11
Java Event Handling
and the Observer
Pattern

Mari Göransson - KaU - Datavete 18

nskap - DAVD11
Java Event Handling
and the Observer
Pattern

Mari Göransson - KaU - Datavete 19

nskap - DAVD11
 Java and the Observer
Pattern
• Java has included the Observer-
Observable pair of objects that
concurs to the Observer pattern, it
is therefore easy to implement the
pattern behaviour on your own.

Mari Göransson - KaU - Datavete 20

nskap - DAVD11
Events in the Converter
• ActionEvent
– Listener must implement the interface
ActionListener.
• ChangeEvent (Swing) or AdjustmentEvent
– Listener must implement the interface
ChangeListener or AdjustmentListener.
• ItemEvent
– Listener must implement the interface
ItemListener.

Mari Göransson - KaU - Datavete 21

nskap - DAVD11
 ActionEvent
• Generated when the user presses
return in the textfield.
• EventSource calls the method
actionPerformed() in the listeners
and sends the event as a
parameter.

Mari Göransson - KaU - Datavete 22

nskap - DAVD11
 ChangeEvent
• Generated when the user changes
the slider.
• Listeners must implement the
method stateChanged(), that is
invoked when the target of the
listener has changed its state.

Mari Göransson - KaU - Datavete 23

nskap - DAVD11
 AdjustmentEvent
• Generated when the user changes
the value of the scrollbar (AWT).
• Has several specialized methods:
– getAdjustable()
– getAdjustmentType()
– getValue()

Mari Göransson - KaU - Datavete 24

nskap - DAVD11
 AdjustmentEvent
• Listeners must implement the
method
adjustmentValueChanged() that is
invoked when the srollbar changes
its value.

Mari Göransson - KaU - Datavete 25

nskap - DAVD11
 ItemEvent
• Generated when the user selects
another unit in the choicebox.
• Has some specialized methods:
– getItem()
– getItemSelectable()
– getStateChanged()

Mari Göransson - KaU - Datavete 26

nskap - DAVD11
 The ItemEvent
Structure source interface
AWTEvent ItemSelectable
ItemEvent

<<use>> <<create>>

EventListener
interface * Component
ItemListener Choice

+addItermListener:

ActionListener
AdjustmentListener
ConverterModel

+itemStateChanged:
+actionPerformed:
Mari Göransson - KaU - Datavete 27
nskap - DAVD11
 ItemEvent
• The event is passed to every
ItemListener object which registered to
receive such events using the
component's addItemListener()
method.
• When an item-selection event occurs,
the listener object's
itemStateChanged() method is invoked.

Mari Göransson - KaU - Datavete 28

nskap - DAVD11