JLabel background image... weird behaviour?

Question

I have an image that has to make up a 8x8 grid, so it is a background for the board.

I have been told it is possible to do this using ImageIcon and a JLabel, which I tried and it doesn't seem to work.

• It doesn't allow me to add components to it (piece, which is also a JLabel).
• Also when the program is running and I click on a square- it disappears, which is not ideal as it is supposed to be the background.

Here is the code:

      for (int i = 0; i < 8; i++)
       {
        for (int j = 0; j < 8; j++)
        {
            square=new JLabel();
            square.setIcon(icon);
            chessBoard.add( square );
        }
       }

The full code: http://pastebin.com/YdavUmGz

Am I doing something horribly wrong with this background image?

Any help would be appreciated, thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Are you looking for something like this?

import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;

public class ChessBoard extends JFrame {

    private JPanel panel;

    public ChessBoard() {
        panel = new JPanel();
        panel.setLayout(new GridLayout(8, 8, 0, 0)); //Create the board
        //Add JLabels
        for (int i = 0; i < 64; i++) {
            JLabel label = new JLabel();
            label.setIcon(
                    new ImageIcon(getClass().getResource("images/face.png")));
            panel.add(label);
        }
        //Add the panel to the JFrame
        this.add(panel);
        this.pack();
        this.setVisible(true);
        this.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        try {
            UIManager.setLookAndFeel(
                    UIManager.getSystemLookAndFeelClassName());
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
        java.awt.EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
            @Override
            public void run() {
                new ChessBoard();
            }
        });
    }
}