CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javaswingjbuttonactionlistener
newbie
newbie

Reputation: 325

How to implement actionlistener for a grid of buttons in java swing?

I am developing a whack-a-mole game in java. I am creating a 10*10 grid of buttons. However I am not being able to access the id of the clicked button in the actionlistener. Here is the code I have so far.

    String buttonID;
    buttonPanel.setLayout(new GridLayout(10,10));
    for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
        for (int j = 0; j < 10; j++) {
            buttonID = Integer.toString(++buttonCount);
            buttons[i][j] = new JButton();
            buttons[i][j].setName(buttonID);
            buttons[i][j].addActionListener(this);
            buttons[i][j].setDisabledIcon(null);
            buttonPanel.add(buttons[i][j]);
        }
    }

   public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae) {
    if (ae.getSource()==startButton) {
        System.out.println("Game has been started");
    }
    if (ae.getSource() == "34") {  //please see the description below
        System.out.println("Yes I have clicked this button");
    }
    else {
        System.out.println("Other button is clicked");
    }
}

Currently I have just printed a few things. I don't know how to compare the ae.getsource() with the button that was clicked. I just tried trying to compare it with "34". But when I click the 34th button on the grid it still prints "Other button is clicked".

Upvotes: 3

Views: 2413

Answers (2)

MadProgrammer
MadProgrammer

Reputation: 347184

Use the buttons actionCommand property to uniquely identify each button as per your requirements...

for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
    for (int j = 0; j < 10; j++) {
        buttonID = Integer.toString(++buttonCount);
        //...
        buttons[i][j].setActionCommand(String.toString(buttonID));
        //...
    }
}

Then in you actionPerformed method, simple look up the actionCommand property of the ActionEvent....

public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae) {
    String cmd = ae.getActionCommand();
    if ("0".equals(cmd)) {
        //...
    } else if ...

Equally, you could using your buttons array to find the button based on the ActionEvent's source

public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae) {
    Object source = ae.getSource();
    for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
        for (int j = 0; j < 10; j++) {
            if (source == (buttons[i][j])) {
                //...
                break;
            }
        }
    }

But that's up to you...

Upvotes: 4

Sorter
Sorter

Reputation: 10220

Use the button object, instead of the string. You don't need to keep track of the id or name of the button. Simply loop through all the buttons to figure out the source.

You can push all the whack-a-mole buttons in a list, when creating the buttons. And iterate through them, when finding the source.

Use setActionCommand() & getActionCommand() instead of setName() to process the button whacked.

 for(JButton button : buttonList )
    if (ae.getSource() == button) {
        //Do required tasks.
    }

Upvotes: 1

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