Error When Arranging Multiple Panels in JFrame

Question

I am making a card game application just for fun while I am bored over the summer. I am pretty new to JFrames so I decided to look at others code and edit it to what I want it to be. After looking at the answer on this url: How to arrange multiple panels in JFrame, I tried to replicate it to my needs. The issue is that when I run the program nothing shows up other than the title of the base JFrame but no functionality (such as selecting to see players hand). I cant seem to find the reason why none of the functionality is showing up.

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

public class PlayGame extends JFrame {

    private static void createAndShowUI(){
        HandGui gui = new HandGui();
        HandMenu menu = new HandMenu(gui);
        JFrame frame = new JFrame("Hands of Players");
        frame.getContentPane().add(gui.getMainPanel());
        frame.setJMenuBar(menu.getJMenuBar());
        frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        frame.pack();
        frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
        frame.setVisible(true);
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        java.awt.EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {

            public void run(){
                createAndShowUI();
            }
        });
    }

    private PlayGame(){

    }
}
class HandGui {
    private static final String[][] PLAYER1_BIN_TEXTS = {
        {"Card 1", "Card 2", "Card 3" , "Card 4"}, {"Card 5", "Card 6", "Card 7", "Card 8"},
        {"Card 9", "Card 10", "Card 11" , "Card 12"}, {"Card 13"}};
    private static final String[][] PLAYER2_BIN_TEXTS  = {
        {"Card 1", "Card 2", "Card 3" , "Card 4"}, {"Card 5", "Card 6", "Card 7", "Card 8"},
        {"Card 9", "Card 10", "Card 11" , "Card 12"}, {"Card 13"}}; 
    private static final String[][] PLAYER3_BIN_TEXTS  = {
        {"Card 1", "Card 2", "Card 3" , "Card 4"}, {"Card 5", "Card 6", "Card 7", "Card 8"},
        {"Card 9", "Card 10", "Card 11" , "Card 12"}, {"Card 13"}}; 
    private static final String[][] PLAYER4_BIN_TEXTS  = {
        {"Card 1", "Card 2", "Card 3" , "Card 4"}, {"Card 5", "Card 6", "Card 7", "Card 8"},
        {"Card 9", "Card 10", "Card 11" , "Card 12"}, {"Card 13"}};

    private static final int GAP = 5;//
    private static final Font BTN_FONT = new Font(Font.DIALOG, Font.BOLD, 20);

    private JPanel mainPanel = new JPanel();
    private JPanel p1Panel;
    private JPanel p2Panel;
    private JPanel p3Panel;
    private JPanel p4Panel;

    private JTextField display = new JTextField();//May not need

    HandGui() {
        display.setFont(BTN_FONT);
        p1Panel = createBtnPanel(PLAYER1_BIN_TEXTS, "Player 1 Hand");
        p2Panel = createBtnPanel(PLAYER2_BIN_TEXTS, "Player 2 Hand");
        p3Panel = createBtnPanel(PLAYER3_BIN_TEXTS, "Player 3 Hand");
        p4Panel = createBtnPanel(PLAYER4_BIN_TEXTS, "Player 4 Hand");

        mainPanel.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
        mainPanel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(GAP, GAP, GAP, GAP));
        mainPanel.add(p1Panel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
        mainPanel.add(p2Panel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
        mainPanel.add(p3Panel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
        mainPanel.add(p4Panel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
        p1Panel.setVisible(true);
        p2Panel.setVisible(false);
        p3Panel.setVisible(false);
        p4Panel.setVisible(false);
    }

    public void p1PanelSetVisable(boolean visable) {
        p1Panel.setVisible(true);
        Window win = SwingUtilities.getWindowAncestor(mainPanel);
        win.pack();
    }

    public void p2PanelSetVisable(boolean visable) {
        p2Panel.setVisible(true);
        Window win = SwingUtilities.getWindowAncestor(mainPanel);
        win.pack();
    }

    public void p3PanelSetVisable(boolean visable) {
        p3Panel.setVisible(true);
        Window win = SwingUtilities.getWindowAncestor(mainPanel);
        win.pack();
    }

    public void p4PanelSetVisable(boolean visable) {
        p4Panel.setVisible(true);
        Window win = SwingUtilities.getWindowAncestor(mainPanel);
        win.pack();
    }

    public JPanel getMainPanel() {
        return mainPanel;
    }

    private JPanel createBtnPanel(String[][] texts, String title){
        JPanel btnPanel = new JPanel();
        int rows = texts.length;
        int cols = texts[0].length;
        btnPanel.setLayout(new GridLayout(rows, cols, GAP, GAP));

        for(int row = 0; row < texts.length; row++){
            for(int col = 0; col < texts[row].length; col++){
                JButton btn = new JButton(texts[row][col]);
                btn.setFont(BTN_FONT);
                btnPanel.add(btn);
            }
        }
        btnPanel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createTitledBorder(title));
        return btnPanel;
            }
    }

class HandMenu {
    private static final String PLAYER1 = "Player 1";
    private static final String PLAYER2 = "Player 2";
    private static final String PLAYER3 = "Player 3";
    private static final String PLAYER4 = "Player 4";
    private HandGui gui;
    private JMenuBar menuBar = new JMenuBar();
    private JMenuItem p1Hand;
    private JMenuItem p2Hand;
    private JMenuItem p3Hand;
    private JMenuItem p4Hand;

    HandMenu(HandGui gui) {
        this.gui = gui;
        p1Hand = new JMenuItem(PLAYER1, KeyEvent.VK_1);
        p2Hand = new JMenuItem(PLAYER2, KeyEvent.VK_2);
        p3Hand = new JMenuItem(PLAYER3, KeyEvent.VK_3);
        p4Hand = new JMenuItem(PLAYER4, KeyEvent.VK_4);
        ViewAction viewAction = new ViewAction();
        p1Hand.addActionListener(viewAction);
        p2Hand.addActionListener(viewAction);
        p3Hand.addActionListener(viewAction);
        p4Hand.addActionListener(viewAction);
        p1Hand.setEnabled(false);
        JMenu viewMenu = new JMenu("Change Players");
        viewMenu.setMnemonic(KeyEvent.VK_P);
        viewMenu.add(p1Hand);
        viewMenu.add(p2Hand);
        viewMenu.add(p3Hand);
        viewMenu.add(p4Hand);
    }

    public JMenuBar getJMenuBar(){
        return menuBar;
    }

    private class ViewAction implements ActionListener {
        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
            String command = e.getActionCommand();
            if(command.equals(PLAYER1)){
                gui.p1PanelSetVisable(true);
                gui.p2PanelSetVisable(false);
                gui.p3PanelSetVisable(false);
                gui.p4PanelSetVisable(false);
                p1Hand.setEnabled(false);
                p2Hand.setEnabled(true);
                p3Hand.setEnabled(true);
                p4Hand.setEnabled(true);
            } else if(command.equals(PLAYER2)){
                gui.p1PanelSetVisable(false);
                gui.p2PanelSetVisable(true);
                gui.p3PanelSetVisable(false);
                gui.p4PanelSetVisable(false);
                p1Hand.setEnabled(true);
                p2Hand.setEnabled(false);
                p3Hand.setEnabled(true);
                p4Hand.setEnabled(true);
            } else if(command.equals(PLAYER3)){
                gui.p1PanelSetVisable(false);
                gui.p2PanelSetVisable(false);
                gui.p3PanelSetVisable(true);
                gui.p4PanelSetVisable(false);
                p1Hand.setEnabled(true);
                p2Hand.setEnabled(true);
                p3Hand.setEnabled(false);
                p4Hand.setEnabled(true);
            } else if(command.equals(PLAYER4)){
                gui.p1PanelSetVisable(false);
                gui.p2PanelSetVisable(false);
                gui.p3PanelSetVisable(false);
                gui.p4PanelSetVisable(true);
                p1Hand.setEnabled(true);
                p2Hand.setEnabled(true);
                p3Hand.setEnabled(true);
                p4Hand.setEnabled(false);
            }
        }
    }
}

This is my first time posting on stack overflow so I am sorry if I did not clarify my problem correctly.

Answer 1

BorderLayout only allows a single component to occupy a given position, so...

mainPanel.add(p1Panel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
mainPanel.add(p2Panel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
mainPanel.add(p3Panel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
mainPanel.add(p4Panel, BorderLayout.CENTER);

Means that only p4Panel will be shown...

For switching between panels, you are better of using CardLayout instead of...

p1Panel.setVisible(true);
p2Panel.setVisible(false);
p3Panel.setVisible(false);
p4Panel.setVisible(false);

This is why you frame is blank, because p4Panel is invisible, but it is the only component that BorderLayout will try to layout...

Now, essentially as near as I can tell, nothing in HandMenu is getting applied to any UI components (none of the menus are been set)...

You need to be adding your JMenu to the menuBar, for example...

menuBar.add(viewMenu);

Instead of looking at other peoples example, I would suggest checking out:

• Creating a GUI With JFC/Swing
• How to Use Menus
• How to use CardLayouts

Answer 2

You cannot add more than one component to the center of the panel

    mainPanel.add(p1Panel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
    mainPanel.add(p2Panel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
    mainPanel.add(p3Panel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
    mainPanel.add(p4Panel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
    p1Panel.setVisible(true);
    p2Panel.setVisible(false);
    p3Panel.setVisible(false);
    p4Panel.setVisible(false);

To do what you want you need a proxy panel with a CardLayout

    JPanel proxyPanel = new JPanel(new CardLayout());
    proxyPanel.add(p1Panel, "0");        
    proxyPanel.add(p1Panel, "1");
    proxyPanel.add(p1Panel, "2");
    proxyPanel.add(p1Panel, "3");
    mainPanel.add(proxyPanel, BorderLayout.CENTER);

Do not use setVisible(boolean). To make panel with index 1 visible use CardLayout.show(mainPanel, "1").