Event-Driven Programming

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 button-
clicking 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.

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 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.

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 Procedural vs. Event-Driven
Programming
 Procedural programming is executed in
procedural order.

 In event-driven programming, code is executed

upon activation of events.

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 “Hello World!”
of Event-Driven Programming
 The 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.

 The 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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Event Classes

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 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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 Selected User Actions
Source Event Type
User Action Object Generated

Click a button JButton ActionEvent

Click a check box JCheckBox ItemEvent, ActionEvent
Click a radio button JRadioButton ItemEvent, ActionEvent
Press return on a text field JTextField ActionEvent
Select a new item JComboBox ItemEvent, ActionEvent
Window opened, closed, etc. Window WindowEvent
Mouse pressed, released, etc. Component MouseEvent
Key released, pressed, etc. Component KeyEvent

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 The Delegation Model
Trigger an event
User source: SourceClass XListener
Action
+addXListener(listener: XListener)
+handler(event: XEvent)

(a) A generic source component Register by invoking

with a generic listener source.addXListener(listener);
listener: ListenerClass

source: JButton ActionListener

+addActionListener(listener: ActionListener)
+actionPerformed(event: ActionEvent)

Register by invoking
(b) A JButton source component
source.addActionListener(listener);
with an ActionListener listener: CustomListenerClass

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Internal Function of a Source Component

source: SourceClass source: JButton

+addXListener(XListener listener) +addActionListener(ActionListener listener)

An event is Keep it a list An event is Keep it a list

triggered triggered

event: XEvent listener1 event: listener1

Invoke listener2 ActionEvent Invoke listener2
listener1.handler(event) … listener1.actionPerformed(event) …
listener2.handler(event) listenern listener2.actionPerformed(event) listenern
… …
listenern.handler(event) listenern.actionPerformed(event)

(a) Internal function of a generic source object (b) Internal function of a JButton object
+handler( +handler(

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 The Delegation Model: Example

JButton jbt = new JButton("OK");

ActionListener listener = new OKListener();
jbt.addActionListener(listener);

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 Selected Event Handlers
Event Class Listener Interface Listener Methods (Handlers)
ActionEvent ActionListener actionPerformed(ActionEvent)
ItemEvent ItemListener itemStateChanged(ItemEvent)
WindowEvent WindowListener windowClosing(WindowEvent)
windowOpened(WindowEvent)
windowIconified(WindowEvent)
windowDeiconified(WindowEvent)
windowClosed(WindowEvent)
windowActivated(WindowEvent)
windowDeactivated(WindowEvent)
ContainerEvent ContainerListener componentAdded(ContainerEvent)
componentRemoved(ContainerEvent)
MouseEvent MouseListener mousePressed(MouseEvent)
mouseReleased(MouseEvent)
mouseClicked(MouseEvent)
mouseExited(MouseEvent)
mouseEntered(MouseEvent)
KeyEvent KeyListener keyPressed(KeyEvent)
keyReleased(KeyEvent)
keyTypeed(KeyEvent)

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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 Returns the command string associated with this action. For a
button, its text is the command string.
+getModifiers(): int Returns the modifier keys held down during this action event.
+getWhen(): long 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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 Example: First Version for
ControlCircle (no listeners)
Now let us consider to write a program that
uses two buttons to control the size of a circle.

ControlCircle1 Run

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 Example: Second Version for
ControlCircle (with listener for Enlarge)
Now let us consider to write a program that
uses two buttons to control the size of a circle.

ControlCircle2 Run

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 Inner Class Listeners
A listener class is designed specifically to
create a listener object for a GUI
component (e.g., a button). It will not be
shared by other applications. So, it is
appropriate to define the listener class
inside the frame class as an inner class.

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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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 Inner Classes, cont.
public class Test { // OuterClass.java: inner class demo
... public class OuterClass {
} private int data;

public class A { /** A method in the outer class */

... public void m() {
} // Do something
}
(a)
// An inner class
class InnerClass {
public class Test { /** A method in the inner class */
... public void mi() {
// Directly reference data and method
// Inner class // defined in its outer class
public class A { data++;
... m();
} }
} }
}
(b)
(c)

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 Inner Classes (cont.)
 Inner classes can make programs simple
and concise.
 An 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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 Inner Classes (cont.)
 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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 Anonymous Inner Classes
 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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 Anonymous Inner Classes (cont.)
Inner class listeners can be shortened using anonymous
inner classes. An anonymous inner class is an inner
class without a name. It combines declaring an inner
class and creating an instance of the class in one step.
An anonymous inner class is declared as follows:

new SuperClassName/InterfaceName() {
// Implement or override methods in superclass or interface
// Other methods if necessary
}

AnonymousListenerDemo Run
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 Alternative Ways of Defining
Listener Classes
There are many other ways to define the listener
classes. For example, you may rewrite previous
program by creating just one listener, register
the listener with the buttons, and let the listener
detect the event source, i.e., which button fires
the event.

DetectSourceDemo Run
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 Alternative Ways of Defining
Listener Classes
You may also define the custom frame class that
implements ActionListener.

FrameAsListenerDemo Run
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Problem: Loan Calculator

LoanCalculator

Run

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Example: Handling Window Events
 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 Returns the timestamp when this event occurred.
+isAltDown(): boolean Returns whether or not the Alt modifier is down on this event.
+isControlDown(): boolean Returns whether or not the Control modifier is down on this event.
+isMetaDown(): boolean Returns whether or not the Meta modifier is down on this event
+isShiftDown(): boolean Returns whether or not the Shift modifier is down on this event.

java.awt.event.MouseEvent
+getButton(): int Indicates which mouse button has been clicked.
+getClickCount(): int Returns the number of mouse clicks associated with this event.
+getPoint(): java.awt.Point Returns a Point object containing the x and y coordinates.
+getX(): int Returns the x-coordinate of the mouse point.
+getY(): int Returns the y-coordinate of the mouse point.

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 Handling Mouse Events
 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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 Handling Mouse Events
java.awt.event.MouseListener
+mousePressed(e: MouseEvent): void Invoked when the mouse button has been pressed on the
source component.
+mouseReleased(e: MouseEvent): void Invoked when the mouse button has been released on the
source component.
+mouseClicked(e: MouseEvent): void Invoked when the mouse button has been clicked (pressed and
released) on the source component.
+mouseEntered(e: MouseEvent): void Invoked when the mouse enters the source component.
+mouseExited(e: MouseEvent): void Invoked when the mouse exits the source component.

java.awt.event.MouseMotionListener
+mouseDragged(e: MouseEvent): void Invoked when a mouse button is moved with a button pressed.
+mouseMoved(e: MouseEvent): void Invoked when a mouse button is moved without a button
pressed.

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 Example: Moving Message Using
Mouse
Objective: Create a
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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 Handling Keyboard Events
To process a keyboard event, use the following
handlers in the KeyListener interface:
 keyPressed(KeyEvent e)
Called when a key is pressed.
 keyReleased(KeyEvent e)
Called when a key is released.
 keyTyped(KeyEvent e)
Called when a key is pressed and then
released.

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 The KeyEvent Class
 Methods:
getKeyChar() method
getKeyCode() method

 Keys:
Home VK_HOME
End VK_END
Page Up VK_PGUP
Page Down VK_PGDN
etc...

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 The KeyEvent Class, cont.

java.awt.event.InputEvent

java.awt.event.KeyEvent
+getKeyChar(): char Returns the character associated with the key in this event.
+getKeyCode(): int Returns the integer keyCode associated with the key in this event.

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 Example: Keyboard Events Demo

Objective: Display
a user-input
character. The user
can also move the
character up,
down, left, and
right using the
arrow keys.

KeyEventDemo Run
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 The Timer Class
Some non-GUI components can fire events. The javax.swing.Timer class
is a source component that fires an ActionEvent at a predefined rate.

javax.swing.Timer
+Timer(delay: int, listener: Creates a Timer with a specified delay in milliseconds and an
ActionListener) ActionListener.
+addActionListener(listener: Adds an ActionListener to the timer.
ActionListener): void
+start(): void Starts this timer.
+stop(): void Stops this timer.
+setDelay(delay: int): void Sets a new delay value for this timer.

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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