event handler issues

[kd7vea]

hello everyone, I have been reading several of the posts, to help me with my current project, but I am having trouble getting my buttons to work. I am still pretty new to java, and it may be one stupid little thing, or I could have it totally messed up. I know this has been done countless times, the app is just a Celsius to Fahrenheit convertor. can anyone give me some input on how to get my buttons to work. I just want the clear button to clear the two text boxes, and the calculate to perform the math. thanks in advance for any help.
Jake

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


public class calculator extends JFrame{
    public calculator(ActionListener ActionListener, ActionListener calculator){
        super ("Fahrenheit/Celsius Converter");
        setSize (250, 175);
        setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        FlowLayout flow = new FlowLayout();
        JLabel far = new JLabel(" Fahrenheit ");
        final JTextField farTemp = new JTextField(10);
        JLabel cel = new JLabel("Celsius       ");
        final JTextField celTemp = new JTextField(10);
        JButton calculate = new JButton("Calculate");
        JButton clear = new JButton("Clear");
        setLayout (flow);
        add(far);
        add (farTemp);
        add(cel);
        add(celTemp);
        add(calculate);
        add(clear);
        setVisible(true);
    
        // converting string for fahrenheit conversion
           float fTemp = (float) 0.0;
        fTemp += Float.parseFloat(farTemp.getText());
        
        // converting string for Celsius conversion
          float cTemp = (float) 0.0;
        cTemp += Float.parseFloat(celTemp.getText());

        //setting up the clear button
        clear.addActionListener(new ActionListenerImpl(farTemp, celTemp) {
            public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
            farTemp.setText("");
            celTemp.setText("");
            }
        });

        //setting upcalculate button
        calculate.addActionListener(new ActionListenerImpl1(celTemp, farTemp, cTemp, fTemp){

        });
    }

    private static class ActionListenerImpl implements ActionListener {

        private final JTextField farTemp;
        private final JTextField celTemp;

        public ActionListenerImpl(JTextField farTemp, JTextField celTemp) {
            this.farTemp = farTemp;
            this.celTemp = celTemp;
        }

        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
            farTemp.setText("");
            celTemp.setText("");
        }
    }

    private static class ActionListenerImpl1 implements ActionListener {

        private final JTextField celTemp;
        private final JTextField farTemp;
        private final float cTemp;
        private final float fTemp;

        public ActionListenerImpl1(JTextField celTemp, JTextField farTemp, float cTemp, float fTemp) {
            this.celTemp = celTemp;
            this.farTemp = farTemp;
            this.cTemp = cTemp;
            this.fTemp = fTemp;
        }

        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
            if (celTemp != null) {
                farTemp.setText("" + cTemp * 9 / 5 + 32);
            } else {
                celTemp.setText("" + (fTemp - 32) * 5 / 9);
            }
        }
    }

}

[sunde887]

Please wrap your code in code tags
[ code] //no space here
YOUR CODE HERE
[/code]

ActionListener ActionListener, ActionListener calculator

in the constructor is bad, while I understand your goal, a parameter should not have the same name as a class name.


The code could be done much simpler with inner classes as well.

create textfield 1
create textfield 2
create clear button
create calculate button
add action listener to clear button
add action listener to calculate button

create an inner class for the action listeners

public class Calculator{
  private class CalculateListener implements ActionListener{
    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
      //do calculation stuff
    }
  }
  another action listener
  set up stuff
  main
}

[ra4king]

Please use code tags and formatting so we can easily read your code. Usage: [ code ] code goes here [ /code ] (without the spaces).

But briskly looking at it, everything looks fine. What exactly is your problem?

EDIT: hehe I posted while I was typing sunde :P

[kd7vea]

thanks for the quick responses. I edited the post and put the code in the tags. the problem I am having is that the buttons do not do anything at all. I have spent almost 10 hours trying to get this thing to work, and i cant get anywhere on it.

Sunde887
I find it a little funny that you say you understand my goal, I would love for you to explain it to me, because I am not totally sure what my goal is. I don't think I entered that code that line of code. I don't know if that is one of the "hints" that netbeans adds to the code, or if that was part of what I was doing last night until about 5:00 a.m. either way, what should that line contain? does it need ActionListener and then be given a name?(ActionListener buttonClick)?

thanks for the info everybody. I really appreciate all the help.

[sunde887]

If that's something netbeans added Im not sure. This is what I thought the goal is

public Blah(ActionListener blahListener){  //this is a constructor which takes an action listener
  JButton b = new JButton("HI");
  b.addActionListener(blah);
}

which means you would pass the action listeners in as the argument to the constructors.

Using inner classes is nice for small files, and for action listeners you won't be using more than a few times(you can also use anonymous inner classes)

If you make the action listener an inner class it has access to all the variables directly. For example, the clear listener could simply look like this

public class calculator{
  private class ClearListener implements ActionListener{
    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
      text1.setText("");
      text2.setText("");
    }
  }
}

This is similar to what you did, except it has direct access to instance variables.

Does your code compile correctly?

[kd7vea]

the code does compile and run, but it does give me these errors
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NumberFormatException: empty String
at sun.misc.FloatingDecimal.readJavaFormatString(Floa tingDecimal.java:992)
at java.lang.Float.parseFloat(Float.java:422)
at calculator.<init>(calculator.java:29)
at calculator.main(calculator.java:45)
BUILD SUCCESSFUL (total time: 16 seconds)

the app opens, I can input numbers into the text fields, and that is it, it does not calculate when the calculate button is pushed, and it does not clear the boxes when the clear button is pushed. basically, I have a 2 line 20 character notepad!!!

[sunde887]

snip: removed the spoon fed answer.

The action listener should be what happens when the item is clicked. Here is a quick example using a anonymous inner class and a private inner class

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

public class Listener{
  private JFrame frame;
  private JPanel panel;
  private JButton b1;
  private JLabel l1;
  
  public Listener(){
    frame = new JFrame("FRAME");
    panel = new JPanel();
    panel.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
    b1 = new JButton("CLICK ME");
    l1 = new JLabel("Hello THERE");
    b1.addActionListener(new TextListener()); //option 1, using a private inner class
    b1.addActionListener(new ActionListener(){  //option 2, using an anonymous inner class
      public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
        l1.setText(Math.random() + "");
      }
    });
	panel.add(b1);
	panel.add(l1);
	frame.add(panel);
    frame.setSize(200, 200);
    frame.setVisible(true);
  }
  public static void main(String[] args){
    Listener l = new Listener();
  }
  private class TextListener implements ActionListener{
    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
      l1.setText("" + Math.random());
    }
  }
}

edit:compilable now

@fubar, I'd like to apologize for the spoonfeeding.

oops, forgot the anonymous inner class, edited it in.

[Fubarable]

You're trying to extract text from the JTextFields in the main class's constructor -- which is before anyone has had a chance to type anything into the text fields.

I recommend:

• I don't see a need for your to pass an ActionListener into your class's constructor, at least not as currently created, so you should probably get those parameters out of the constructor.
• Don't try to extract information from the JTextFields until the user has had a chance to enter text in first. Thus this should be done in your ActionListener's actionPerformed code which is activated on button press.
• Please learn and adhere to Java naming conventions if you want us to be able to better help you. Using non-standard capitalization and such makes it hard for others to understand your code and help (or grade) you.

Luck

edit: my post was added before I saw the spoonfeeding. My points are still valid even if you use someone else's code.

[Fubarable]

snip: removed the spoon fed answer.

The action listener should be what happens when the item is clicked. Here is a quick example using a anonymous inner class and a private inner class

public class Listener{
  private JFrame frame;
  private JPanel panel;
  private JButton b1;
  private JLabel l1;
  
  public Listener(){
    frame = new JFrame("FRAME");
    panel = new JPanel();
    panel.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
    b1 = new JButton("CLICK ME");
    l1 = new JLabel("Hello THERE");
    b1.addActionListener(new TextListener());
    frame.setSize(200, 200);
    frame.setVisible(true);
  }
  private TextListener implements ActionListener{
    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
      l1.setText("" + Math.random());
    }
  }
}

@fubar, I'd like to apologize for the spoonfeeding.

It's OK, but does your code above compile? Is there an anonymous inner class?

[kd7vea]

Thanks for the help everyone. I am going to tinker with this some more tonight and see if I can get it running. I know this is one of those projects that everyone does in school, and I remember doing this same project in one of my java classes. this is not a school project, I am trying to refresh my self on java. I graduated a few months ago, and I am needing to practice a little to hopefully some day get a job in programming. the funny thing is that the code that I have written is what follows how the book describes to do it. as a couple of you have said, I am going about this the hard way. is there a good book that can give me a better grasp? I have been reading "sams Teach Yourself JAVA in 24 hours" , because I thought it would bring me back up to speed before I started getting into the more complex stuff, but apparently its not giving me the simplest approach. thanks again
Jake

[ra4king]

Head First Java is a very good book that I recommend.

[sunde887]

I agree with him 100%, the book does an amazing job covering the basics and gives you a fairly decent intro to some of the more complex stuff. The oracle tutorials will also be very helpful to refresh on anything you are unsure of. There are a lot of other really good books besides head first java.

For this example I suggest you read the tutorials on action listeners, that along with my example should give you enough to finish the celcius conversion. Also, always have the API handy.