stopping thread...using flags

[rstepler]

I have a Gui in which I have animation placed in the thread (Runner). I want the thread to stop when the user pushes the stop button (in a different panel than the animation. Originally I had set up a flag variable in the thread to make it stop until I realized that I would have to create checks for the variable and the animation would continue playing until it reached one of the check points. Is there a way/ another option to make the thread stop quickly. Thank you for any help you offer!

Below is my current code:

class Runner extends Thread   {

	public SimulationPanel sp;
	public volatile boolean isRun;
	
	
	public void run() {
	while (!isRun){
		System.out.println("is Run is " + isRun); 
		Boolean isVisible = true; 
	
	 
		for(int i = 0; i<10; i++){
			if (isVisible ==true) {
		 sp.setRepaintValue(SimulationPanel.RepaintType.REMOVERIGHTLINE); 
		isVisible = false;
	
		delay(100); 
			}else if (isVisible == false){
		sp.setRepaintValue(SimulationPanel.RepaintType.RIGHTLINE);
		sp.repaint();
		delay(100); 
		isVisible = true; 
			}
		}
		if(isRun) return; 
......}

	public void stopThread() { 
		System.out.println("stopThread method executing properly");
		isRun = true; 
	
		
	}

And the Action Listener for the stop button:

else if (command.equals ("stop")) {
			new Timer(true).schedule(new TimerTask() {
			      public void run() {
			        System.out.println("Requesting stop");
			        runnerThread.stopThread();}
			      }, 5);
		
		}

[Norm]

I don't think so, but others may have a better answer.
To stop a thread, exit its run() method. To do it quickly would require testing your flag often.