How do erase image drawn

[fernando]

Hi, How do i erase an image drawn in a window in java after a certain amount of time?

Thanks.

[hardwired]

A "drawn" image suggests you are drawing the image in a paint-type method vis-a-vis showing it in a JLabel. AWT or Swing? I'll assume Swing since it's easier and more fun.
Control the image visibility with a member variable boolean and use either a Swing Timer or a thread for the timing. Change the boolean after the elapsed time and call repaint.

Code:

import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
import java.io.*;
import javax.imageio.ImageIO;
import javax.swing.*;

public class ImageErasure extends JPanel implements Runnable {
    BufferedImage image;
    boolean showImage = true;

    public ImageErasure(BufferedImage image) {
        this.image = image;
    }

    protected void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
        super.paintComponent(g);
        if(showImage)
            g.drawImage(image, 0, 0, this);
    }

    public void run() {
        int count = 5;
        while(count-- > 0) {
            try {
                Thread.sleep(1000);
            } catch(InterruptedException e) {
                System.out.println("interrupted");
            }
            System.out.println("count = " + count);
        }
        showImage = false;
        repaint();
    }

    private void start() {
        Thread thread = new Thread(this);
        thread.setPriority(Thread.NORM_PRIORITY);
        thread.start();
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
        String path = "images/Bird.gif";
        BufferedImage image = ImageIO.read(new File(path));
        ImageErasure test = new ImageErasure(image);
        JFrame f = new JFrame();
        f.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        f.getContentPane().add(test);
        f.setSize(400,400);
        f.setLocation(200,200);
        f.setVisible(true);
        test.start();
    }
}