Simple Action/Listener Help GUI

Ok, I have been searching around for awhile now for examples on Action/Listeners for a JButton, and JtextField update. All of the examples I have found are too complex for me to follow.
So, basically I am making a program that has THREE textfields. You enter in a number of votes, and then click the Jbutton CALCULATE. that will trigger a class to check for the winner (have not made that yet). Then the radio box next to the winner will by checked, and the text "The winner is..." will update with the piece's number.
(see image below for GUI view)

So, all I am confused on is how to connect the JButton's action with the rest of the project, to update the winner, and the radio box to become checked.
(if you notice anything else I can do with the source code that would help, feel free to share)

Thanks for the help,
-Austin

Here's my source code:
Oh, and ignore that string to Int thing, it was just my fail way of trying to get something to work awhile back. :P I'm still new to JAVA.
Just cleaned the source code up a bit, and added some comments.

Code:

---



import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;

import javax.swing.*;

/*******************************************************************************************
 * @author Austin Anderson
 * This program will take in the votes of three art pieces, and then calculate the winner.
 *******************************************************************************************/
public class ArtPrizeEngine {

        /*******************************************************************************************
        * Contains the variables used to track the votes for when finding the winner.
        *******************************************************************************************/
        static int vote1 = 0, vote2 = 0, vote3 = 0;

        static String vote1_string = "", vote2_string = "",
                        vote3_string = "", winner = null;


        /*******************************************************************************************
        * The main method calls the GUI.
        *******************************************************************************************/
        public static void main(String arg[]) {

                ArtPrizeEngineGUI();

        }


        /*******************************************************************************************
        * The GUI below is the engine of the program, and the GUI itself. It will display the
        * voting GUI, count the entered votes, and then calculate the winner by displaying text
        * and checking the appropriate radio box.
        *******************************************************************************************/
        public static void ArtPrizeEngineGUI() {
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * The frame and the three main panels used to build the overall GUI, are created here.
                *******************************************************************************************/
                JFrame frame = new JFrame("Art Prize Voter!");
                JPanel panelmain = new JPanel();
                JPanel panelmain_votes = new JPanel();
                JPanel panelmain_button = new JPanel();
                frame.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(400, 175));
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * GUI for panel1. It creates the JLabel and JPanel for
                * displaying the JLabel for piece # 1.
                *******************************************************************************************/
                JPanel panel1 = new JPanel();
                JLabel jtextlabel1 = new JLabel(
                                "Enter your votes for piece # 1: ");
                panel1.add(jtextlabel1);
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * GUI for panel2. It creates the JLabel and JPanel for
                * displaying the JLabel for piece # 2.
                *******************************************************************************************/
                JPanel panel2 = new JPanel();
                JLabel jtextlabel2 = new JLabel(
                                "Enter your votes for piece # 2: ");
                panel2.add(jtextlabel2);
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * GUI for panel3. It creates the JLabel and JPanel for
                * displaying the JLabel for piece # 3.
                *******************************************************************************************/
                JPanel panel3 = new JPanel();
                JLabel jtextlabel3 = new JLabel(
                                "Enter your votes for piece # 3: ");
                panel3.add(jtextlabel3);
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * GUI for panel4. It creates the JTextfield and JPanel for
                * piece 1's voting input.
                *******************************************************************************************/
                JPanel panel4 = new JPanel();
                JTextField textlabel4_in = new JTextField(5);
                panel4.add(textlabel4_in);
                textlabel4_in.setText("" + 0 + "");
                vote1_string = textlabel4_in.getText();
                vote1 = Integer.parseInt(vote1_string);
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * GUI for panel5. It creates the JTextfield and JPanel for
                * piece 2's voting input.
                *******************************************************************************************/
                JPanel panel5 = new JPanel();
                JTextField textlabel5_in = new JTextField(5);
                panel5.add(textlabel5_in);
                textlabel5_in.setText("" + 0 + "");
                vote2_string = textlabel5_in.getText();
                vote2 = Integer.parseInt(vote2_string);
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * GUI for panel6. It creates the JTextfield and JPanel for
                * piece 3's voting input.
                *******************************************************************************************/
                JPanel panel6 = new JPanel();
                JTextField textlabel6_in = new JTextField(5);
                panel6.add(textlabel6_in);
                textlabel6_in.setText("" + 0 + "");
                vote3_string = textlabel6_in.getText();
                vote3 = Integer.parseInt(vote3_string);
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * GUI for panel7. It creates the radio button field for piece
                * 1.
                *******************************************************************************************/
                JPanel panel7 = new JPanel();
                JRadioButton button1 = new JRadioButton("", false);
                panel7.add(button1);
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * GUI for panel8. It creates the radio button field for piece
                * 2.
                *******************************************************************************************/
                JPanel panel8 = new JPanel();
                JRadioButton button2 = new JRadioButton("", false);
                panel8.add(button2);
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * GUI for panel9. It creates the radio button field for piece
                * 3.
                *******************************************************************************************/
                JPanel panel9 = new JPanel();
                JRadioButton button3 = new JRadioButton("", false);
                panel9.add(button3);
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * The panelmain_votes, holds all of the panels above, creating
                * the "top" portion of the GUI. Panels are organized in their
                * respective sets for the Jlabel, textfield, and radio button.
                * Panels 1, 4, and 7 are the components for piece 1.
                * Panels 2, 5, and 8 are the components for piece 2.
                * Panels 3, 6, and 9 are the components for piece 3.
                *******************************************************************************************/
                panelmain_votes.setLayout(new GridLayout(3, 3));
                panelmain_votes.add(panel1);
                panelmain_votes.add(panel4);
                panelmain_votes.add(panel7);
                panelmain_votes.add(panel2);
                panelmain_votes.add(panel5);
                panelmain_votes.add(panel8);
                panelmain_votes.add(panel3);
                panelmain_votes.add(panel6);
                panelmain_votes.add(panel9);
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * GUI for panelmain_button. It creates the button "Calculate".
                *******************************************************************************************/
                JButton button;
                JPanel panel_button = new JPanel();
                button = new JButton("Calculate");
                panel_button.add(button);
                // button.addActionListener(this);
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * The JLabel below creates a JLbael that displays who the
                * winner is.
                *******************************************************************************************/
                JLabel jtextlabel_winner = new JLabel(
                                "    And the winner is... " + winner);
                panel_button.add(jtextlabel_winner);
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * The panelmain_button holds the Calculate button as well as
                * the winner text and creates the "bottom" portion of the
                * overall GUI.
                *******************************************************************************************/
                panelmain_button.setLayout(new GridLayout(1, 2));
                panelmain_button.add(button);
                panelmain_button.add(jtextlabel_winner);
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * panelmain adds the "top" section of the GUI (panelmain_votes), with the "bottom" section
                * of the GUI (panelmain_button); to create the overall GUI.
                *******************************************************************************************/
                panelmain.add(panelmain_votes);
                panelmain.add(panelmain_button);
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * panelmain is added to the frame here, and is then packed,
                * and set visible for client use.
                *******************************************************************************************/
                frame.getContentPane().add(panelmain);
                frame.pack();
                frame.setVisible(true);
        }


        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {

                if (vote1 > vote2) {
                        if (vote1 > vote3) {
                                winner = "piece 1!";
                        }
                }
                if (vote2 > vote1) {
                        if (vote2 > vote3) {
                                winner = "piece 2!";
                        }
                }
                if (vote3 > vote1) {
                        if (vote3 > vote2) {
                                winner = "piece 3!";
                        }
                }
                if (vote1 == vote3) {
                        winner = "piece 1 and piece 3 tied!";
                }
                if (vote1 == vote2) {
                        winner = "piece 1 and piece 2 tied!";
                }
                if (vote2 == vote3) {
                        winner = "piece 2 and piece 3 tied!";
                }
                if (vote1 == vote2 && vote1 == vote3) {
                        winner = "piece 1, 2 and 3 tied!";
                }

        }

}

---

Also, I have this image below "Art Prize Voter", that is what the display looks like.
Is there a simple way to make the space between the JLabel, Jtextfield, and Radio Buttons closer together? As you can see they are spread quite far apart.
Thanks again!

Your best bet is to go to the tutorials and learn about some other layout managers and use them. Also, show us your attempt at writing an ActionListener. Then we can see what you know and don't know. If you don't have a clue, the Oracle Swing tutorials can help you out with this as well.

Luck.

well, I am really not too sure.

I know that I need to do something like
button b.AddListener

and then that will go to some class that looks like,
actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)

and within there, it will check for the winnner.

and then I need that code, after its finished doing its job, will check the winning radio box, and setText of variable "winner" to whatever the ActionEvent set "winner" as.


I just cleaned up the code a bit to make it more readable.
So...im just kind of lost. I see what's suppose to happen, and once I see how it works, I know it will stick, I'm just lost on the building blocks of what to do.

-Austin

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by aanders5

well, I am really not too sure.

I know that I need to do something like
button b.AddListener

and then that will go to some class that looks like,
actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)

and within there, it will check for the winnner.

and then I need that code, after its finished doing its job, will check the winning radio box, and setText of variable "winner" to whatever the ActionEvent set "winner" as.


I just cleaned up the code a bit to make it more readable.
So...im just kind of lost. I see what's suppose to happen, and once I see how it works, I know it will stick, I'm just lost on the building blocks of what to do.

-Austin

---

Again, don't guess. Look at the tutorials on how to create ActionListeners and how to add ActionListeners to your buttons. It's all there spelled out for you with sample code as well.

You can find the tutorials here:
How to Write an Action Listener (The Java™ Tutorials > Creating a GUI With JFC/Swing > Writing Event Listeners)
How to Use Buttons, Check Boxes, and Radio Buttons (The Java™ Tutorials > Creating a GUI With JFC/Swing > Using Swing Components)
Lesson: Laying Out Components Within a Container (The Java™ Tutorials > Creating a GUI With JFC/Swing)

Again, much luck!

Once you get a pretty and non-functional GUI, leave it alone.
Do not add any calculations into the GUI object unless they
pertain to the aesthetics of the GUI, like calculating the
size of a button, or finding the center of a panel.

Think of it as a piece of artwork with the potential to
interact with a user.

Add functions to the buttons with an ActionListener.
Within an ActionListener there is a required method
called actionPerformed(ActionEvent e), inwhich you must
write code that determines from what GUI component
an ActionEvent is being created, and what type of
calculation or process you would like it to perform in
response to the component generating the ActionEvent.

A typical starter actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
method is:

Code:

---

  public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
    JMenuItem source = (JMenuItem)e.getSource();
    if(source.getActionCommand().equals(o)){
      System.out.println("O menuItem selected");
    }
  }

---

Obviously designed to add fuctionality to a menuItem.

Some people on this forum have strong feelings on how to
add an actionListener to a component. Your code leans
toward a certain solution that is absolutely normal and
practical, but I have seen critisized on this forum.

I personally don't loose sleep over this none controversial
subject, and feel like an idiot just typing these last
three sentences.

After you design your actionListener, add it to the
components you would like to see it work with.
it's usually done like this:

myButton.addActionListener(new MenuActionListener(this));


I have left a lot of details out.
You will have to look at a tutorial
to get a better feel for how this works.

also..

In your code, you shouldn't have so many static variables.
S in column 1 marks places where they are not needed.
X in column 1 marks calculations that should be removed
and probably placed in the actionListener.

AL in colum 1 marks the function that should go in the
actionListener.

or..

change

Code:

---

public class ArtPrizeEngine {

---

to

Code:

---

public class ArtPrizeEngine implements ActionListener{

---

and it will be OK.. ..almost.
you'll see in the tutorial.

Code:

---

public class ArtPrizeEngine {

  /*******************************************************************************************
  * Contains the variables used to track the votes for when finding the winner.
  *******************************************************************************************/
S  static int vote1 = 0, vote2 = 0, vote3 = 0;

S  static String vote1_string = "", vote2_string = "",
      vote3_string = "", winner = null;


  /*******************************************************************************************
  * The main method calls the GUI.
  *******************************************************************************************/
  public static void main(String arg[]) {

    ArtPrizeEngineGUI();

  }


  /*******************************************************************************************
  * The GUI below is the engine of the program, and the GUI itself. It will display the
  * voting GUI, count the entered votes, and then calculate the winner by displaying text
  * and checking the appropriate radio box.
  *******************************************************************************************/
S  public static void ArtPrizeEngineGUI() {
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * The frame and the three main panels used to build the overall GUI, are created here.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JFrame frame = new JFrame("Art Prize Voter!");
    JPanel panelmain = new JPanel();
    JPanel panelmain_votes = new JPanel();
    JPanel panelmain_button = new JPanel();
    frame.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(400, 175));
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * GUI for panel1. It creates the JLabel and JPanel for
    * displaying the JLabel for piece # 1.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JPanel panel1 = new JPanel();
    JLabel jtextlabel1 = new JLabel(
        "Enter your votes for piece # 1: ");
    panel1.add(jtextlabel1);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * GUI for panel2. It creates the JLabel and JPanel for
    * displaying the JLabel for piece # 2.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JPanel panel2 = new JPanel();
    JLabel jtextlabel2 = new JLabel(
        "Enter your votes for piece # 2: ");
    panel2.add(jtextlabel2);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * GUI for panel3. It creates the JLabel and JPanel for
    * displaying the JLabel for piece # 3.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JPanel panel3 = new JPanel();
    JLabel jtextlabel3 = new JLabel(
        "Enter your votes for piece # 3: ");
    panel3.add(jtextlabel3);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * GUI for panel4. It creates the JTextfield and JPanel for
    * piece 1's voting input.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JPanel panel4 = new JPanel();
    JTextField textlabel4_in = new JTextField(5);
    panel4.add(textlabel4_in);
    textlabel4_in.setText("" + 0 + "");
    vote1_string = textlabel4_in.getText();
    vote1 = Integer.parseInt(vote1_string);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * GUI for panel5. It creates the JTextfield and JPanel for
    * piece 2's voting input.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JPanel panel5 = new JPanel();
    JTextField textlabel5_in = new JTextField(5);
    panel5.add(textlabel5_in);
    textlabel5_in.setText("" + 0 + "");
x    vote2_string = textlabel5_in.getText();
x    vote2 = Integer.parseInt(vote2_string);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * GUI for panel6. It creates the JTextfield and JPanel for
    * piece 3's voting input.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JPanel panel6 = new JPanel();
    JTextField textlabel6_in = new JTextField(5);
    panel6.add(textlabel6_in);
    textlabel6_in.setText("" + 0 + "");
x    vote3_string = textlabel6_in.getText();
x    vote3 = Integer.parseInt(vote3_string);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * GUI for panel7. It creates the radio button field for piece
    * 1.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JPanel panel7 = new JPanel();
    JRadioButton button1 = new JRadioButton("", false);
    panel7.add(button1);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * GUI for panel8. It creates the radio button field for piece
    * 2.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JPanel panel8 = new JPanel();
    JRadioButton button2 = new JRadioButton("", false);
    panel8.add(button2);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * GUI for panel9. It creates the radio button field for piece
    * 3.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JPanel panel9 = new JPanel();
    JRadioButton button3 = new JRadioButton("", false);
    panel9.add(button3);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * The panelmain_votes, holds all of the panels above, creating
    * the "top" portion of the GUI. Panels are organized in their
    * respective sets for the Jlabel, textfield, and radio button.
    * Panels 1, 4, and 7 are the components for piece 1.
    * Panels 2, 5, and 8 are the components for piece 2.
    * Panels 3, 6, and 9 are the components for piece 3.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    panelmain_votes.setLayout(new GridLayout(3, 3));
    panelmain_votes.add(panel1);
    panelmain_votes.add(panel4);
    panelmain_votes.add(panel7);
    panelmain_votes.add(panel2);
    panelmain_votes.add(panel5);
    panelmain_votes.add(panel8);
    panelmain_votes.add(panel3);
    panelmain_votes.add(panel6);
    panelmain_votes.add(panel9);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * GUI for panelmain_button. It creates the button "Calculate".
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JButton button;
    JPanel panel_button = new JPanel();
    button = new JButton("Calculate");
    panel_button.add(button);
    // button.addActionListener(this);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * The JLabel below creates a JLbael that displays who the
    * winner is.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JLabel jtextlabel_winner = new JLabel(
        "    And the winner is... " + winner);
    panel_button.add(jtextlabel_winner);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * The panelmain_button holds the Calculate button as well as
    * the winner text and creates the "bottom" portion of the
    * overall GUI.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    panelmain_button.setLayout(new GridLayout(1, 2));
    panelmain_button.add(button);
    panelmain_button.add(jtextlabel_winner);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * panelmain adds the "top" section of the GUI (panelmain_votes), with the "bottom" section
    * of the GUI (panelmain_button); to create the overall GUI.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    panelmain.add(panelmain_votes);
    panelmain.add(panelmain_button);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * panelmain is added to the frame here, and is then packed,
    * and set visible for client use.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    frame.getContentPane().add(panelmain);
    frame.pack();
    frame.setVisible(true);
  }


AL  public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
AL
AL    if (vote1 > vote2) {
AL      if (vote1 > vote3) {
AL        winner = "piece 1!";
AL      }
AL    }
AL    if (vote2 > vote1) {
AL      if (vote2 > vote3) {
AL        winner = "piece 2!";
AL      }
AL    }
AL    if (vote3 > vote1) {
AL      if (vote3 > vote2) {
AL        winner = "piece 3!";
AL      }
AL    }
AL    if (vote1 == vote3) {
AL      winner = "piece 1 and piece 3 tied!";
AL    }
AL    if (vote1 == vote2) {
AL      winner = "piece 1 and piece 2 tied!";
AL    }
AL    if (vote2 == vote3) {
AL      winner = "piece 2 and piece 3 tied!";
AL    }
AL    if (vote1 == vote2 && vote1 == vote3) {
AL      winner = "piece 1, 2 and 3 tied!";
AL    }
AL
AL  }

}

---

Ok I will look into those links.
The sites I had been generating earlier though were far too complex for me to see how the action/listener was in use.

I'll get back to this post by tomorrow, so thanks thus far!
-Austin

Thanks for that info Paul, I had also asked one my mates what to do and he asked where my GUI was, and I was like "Its all in this class" and was like "You mixed your engine and GUI?!> ...I'm not gonna deal with this then" (jokingly). :P

I will look at the tutorials for the action listener stuff, but how would I go about separating the GUI from the engine?

Another problem, how do I set the radiobox to TRUE, for when the winner is calculated.

like, some sort of setRadiobutton1 = ("", true); feature
Thanks

Another quick question too, I got this to update the label for "The winner is..."

jtextlabel_winner.setLabel(" And the winner is... " + winner);
And the .setLabel isi giving me an error, says the .setLabel is undefined for the string. :/

Ok, so now the program wont even run. *facepalm*. :P

changed some stuff around, um, and the questions above are still unfixed, this is my update/sloppy code now, I moved some stuff around.

-Variables moved, Tut's said to make em universal so I moved a lot of them up by the main.
-Added some stuff into the actionPreformed section, like a way to change the "winner" label, I also moved the INTparsing stuff into there as well (if thats even needed).
-Added button.addActionListener into the button part of my GUI
-removed static's.
-Main wont run now though

So, im sorry I'm throwing a lot at you, but I am learning, rather than just doing, which is making really happy right now.

here's the code, sorry its sloppy, and for the things I moved about, I just commented them, in case i need to go back to an earlier state.

Code:

---

import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;

import javax.swing.*;

/*******************************************************************************************
 * @author Austin Anderson
 * This program will take in the votes of three art pieces, and then calculate the winner.
 *******************************************************************************************/
public class ArtPrizeEngine implements ActionListener {

        /*******************************************************************************************
        * Contains the variables used to track the votes for when finding the winner.
        *******************************************************************************************/
        int vote1 = 0, vote2 = 0, vote3 = 0;

        String vote1_string = "", vote2_string = "",
                        vote3_string = "", winner = null;
       
        JLabel jtextlabel_winner = new JLabel(
                        "    And the winner is... " + winner);
        JRadioButton button1 = new JRadioButton("", false);
        JRadioButton button2 = new JRadioButton("", false);
        JRadioButton button3 = new JRadioButton("", false);
        JTextField textlabel4_in = new JTextField(5);
        JTextField textlabel5_in = new JTextField(5);
        JTextField textlabel6_in = new JTextField(5);

        /*******************************************************************************************
        * The main method calls the GUI.
        *******************************************************************************************/
        public void main(String arg[]) {
                ArtPrizeEngineGUI();
        }

       

        /*******************************************************************************************
        * The GUI below is the engine of the program, and the GUI itself. It will display the
        * voting GUI, count the entered votes, and then calculate the winner by displaying text
        * and checking the appropriate radio box.
        *******************************************************************************************/
        public void ArtPrizeEngineGUI() {
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * The frame and the three main panels used to build the overall GUI, are created here.
                *******************************************************************************************/
                JFrame frame = new JFrame("Art Prize Voter!");
                JPanel panelmain = new JPanel();
                JPanel panelmain_votes = new JPanel();
                JPanel panelmain_button = new JPanel();
                frame.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(400, 175));
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * GUI for panel1. It creates the JLabel and JPanel for
                * displaying the JLabel for piece # 1.
                *******************************************************************************************/
                JPanel panel1 = new JPanel();
                JLabel jtextlabel1 = new JLabel(
                                "Enter your votes for piece # 1: ");
                panel1.add(jtextlabel1);
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * GUI for panel2. It creates the JLabel and JPanel for
                * displaying the JLabel for piece # 2.
                *******************************************************************************************/
                JPanel panel2 = new JPanel();
                JLabel jtextlabel2 = new JLabel(
                                "Enter your votes for piece # 2: ");
                panel2.add(jtextlabel2);
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * GUI for panel3. It creates the JLabel and JPanel for
                * displaying the JLabel for piece # 3.
                *******************************************************************************************/
                JPanel panel3 = new JPanel();
                JLabel jtextlabel3 = new JLabel(
                                "Enter your votes for piece # 3: ");
                panel3.add(jtextlabel3);
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * GUI for panel4. It creates the JTextfield and JPanel for
                * piece 1's voting input.
                *******************************************************************************************/
                JPanel panel4 = new JPanel();
                //JTextField textlabel4_in = new JTextField(5);
                panel4.add(textlabel4_in);
                textlabel4_in.setText("" + 0 + "");
                //vote1_string = textlabel4_in.getText();
                //vote1 = Integer.parseInt(vote1_string);
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * GUI for panel5. It creates the JTextfield and JPanel for
                * piece 2's voting input.
                *******************************************************************************************/
                JPanel panel5 = new JPanel();
                //JTextField textlabel5_in = new JTextField(5);
                panel5.add(textlabel5_in);
                textlabel5_in.setText("" + 0 + "");
                //vote2_string = textlabel5_in.getText();
                //vote2 = Integer.parseInt(vote2_string);
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * GUI for panel6. It creates the JTextfield and JPanel for
                * piece 3's voting input.
                *******************************************************************************************/
                JPanel panel6 = new JPanel();
                //JTextField textlabel6_in = new JTextField(5);
                panel6.add(textlabel6_in);
                textlabel6_in.setText("" + 0 + "");
                //vote3_string = textlabel6_in.getText();
                //vote3 = Integer.parseInt(vote3_string);
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * GUI for panel7. It creates the radio button field for piece
                * 1.
                *******************************************************************************************/
                JPanel panel7 = new JPanel();
                // JRadioButton button1 = new JRadioButton("", false);
                panel7.add(button1);
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * GUI for panel8. It creates the radio button field for piece
                * 2.
                *******************************************************************************************/
                JPanel panel8 = new JPanel();
                // JRadioButton button2 = new JRadioButton("", false);
                panel8.add(button2);
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * GUI for panel9. It creates the radio button field for piece
                * 3.
                *******************************************************************************************/
                JPanel panel9 = new JPanel();
                // JRadioButton button3 = new JRadioButton("", false);
                panel9.add(button3);
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * The panelmain_votes, holds all of the panels above, creating
                * the "top" portion of the GUI. Panels are organized in their
                * respective sets for the Jlabel, textfield, and radio button.
                * Panels 1, 4, and 7 are the components for piece 1.
                * Panels 2, 5, and 8 are the components for piece 2.
                * Panels 3, 6, and 9 are the components for piece 3.
                *******************************************************************************************/
                panelmain_votes.setLayout(new GridLayout(3, 3));
                panelmain_votes.add(panel1);
                panelmain_votes.add(panel4);
                panelmain_votes.add(panel7);
                panelmain_votes.add(panel2);
                panelmain_votes.add(panel5);
                panelmain_votes.add(panel8);
                panelmain_votes.add(panel3);
                panelmain_votes.add(panel6);
                panelmain_votes.add(panel9);
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * GUI for panelmain_button. It creates the button "Calculate".
                *******************************************************************************************/
                JButton button;
                JPanel panel_button = new JPanel();
                button = new JButton("Calculate");
                panel_button.add(button);
                button.addActionListener(this);
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * The JLabel below creates a JLbael that displays who the
                * winner is.
                *******************************************************************************************/
               
                panel_button.add(jtextlabel_winner);
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * The panelmain_button holds the Calculate button as well as
                * the winner text and creates the "bottom" portion of the
                * overall GUI.
                *******************************************************************************************/
                panelmain_button.setLayout(new GridLayout(1, 2));
                panelmain_button.add(button);
                panelmain_button.add(jtextlabel_winner);
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * panelmain adds the "top" section of the GUI (panelmain_votes), with the "bottom" section
                * of the GUI (panelmain_button); to create the overall GUI.
                *******************************************************************************************/
                panelmain.add(panelmain_votes);
                panelmain.add(panelmain_button);
                /*******************************************************************************************
                * panelmain is added to the frame here, and is then packed,
                * and set visible for client use.
                *******************************************************************************************/
                frame.getContentPane().add(panelmain);
                frame.pack();
                frame.setVisible(true);
       
        }
        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {

                vote1_string = textlabel4_in.getText();
                vote1 = Integer.parseInt(vote1_string);
                vote2_string = textlabel5_in.getText();
                vote2 = Integer.parseInt(vote2_string);
                vote3_string = textlabel6_in.getText();
                vote3 = Integer.parseInt(vote3_string);
               
                if (vote1 > vote2) {
                        if (vote1 > vote3) {
                                winner = "piece 1!";
                        }
                // button1 = ("", true);
                }
                if (vote2 > vote1) {
                        if (vote2 > vote3) {
                                winner = "piece 2!";
                        }
                }
                if (vote3 > vote1) {
                        if (vote3 > vote2) {
                                winner = "piece 3!";
                        }
                }
                if (vote1 == vote3) {
                        winner = "piece 1 and piece 3 tied!";
                }
                if (vote1 == vote2) {
                        winner = "piece 1 and piece 2 tied!";
                }
                if (vote2 == vote3) {
                        winner = "piece 2 and piece 3 tied!";
                }
                if (vote1 == vote2 && vote1 == vote3) {
                        winner = "piece 1, 2 and 3 tied!";
                }
               
                jtextlabel_winner.equals("    And the winner is... " + winner);


        }

}
/**
 * public void ArtPrizeGUI_end() {
 *
 * JFrame frame = new JFrame(); JPanel panelmain = new JPanel();
 * panelmain.setBackground(Color.black); JPanel panel = new JPanel();
 * panel.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(200, 225));
 *
 * JTextField textlabel1_out = new JTextField(16);
 * panel.add(textlabel1_out); textlabel1_out.setText(vote1);
 *
 * panel.setBackground(Color.white);
 *
 * frame.getContentPane().add(panelmain); frame.pack();
 * frame.setVisible(true); }
 */

---

TY!!

P.S. I'm using Eclipse for my environment, so maybe that will help in explaining things for me.

Here's what I did with your code.

I made the ArtPrizeEngine class implement ActionListener.
This means, among other things this class might be, it
is also an ActionListener.

As an ActionListener, it must have an
"actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)" method.

Usually the first thing that is done within
an actionPerformed method is an analysis of
the actionEvent it has recieved. By examining
the actionEvent, many things can be discovered
about how the actionEvent was created.

Depending on its origin, the programmer will
add code to produce the desired function for
that actionEvent (calculations, etc.).

I have simply given some components println
statements that expose the guts of the
actionEvent so you can see all the
possibilities it provides.

I have not completed your code, It does
compile and it runs. Look carefully at how
some things are accomplished.
Consult the API for methods that access
all that stuff in the actionEvent.

Code:

---

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

/*******************************************************************************************
 * @author Austin Anderson
 * This program will take in the votes of three art pieces, and then calculate the winner.
 *******************************************************************************************/
public class ArtPrizeEngine implements ActionListener{

  /*******************************************************************************************
  * Contains the variables used to track the votes for when finding the winner.
  *******************************************************************************************/
  int vote1 = 0, vote2 = 0, vote3 = 0;

  String vote1_string = "", vote2_string = "",
      vote3_string = "", winner = null;

  /*******************************************************************************************
  * The main method calls the GUI.
  *******************************************************************************************/
  public static void main(String arg[]) {

    ArtPrizeEngine t = new ArtPrizeEngine();
    t.ArtPrizeEngineGUI();
  }


  /*******************************************************************************************
  * The GUI below is the engine of the program, and the GUI itself. It will display the
  * voting GUI, count the entered votes, and then calculate the winner by displaying text
  * and checking the appropriate radio box.
  *******************************************************************************************/
  public void ArtPrizeEngineGUI() {
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * The frame and the three main panels used to build the overall GUI, are created here.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JFrame frame = new JFrame("Art Prize Voter!");
    JPanel panelmain = new JPanel();
    JPanel panelmain_votes = new JPanel();
    JPanel panelmain_button = new JPanel();
    frame.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(400, 175));
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * GUI for panel1. It creates the JLabel and JPanel for
    * displaying the JLabel for piece # 1.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JPanel panel1 = new JPanel();
    JLabel jtextlabel1 = new JLabel(
        "Enter your votes for piece # 1: ");
    panel1.add(jtextlabel1);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * GUI for panel2. It creates the JLabel and JPanel for
    * displaying the JLabel for piece # 2.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JPanel panel2 = new JPanel();
    JLabel jtextlabel2 = new JLabel(
        "Enter your votes for piece # 2: ");
    panel2.add(jtextlabel2);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * GUI for panel3. It creates the JLabel and JPanel for
    * displaying the JLabel for piece # 3.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JPanel panel3 = new JPanel();
    JLabel jtextlabel3 = new JLabel(
        "Enter your votes for piece # 3: ");
    panel3.add(jtextlabel3);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * GUI for panel4. It creates the JTextfield and JPanel for
    * piece 1's voting input.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JPanel panel4 = new JPanel();
    JTextField textlabel4_in = new JTextField(5);
    panel4.add(textlabel4_in);
    textlabel4_in.setText("" + 0 + "");
    vote1_string = textlabel4_in.getText();
    vote1 = Integer.parseInt(vote1_string);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * GUI for panel5. It creates the JTextfield and JPanel for
    * piece 2's voting input.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JPanel panel5 = new JPanel();
    JTextField textlabel5_in = new JTextField(5);
    panel5.add(textlabel5_in);
    textlabel5_in.setText("" + 0 + "");
    vote2_string = textlabel5_in.getText();
    vote2 = Integer.parseInt(vote2_string);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * GUI for panel6. It creates the JTextfield and JPanel for
    * piece 3's voting input.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JPanel panel6 = new JPanel();
    JTextField textlabel6_in = new JTextField(5);
    panel6.add(textlabel6_in);
    textlabel6_in.setText("" + 0 + "");
    vote3_string = textlabel6_in.getText();
    vote3 = Integer.parseInt(vote3_string);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * GUI for panel7. It creates the radio button field for piece
    * 1.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JPanel panel7 = new JPanel();
    JRadioButton button1 = new JRadioButton("", false);
    panel7.add(button1);
                button1.setActionCommand("go");
                button1.addActionListener(this);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * GUI for panel8. It creates the radio button field for piece
    * 2.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JPanel panel8 = new JPanel();
    JRadioButton button2 = new JRadioButton("", false);
    panel8.add(button2);
                button2.addActionListener(this);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * GUI for panel9. It creates the radio button field for piece
    * 3.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JPanel panel9 = new JPanel();
    JRadioButton button3 = new JRadioButton("", false);
    panel9.add(button3);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * The panelmain_votes, holds all of the panels above, creating
    * the "top" portion of the GUI. Panels are organized in their
    * respective sets for the Jlabel, textfield, and radio button.
    * Panels 1, 4, and 7 are the components for piece 1.
    * Panels 2, 5, and 8 are the components for piece 2.
    * Panels 3, 6, and 9 are the components for piece 3.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    panelmain_votes.setLayout(new GridLayout(3, 3));
    panelmain_votes.add(panel1);
    panelmain_votes.add(panel4);
    panelmain_votes.add(panel7);
    panelmain_votes.add(panel2);
    panelmain_votes.add(panel5);
    panelmain_votes.add(panel8);
    panelmain_votes.add(panel3);
    panelmain_votes.add(panel6);
    panelmain_votes.add(panel9);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * GUI for panelmain_button. It creates the button "Calculate".
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JButton button;
    JPanel panel_button = new JPanel();
    button = new JButton("Calculate");
    panel_button.add(button);
    button.addActionListener(this);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * The JLabel below creates a JLbael that displays who the
    * winner is.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JLabel jtextlabel_winner = new JLabel(
        "    And the winner is... " + winner);
    panel_button.add(jtextlabel_winner);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * The panelmain_button holds the Calculate button as well as
    * the winner text and creates the "bottom" portion of the
    * overall GUI.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    panelmain_button.setLayout(new GridLayout(1, 2));
    panelmain_button.add(button);
    panelmain_button.add(jtextlabel_winner);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * panelmain adds the "top" section of the GUI (panelmain_votes), with the "bottom" section
    * of the GUI (panelmain_button); to create the overall GUI.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    panelmain.add(panelmain_votes);
    panelmain.add(panelmain_button);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * panelmain is added to the frame here, and is then packed,
    * and set visible for client use.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    frame.getContentPane().add(panelmain);
    frame.pack();
    frame.setVisible(true);
  }



  public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
    String actionCommand = e.getActionCommand();

    if (e.getSource() instanceof JButton){
      if ("Calculate" .equals(actionCommand)){
        System.out.println("Calculate pressed");
        System.out.println(e + "\n");
      }
    }
    else if (e.getSource() instanceof JRadioButton){
      if ("" .equals(actionCommand)){
        System.out.println( e );
      }
      if ("go" .equals(actionCommand)){
        System.out.println( "The first button was pressed" );
      }
    }
  }
}

---

I am looking over your questions
and I will make more suggestions
on how to bring order to your code.

In my first post, I accidentally included
"static void main(String[] args)"
as one of the lines you should remove
"static" from.

This was a mistake.
The "main(String[] args)" method is
the 'launching point' for your code, and
it is ALWAYS static.

if i turn it to static,
public static void main(String arg[]) {
ArtPrizeEngineGUI();
}

then the ArtPrizeEngineGUI(); gives an error, and whats the method itself to become static too....sooo?

Ok, so I am looking over the code you posted. Gotta few Q's.

1. Before you had marked to remove the three codes that converted my strings into ints for calculating,

Code:

---

vote#_string = textlabel#_in.getText();
 vote# = Integer.parseInt(vote#_string);

---

But now you have them back in the code un-commented, were they needed now?

2. How come "button1" has two lines of action listeners,

Code:

---

button1.setActionCommand("go");
button1.addActionListener(this);

---

but, the other two radio buttons only have this one line?
(This is not the calculate button that runs the program, if that's what your doing)

Code:

---

button2.addActionListener(this);

---

3. The whole action area,

Code:

---

public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)

---

Um...whats going with that, and where do I insert the if statements to check for the highest number?
Also, where/how do I update my JLabel so that it prints off

Code:

---

jtextlabel_winner.equals("    And the winner is... " + winner);

---

Speaking of which, says it need a universal variable for "jtextlabel_winner", so can i put that back up to the top as a universal variable?

4. I assume that within the action performed area, I will also put the code to update the checkbox(s) to become true, for the winner.
What coding do I need for that? I searched around, and I am not finding anything for the radio boxes to get updated by code.



So far, THANKS! I finally realize how/why the instantiation I used, failed. I kind of see how the action/listener stuff is working too. I am just confused on "this" and how the action listener is linked to the actionpreformed (unless that's just something JAVA does on it its own).

But thank you so far.



Again, the user enters in some amount of votes in the text fields.
You hit calculate
The result is, the highest number will auto check the corresponding radio box (or boxes, if its a tie), then update winner (set to null at the moment) to either piece 1, 2, or 3 (or multiple if tied).

Quote:

---

1. Before you had marked to remove the three codes
that converted my strings into ints for calculating,

Code:
vote#_string = textlabel#_in.getText();
vote# = Integer.parseInt(vote#_string);

But now you have them back in the code un-commented,
were they needed now?

---

I looked at this code more closely.
It seems to be in the catagory of
GUI initalization, not data
calculation as I first thought.

Bottom line, it seems non-essentual
to the primary issue; working with
actionListeners.

Quote:

---

2. How much "button1" has two lines of acrtion listeners,

Code:
button1.setActionCommand("go");
button1.addActionListener(this);

but, the other two radio buttons only have this one line?

Code:
button2.addActionListener(this);

---

I added actionListeners to SOME
buttons in your code so you would
see what it takes to make these
puppies work.

button1.setActionCommand("go");

sets an internal String value in
these components which we can use
in the actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
method to determine which component
created the actionEvent.

If you do not set this value, by
default, it will be assigned the
'Label' value of the component.
Your "Calculate button" has the
string "Calculate" as this value.
Check it out. It's tested for in
the actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
method.

"go" was assigned to the command
string of button1, so guess what
string we should test for to
determine if button1 has been
pressed?

staticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstatic

So much for answers specific to the
actionListener.
I will modify your code a few more
times, within the context of this
subject to help clarify it further.

As I reviewed your code, I realized
There were at least three BIG issues
you needed help with. I know I can
cover only one at a time.

"static" is a subject you must
investigate. Do not try to associate
"static" with the main(String[] args)
method.
The purpose of this method is to
specialized to divine universal
knowledge about "static" by studying
it.

On the other hand, "static" has
deep universal purpose in java, and
you do not start plugging it into
lines of code because the compiler
starts crying about it. Programmers
know you don't know when they see
values labeled as "static" that
shouldn't be.

"static" is a topic you have to open
the book up and study.

staticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstatic

Quote:

---

3. The whole action area,

Code:
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)

Um...whats going with that, and where do I insert the if
statements to check for the highest number?
Also, where/how do I update my JLabel so that it prints off

Code:
jtextlabel_winner.equals(" And the winner is... " + winner);

Speaking of which, says I need a universal variable for
"jtextlabel_winner"

4. I assume that within the action performed area, I will
also put the code to update the checkbox to become true,
for the winner.
What coding do I need for that?
I searched around, and I am not finding
anything for the radio boxes to get updated by code.

---

This is the area where you begin
your calculations, and have them
call other methods and data from
wherever in your project, as you
need them.

I'm not commenting on this section
because it's your algorithm. I'm
not done with your actionListener
question(s).

Quote:

---

So far, THANKS! I finally realize how/why the instantiation
I used, failed.
I kind of see how the action/listener stuff is working too.
I am just confused on "this" and how the action listener is
linked to the actionpreformed (unless that's just something
JAVA does on it its own).

---

This is the third big issue you
will have to understand about java.
Java is event driven.
You do not linearly progress through
the code. An event occurs, and
somewhere in your code, there is a
method that responds. That's why
there are objects called "eventListeners"
in Java.

Ok, so what about the radiobuttons then?
I have looked around for that, but I don't see what I have to put into the action area that will change/update the status of checkbox from false to true for the inner.

I did see something called an ItemListener though when I was searching around, does that have to deal with this issue?

Quote:

---

Ok, so what about the radiobuttons then?
I have looked around for that, but I don't
see what I have to put into the action area
that will change/update the status of
checkbox from false to true for the inner.

---

The checkboxes are treated the same way the
buttons are in the actionListener.

==========

In the following code, the ArtPrizeEngine class
no longer serves as an actionListener. Now it
can be considered as a GUI with the public
variables:

int vote1, vote2, vote3
String vote1_string, vote2_string, vote3_string, winner

The actionListener is now a seperate class named
MyActionListener.

Notice "implements ActionListener" no longer
follows "ArtPrizeEngine" in its class name,
and "implements ActionListener" is added
to the "MyActionListener's" name.

This code will compile and it will work.

A problem it has is that it cannot access variables
in the ArtPrizeEngine class.

This is fixed in the next example.

Code:

---

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

/*******************************************************************************************
 * @author Austin Anderson
 * This program will take in the votes of three art pieces, and then calculate the winner.
 *******************************************************************************************/
public class ArtPrizeEngine{

  /*******************************************************************************************
  * Contains the variables used to track the votes for when finding the winner.
  *******************************************************************************************/
  int vote1 = 0, vote2 = 0, vote3 = 0;

  String vote1_string = "", vote2_string = "", vote3_string = "", winner = null;

  /*******************************************************************************************
  * The main method calls the GUI.
  *******************************************************************************************/
  public static void main(String arg[]) {
    ArtPrizeEngine t = new ArtPrizeEngine();
    t.ArtPrizeEngineGUI();
  }

  /*******************************************************************************************
  * The GUI below is the engine of the program, and the GUI itself. It will display the
  * voting GUI, count the entered votes, and then calculate the winner by displaying text
  * and checking the appropriate radio box.
  *******************************************************************************************/
  public void ArtPrizeEngineGUI() {
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * The frame and the three main panels used to build the overall GUI, are created here.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JFrame frame = new JFrame("Art Prize Voter!");
    JPanel panelmain = new JPanel();
    JPanel panelmain_votes = new JPanel();
    JPanel panelmain_button = new JPanel();
    frame.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(400, 175));
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * GUI for panel1. It creates the JLabel and JPanel for
    * displaying the JLabel for piece # 1.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JPanel panel1 = new JPanel();
    JLabel jtextlabel1 = new JLabel("Enter your votes for piece # 1: ");
    panel1.add(jtextlabel1);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * GUI for panel2. It creates the JLabel and JPanel for
    * displaying the JLabel for piece # 2.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JPanel panel2 = new JPanel();
    JLabel jtextlabel2 = new JLabel("Enter your votes for piece # 2: ");
    panel2.add(jtextlabel2);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * GUI for panel3. It creates the JLabel and JPanel for
    * displaying the JLabel for piece # 3.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JPanel panel3 = new JPanel();
    JLabel jtextlabel3 = new JLabel("Enter your votes for piece # 3: ");
    panel3.add(jtextlabel3);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * GUI for panel4. It creates the JTextfield and JPanel for
    * piece 1's voting input.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JPanel panel4 = new JPanel();
    JTextField textlabel4_in = new JTextField(5);
    panel4.add(textlabel4_in);
    textlabel4_in.setText("" + 0 + "");
    vote1_string = textlabel4_in.getText();
    vote1 = Integer.parseInt(vote1_string);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * GUI for panel5. It creates the JTextfield and JPanel for
    * piece 2's voting input.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JPanel panel5 = new JPanel();
    JTextField textlabel5_in = new JTextField(5);
    panel5.add(textlabel5_in);
    textlabel5_in.setText("" + 0 + "");
    vote2_string = textlabel5_in.getText();
    vote2 = Integer.parseInt(vote2_string);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * GUI for panel6. It creates the JTextfield and JPanel for
    * piece 3's voting input.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JPanel panel6 = new JPanel();
    JTextField textlabel6_in = new JTextField(5);
    panel6.add(textlabel6_in);
    textlabel6_in.setText("" + 0 + "");
    vote3_string = textlabel6_in.getText();
    vote3 = Integer.parseInt(vote3_string);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * GUI for panel7. It creates the radio button field for piece
    * 1.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JPanel panel7 = new JPanel();
    JRadioButton button1 = new JRadioButton("", false);
    panel7.add(button1);
    button1.setActionCommand("Moe");
    button1.addActionListener(new MyActionListener());
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * GUI for panel8. It creates the radio button field for piece
    * 2.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JPanel panel8 = new JPanel();
    JRadioButton button2 = new JRadioButton("", false);
    panel8.add(button2);
    button2.setActionCommand("Jerry");
    button2.addActionListener(new MyActionListener());
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * GUI for panel9. It creates the radio button field for piece
    * 3.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JPanel panel9 = new JPanel();
    JRadioButton button3 = new JRadioButton("", false);
    button3.setActionCommand("Curly");
    button3.addActionListener(new MyActionListener());
    panel9.add(button3);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * The panelmain_votes, holds all of the panels above, creating
    * the "top" portion of the GUI. Panels are organized in their
    * respective sets for the Jlabel, textfield, and radio button.
    * Panels 1, 4, and 7 are the components for piece 1.
    * Panels 2, 5, and 8 are the components for piece 2.
    * Panels 3, 6, and 9 are the components for piece 3.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    panelmain_votes.setLayout(new GridLayout(3, 3));
    panelmain_votes.add(panel1);
    panelmain_votes.add(panel4);
    panelmain_votes.add(panel7);
    panelmain_votes.add(panel2);
    panelmain_votes.add(panel5);
    panelmain_votes.add(panel8);
    panelmain_votes.add(panel3);
    panelmain_votes.add(panel6);
    panelmain_votes.add(panel9);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * GUI for panelmain_button. It creates the button "Calculate".
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JButton button;
    JPanel panel_button = new JPanel();
    button = new JButton("Calculate");
    panel_button.add(button);
    button.addActionListener(new MyActionListener());
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * The JLabel below creates a JLbael that displays who the
    * winner is.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    JLabel jtextlabel_winner = new JLabel("    And the winner is... " + winner);
    panel_button.add(jtextlabel_winner);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * The panelmain_button holds the Calculate button as well as
    * the winner text and creates the "bottom" portion of the
    * overall GUI.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    panelmain_button.setLayout(new GridLayout(1, 2));
    panelmain_button.add(button);
    panelmain_button.add(jtextlabel_winner);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * panelmain adds the "top" section of the GUI (panelmain_votes), with the "bottom" section
    * of the GUI (panelmain_button); to create the overall GUI.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    panelmain.add(panelmain_votes);
    panelmain.add(panelmain_button);
    /*******************************************************************************************
    * panelmain is added to the frame here, and is then packed,
    * and set visible for client use.
    *******************************************************************************************/
    frame.getContentPane().add(panelmain);
    frame.pack();
    frame.setVisible(true);
  }
}


class MyActionListener implements ActionListener{
  public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
    String actionCommand = e.getActionCommand();

    if (e.getSource() instanceof JButton){
      if ("Calculate" .equals(actionCommand)){
        System.out.println("Calculate pressed");
      }
    }
    else if (e.getSource() instanceof JRadioButton){
      if ("Moe" .equals(actionCommand)){
        System.out.println( "The 1st button was pressed" );
      }
      else if ("Larry" .equals(actionCommand)){
        System.out.println( "The 2nd button was pressed" );
      }
      else if ("Curly" .equals(actionCommand)){
        System.out.println( "The 3rd button was pressed" );
      }
    }
  }
}

---

An important difference in the
following (and final) MyActionListener
class, listed below, is the way the
actionListener is added to each
button in the ArtPrizeEngine.

To conserve space, I'm not printing
the ArtPrizeEngine code again. Just
replace the old with the new shown
below.

the old way:

Code:

---

    button1.addActionListener(new MyActionListener());

---

the new way

Code:

---

    button1.addActionListener(new MyActionListener(this));

---

"(this)" in the addActionListener method above
gives the MyActionListener a referrence to the
ArtPrizeEngine object. Through this reference the code
in the MyActionListener can access the variables in
the ArtPrizeEngine object (this makes them glow-ball!).

Compile and run the code. Play with the buttons! You'll
see that it's true!

Details:
If you examine the code in the MyActionListener, you will
see the variables in the ArtPrizeEngine object are
referenced by the MyActionListener as:

src.vote1, src.vote2, and src.vote3

Code:

---

class MyActionListener implements ActionListener{

  ArtPrizeEngine src;
  MyActionListener(){};                        // Constructors!!
  MyActionListener(ArtPrizeEngine source){    // another new
    src = source;                              // topic!!
  }

  public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
    String actionCommand = e.getActionCommand();

    if (e.getSource() instanceof JButton){
      if ("Calculate" .equals(actionCommand)){
        System.out.println("Calculate pressed");
        int temp = src.vote1 + src.vote2 + src.vote3;
        System.out.println("Sum: " + temp);
      }
    }
    else if (e.getSource() instanceof JRadioButton){
      if ("Moe" .equals(actionCommand)){
        System.out.println( "The 1st button was pressed" );
        src.vote1++;
      }
      else if ("Larry" .equals(actionCommand)){
        System.out.println( "The 2nd button was pressed" );
        src.vote2++;
      }
      else if ("Curly" .equals(actionCommand)){
        System.out.println( "The 3rd button was pressed" );
        src.vote3--;
      }
    }
  }
}

---

So, I added the code above into a new project to see how it works...and nothing happens.
Is hitting Calculate with the above code, suppose to do something?

wait...when i press the buttons its printing stuff out.... I am not sure if you know what I am trying to do...

The radio buttons serve absolutely no purpose at all in this project, except to be marked true when the winner is found.

So if piece one has 30 votes, piece two has 10 votes, and piece three has 50 votes. The "..null" text becomes "piece three has won!", and the radio box next to piece three is marked true.

The user is not at any time actually pushing the radio buttons, it is just solely there for us to learn how they work, and for the engine to auto mark the winner.

I also was checking something, and so I ran the debugger, and the program never went into the actionpreformed class to check my if statements, it just stopped and displayed the GUI after going through ArtPrizeGUI class.