panel switching

[abetemari]

Is it possible to switch panels within the same frame?
I want to have a welcomePanel and another working panel. I want the welcome panel to come first and when I click on a button or select a menu item I want the welcome screen to go away and a new panel to load. I tried to set the welcome screen to invisible by adding the code "wPanel.setVisible(false);" to the action listener code of the menu selection and did not work.
Thanks for the help.

[gedas]

instead of using panels create two frames. one for welcome the other for your other information.
once your welcome frame shows and you click the button to continue set it to setVisible(false) and your other frame setVisible(true)

[Fubarable]

instead of using panels create two frames. one for welcome the other for your other information.
once your welcome frame shows and you click the button to continue set it to setVisible(false) and your other frame setVisible(true)

Original poster, you may be better off with your original idea of swapping JPanels. The best way to do this with Swing is use a CardLayout. Usually one JPanel acts as the card holder and uses CardLayout. You would then add the other JPanels, the ones that you want to swap, into the card holder JPanel along with a String constant. Then you can swap JPanels to your heart's content. Please check the tutorial on this useful layout here: How To Use CardLayouts

[abetemari]

[PHP][/PHP]Moderator, I like the idea but it turned out to be a little complicated to understand. If you can offer an insight how to apply CardLayout in the following situation, i would appreciate it.

class BookStoreFrame extends JFrame
{
    private int currentCard = 1;
    private JPanel cardPanel;
    private CardLayout cl;
    public BookStoreFrame()
    {
        
        setTitle("XX Book Store");
        setPreferredSize(new Dimension(800, 400));
        setResizable(true);
        setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        //this.add(new SalesPanel());
        this.pack();
        centerWindow(this);
        
        JMenuBar menuBar = new JMenuBar();

        // Add the menubar to the frame
        setJMenuBar(menuBar);

        //JMenuBar menuBar = new JMenuBar();
        JMenu saleMenu = new JMenu("Sales");
        JMenu returnMenu = new JMenu("Returns");
        JMenu inventoryMenu = new JMenu("Inventory");
        JMenu printMenu = new JMenu("Print");
        menuBar.add(saleMenu);
        menuBar.add(returnMenu);
        menuBar.add(inventoryMenu);
        menuBar.add(printMenu);
        // Create and add simple menu item to one of the drop down menu
        JMenuItem saleAction = new JMenuItem("Make sales");
        JMenuItem returnAction = new JMenuItem("Process Returns");
        JMenuItem addNewBookAction = new JMenuItem("Add New Book");
        JMenuItem checkInventoryAction = new JMenuItem("Availability");
        JMenuItem printDailyAction = new JMenuItem("Print Daily Report");
        

        saleMenu.add(saleAction);
        returnMenu.add(returnAction);
        inventoryMenu.add(addNewBookAction);
        inventoryMenu.add(checkInventoryAction);
        printMenu.add(printDailyAction);
        
    
        saleAction.addActionListener(new ActionListener()
        {
            public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0)
            {
                //SalesPanel
           }
        });

         returnAction.addActionListener(new ActionListener()
        {
            public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0)
            {
                //ReturnPanel
            }
        });
         
        addNewBookAction.addActionListener(new ActionListener()
        {
            public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0)
            {
                //InventoryPanel
            }
        });  
        
        checkInventoryAction.addActionListener(new ActionListener()
        {
            public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0)
            {
                //InventoryPanel
            }
        });  
        printDailyAction.addActionListener(new ActionListener()
        {
            public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0)
            {
                
            }
        });  
        
  }

    private void centerWindow(Window w)
    {
        Toolkit tk = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit();
        Dimension d = tk.getScreenSize();
        setLocation((d.width-w.getWidth())/2, (d.height-w.getHeight())/2);
    }
}[/PHP]

[nap_patague]

this can be achieve using scrollpane panel. check the documentation of scrollpane panel

[nap_patague]

or you can put this on your JFrame

public void setPanel(javax.swing.JPanel panel) {
this.setContentPane(panel);
this.setVisible(true);
}

all you have to do is pass the panel on this method

[Fubarable]

or you can put this on your JFrame



all you have to do is pass the panel on this method

How is your recommendation better than using CardLayout? Please tell me one advantage.

[nap_patague]

i use that on one of my project and it's working fine. the layout will be on every panel that you will pass on the method. the advantage is easier to use and much simpler than card layout. it only my suggesstions

[abetemari]

I spent some time to figure out the cardLayout and I think I Will need more time learning how it works. The setContentPane, I tried :

 saleAction.addActionListener(new ActionListener()
        {
            public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0)
            {
                
                BookStoreFrame.setContentPane(SalesPanel);

           /*  BookStoreFrame bkstr= new BookStoreFrame();
                SalesPanel spnl = new SalesPanel();
                bkstr.setContentPane(spnl);*/

                
           }
        });

and got "non-static method setContentPane(java.awt.Container) cannot be referenced from a static context" for the first and the commented part shows no error but does nothing either.

[Fubarable]

BookStoreFrame is the class not an object and you can't call methods on it as if it were an object. To get the current BookStoreFrame object, you'll need to use "this", but since you're referencing it from within an inner class, you'll need to specify which "this" you mean, the inner class or the outer class. This is done by pre-pending the class name to this:

BookStoreFrame.this.setContentPane(SalesPanel);

But again, you never answered my question, which thread is the active thread. Again, we should avoid needlessly splitting discussion if possible as it's not fair to the members of the forum.

[abetemari]

sorry for the duplication but this will be the thread I will be following. If you have the authority you may delete the other one. Thanks

[nap_patague]

saleAction.addActionListener(new ActionListener()
        {
            public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0)
            {
                
                setPanel(new SalesPanel());                
           }
        });

the method is already in the jframe so you must call it.

public void setPanel(javax.swing.JPanel panel) {
this.setContentPane(panel);
this.setVisible(true);
}

put this code after the centerWindow method

[abetemari]

It looks like it is going to work , somehow. When I put your code as it is I get
"cannot find symbol
symbol: variable SalesPanel" error.
However, I put this:

SalesPanel spnl = new SalesPanel();
          BookStoreFrame.this.setContentPane(spnl);

and I get a new frame with the desired panel. If there is a way how I can switch the panels without having to use a new frame it would be great.

[abetemari]

Fantastic! It works. Thanks a lot.

[nap_patague]

put this thread to solved.

[abetemari]

Absolutly!

[Fubarable]

don't do this. use cardlayout as this is what it is built for. Seriously.

[abetemari]

I would love to learn it. I just could not figure it out. I could not find a clear example or guide online. If you can help me out I am all for it.

[Fubarable]

Let's see your attempt with it. Have you tried anything out using it?

[abetemari]

I have rescinded all of my attempts from the code but I tried to follow the example in this website: Java Tips - How to use AWT CardLayout.
I will try it again and post my result tomorrow morning. I will be in the forum for most part of the day and I appreciate your tutorship.