setting JButton setEnabled() outside of main class

**danborgir** · 05-07-2011, 02:35 PM

Hi guys,

I am developing a program called Faceblock to block Facebook.

When a user clicks the 'block facebook button' and initiates the block a class time is called and times the block (however long the user specified). Once this has been called the JButton is set to disabled.

Java Code:

button.setEnable(false);

in the class time there is a method using java Timer, (I know it is quite primitive) that times how long the user inputted to block facebook and then when that time ends it runs the configuration to unblock facebook inside an actionlistener.

Inside this configuration I create a new instance of a class called setButton.

Java Code:

new setButton();

The setButton class includes this code:

Java Code:

public class setButton extends Faceblock {
	public setButton() {
	
	button.setEnabled(true);
	
	
	}
}

Inside the main global Faceblock class I have created the instance of the button:

Java Code:

	final JButton button = new JButton("BLOCK FACEBOOK");

Then inside the class runner (this class does everything) the button is created.

Java Code:

public class Faceblock {


	int timeResultInt;
	int possibleTime;
	final JButton button = new JButton("BLOCK FACEBOOK");
	
	
void runner()
{
// all other code

inside runner if I set the button

Java Code:

button.setEnabled(false);

It will disable the button however using my class setButton it wont set it back to enabled :(

If you guys want all the code I am happy to supply if need be...

Thanks in advance,

Dan

**Fubarable** · 05-07-2011, 02:38 PM

Originally Posted by danborgir

If you guys want all the code I am happy to supply if need be...

You're not running some long-running process on Swing's EDT (event dispatch thread) by chance are you?

Speaking for myself, I wouldn't want all the code, but I'd like a small compilable runnable program that doesn't block anything (perhaps instead has a Thread.sleep to simulate), but that shows your problem.

**Fubarable** · 05-07-2011, 02:44 PM

Hm, looking again at your post, do you have two same-named variables that hold similar instances of the JButton? If so, making changes to the non-displayed JButton will of course have no effect on the displayed one. I think you may think that by extending a call you have control over variables in other instances of the class, and this simply doesn't work and is not how inheritance works.

I think we need to see more code.

**DarrylBurke** · 05-07-2011, 02:44 PM

In this particular case, it looks more likely that a blocking method is being called on the EDT rather than than a long-running process.

db

**DarrylBurke** · 05-07-2011, 02:46 PM

This also looks like a gross misuse of inheritance

Java Code:

public class setButton extends Faceblock {

db

**danborgir** · 05-07-2011, 02:51 PM

Faceblock class

Java Code:

/*    Faceblock 0.2
      Copyright (C) 2011 Daniel Pilch

      This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
      it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
      the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
      (at your option) any later version.

      This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
      but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
      MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
      GNU General Public License for more details.

      You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
      along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>. */


/* 0.3 Updates:

// Added a drop down list to block time & custom time
// Set warning for if hosts file is not editable
*/	  

/* TO DO 

// make unblock button enable after unblock
// JOption box asking how long faceblock wants to be blocked for cancel doesn't work
// add unblock button
// add registration
// add faceblock group to button
*/

import java.io.*;
import java.io.File;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Container;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.awt.event.InputEvent;
import java.awt.TrayIcon;
import javax.swing.Icon;
import java.util.regex.*;


public class Faceblock {


	int timeResultInt;
	int possibleTime;
	final JButton button = new JButton("BLOCK FACEBOOK");
	
	
void runner()
{
// Clear any instances of faceblock from hosts
	new clearInstances();
	new ExecCommand();
	
// Alert beep
	Toolkit tk = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit();
    tk.beep();
	
	
// Create new frame & set default close  
   final JFrame frame = new JFrame("Faceblock 0.2");
    
	
// Add Systemtray 
		
          final SystemTray tray = SystemTray.getSystemTray();
          Image image = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getImage("http://www.java-forums.org/images/tray.png");
							PopupMenu popup = new PopupMenu();
							MenuItem item = new MenuItem("Exit");
							popup.add(item);
		  final TrayIcon trayIcon = new TrayIcon(image, "Faceblock", popup);
							trayIcon.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
							public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
							frame.setVisible(true);
							


							}	});
							
							item.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
		  public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
							tray.remove(trayIcon);	
							System.exit(0);
							}	});
							
							
											
        
 // SYSTEM EXIT & MINIMISE SETTINGS

frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DO_NOTHING_ON_CLOSE);

	final JLabel check = new JLabel("Do you want to quit Faceblock? \n Remember if Facebook is blocked it will be until you have completed another block cycle!");
	frame.addWindowListener(new WindowAdapter() {
		public void windowClosing(WindowEvent we) {
			if( JOptionPane.YES_OPTION == JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(frame, check)) {
				System.exit(0);
				}
			}	
			public void windowClosed(WindowEvent we) {}
			public void windowDeactivated(WindowEvent we) {}
			public void windowOpened(WindowEvent we) {}
		}); 
	
// Create JPanel
	JPanel panel = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
	
// Set layout
	FlowLayout layout = new FlowLayout();
	

	
// Create Menu Bar
	JMenuBar menuBar = new JMenuBar();
	
// Faceblock icon
	final ImageIcon icon = new ImageIcon("http://www.java-forums.org/images/face.png");
	JLabel fbimage = new JLabel(icon);

//Faceblock banner
	final ImageIcon bannerIcon = new ImageIcon("http://www.java-forums.org/images/banner.png");
	JLabel fbanner = new JLabel(bannerIcon);
	
// Top left icon
	ImageIcon topimage = new ImageIcon("http://www.java-forums.org/images/lefticon.png");
	
// Create Faceblock Title
	JLabel title = new JLabel("Faceblock");
		
// Create FILE MENU	
	JMenu menu = new JMenu( "File" );
	menuBar.add( menu );
	
// Create Exit item 
	JMenuItem exit = new JMenuItem( "Exit" );
	ActionListener exitAction = new ActionListener()	{
		public void actionPerformed( ActionEvent actionEvent ) {
		
		//ADD CONFIRM EXIT HERE
		final JLabel check = new JLabel("Do you want to quit Faceblock? \n Remember if Facebook is blocked it will be until you have completed another block cycle!");

		if( JOptionPane.YES_OPTION == JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(frame, check)) {
				System.exit(0);
				}
		}
	};	
	exit.addActionListener(exitAction);
	menu.add( exit );
	
// Install the menu bar into the frame
	frame.setJMenuBar( menuBar );
	
// Create HELP menu
	JMenu helpMenu = new JMenu( "Help" );
	menuBar.add( helpMenu );
	
// Create HELP item
	JMenuItem help = new JMenuItem( "Help" );
	ActionListener helpAction = new ActionListener()	{
		public void actionPerformed( ActionEvent actionEvent ) {
		String url = "http://faceblock.co.uk/faceblockman/"; 
		try	{
		java.awt.Desktop.getDesktop().browse(java.net.URI.create(url));
		} catch (IOException ex) { 
		 System.err.println(); }
		}
	};
	
	help.addActionListener( helpAction );
	helpMenu.add( help );
	
// Create ABOUT & ADD LIKE BUTTON
// LIKE BUTTON

	final ImageIcon likeButton = new ImageIcon("http://www.java-forums.org/images/like.png");
	JButton likeImage = new JButton(likeButton);

		likeImage.addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter() {
		public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent e) {
			
		
		String url = "http://www.facebook.com/pages/Faceblock/196227340414887"; 
		try	{
		java.awt.Desktop.getDesktop().browse(java.net.URI.create(url));
		} catch (IOException ex) { 
		 System.err.println(); }
		} });



	JMenuItem about = new JMenuItem( "About" );
	ActionListener aboutAction = new ActionListener()	{
		public void actionPerformed( ActionEvent actionEvent ) {
		JOptionPane fr = new JOptionPane();
		JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(fr, "Faceblock \u00a9 2011 - Dan Pilch\nLogo design by Jason Mortimer", "Faceblock - Please donate", JOptionPane.INFORMATION_MESSAGE,
    icon);
	
		

		}
	};	
	about.addActionListener( aboutAction );
	helpMenu.add( about );

// Create FEEDBACK item
	JMenuItem feedback = new JMenuItem( "Feedback" );
	ActionListener feedbackAction = new ActionListener()	{
		public void actionPerformed( ActionEvent actionEvent ) {
		String url = "http://faceblock.co.uk/report.php"; 
		try	{
		java.awt.Desktop.getDesktop().browse(java.net.URI.create(url));
		} catch (IOException ex) { 
		 System.err.println(); }
		}
	};
	feedback.addActionListener( feedbackAction );
	helpMenu.add( feedback );
	
	
// BUTTON PRESSED	
	
    ActionListener actionListener = new ActionListener() {
      public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent actionEvent) {
	  
//validation	    		
		Object[] possibleValues = { "1 Minute", "5 Minutes", "15 Minutes", "30 Minutes", "1 Hour", "Other" };
		Object selectedValue = JOptionPane.showInputDialog(null, "How Long do you want to block Facebook?", "Block Time", JOptionPane.INFORMATION_MESSAGE, null, possibleValues, possibleValues[0]);
		
				
		if(selectedValue == null) {
			return;
			} else 
		if(selectedValue == "1 Minute") { 
			possibleTime = 1;
			timeResultInt = possibleTime;
			if(JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(new JFrame(),
			"Are you sure you want to block Facebook for " + possibleTime + " Minute?","Faceblock",
			JOptionPane.YES_NO_OPTION) == JOptionPane.NO_OPTION);	
			} else 
		if(selectedValue == "5 Minutes") { 
			possibleTime = 5; 
			timeResultInt = possibleTime;
			if(JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(new JFrame(),
			"Are you sure you want to block Facebook for " + possibleTime + " Minutes?","Faceblock",
			JOptionPane.YES_NO_OPTION) == JOptionPane.NO_OPTION);	
			} else
		if(selectedValue == "15 Minutes") { 
			possibleTime = 15; 
			timeResultInt = possibleTime;
			if(JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(new JFrame(),
			"Are you sure you want to block Facebook for " + possibleTime + " Minutes?","Faceblock",
			JOptionPane.YES_NO_OPTION) == JOptionPane.NO_OPTION);	
			} else
		if(selectedValue == "30 Minutes") { 
			possibleTime = 30;
			timeResultInt = possibleTime;
			if(JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(new JFrame(),
			"Are you sure you want to block Facebook for " + possibleTime + " Minutes?","Faceblock",
			JOptionPane.YES_NO_OPTION) == JOptionPane.NO_OPTION);	
			} else
		if(selectedValue == "1 Hour") { 
			possibleTime = 60;
			timeResultInt = possibleTime;
			if(JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(new JFrame(),
			"Are you sure you want to block Facebook for " + "1 Hour?","Faceblock",
			JOptionPane.YES_NO_OPTION) == JOptionPane.NO_OPTION);	
			} else
			
		if(selectedValue == "Other") { 
			
		JFrame timeInput = new JFrame();
		String timeResult = JOptionPane.showInputDialog(timeInput,"Enter ammount of time in minutes to block.\ne.g. 15 = 15 minutes:");
		Pattern p = Pattern.compile("[A-Z,a-z,&%$#@!()*^]");
		Matcher m = p.matcher(timeResult);
		
// Convert String of numbers to int for time()		
			
		if(m.find()) { 
		JOptionPane error = new JOptionPane();
		
		JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(error, "You entered an incorrect value");
		timeResult = JOptionPane.showInputDialog(timeInput,"Enter ammount of time in minutes to block.\ne.g. 15 = 15 minutes:");
		} 
		
		timeResultInt = Integer.parseInt(timeResult);
		
// Confirm BLOCK TIME	
		if(JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(new JFrame(),
			"Are you sure you want to block Facebook for " + timeResult + " Minute(s)?","Faceblock",
			JOptionPane.YES_NO_OPTION) == JOptionPane.NO_OPTION);
			
						
		} 
		
			
			
		
		
		
		
// Add hosts info to block Facebook		
		
		File TestWrite = new File("C:\\Windows\\System32\\drivers\\etc\\hosts");
		if(!TestWrite.canWrite()) {
		JOptionPane adminerror = new JOptionPane();
		JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(adminerror, "You have not ran Faceblock as an Administrator!", "Error", JOptionPane.ERROR_MESSAGE);
		return;
		} else { 
		try {
		FileWriter fstream = new FileWriter("c:\\Windows\\System32\\drivers\\etc\\hosts", true);
        BufferedWriter out = new BufferedWriter(fstream);
		out.write("\n178.63.127.253 facebook.com \n178.63.127.253 www.facebook.com\n178.63.127.253 www.facebook.com/home.php?\n178.63.127.253 m.facebook.com");
		out.close();
		} catch  (IOException ex) { 
		System.err.println();
		JOptionPane Eerror = new JOptionPane();
		JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(Eerror, "Unknown Error, please restart the program.", "Error", JOptionPane.ERROR_MESSAGE);
		return;	}  } 

// ExecCommand FLUSHES DNS			
		new ExecCommand();
		Toolkit tk = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit();
		tk.beep();
		
// Restart browser info box		
		if(JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(new JFrame(),
			"Do you want to restart your browser now?","Faceblock",
			JOptionPane.YES_NO_OPTION) == JOptionPane.YES_OPTION)	

// Kill Browser IF yes is selected			
			new ExecKill();

// Start time functions and pass time and hide faceblock frame

		if(frame.isShowing() && timeResultInt == 1)	{
			frame.setVisible(false);
			
			trayIcon.displayMessage("Faceblock minimised", 
           "Facebook has been blocked for " + timeResultInt + " minute",
           TrayIcon.MessageType.INFO);
		   time timeFunction = new time();
			timeFunction.timer(timeResultInt);
			button.setEnabled(false);
		} else { 
		if(frame.isShowing())	{
			frame.setVisible(false);
			
			trayIcon.displayMessage("Faceblock minimised", 
           "Facebook has been blocked for " + timeResultInt + " minutes",
           TrayIcon.MessageType.INFO);
		   time timeFunction = new time();
			timeFunction.timer(timeResultInt);
			button.setEnabled(false);
		   }}
		
			
      }
    };
	
		button.addActionListener(actionListener);


		Container contentPane = frame.getContentPane();
		contentPane.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
	
		contentPane.add(fbimage);
		contentPane.add(fbanner);
		contentPane.add(button);
		contentPane.add(likeImage);
		frame.setSize(310, 180);
		frame.setVisible(true);
		frame.setResizable(false);
		frame.setIconImage(new ImageIcon("http://www.java-forums.org/images/tray.png").getImage());

		try{
		tray.add(trayIcon);}
		catch(Exception e)
		{}
		

		// Center screen
// Get the size of the screen
    Dimension dim = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getScreenSize();
    
// Determine the new location of the window
    int w = frame.getSize().width;
    int h = frame.getSize().height;
    int x = (dim.width-w)/2;
    int y = (dim.height-h)/2;
    
// Move the window
    frame.setLocation(x, y);
	


//  To tell user faceblock has been minimized
	
	}
	

	
  public static void main(String args[]) throws Exception
  {
	Faceblock myrun = new Faceblock();
	myrun.runner();
	} 	
	}

Time class:

Java Code:

import java.util.*;
import java.util.Scanner;
import java.io.*;
import sun.audio.*;
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.Timer;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;

public class time extends Faceblock {

	


	public void timer(int i) {
	
				

		int sleepTime = i * 60000;
								
		ActionListener taskPerformer = new ActionListener() {
		public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
		FileUtil util = new FileUtil();
        util.removeLineFromFile("c:\\Windows\\System32\\drivers\\etc\\hosts", "178.63.127.253 facebook.com");
        util.removeLineFromFile("c:\\Windows\\System32\\drivers\\etc\\hosts", "178.63.127.253 www.facebook.com");    
        util.removeLineFromFile("c:\\Windows\\System32\\drivers\\etc\\hosts", "178.63.127.253 www.facebook.com/home.php?");  
		util.removeLineFromFile("c:\\Windows\\System32\\drivers\\etc\\hosts", "178.63.127.253 m.facebook.com");

		System.out.println("Facebook Unblocked");
		
// ExecCommand FLUSHES DNS			
		new ExecCommand();
		Toolkit tk = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit();
		tk.beep();
		
// Restart browser info box		
		if(JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(new JFrame(),
			"Facebook unblocked! Do you want to restart your browser now?","Facebook Unblocked",
			JOptionPane.YES_NO_OPTION) == JOptionPane.YES_OPTION)	
			new setButton();
			
			
			
// Kill Browser IF yes is selected			
			new ExecKill();
			new setButton();
						
	}
		
	};

				Timer time = new Timer(sleepTime, taskPerformer);
				time.setRepeats(false);
				time.start();
				
				
				
		
	}
	
	
	
	  
      
  
}

setButton class:

Java Code:

public class setButton extends Faceblock {
	public setButton() {
	
	button.setEnabled(true);
	
	
	}
}

Sorry for so much code!!!

The other classes used are of no real use to yourselves, only if you're compiling the code yourself.

**Fubarable** · 05-07-2011, 03:10 PM

Yeah, Darryl and my fears are correct at least for one of your problems -- you are misusing inheritance. While setButton extends Faceblock, any instances of setButton are completely distinct from instances of Faceblock and calling methods that change the button state in setButton will have absolutely no effect on your visualized instances in your Faceblock object. If you want another class to change the state of a field of a Faceblock instance, that other class must have a reference to that instance, not a completely distinct other object from an inherited class.

**Fubarable** · 05-07-2011, 03:13 PM

Next I have to wonder what new ExecCommand() and new ExecKill() do. Both Darryl and I fear that you may be running long processes here on the Swing event dispatch thread effectively freezing your application. Read up on Concurrency in Swing for more on this.

**danborgir** · 05-07-2011, 03:27 PM

ExecKill:

Java Code:

import java.io.*;
public class ExecKill {
public ExecKill() {  
        try {  
             String firefox = "taskkill /IM firefox.exe "; 
			 String iexplore = "taskkill /IM iexplore.exe ";
			 String chrome = "taskkill /IM chrome.exe ";
			 String safari = "taskkill /IM safari.exe ";
			 
			 
			 
             Process processff = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(firefox);  
			 Process processie = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(iexplore);  
			 Process processchr = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(chrome);  
			 Process processsaf = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(safari);

			 
			 
			 System.out.println("Executing command: " + firefox + iexplore + chrome + safari);
		

            } catch (IOException e) {  
              System.err.println(e);  
         }  
      }  
	  
	 }

ExecCommand:

Java Code:

import java.io.*;
public class ExecCommand {
public ExecCommand() {  
        try {  
             String command = "ipconfig /flushdns";  
             Process process = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(command);  
			 System.out.println("Executing command: " + command);  
            } catch (IOException e) {  
              System.err.println(e);  
         }  
      }  
	  
	 
}

Both these classes run their processes and finish.

How could I create a reference to the instance of button in the Time class? Sorry for what seems like quite a trivial question however I am still pretty new to java and yes it does look like I have misused inheritance by extending Faceblock!

**DarrylBurke** · 05-07-2011, 03:53 PM

Additional to anything said so far: read and implement all the recommendations in all sections of When Runtime.exec() won't

db

**Fubarable** · 05-07-2011, 03:55 PM

Suppose I had a class ButtonPanel that had a JButton, button, that I wanted outside classes to be able to enable/disable, I'd give that class a public method that would allow it to do this:

Java Code:

class ButtonPanel extends JPanel {
   //...

   private JButton button = new JButton("Do it");

   // ...
   
   public void setButtonEnabled(boolean enabled) {
      button.setEnabled(enabled);
   }
   
}

Then in the other class that needs to re-enable the button, I'd pass a reference to this class's object into it, say in a constructor parameter. For example:

Java Code:

class MyTimerListener implements ActionListener {
   ButtonPanel btnPanel;
   
   public MyTimerListener(ButtonPanel btnPanel) {
      this.btnPanel = btnPanel; // set the reference in the constructor
   }

I could then use these classes like so:

Java Code:

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

import javax.swing.*;

public class DisableAndEnableButton {

   private static void createAndShowUI() {
      JFrame frame = new JFrame("Disable/Enable");
      frame.getContentPane().add(new ButtonPanel());
      frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
      frame.pack();
      frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
      frame.setVisible(true);
   }

   public static void main(String[] args) {
      java.awt.EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
         public void run() {
            createAndShowUI();
         }
      });
   }
}

class ButtonPanel extends JPanel {
   private static final int MAX = 10;
   private JButton button = new JButton("Do it");
   private JSpinner spinner = new JSpinner(new SpinnerNumberModel(1, 1, MAX, 1));
   
   public ButtonPanel() {
      button.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
         public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
            int delay = ((Integer)spinner.getValue()).intValue() * 1000;

            // **** here I create the object, passing in the reference to the ButtonPanel
            new Timer(delay, new MyTimerListener(ButtonPanel.this)).start();
            button.setEnabled(false);
         }
      });
      add(new JLabel("Seconds to disable:"));
      add(spinner);
      add(Box.createHorizontalStrut(10));
      add(button);
   }
   
   public void setButtonEnabled(boolean enabled) {
      button.setEnabled(enabled);
   }
   
}

class MyTimerListener implements ActionListener {
   private ButtonPanel btnPanel;
   
   public MyTimerListener(ButtonPanel btnPanel) {
      this.btnPanel = btnPanel;
   }

   public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
      btnPanel.setButtonEnabled(true);
      ((Timer)e.getSource()).stop();
   }
}

**danborgir** · 05-07-2011, 04:03 PM

Thanks a lot guys! Your knowledge is incredibly valuable and I really appreciate your help, I'll try out your recommendations and post back the results!:)