Simple Arrow Key Movement Troubles

[javathon]

Hi guys,

I am having some trouble making a very simple program using arrow-key movement. The program is supposed to simply move an image according to what arrow key is pressed. I originally did this without using while loops or booleans (and it worked) but the animation was extremely jumpy. I was told that the easiest way to fix this would be to use boolean statements that toggle when the key is pressed/released, thereby activating/deactivating while loops that control movement. The following code is called from a separate initiation class, but the real meat and bones of the movement are in here. When I run it, I receive no error, but the character refuses to move when i press the arrow keys. The window also does not close, making me think the program is stuck in one of the while loops. Help please?

package Enemies;

import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.io.File;

import javax.imageio.ImageIO;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.awt.Rectangle;
 
public class Character extends Canvas {
 
	// Read about JFrames and Canvas objects
	// http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Java_Programming/Canvas
	
	// Global variable
	boolean upmove = false; boolean downmove = false; boolean rightmove = false; boolean leftmove = false;
	int myX; int myY;
	
    	public Character(int x, int y,JFrame window) {
    		setSize(new Dimension(window.getWidth(), window.getHeight())); // set size of Canvas
    		myX = x; myY = y; // set globals from calling program    	
    		// IMPORTANT - this is an object that listens for user key input
    		
    		
        	addKeyListener(new KeyAdapter() {
            		public void keyPressed(KeyEvent evt) {
            			
                		moveTrue(evt); // custom method to evaluate user input
                		moveChar();
            		}
            		public void keyReleased(KeyEvent evt) {
            			moveFalse(evt);
            			moveChar();

            			
            		}
            		
            		
					
        	});
    	}
    
    	// This method is a built in method of a canvas that can be overridden to draw what you want
    	public void paint(Graphics g) {
    		try {
    			Image link = new DrawImage().LoadImage("link.png");
    			g.drawImage(link,myX,myY,null);
    			g.setColor(Color.red);
    			Rectangle playerBox = new Rectangle(myX+1,myY+1,1,1 );
    			//Rectangle boxDet = new Rectangle(0,0,50,50);
    			//if (boxDet.intersects(playerBox)) {
    			//	g.setColor(Color.red);
    			//	g.drawString("You made it!",0,10);
    			//}
    			// g.fillOval(myX, myY, 30, 30);
    	}
    		catch (IOException e) {
    			System.out.println("ARE YOU DUMB?????");
    		}
    	}
 
    	public void moveTrue(KeyEvent evt) {
    		
     		switch (evt.getKeyCode()) {
     				case KeyEvent.VK_DOWN:
     					
     					downmove = true;
     					
     					// this is the section that 

     					//myY += 5;
     					//break;
     					
            		case KeyEvent.VK_UP:
            			upmove = true;
                		// myY -= 5;
                		// break;
                		
            		case KeyEvent.VK_LEFT:
            			leftmove = true;
                		// myX -= 5;
                		// break;
            		case KeyEvent.VK_RIGHT:
            			rightmove = true;
                		// myX += 5;
                		// break;
                	
                	
               }
                	
 
        	// repaint(); // This built in method calls the canvas paint method
    	}
    	public void moveFalse(KeyEvent evt) {
    		
     		switch (evt.getKeyCode()) {
     				case KeyEvent.VK_DOWN:
     					
     					downmove = false;
     					
     					
     					//myY += 5;
     					//break;
     					
            		case KeyEvent.VK_UP:
            			upmove = false;
                		// myY -= 5;
                		// break;
                		
            		case KeyEvent.VK_LEFT:
            			leftmove = false;
                		// myX -= 5;
                		// break;
            		case KeyEvent.VK_RIGHT:
            			rightmove = false;
                		// myX += 5;
                		// break;
                	
                	
               }
                	
 
        	// repaint(); // This built in method calls the canvas paint method
    	}
    	public void moveChar() {
    		
    		while (downmove == true) {
    			myY += 5;
    		}
    		while (upmove == true) {
    			myY -= 5;
    		}
    		while (leftmove == true){
    			myX -= 5;
    		}
    		while (rightmove == true){
    			myX += 5;
    		}
    		
    		repaint();
    	}
}

[camickr]

The window also does not close, making me think the program is stuck in one of the while loops.

Well that is easy to check. Did you add a System.out.println(...) to check your theory?

Also, don't use a Canvas. This is a Swing application so your should be using a JPanel (or JComponent) for a custom component.