Having Trouble with Keyboard Input with Applets

[cg2916]

I am creating an applet with keyboard input. On one of my computers, keyboard input worked. Now, it doesn't. Here is my code:

import java.applet.AudioClip;
import java.awt.Cursor;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.Point;
import java.awt.Toolkit;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.KeyEvent;
import java.awt.event.KeyListener;
import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;

import javax.imageio.ImageIO;
import javax.swing.AbstractAction;
import javax.swing.JApplet;
import javax.swing.Timer;

public class ChuckNorrisApplet extends JApplet implements KeyListener, Runnable {
	private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
	private Thread thread = null;
	private BufferedImage title, i1, i2, i3, i4;
	private Timer timer;
	private boolean b1 = true, b2 = false, b3 = false, b4 = false;
	private boolean b1s = true, b2s = false, b3s = false, b4s = false;
	private AudioClip theme;

	public void init() {
		thread = new Thread(this);
		thread.start();
		setBlankCursor();
		loadImages();
		loadSound();
		timer();
		addKeyListener(this);
	}

	private void loadSound() {
		theme = getAudioClip(getDocumentBase(), "theme.wav");
		theme.loop();
	}

	private void timer() {
		timer = new javax.swing.Timer(250, new AbstractAction() {
			private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;

			@Override
			public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
				b1 = !b1;
				b2 = !b2;
				b3 = !b3;
				b4 = !b4;
			}
		});
		timer.start();
	}

	private void loadImages() {
		try {
			title = ImageIO.read(new File("title.png"));
			i1 = ImageIO.read(new File("new.png"));
			i2 = ImageIO.read(new File("continue.png"));
			i3 = ImageIO.read(new File("options.png"));
			i4 = ImageIO.read(new File("quit.png"));
		} catch (IOException e) {
			e.printStackTrace();
		}
	}

	private void setBlankCursor() {
		BufferedImage cursorImg = new BufferedImage(16, 16, BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_ARGB);
		Cursor blankCursor = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().createCustomCursor(cursorImg, new Point(0, 0), "blank cursor");
		getContentPane().setCursor(blankCursor);
	}

	public void paint(Graphics g) {
		if (b1 && b1s)
			g.drawImage(i1, 0, 0, this);
		else if (b2 && b2s)
			g.drawImage(i2, 0, 0, this);
		else if (b3 && b3s)
			g.drawImage(i3, 0, 0, this);
		else if (b4 && b4s)
			g.drawImage(i4, 0, 0, this);
		else
			g.drawImage(title, 0, 0, this);
	}

	@SuppressWarnings("unused")
	public void run() {
		int frames = 0;
		double unprocessedSeconds = 0;
		long lastTime = System.nanoTime();
		double secondsPerTick = 1 / 60.0;
		int tickCount = 0;

		while (true) {
			long time = System.currentTimeMillis();
			repaint();

			time = (1000 / 60) - (System.currentTimeMillis() - time);
			if (time > 0) {
				try {
					Thread.sleep(time);
				} catch (Exception e) {
					e.printStackTrace();
				}
			}
		}
	}

	@Override
	public void keyPressed(KeyEvent e) {
		if (e.getKeyCode() == KeyEvent.VK_DOWN) {
			if (b1s) {
				b1s = false;
				b2s = true;
			} else if (b2s) {
				b2s = false;
				b3s = true;
			} else if (b3s) {
				b3s = false;
				b1s = true;
			} else if (b4s) {
				b4s = false;
				b1s = true;
			}
		}
		if (e.getKeyCode() == KeyEvent.VK_UP) {
			if (b1s) {
				b1s = false;
				b3s = true;
			} else if (b2s) {
				b2s = false;
				b1s = true;
			} else if (b3s) {
				b3s = false;
				b2s = true;
			} else if (b4s) {
				b4s = false;
				b2s = true;
			}
		}
		if (e.getKeyCode() == KeyEvent.VK_LEFT) {
			if (b1s) {
				b1s = false;
				b3s = true;
			} else if (b2s) {
				b2s = false;
				b1s = true;
			} else if (b3s) {
				b3s = false;
				b4s = true;
			} else if (b4s) {
				b4s = false;
				b3s = true;
			}
		}
		if (e.getKeyCode() == KeyEvent.VK_RIGHT) {
			if (b1s) {
				b1s = false;
				b2s = true;
			} else if (b2s) {
				b2s = false;
				b3s = true;
			} else if (b3s) {
				b3s = false;
				b4s = true;
			} else if (b4s) {
				b4s = false;
				b3s = true;
			}
		}
	}

	@Override
	public void keyTyped(KeyEvent e) {
	}

	@Override
	public void keyReleased(KeyEvent e) {
	}
}

Thanks in advance.

[Norm]

Does the component with KeyListener have the focus? Try click on it to see if that changes how the program works.
If that's the problem look at the Component class for methods to get the focus to a component.

[cg2916]

Added requestFocus() in the last line of the init() method. Nope, still won't work.

[Norm]

Did it work when you clicked on it to give it focus?

[cg2916]

Did it work when you clicked on it to give it focus?

Nope

[Norm]

Not all components are capable of getting the focus. You need to call a method to tell the system that the component can get the focus. Look at the Component class's methods to see.

[cg2916]

I found something! Apparently, after trying requestFocus() in various places, it only works when I put it in my while(true) loop. That's weird. If I put it in my loop, will it slow down my applet?

[Norm]

That's weird. I've never seen that. Usually you only need to request it once when the app starts.
I don't think it will slow down the applet.
Try measuring it to see.

[cg2916]

Doesn't slow it down. It works!