GUI: Graphics and Painting
April 19, 2023
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Recap: Components & Events
[Link] contains many JComponents that can be added to your
GUI.
Event listeners respond to user actions accordingly.
Refer to the Java API (Java SE 17) and the textbook for details!!
[Link]
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javax/swing/[Link] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Graphics
Everything on a screen (even text!) must be drawn.
Every component is responsible for drawing itself!
If you want to draw on a component then you need to create a
subclass of it and override paintComponent().
import javax . swing . ∗ ;
import java . awt . ∗ ;
c l a s s HelloWorldDisplay extends JPanel {
public void paintComponent ( Graphics g ) {
super . paintComponent ( g ) ;
g . drawString ( " Hello World ! " , 2 0 , 3 0 ) ;
}
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Graphics
Every GUI component has a Graphics object associated with it
(graphics context).
Keeps track of colours, fonts, ...
Has instance methods to draw shapes, text and images.
import javax . swing . ∗ ;
import java . awt . ∗ ;
c l a s s HelloWorldDisplay extends JPanel {
public void paintComponent ( Graphics g ) {
super . paintComponent ( g ) ; / / why a r e we d o i n g t h i s ?
g . f i l l R e c t ( x , y , width , height ) ;
}
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Repainting
Define paintComponent() BUT call repaint()
paintComponent() is called when the component is first drawn, and
when the size changes.
It is called by the system: you should NOT call it directly!
Call repaint() defined in the Component class to inform the system
that the component needs to be redrawn
repaint() returns immediately and the call to paintComponent()
happens later!
Use instance variables to change what you want to display!
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Java Coordinate System
Figure: Java Coordinate System
How can I get the width and height of a component?
i n t width = t h i s . getWidth ( ) ;
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Java Coordinate System
Figure: Java Coordinate System
How can I get the width and height of a component?
i n t width = t h i s . getWidth ( ) ;
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Code Example: BallController
Figure: Ball Controller with Graphics
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Colors & Fonts
There are different ways of specifying colors but the most common is RGB
Color myColor = new Color ( r , g , b ) ;
/ / r , g , and b a r e i n t e g e r s i n t h e range 0 t o 2 5 5 .
[Link] == [Link]
Set the current color with methods defined in the Component class:
g . setColor(color);
[Link](color);
[Link](color);
In Java, you can specify the font name, style and size.
Font plainFont = new Font ( " S e r i f " , Font . PLAIN , 1 2 ) ;
// d e f a u l t s i z e i s 12
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Graphics2D
Subclass of Graphics that allows for more complex drawing!
Allows for antialiasing and drawing thicker lines
Can use a more complex coordinates system & perform
transformations
public void paintComponent ( Graphics g ) {
super . paintComponent ( g ) ;
Graphics2D g2 ;
g2 = ( Graphics2D ) g ;
...
/ / Draw on t h e component u s i n g g2 .
}
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Resources
[Link]
desktop/java/awt/[Link]
[Link]
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