Thread: JButton Current Location on a JPanel

I created a JFrame that contained a 5x5 grid of JButtons. I made it to where only buttons directly one button up, down, left, and right could be clicked. I used the following code to check to make sure that the button being clicked was valid:


if (pointer == (grid [2][0])){
System.out.println();
assignAction(grid[1][0]);
assignAction(grid[2][1]);
assignAction(grid[3][0]);
}
if (((pointer.equals(grid[0][1]) || pointer.equals(grid [1][0])) && (e.getSource().equals(grid[0][0]))) == true){
assignAction(grid[0][1]);
assignAction(grid[1][0]);
assignAction(grid[0][0]);
performAction(grid[0][0]);
pointer = grid [0][0];
}
else if (((pointer.equals(grid[0][0]) || pointer.equals(grid[0][2]) || pointer.equals(grid[1][1])) && (e.getSource().equals(grid[0][1]))) == true){
assignAction(grid[0][0]);
assignAction(grid[0][2]);
assignAction(grid[1][1]);
assignAction(grid[0][1]);
performAction(grid[0][1]);
pointer = grid[0][1];
}


I have now determined I want the JButtons in a JPanel connected to a SplitJPanel. I have done this successfully. However, now the buttons directly one block away from my "pointer" is marked as invalid. What is the equivalent code to the bolded code listed above but for a JPanel rather than a JFrame? I need to make sure that the CURRENT location of the pointer is found somehow so the program doesn't get confused and make the "pointer" go to the wrong adjacent buttons (a problem I ran into when doing just (if pointer == grid[#][#]).

Thanks for the help and if any other information is needed I'd be happy to provide it.

I can't think of an occasion when a GUI component acts differently on a JPanel than it does on a JFrame. Maybe in default characteristics like opaque versus transparent, but those are documented, and I'm not 100% sure exist.

The logic you coded for the JButton grid should provide the same results when added to either a JPanel or a JFrame. Something else is causing the differences you've observed, and you haven't shown enough code for a third party - well, this third party - to determine the root cause.

There's something odd about this if condition:

if (((pointer.equals(grid[0][1]) || pointer.equals(grid [1][0])) && (e.getSource().equals(grid[0][0]))) == true)

But I can't quite put my finger on it. I think it's that the '== true' is unnecessary. It's like saying,

if ( true == true ), or

if ( false == true )

when all that is needed is:

if ( true ), or

if ( false ).

But that won't solve your problem. It's just a minor point.