Thread: drawString and JTextField

ok i have two little questions i hope you can help me answer.

1. if you have a class that extends applet and implements runnable with a borderlayout set and you create an object from another class that extends panel (to put in North), if all that class does is have a String that gets used by the object in the calling class how do i use drawString (or another method) to paint it on the Panel in North? can Panel use the paint() method?

and...

2. in the original class described above (the applet class) i want to use a JTextField over an area that has a background color of black, how do i make the text field (i guess) white so i can see where it is and what is typed in it.

thanks

ok,

im just learning Swing and i was taught in awt so if there is another way to draw a string to an applet that would be helpful. so...

when the applet class calls the panel class (the one with the String i want displayed; the String is a class variable and not in the constructor as the constructor is blank cause i dunno what to put in it) via the object i made 'txt', i then put the object at North when added in the init() method.

the run() and paint() methods in the applet class call the string specifically (the project im on says i must use animation or what not so the String is supposed to change colors every 500 miliseconds) but when i run the applet the component in Center uses up the space in Center and North as if the Panel isnt there, so therefore there is no String showed...

before i changed the class into 2 classes (yes, it was all just one class before) the String was drawn using coordinates and it worked perfectly. now it doesnt show.



2. I would expect it to have a white background as well but no, all i see is black and when i click on the textfield it will flicker white real quick and show the text then go back to black. never worked with Swing before........ should i change it from an applet to a JApplet?

thanks

k, sorry for not posting this earlier but the comp with the code currently has no way to get online.

so here is the code:

import java.applet.*;   // imports the applet package
import javax.swing.*;   // imports the swing package
import java.awt.*;      // imports the awt package
import java.awt.event.*;
 
public class OnlinePayroll extends JApplet implements Runnable,  //**  creates class OnlinePayroll
                                             ActionListener,    //**  extends applet class
                                             FocusListener      //**  implements Runnable interface
{
    Thread th = new Thread(this);                                   // creates a new Thread named th
    int count[] = {0};                                              //**  initiates variable array
                                                                    //**  to count repetions
 
    Onlinetxt doc = new Onlinetxt();
    Onlineghg calc = new Onlineghg();
 
 
    private Image dbimage;  // creates a new Image object to doubleBuffer
    private Graphics dbg;   // creates a new Graphics object to doubleBuffer
 
    Font tfont = new Font ("Arial",Font.BOLD, 20); // initiates a font for the string calc
 
    public void init ()                 // start of init() method
    {
        setLayout(new BorderLayout()); //sets applets layout to gridlayout with 0 rows 1 column
        //setBackground(Color.black);     //sets background color to black
 
        add(calc, "North");
        calc.setVisible(true);
 
        add(doc, "Center");
        doc.setVisible(true);
    }
 
    public void start ()    // start of start() method
    {
        th.start();         // starts thread th
    }
 
    public void run ()          // start of run() method
    {
        while (true)            // enters forever while loop
        {
            repaint ();         // calls repaint method
            try                 // enters try
            {
                th.sleep(100);  // tries to sleep th for 100 miliseconds
            }
            catch (Exception i) // catches exception if unable to sleep th thread
            {
            }
 
            count[0]++;                                                 //**  adds 1 to count
            if (count[0] == 4)                                          //**  every repetition
                count[0] = 0;                                           //**  and resets to zero
                                                                        //**  once it reaches 4
 
            Thread.currentThread().setPriority(Thread.MAX_PRIORITY);    // sets threads priority to max
        }                       // forever while loop code stops here
    }
 
    public void paint (Graphics g)          //start of paint() method
    {
        g.setFont(tfont);                   //adds font tfont to graphics object
        //String s = new String(g.getFont());
 
        if (count[0] == 0)                  //**
        {                                   //**
            g.setColor(Color.red);          //**
            g.drawString(calc.calc, 180, 20);    //**
        }                                   //**
        else if (count[0] == 1)             //**
        {                                   //**
            g.setColor(Color.green);        //**
            g.drawString(calc.calc, 180, 20);    //**  Series of if statements
        }                                   //**  to decide which color to draw
        else if (count[0] == 2)             //**  string calc in: red, green, blue, or yellow
        {                                   //**
            g.setColor(Color.blue);         //**
            g.drawString(calc.calc, 180, 20);    //**
        }                                   //**
        else if (count[0] == 3)             //**
        {                                   //**
            g.setColor(Color.yellow);       //**
            g.drawString(calc.calc, 180, 20);    //**
        }                                   //**
    }
 
    public void update(Graphics g)
    {
        if(dbimage==null)                                                       //**
        {                                                                       //**
            dbimage = createImage(this.getSize().width, this.getSize().height); //**
            dbg = dbimage.getGraphics();                                        //**
        }                                                                       //**
        dbg.setColor(getBackground());                                          //**  Double Buffer
        dbg.fillRect(0, 0, this.getSize().width, this.getSize().height);        //**
                                                                                //**
        dbg.setColor(getForeground());                                          //**
        paint(dbg);                                                             //**
                                                                                //**
        g.drawImage(dbimage, 0, 0, this);                                       //**
    }
 
    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
    {
 
    }
 
    public void focusLost(FocusEvent f)
    {
 
    }
 
    public void focusGained(FocusEvent f)
    {
 
    }
}

import java.applet.*;   // imports the applet package
import javax.swing.*;   // imports the swing package
import java.awt.*;      // imports the awt package

public class Onlinetxt extends JPanel
{
    Label Elbl = new Label("Enter emplyees department:");
    JTextField Etxt = new JTextField(20);
    Label Slbl = new Label("Salary or hourly?");
    JTextField Stxt = new JTextField(20);
    Label Hlbl = new Label("Enter the number of hours worked:");
    JTextField Htxt = new JTextField(20);
 
    public Onlinetxt()
    {
        setLayout(new GridLayout(0,2));
 
        add(Elbl);
        Elbl.setAlignment(Elbl.RIGHT);
        add(Etxt);
        Etxt.setBackground(Color.white);
        Etxt.setVisible(true);
 
        add(Slbl);
        Slbl.setAlignment(Slbl.RIGHT);
        add(Stxt);
        Stxt.setVisible(true);
 
        add(Hlbl);
        Hlbl.setAlignment(Hlbl.RIGHT);
        add(Htxt);
        Htxt.setVisible(true);
    }
}

import java.applet.*;   // imports the applet package
import javax.swing.*;   // imports the swing package
import java.awt.*;      // imports the awt package

public class Onlineghg extends JPanel implements Runnable
{
    String calc = new String("Calculate your pay issues here!!!!"); // creates new String named calc
 
    public Onlineghg()
    {
        //add(calc);
    }
 
    public void run()
    {
 
    }
}

the only changes i made was switching from applet and panel to Japplet and Jpanel respectively. at this point in time im only concerned with cosmetics, i am pretty sure i can handle the logic, so any help with this would be great.

thanks

ok...

well first off thanks for helping me with this and i apologize for any inconvenience my posts are...

when i changed the classes to extend Japplet and Jpanel instead of their awt counterparts the animated string did appear (which is good) but BEHIND the label of "What department is the employee in?". the String can be seen partially which confirms that it is there. The labels (not a jlabel, should it?) and textfields in 'Center' are still taking up space in 'North' where i want the String to be but since i have to place the String using coordinates its not being placed on the jpanel and the jpanel is being wasted and its like its not even there even though its supposed to be in 'North'.

The area around the labels are kinda off color and not white (again, could it be cause its not a jlabel?) and only when i click on or type in the textboxes does the actual box of the textbox appear, i dont know if that is normal however, when i do type in it the letters are visible and do not flicker which is a plus.


thats what the program does when run

thanks

btw, which borderlayout tutorial are you talking about? there was no link posted with the recommendation, so how would you go around the drawString situation?