Thread: Making a universal RGB Color in Swing

Hello. So I am making a small "paint" program in java as a GUI. I have most of it done but one thing is giving trouble. I need to be able to set an RGB value from one class to another. I have tried get/set RGB but that gave me errors. I ultimately need to have the user input the values to something like a jtextfield and then use that value with the particular shape being drawn. So I have it so I can draw circle and rectangles and change their color manually, but getting the RGB as input and applying it to a shape thats within an if statement is eluding me.


In this bit of code, the x and y are fine, but the third argument is the color. How do I dynamically (without if statements or a switch) change the final color value within this if statement?

 if(shapeSelected.equals(SHAPE_RECTANGLE)) { drawingShape = new Rectangle(e.getX(), e.getY(), colorSelected);

Here is the full code:

import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.event.MouseEvent;
import java.awt.event.MouseMotionListener;
import java.util.ArrayList;
 
import javax.swing.JPanel;
 
import com.herbst.shapes.Circle;
import com.herbst.shapes.Rectangle;
 
public class PaintPanel extends JPanel {
	private String shapeSelected = SHAPE_RECTANGLE;
	private Color colorSelected = COLOR_RED;
	private ArrayList<Shape> shapes;
 
	public static final Color COLOR_RED = "RED";
//	public static final int COLOR_GREEN = 0;
//	public static final int COLOR_BLUE = 0;
 
	public static final String SHAPE_RECTANGLE = "rectangle";
	public static final String SHAPE_CIRCLE = "circle";
	public static final String SHAPE_TRIANGLE = "triangle";
 
	//Color red2 = new Color(155,0,0);
	// private ArrayList<Shape> circles; only need 1 rectangle array
 
	public PaintPanel() {
		shapes = new ArrayList<Shape>();
 
		addMouseMotionListener(new MouseMotionListener() {
			private Shape drawingShape = null;
 
			@Override
			public void mouseMoved(MouseEvent e) {
				drawingShape = null;
			}
//				System.out.println("mouse Released" + e.getX() + ", " + e.getY());
//				drawingShape = new Rectangle(e.getX(), e.getY(), Color.Black);
//				addShape(drawingShape);
 
			@Override
			public void mouseDragged(MouseEvent e) {
 
				if (drawingShape == null) {
					if(shapeSelected.equals(SHAPE_RECTANGLE)) {
						drawingShape = new Rectangle(e.getX(), e.getY(), colorSelected);
					} else if(shapeSelected.equals(SHAPE_CIRCLE)) {
						drawingShape = new Circle(e.getX(), e.getY(), Color.BLUE);
					} else {
						drawingShape = new Rectangle(e.getX(), e.getY(), Color.BLUE);
					}
					if(colorSelected.equals(COLOR_RED)) {
 
					}
 
					addShape(drawingShape);
				} else {
					drawingShape.setWidth(e.getX() - drawingShape.getX());
					drawingShape.setHeight(e.getY() - drawingShape.getY());
					repaint();
				}
//					 System.out.println("mouse Released" + e.getX() + ", " + e.getY(), Color.BLACK);
//					drawingShape = new Rectangle(e.getX(), e.getY(), Color.Black);
//					addShape(drawingShape);
			}
		});
	}
 
//	
//		shapes.add(new Rectangle(100, 100, Color.black));
//		shapes.add(new Rectangle(400, 200, new Color(1,0,1)));
//
//		shapes.add(new Circle(200, 300));
//		shapes.add(new Circle(400, 30));
 
	private void addShape(Shape shape) {
		shapes.add(shape);
		repaint();
	}
 
	// Called automatically
	@Override
	protected void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
		super.paintComponent(g);
		for (Shape shape : shapes) {
			shape.paint(g);
		}
 
	}
 
	public String getShapeSelected() {
		return shapeSelected;
	}
 
	public void setShapeSelected(String shapeSelected) {
		this.shapeSelected = shapeSelected;
	}
 
	public String getColorSelected() {
		return colorSelected;
	}
 
	public void setColorSelected(String colorSelected) {
		this.colorSelected = colorSelected;
	}

And here is the relevant bit of code from the other class:

	rdbtnRed.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
 
		@Override
		public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0) {
			// TODO Auto-generated method stub
			paintPanel.setColorSelected(PaintPanel.COLOR_RED);
		}
 
	});

Let me know if you need the rest of the code.

Thank you.

It was actually commented out. So I know I need something like this: Color c = new Color(255, 0, 0); for red, correct? But putting that into my code:

drawingShape = new Rectangle(e.getX(), e.getY(), Color.c);

like that or this:

drawingShape = new Rectangle(e.getX(), e.getY(), Color.getColor(c));

doesn't work. - So how do I call that color object within that code?

Ok, so your code verbatim worked. I was trying to use stuff like Color.c and getColor(c) It works fine with just c as the final argument. Thank you for that.

One more problem - setting the colors. so I can set them manually, like this:

public int COLOR_RED;
	public int COLOR_GREEN = 100;
	public int COLOR_BLUE; 
 
	Color c = new Color(COLOR_RED, COLOR_GREEN, COLOR_BLUE);

Right now I am trying to use getters/setters, like this:

	public int getRed() {
		return COLOR_RED;
	}
 
	public void setRed(int red) {
		this.COLOR_RED = red;
	}
 
	public int getGreen() {
		return COLOR_GREEN;
	}
 
	public void setGreen(int green) {
		this.COLOR_GREEN = green;
	}
 
	public int getBlue() {
		return COLOR_BLUE;
	}
 
	public void setBlue(int blue) {
		this.COLOR_BLUE = blue;
	}

And calling it here:

rdbtnRed.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
 
		@Override
		public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0) {
			// TODO Auto-generated method stub
		paintPanel.setRed(0);
		}
 
	});
 
	rdbtnGreen.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
 
		@Override
		public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0) {
			// TODO Auto-generated method stub
			paintPanel.setGreen(0);
		}
 
	});
	rdbtnBlue.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
 
		@Override
		public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0) {
			// TODO Auto-generated method stub
			paintPanel.setBlue(100);
		}
 
	});

What am I doing wrong? How should I go about this?

Thank you.

I'm not getting errors now. I am trying to set the color from a different class than where this code is: (This situation confuses me often)

I can set them manually, like below with green = 100 to show green.

public int COLOR_RED;
	public int COLOR_GREEN = 100;
	public int COLOR_BLUE; 
 
	Color c = new Color(COLOR_RED, COLOR_GREEN, COLOR_BLUE);

So in my other class (not the one above) I am trying to set the color with RGB values. My main idea was to use getters/setters for the colors, like getRed, setRed, blue etc. (These are inside the method with the color c = code)

I'm still just trying to be able to draw a shape and make it a certain color using RGB values.

Thanks, I hope that makes more sense.

Ok, that makes more sense, thank you. What about changing the color? Am I calling the getters/setters or something incorrectly?

My idea is that whatever value (between 0 and 255) is input with either of the 3 categories of R,G, or B. So I need to set the RED to user defined, green and blue as well.

When I try to use my setters for RGB they are not working. What is wrong with my code?

Ok:

 
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.event.MouseEvent;
import java.awt.event.MouseMotionListener;
import java.util.ArrayList;
 
import javax.swing.JPanel;
 
import com.herbst.shapes.Circle;
import com.herbst.shapes.Rectangle;
import com.herbst.shapes.Triangle;
 
public class PaintPanel extends JPanel {
	private String shapeSelected = SHAPE_RECTANGLE;
 
	private ArrayList<Shape> shapes;
 
	public int COLOR_RED;
	public int COLOR_GREEN = 100;
	public int COLOR_BLUE;
	//private int colorSelected = COLOR_RED;
	public static final String SHAPE_RECTANGLE = "rectangle";
	public static final String SHAPE_CIRCLE = "circle";
	public static final String SHAPE_TRIANGLE = "triangle";
 
	//Color red2 = new Color(155,0,0);
	// private ArrayList<Shape> circles; only need 1 rectangle array
 
	Color c = new Color(COLOR_RED, COLOR_GREEN, COLOR_BLUE);
	public PaintPanel() {
		shapes = new ArrayList<Shape>();
 
		addMouseMotionListener(new MouseMotionListener() {
			private Shape drawingShape = null;
 
			@Override
			public void mouseMoved(MouseEvent e) {
				drawingShape = null;
			}
 
			@Override
			public void mouseDragged(MouseEvent e) {
 
				if (drawingShape == null) {
					if(shapeSelected.equals(SHAPE_RECTANGLE)) {
						drawingShape = new Rectangle(e.getX(), e.getY(), c);
					} else if(shapeSelected.equals(SHAPE_CIRCLE)) {
						drawingShape = new Circle(e.getX(), e.getY(), c);
					} else {
						drawingShape = new Triangle(e.getX(), e.getY(), c);
					}
 
					addShape(drawingShape);
				} else {
					drawingShape.setWidth(e.getX() - drawingShape.getX());
					drawingShape.setHeight(e.getY() - drawingShape.getY());
					repaint();
				}
//					 System.out.println("mouse Released" + e.getX() + ", " + e.getY(), Color.BLACK);
//					drawingShape = new Rectangle(e.getX(), e.getY(), Color.Black);
//					addShape(drawingShape);
			}
		});
	}
 
//	
 
 
	private void addShape(Shape shape) {
		shapes.add(shape);
		repaint();
	}
 
	// Called automatically
	@Override
	protected void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
		super.paintComponent(g);
		for (Shape shape : shapes) {
			shape.paint(g);
		}
 
	}
 
	public String getShapeSelected() {
		return shapeSelected;
	}
 
	public void setShapeSelected(String shapeSelected) {
		this.shapeSelected = shapeSelected;
	}
	public int getRed() {
		return COLOR_RED;
	}
 
	public void setRed(int red) {
		this.COLOR_RED = red;
	}
 
	public int getGreen() {
		return COLOR_GREEN;
	}
 
	public void setGreen(int green) {
		this.COLOR_GREEN = green;
	}
 
	public int getBlue() {
		return COLOR_BLUE;
	}
 
	public void setBlue(int blue) {
		this.COLOR_BLUE = blue;
	}
}

The next code is where I'm trying to set color at, it has my UI stuff(problem code at bottom with radio buttons of RGB :

import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
 
import javax.swing.ButtonGroup;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JRadioButton;
import javax.swing.JSeparator;
import javax.swing.JTextField;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
 
public class MainFrame extends JFrame{
//mainframe is jframe
 
	private PaintPanel paintPanel;
	private JTextField txtGreen;
	private JTextField txtRed;
	private JTextField txtBlue;
	private JLabel lblChooseColors;
 
	public MainFrame() {
		setSize(800, 600);
		setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
 
		paintPanel = new PaintPanel();
 
		getContentPane().add(paintPanel);
		radioButtons();
 
	}
 
 
	public void radioButtons() {
 
//	lblChooseColors = new JLabel("Choose color#'s");
//	paintPanel.add(lblChooseColors);
//	
//	txtRed = new JTextField();
//	txtRed.setText("Red");
//	paintPanel.add(txtRed);
//	txtRed.setColumns(10);
//	
//	txtGreen = new JTextField();
//	txtGreen.setText("Green");
//	paintPanel.add(txtGreen);
//	txtGreen.setColumns(10);
//	
//	txtBlue = new JTextField();
//	txtBlue.setText("Blue");
//	paintPanel.add(txtBlue);
//	txtBlue.setColumns(10);
 
	JRadioButton rdbtnTriangle = new JRadioButton("Triangle",false);
	paintPanel.add(rdbtnTriangle);
	JRadioButton rdbtnSquare = new JRadioButton("Square", true);
	paintPanel.add(rdbtnSquare);
	JRadioButton rdbtnCircle = new JRadioButton("Circle",false);
	paintPanel.add(rdbtnCircle);
 
	ButtonGroup Gshapes = new ButtonGroup();
	Gshapes.add(rdbtnTriangle);
	Gshapes.add(rdbtnSquare);
	Gshapes.add(rdbtnCircle);
 
	rdbtnTriangle.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
 
		@Override
		public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0) {
			// TODO Auto-generated method stub
			paintPanel.setShapeSelected(PaintPanel.SHAPE_TRIANGLE);
		}
 
	});
	rdbtnSquare.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
 
		@Override
		public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0) {
			paintPanel.setShapeSelected(PaintPanel.SHAPE_RECTANGLE);
		}
 
	});
	rdbtnCircle.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
 
		@Override
		public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0) {
			paintPanel.setShapeSelected(PaintPanel.SHAPE_CIRCLE);
 
		}
 
	});
 
 
 
	JSeparator separator = new JSeparator();
	paintPanel.add(separator);
 
	JRadioButton rdbtnGreen = new JRadioButton("Green",true);
	paintPanel.add(rdbtnGreen);
	JRadioButton rdbtnRed = new JRadioButton("Red", false);
	paintPanel.add(rdbtnRed);
	JRadioButton rdbtnBlue = new JRadioButton("Blue", false);
	paintPanel.add(rdbtnBlue);
 
	ButtonGroup Gcolors = new ButtonGroup();
	Gcolors.add(rdbtnGreen);
	Gcolors.add(rdbtnRed);
	Gcolors.add(rdbtnBlue); 
 
//	txtGreen.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
//
//		@Override
//		public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0) {
//			// TODO Auto-generated method stub
//		//	if(txtGreen.isSelected()) {
//		//		PaintPanel.setColor(Color.GREEN);
//			}
//	
//		
//	});
	rdbtnRed.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
 
		@Override
		public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0) {
			// TODO Auto-generated method stub
		paintPanel.setRed(0);
		}
 
	});
 
	rdbtnGreen.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
 
		@Override
		public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0) {
			// TODO Auto-generated method stub
			paintPanel.setGreen(0);
		}
 
	});
	rdbtnBlue.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
 
		@Override
		public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0) {
			// TODO Auto-generated method stub
			paintPanel.setBlue(100);
		}
 
	});
 
 
	}
}

There are some more classes, but I do not think it's relevant.

Ok, here is the rest of it:

(I will change the variable name c in my code, thanks)

 
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Graphics;
 
public abstract class Shape {
 
 
	private int x;
	private int y;
	private int width;
	private int height;
	private Color color;
 
//	private String size;
	public abstract void paint(Graphics g);
 
	public Color getColor() {
		return color;
	}
 
	public void setColor(Color color) {
		this.color = color;
	}
 
	public int getY() {
		return y;
	}
 
	public void setY(int y) {
		this.y = y;
	}
 
	public int getX() {
		return x;
	}
 
	public void setX(int x) {
		this.x = x;
	}
 
	public void Rectangle(int x, int y) {
		this.x = x;
		this.y = y;
	}
 
	public int getHeight() {
		return height;
	}
 
	public void setHeight(int height) {
		this.height = height;
	}
 
	public int getWidth() {
		return width;
	}
 
	public void setWidth(int width) {
		this.width = width;
	}
 
 
}

import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Graphics;
 
 
public class Circle extends Shape {
 
	public Circle(int x, int y, Color color) {
		setX(x);
		setY(y);
		setColor(color);
		setWidth(0);
		setHeight(0);
	}
	@Override
	public void paint(Graphics g) {
		g.setColor(getColor());
		g.fillOval(getX(), getY(), getWidth(), getHeight());
 
	}
 
}

 import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Graphics;
 
 
//maybe create new package for all shapes
public class Rectangle extends Shape {
 
	public Rectangle(int x, int y, Color color) {
		setX(x);
		setY(y);
		setColor(color);
		setWidth(0);
		setHeight(0);
 
	}
 
 
public void paint(Graphics g)  {
	g.setColor(getColor());
	g.fillRect(getX(), getY(), getWidth(), getHeight());
}
 
 
}

import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Graphics;
 
 
//maybe create new package for all shapes
public class Triangle extends Shape {
 
	public Triangle(int x, int y, Color color) {
		setX(x);
		setY(y);
		setColor(color);
		setWidth(0);
		setHeight(0);
 
	}
 
public void paint(Graphics g)  {
 
	int[] xPoints = {getX()	, getY(), 3};
	int[] yPoints = {getX(), getY(), 3};
	g.setColor(getColor());
	g.fillPolygon(xPoints,yPoints, xPoints.length);
}
 
 
}

 
public class Main {
 
	public static void main(String[] args) {
 
		MainFrame frame = new MainFrame();
		frame.setVisible(true);
 
	}
 
}

Thanks.

Are you confused with what the program is trying to do?
So I am trying to set COLOR_RED, COLOR_GREEN or COLOR_BLUE to any user-set value between 0 and 255. No they are not getting changed. Basically the program is just drawing shapes and then being able to change the shapes colors. I am trying to change the values of

 Color c = new Color(COLOR_RED, COLOR_GREEN, COLOR_BLUE);

after a setter changes it with an appropriate value (between 0 and 255)

Does that explanation help a bit?

OK, sure. I am trying to use setRed, setGreen and setBlue to set the corresponding values of COLOR_RED, COLOR_BLUE, COLOR_GREEN which controls the statement that sets the color for the rectangle, circle or triangle. I would LIKE the COLOR_RED value for instance to be changed when the setters are called, but they are not changing. They are staying the same.

With the setters I am trying to change the value of c. - I am under the assumption that the declaration of the Color c is declared but the arguments (COLOR_RED,COLOR_GREEN,COLOR_BLUE) can be changed at any time with a setter like setRed.

If a user runs the program, they can select whether to draw a square, circle, or triangle(I am still working on the triangle part) THen they also select a color they want to draw it in. Like 255 in the red area, 0 in the green area and 0 in the blue area makes the shape red. They can draw as many as they like in any appropriate color that they selected.

Does that help any? Sorry I am being confusing.

Ok, I see what you are saying. Within the "user interface" (The code with the radio buttons) I can put this for the red radio button:

 paintPanel.myColor = new Color(200, 0, 0);

So I am really planning on using JTextField fields to get the numbers, and I could just use input from there to set the appropriate color? I think I understand you. I will try to program it up real quick and see how it goes. Hopefully it works. A sincere thanks for the help!

I'm having trouble with that then.

public int getRed() {
		return COLOR_RED;
	}
 
	public void setRed(int red) {
		this.COLOR_RED = red;
	}

I'll need something like this somewhere in my getters/setters: myColor = new Color(200, 0, 0); right?

How would I go about changing the color?

I am trying to change them individually (not all three values at once) because I actually need them to get values from a JTextField. The radio buttons were just training wheels and I have failed.

I have set up formatted text fields for the 3 colors to get the int values from.

You lost me with the last setters/getters post. I must not be understanding how to use them correctly. Within my color getter/setters do I need the myColor = new Color(200, 0, 0);? You said just changing COLOR_RED doesnt do anything so I have to change it that way, right?

Am I getting closer?