Color Buttons to Change Background

[lbgladson]

I have to create a GUI that when I click on the buttons it changes the color of the background. Below is what I have but I can't figure out what code to put in and where to change the color of the background.

import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.event.ChangeListener;
import javax.swing.event.ChangeEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;

public class ColorViewer extends JFrame
{  
   public ColorViewer()
   {  
      colorPanel = new JPanel();
      
      add(colorPanel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
      createControlPanel();
      setSampleColor();
      setSize(FRAME_WIDTH, FRAME_HEIGHT);
   }

   public void createControlPanel()
   {
      class ColorListener implements ChangeListener
      {  
         public void stateChanged(ChangeEvent event)
         {  
            setSampleColor();
         }
      }   

      ChangeListener listener = new ColorListener();

      redButton = new JButton("Red");
      redButton.addChangeListener(listener);

      greenButton = new JButton("Green");
      greenButton.addChangeListener(listener);

      blueButton = new JButton("Blue");
      blueButton.addChangeListener(listener);
      
      JPanel controlPanel = new JPanel();
      controlPanel.setLayout(new GridLayout(3, 2));

      controlPanel.add(new JLabel("Red"));
      controlPanel.add(redButton);

      controlPanel.add(new JLabel("Green"));
      controlPanel.add(greenButton);

      controlPanel.add(new JLabel("Blue"));
      controlPanel.add(blueButton);

      add(controlPanel, BorderLayout.SOUTH);      
   }
   
   /**
      Reads the slider values and sets the panel to
      the selected color.
   */
   public void setSampleColor()
   {  

      // Set panel background to selected color
            colorPanel.repaint();
   }
   
   public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
   {
	   Object o = e.getSource();
	   
	   if(o == redButton){/*set color to red*/}
	   else if(o == greenButton){/*set color to green*/}
	   else if(o == blueButton){/*set color to blue*/}
	}
   
   
   private JPanel colorPanel;
   private JButton redButton;
   private JButton greenButton;
   private JButton blueButton;

   private static final int FRAME_WIDTH = 300;
   private static final int FRAME_HEIGHT = 400;
}

import javax.swing.JFrame;

public class ColorViewerMain
{  
   public static void main(String[] args)
   {  
      ColorViewer frame = new ColorViewer();
      frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
      frame.setVisible(true);
   }
}

[Ezzaral]

Use an ActionListener instead of ChangeListener for your buttons. You can pass the color you wish to change to as a parameter to your setSampleColor() method. Set the panel background to that color before repaint.

[lbgladson]

I changed it to ActionListener but now I'm getting an error for ColorListener. What do I need to change that to?

[Ezzaral]

I guess that would depend on what the error was...

[javaNooblet]

I changed it to ActionListener but now I'm getting an error for ColorListener. What do I need to change that to?

I think because your method in the ColorListener class is stateChanged(), make it actionPerformed().You can write this code with a lot less if you want. How I recommend doing it is build your GUI in the constructor then create a class that implements ActionListener. For example:

private class ColorListener implements ActionListener {

Then a method for the action performed(the button click) in the ColorListener class. For example:

public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {

In this method you will write your test conditions to decide what color your buttons will change the panel.
To change a background color use the .setBackground() method. For example:

if (o.equals(redButton)) {
   colorPanel.setBackground(Color.RED);}

Does this make sense?

[lbgladson]

So I made these changes which I what I think you were saying...but when I run it and click the buttons the background doesn't change.

import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent; 

public class ColorViewer extends JFrame
{     
	public ColorViewer()  
	{        
		colorPanel = new JPanel();      
		add(colorPanel, BorderLayout.CENTER);   
		createControlPanel();    
		setSampleColor();     
		setSize(FRAME_WIDTH, FRAME_HEIGHT);  
	}   
	public void createControlPanel() 
	{     
		class ColorListener implements ActionListener     
		{          
			public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)        
			{           
				setSampleColor();  
			}     
		}        
		
		ActionListener listener = new ColorListener();       
		
		redButton = new JButton("Red");    
		redButton.addActionListener(listener);
		
		greenButton = new JButton("Green");     
		greenButton.addActionListener(listener);      
		
		blueButton = new JButton("Blue"); 
		blueButton.addActionListener(listener);     
		
		JPanel controlPanel = new JPanel();      
		controlPanel.setLayout(new GridLayout(3, 2));     
		
		controlPanel.add(new JLabel("Red"));    
		controlPanel.add(redButton); 
		
		controlPanel.add(new JLabel("Green"));  
		controlPanel.add(greenButton);   
		
		controlPanel.add(new JLabel("Blue"));  
		controlPanel.add(blueButton);      
		
		add(controlPanel, BorderLayout.SOUTH);   
		}    
	
	public void setSampleColor()  
	{        
		colorPanel.repaint();   
	}   
	public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
	{	 
		Object o = e.getSource(); 	 
				
		if (o.equals(redButton)) 
		{  
			colorPanel.setBackground(Color.RED);
		}
		else if (o.equals(greenButton))
		{
			colorPanel.setBackground(Color.GREEN);
		}
		else
			colorPanel.setBackground(Color.BLUE);
	}   
	
	private JPanel colorPanel;  
	private JButton redButton;  
	private JButton greenButton; 
	private JButton blueButton;   
	private static final int FRAME_WIDTH = 300;  
	private static final int FRAME_HEIGHT = 400;
}

[lbgladson]

Nevermind...I moved the if statements section up in the code and now it's working...thanks everyone for you help.

[javaNooblet]

I forgot to post this earlier after I saw you solved it, but here is how I modified your code, so you can see another way of doing it:

import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;

public class ColorViewer extends JFrame {
	/**
	 * 
	 */

	private JPanel colorPanel;
	private JButton redButton;
	private JButton greenButton;
	private JButton blueButton;

	private static final int FRAME_WIDTH = 300;
	private static final int FRAME_HEIGHT = 400;
	private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;

	public ColorViewer() {
		colorPanel = new JPanel();
		add(colorPanel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
		redButton = new JButton("Red");
		greenButton = new JButton("Green");
		blueButton = new JButton("Blue");

		JPanel controlPanel = new JPanel();

		controlPanel.setLayout(new GridLayout(3, 2));
		controlPanel.add(new JLabel("Red"));
		controlPanel.add(redButton);
		controlPanel.add(new JLabel("Green"));
		controlPanel.add(greenButton);
		controlPanel.add(new JLabel("Blue"));
		controlPanel.add(blueButton);
		add(controlPanel, BorderLayout.SOUTH);

		ActionListener listener = new ColorListener();
		redButton.addActionListener(listener);
		greenButton.addActionListener(listener);
		blueButton.addActionListener(listener);

		setSize(FRAME_WIDTH, FRAME_HEIGHT);

	}

	private class ColorListener implements ActionListener {
		public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
			Object o = e.getSource();
			if (o.equals(redButton)) {
				colorPanel.setBackground(Color.RED);
			} else if (o.equals(greenButton)) {
				colorPanel.setBackground(Color.GREEN);
			} else if (o.equals(blueButton)) {
				colorPanel.setBackground(Color.BLUE);
			}
		}
	}

}

[lbgladson]

I see what you mean by writing it with less now. Thank you for showing me this alternate way. I have always been one to do everything the long way but like to look at how different codes can do the same thing. Thanks again for all your help.

[Ezzaral]

Another alternate would be to drop the if() statements altogether and give the color information to your listener object when you create it:

private class ColorListener implements ActionListener {
        private Color color;

        public ColorListener(Color color) {
            this.color = color;
        }

        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
            colorPanel.setBackground(color);
        }
    }

adding to the buttons like so

redButton.addActionListener(new ColorListener(Color.RED));
        greenButton.addActionListener(new ColorListener(Color.GREEN));
        blueButton.addActionListener(new ColorListener(Color.BLUE));