searching JFrame

[john-paul York]

I am just doing some trial and error right now..really just spit balling some stuff....but I have researched and can't find anything to do what I am looking to do. Right now I have a JFrame created with a bunch of checkboxes and a button. I am trying to just create a simple game where the person who checks the last checkbox wins. I have the box created and have got it to disable any already checked checkboxes. I am thinking that when the button is clicked it would then do some code to randomly check some boxes (computer plays against the human.) I am at the point where I think I need to be able to read the all the JFrames components and then create some if statements to figure out if a)the component is a checkbox and b) if that checkbox is unchecked..check it. I have been trying to use getComponents() with no success. I am just hoping for a nudge in the right direction.

import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.event.*;

public class LastManStanding extends JFrame implements ActionListener
{

	JCheckBox one = new JCheckBox ("1");
	JCheckBox two = new JCheckBox ("2");
	JCheckBox three = new JCheckBox ("3");
	JCheckBox four = new JCheckBox ("4");
	JCheckBox five = new JCheckBox ("5");
	JCheckBox six = new JCheckBox ("6");
	JCheckBox seven = new JCheckBox ("7");
	JCheckBox eight = new JCheckBox ("8");
	JCheckBox nine = new JCheckBox ("9");
	JCheckBox ten = new JCheckBox ("10");
	JButton turn = new JButton("Complete Turn");
	JLabel header = new JLabel ("Please select 1, 2, or 3 boxes.");
	JLabel footer = new JLabel ("Whoever selects the last box wins.");
    Font headerFont = new Font("Century", Font.PLAIN, 15);
    Font footerFont = new Font("Century", Font.PLAIN, 13);
 
	
	public LastManStanding()
	{
	final int FRAME_WIDTH = 220;
	final int FRAME_HEIGHT = 180;
	JFrame gameFrame = new JFrame("Last Man Standing");
	gameFrame.setBounds(600,400,FRAME_WIDTH, FRAME_HEIGHT);
	header.setFont(headerFont);
    footer.setFont(footerFont);
	one.addActionListener(this);
	two.addActionListener(this);
	three.addActionListener(this);
	four.addActionListener(this);
	five.addActionListener(this);
	six.addActionListener(this);
	seven.addActionListener(this);
	eight.addActionListener(this);
	nine.addActionListener(this);	
	ten.addActionListener(this);
	turn.addActionListener(this);
	gameFrame.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
	gameFrame.add(header);
	gameFrame.add(one);
	gameFrame.add(two);
	gameFrame.add(three);
	gameFrame.add(four);
	gameFrame.add(five);
	gameFrame.add(six);
	gameFrame.add(seven);
	gameFrame.add(eight);
	gameFrame.add(nine);
	gameFrame.add(ten);
	gameFrame.add(turn);
	gameFrame.add(footer);
	gameFrame.setVisible(true);
	gameFrame.setSize(FRAME_WIDTH, FRAME_HEIGHT);
	
	}
	
	public static void main(String[] args){
		LastManStanding game = new LastManStanding();
		System.out.println(game.getComponents());
	}
	
	public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
	{
		
		Object source = e.getSource();
		if(source instanceof JCheckBox)
		{
			((JCheckBox) source).setEnabled(false);
		}
	    if (source instanceof JButton)
		{
			System.out.println("button is triggering this");
                        //this is where I would put the code to get the components and this is where I have been testing things
			
		}
	} 

	
	
 
}

[Rob Spoor]

Put the JCheckBoxes in an array:

import java.awt.*;   
import javax.swing.*;   
import java.awt.event.*;   
  
public class LastManStanding extends JFrame implements ActionListener   
{   
    JCheckBox[] checkBoxes = new JCheckBox[10];
    // no more separate fields
    JButton turn = new JButton("Complete Turn");   
    JLabel header = new JLabel ("Please select 1, 2, or 3 boxes.");   
    JLabel footer = new JLabel ("Whoever selects the last box wins.");   
    Font headerFont = new Font("Century", Font.PLAIN, 15);   
    Font footerFont = new Font("Century", Font.PLAIN, 13);   
    
    public LastManStanding()   
    {   
        final int FRAME_WIDTH = 220;   
        final int FRAME_HEIGHT = 180;   
        JFrame gameFrame = new JFrame("Last Man Standing");   
        gameFrame.setBounds(600,400,FRAME_WIDTH, FRAME_HEIGHT);   
        header.setFont(headerFont);   
        footer.setFont(footerFont);   
        // a loop to create and modify
        for (int i = 0; i < checkBoxes.length; i++)
        {
            checkBoxes[i] = new JCheckBox(String.valueOf(i + 1)); // so checkBoxes[0] has label 1 etc
            checkBoxes[i].addActionListener(this);
        }
        turn.addActionListener(this);   
        gameFrame.setLayout(new FlowLayout());   
        gameFrame.add(header);   
        for (JCheckBox checkBox: checkBoxes) // for-each loop
        {
            gameFrame.add(checkBox);   
        }
        gameFrame.add(turn);   
        gameFrame.add(footer);   
        gameFrame.setVisible(true);   
        gameFrame.setSize(FRAME_WIDTH, FRAME_HEIGHT);   
    }   
       
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {   
        LastManStanding game = new LastManStanding();   
        System.out.println(game.getComponents());   
    }   
       
    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)   
    {   
        Object source = e.getSource();   
        if(source instanceof JCheckBox)   
        {   
            ((JCheckBox) source).setEnabled(false);   
        }   
        if (source instanceof JButton)   
        {   
            System.out.println("button is triggering this");   
        }   
    }    
}   

Now you can access the array randomly to check them. I see two ways:
1) for X number of times get a random array element, select that. This does mean that you could potentially select the same one over and over.
2) for each element, use a random value to determine whether or not it should be selected. This does mean that you could potentially select them all, or none at all.

You can solve the problem of 1) by using a List and removing from that:

List<JCheckBox> list = new ArrayList<JCheckBox>(Arrays.asList(checkBoxes));
for (int i = 0; i < X; i++)
{
    int index = <random number from 0 to list.size() (exclusive)>
    JCheckBox checkBox = list.remove(index);
    // handle checkBox
}

Remember to re-evaluate list.size() each time, as it will change when you remove elements.

[Campbell Ritchie]

I think I ought to move this thread to our GUIs forum.

Have you tried adding the check boxes to a ButtonGroup?
And move the actionPerformed method into a class on its own, and add that to the individual buttons.
Try an array of boxes, so you can create the array in a loop rather than individual lines.

While I was going through the API, I found two Java™ Tutorials links, which might be helpful: 1 2.

[Rob Spoor]

If I recall correctly, a ButtonGroup will allow only one selected button. That's not what John-Paul wants; he wants to have all check boxes selected in the end.

[Campbell Ritchie]

Darryl Burke points out the same to me. I had missed that you need all your boxes ticked, so, as you say, a Buitton group would not work here.

[john-paul York]

Thanks guys for the info...as always your friendly and quick

cheers

JP