Java grid colouring in game

[Pj Hughes]

HI I am new to java and wanted to design a programme to do the following:

1-create a 6x6 grid
2-each time a button is pressed ask the user to select from 6 colours and colour in the selected button
3-if a button is clicked that has a colour already go to default
4-each row/column can have one instance of each colour
5-as soon as the fifth colour is filled in in a row or column the sixth colour appears in the final blank square automatically.
6-once a row is completed the squares can nopt be clicked on any more.
7-data should be read in and colour the squares from a file which is of the form R1 C2 Green R1=row number C2=column number.

i have the 6x6 grid and a window for colour choice but it needs fine tuning. the window should appear only once and it appears each time teh same button is pressed.

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

public class ButtonGrid extends JFrame implements ActionListener {
	
	private int numClicks = 0;
	
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		int rowsGrid = 6;
		int colsGrid = 6;
		int sizeGrid = 600;
				
		ButtonGrid grid = new ButtonGrid(rowsGrid, colsGrid);
		grid.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
		grid.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(sizeGrid, sizeGrid));
		grid.pack();
		grid.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
		grid.setVisible(true);
	}//end main
	
	public ButtonGrid(int rows, int cols) {
		int rowsGrid = 6;
		int colsGrid = 6;
		int sizeGrid = 600;
		JButton[][] buttons;
		buttons = new JButton[sizeGrid][sizeGrid];
		Container pane = getContentPane();
		pane.setLayout(new GridLayout(rows, cols));
		for(int j =0; j<rows; j++)
		for (int i = 0; i < cols; i++) {
			JButton button = new JButton("");
			buttons[rowsGrid][colsGrid] = buttons[j][i];
			button.addActionListener(this);
			button.setBackground(new Color(100,100,100));
			pane.add(button);
		}
	}//end buttonGrid
	
	public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
                numClicks++;
                int rows = 6;
		int cols = 6;
		int size = 300;
                ColourChoice choice = new ColourChoice(rows, cols);
		choice.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(size/2, size));
		choice.pack();
		choice.setVisible(true);
        }
        
        
public class ColourChoice extends JFrame{
	
	public ColourChoice(int rows, int cols) {
		String[] colourName ={"RED","GREEN","BLUE","YELLOW","PURPLE","BROWN"};
		Color[] choices = {Color.RED, Color.GREEN, Color.BLUE, Color.YELLOW, new Color(102, 0, 102), new Color(102, 51, 0)};
		Container pane = getContentPane();
		pane.setLayout(new GridLayout(rows, cols));
		for (int i = 0; i < choices.length; i++) {
			JButton button = new JButton(""+colourName[i]);
			button.setForeground(new Color(100,100,100));
			button.setBackground(choices[i]);
			pane.add(button);
		}
	}
	
}//end choice class

}//end class

thanks in advance

[update: added code tags]

[Michael Dunn]

I'd start by changing the design - all those popup frames (which should have been JDialog's), would be annoying.

instead, have at the top of the grid 6 x JToggleButton set in a ButtonGroup (so only one can be selected at a time).

now, if you want to set all your (e.g.) yellow buttons, you select the yellow toggleButton then click each button you want
to be yellow. When 6 buttons are yellow that toggleButton is disabled (with error handling to ensure no duplicates in rows/columns)

[Pj Hughes]

OK I have managed to get buttons to change colour with my current design. I now need to read in a file in the following form
R1 C2 Green
R2 C3 Red

where r=row number c = column number and the string will equal the colour the specified square should be. How would i modify the code below to fill in the specified square? i am new to using file readers so have writeen one that just prints out the file as a test. i think i should use if statements but i am not sure how. thanks

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

public class ButtonGridv3 extends JFrame implements ActionListener 
{
    private ColourChoicev2 choice = null;
    private JButton[][] buttons = new JButton[6][6];
    
    public static void main(String[] args) 
    {
    	int rowsGrid = 6;
    	int colsGrid = 6;
    	int sizeGrid = 600;
    	ButtonGridv3 grid = new ButtonGridv3(rowsGrid, colsGrid);
    	grid.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
    	grid.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(sizeGrid, sizeGrid));
    	grid.pack();
    	grid.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
    	grid.setVisible(true);
    	
    }//end main  
    
    public ButtonGridv3(int rows, int cols) 
    {
    	int rowsGrid = 6;
    	int colsGrid = 6;
    	int sizeGrid = 600;
    	Container pane = getContentPane();
    	pane.setLayout(new GridLayout(rows, cols));
    	for(int j =0; j<rows; j++)
    	    for (int i = 0; i < cols; i++) 
    	    {
    	    	buttons[j][i] = new JButton("");
    	    	buttons[j][i].setOpaque(true); 
    	    	buttons[j][i].setName("");      
    	    	buttons[j][i].addActionListener(this);      
    	    	buttons[j][i].setBackground(Color.darkGray);
    	    	pane.add(buttons[j][i]);
    	    }
    	    readStartFile("start.txt");
    }//end buttonGrid
    
    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) 
    {
    	JButton button = (JButton) e.getSource();
    	
    	//if ((button.getName()).equals(""))  //wont open colour window if button clicked is not default
    	//{
    	
    	// this is to check if any previous window is showing or not
    	// if one found , dispose that and open a new one
    	// for the new button.
    	if ( choice != null && choice.isShowing())
    	    choice.dispose();
    	int rows = 6;
    	int cols = 1;
    	int size = 300;
    	choice = new ColourChoicev2(rows, cols, (JButton) e.getSource());
    	choice.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(size/3, size));
    	choice.pack();
    	choice.setVisible(true);
    	if ((button.getName()).equals("ColouredButton"))    
    	{
    	    button.setBackground(Color.darkGray);
    	    button.setName("");
    	    //}
    	}
    	/*else if ((button.getName()).equals("ColouredButton")) 
    	{
    	button.setBackground(Color.darkGray);
    	}*/
	
    }//end actionperformed    
    
    public void readStartFile(String fileName){
    	
    	try{
    	    // Open the file that is the first 
    	    // command line parameter
    	    FileInputStream fstream = new FileInputStream("start.txt");
    	    // Get the object of DataInputStream
    	    DataInputStream in = new DataInputStream(fstream);
    	    BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(in));
    	    String strLine;
    	    //Read File Line By Line
    	    while ((strLine = br.readLine()) != null)   {
    	    	System.out.println(strLine);
    	    }
    	    //Close the input stream
    	    in.close();
    	}catch (Exception e){//Catch exception if any
    	    System.err.println("Error: " + e.getMessage());
    	}
    }
    
    class ColourChoicev2 extends JFrame 
    {
	public JButton redButton;
	public JButton yellowButton;
	public JButton blueButton;
	public JButton greenButton;
	public JButton purpleButton;
	public JButton brownButton;
	public JPanel panel;
	private JButton clickedButton; 
	
	public ColourChoicev2(int rows, int cols, JButton button)
	{
	    redButton = new JButton("Red");
	    yellowButton = new JButton("Yellow");
	    blueButton = new JButton("Blue");
	    greenButton = new JButton("Green");
	    purpleButton = new JButton("Purple");
	    brownButton = new JButton("Brown");
	    
	    clickedButton = button;
	    
	    redButton.addActionListener(new RedButtonListener());
	    yellowButton.addActionListener(new YellowButtonListener());
	    blueButton.addActionListener(new BlueButtonListener());
	    greenButton.addActionListener(new GreenButtonListener());
	    purpleButton.addActionListener(new PurpleButtonListener());
	    brownButton.addActionListener(new BrownButtonListener());
	    
	    panel = new JPanel();
	    
	    panel.add(redButton);
	    panel.add(yellowButton);
	    panel.add(blueButton);
	    panel.add(greenButton);
	    panel.add(purpleButton);
	    panel.add(brownButton);
	    add(panel);
	}
	
	private class RedButtonListener implements ActionListener
	{
	    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
	    {
	    	clickedButton.setBackground(Color.RED);
	    	clickedButton.setName("ColouredButton");
	    	dispose();
	    }
	}
	
	private class YellowButtonListener implements ActionListener
	{
	    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
	    {             
	    	clickedButton.setBackground(Color.YELLOW);
	    	clickedButton.setName("ColouredButton");
	    	dispose();
	    }
	}
	
	private class BlueButtonListener implements ActionListener
	{
	    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
	    { 
	    	clickedButton.setBackground(Color.BLUE);    
	    	clickedButton.setName("ColouredButton");
	    	dispose();          
	    }
	}
	
	private class GreenButtonListener implements ActionListener
	{
	    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
	    {
	    	clickedButton.setBackground(Color.GREEN);   
	    	clickedButton.setName("ColouredButton");
	    	dispose();
	    }
	}
	
	private class PurpleButtonListener implements ActionListener
	{
	    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
	    {
	    	
	    	clickedButton.setBackground(new Color(102,0,102));
	    	clickedButton.setName("ColouredButton");
	    	dispose();
	    }
	}
	
	private class BrownButtonListener implements ActionListener
	{
	    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
	    {
	    	clickedButton.setBackground(new Color(102,51,0));
	    	clickedButton.setName("ColouredButton");
	    	dispose();
	    }
	}
    }
}//end class

[Michael Dunn]

you would change the indicated line

while ((strLine = br.readLine()) != null)   {  
    System.out.println(strLine);  //<------------
}  

1) split() strLine on the delimiter (space/tab/whatever), so you have an array of strings
2) parse array[0] to get its int value = row
3) parse array[1] to get its int value = col
4) somehow you'll need to convert the string color to an actual color

then its just button[row][col].setBackground(color);

[Pj Hughes]

Hi thanks for that Michael. So would the code for the split parse the character R to an integer aswell? what i have so far is:

String delims = "[ ]+";
    	    	String[] tokens = strLine.split(delims);
    	    	int row = Integer.parseInt(tokens[0]);
    	    	int col = Integer.parseInt(tokens[1]);

this code above did not work as im sure it was attempting to parse the character R to an integer as well. I tried using a character array but had no luck with that either.

is there actually a way of doing this?

[Michael Dunn]

R1 C2 Green

I wrongly thought the R and C were references only, as no one in their right mind would save data that way,
so that makes this a homework assignment.

you need to look up the methods of the String class - there are a couple there that will get the part you want,
e.g. the 1 of R1, which you can convert to an int for use in your button array

[Pj Hughes]

Michael Dunn wrote:R1 C2 Green

I wrongly thought the R and C were references only, as no one in their right mind would save data that way,
so that makes this a homework assignment.

you need to look up the methods of the String class - there are a couple there that will get the part you want,
e.g. the 1 of R1, which you can convert to an int for use in your button array

Hi ok i have managed to write my file reader and just want to know why my variable rNum does not change according to the if statements? Thanks

 public void readStartFile(String fileName){
     	 int rNum=0;
     	 int cNum=0;
     	 
        try{
            // Open the file that is the first 
            // command line parameter
            FileInputStream fstream = new FileInputStream("start.txt");
            // Get the object of DataInputStream
            DataInputStream in = new DataInputStream(fstream);
            BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(in));
            String strLine;
            //Read File Line By Line
            while ((strLine = br.readLine()) != null)   {
                String[] temp = strLine.split(" ");
                if(temp[0] == "R1"){
                rNum =1;
                System.out.println(""+rNum);
                }else if(temp[0] == "R2"){
                rNum =1;
                }else if(temp[0] == "R3"){
                rNum =2;
                }else if(temp[0] == "R4"){
                rNum =3;
                }else if(temp[0] == "R5"){
                rNum =4;
                }else if(temp[0] == "R6"){
                rNum =5;
                }
                System.out.println(""+rNum);
                
            }
            //Close the input stream
            in.close();
        }catch (Exception e){//Catch exception if any
            System.err.println("Error: " + e.getMessage());
        }
    }

[Rob Spoor]

Don't use == for comparing Strings, use the equals method.

[Pj Hughes]

Rob Spoor wrote:Don't use == for comparing Strings, use the equals method.

Hi I have tried that and i get Error:null when i run the program. everything works except the file reader now. here is my latest attempt at it:

 public void readStartFile(String fileName){
    	int rowNumber=-1;
    	int colNumber = -1;
    	int rN= 0;
    	int cN = 0;
        try{
            // Open the file that is the first 
            // command line parameter
            FileInputStream fstream = new FileInputStream("start.txt");
            // Get the object of DataInputStream
            DataInputStream in = new DataInputStream(fstream);
            BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(in));
            String strLine;
            //Read File Line By Line
            while ((strLine = br.readLine()) != null)   {
                String[] temp = strLine.split(" ");
                 rowNumber = Integer.parseInt(temp[0].substring(1, temp[0].length()));
                 colNumber = Integer.parseInt(temp[1].substring(1, temp[1].length()));
                 String colour = temp[2];
                if(rowNumber == 0)
                    rN =0;
                else if(rowNumber == 1)
                    rN =1;
                else if(rowNumber == 2)
                    rN =2;
                else if(rowNumber == 3)
                    rN =3;
                else if(rowNumber == 4)
                    rN =4;
                else if(rowNumber == 5)
                    rN =5;
                
                 if(colNumber == 0)
                    cN =0;
                else if(colNumber == 1)
                    cN =1;
                else if(colNumber == 2)
                    cN =2;
                else if(colNumber == 3)
                    cN =3;
                else if(colNumber == 4)
                    cN =4;
                else if(colNumber == 5)
                    cN =5;
               
                if (temp[2].equals("Red"))
                    buttons[rN][cN].setBackground(Color.RED);              
                }
            //Close the input stream
            in.close();
        }catch (Exception e){//Catch exception if any
            System.err.println("Error: " + e.getMessage());
        }
    }
    

[Michael Dunn]

why are you doing this

rowNumber = Integer.parseInt(temp[0].substring(1, temp[0].length()));
colNumber = Integer.parseInt(temp[1].substring(1, temp[1].length()));
String colour = temp[2];
if(rowNumber == 0)
  rN =0;
else if(rowNumber == 1)
  rN =1;
else if(rowNumber == 2)
  rN =2;
else if(rowNumber == 3)
  rN =3;
else if(rowNumber == 4)
  rN =4;
else if(rowNumber == 5)
  rN =5;

if(colNumber == 0)
  cN =0;
else if(colNumber == 1)
  cN =1;
else if(colNumber == 2)
  cN =2;
else if(colNumber == 3)
  cN =3;
else if(colNumber == 4)
  cN =4;
else if(colNumber == 5)
  cN =5;

if (temp[2].equals("Red"))
  buttons[rN][cN].setBackground(Color.RED);   

instead of this

rowNumber = Integer.parseInt(temp[0].substring(1, temp[0].length()));
colNumber = Integer.parseInt(temp[1].substring(1, temp[1].length()));
if (temp[2].equals("Red"))
  buttons[rowNumber][colNumber].setBackground(Color.RED);              

[Rob Spoor]

Pj Hughes wrote:Hi I have tried that and i get Error:null when i run the program.

Don't just print the message, print the entire stack trace using e.printStackTrace(). It will tell you exactly what type of exception it is and where it is thrown from.

[Pj Hughes]

managed to get it working thanks for all the help