Removing JPanel from JFrame and Initialize new JPanel Help

[Mark Andrew Davis]

Hey Team,

I hope you are all well! I have begun making progress on my game and decided it was time to work with GUI. First I will post my code and then I will state my question at the end:

Main Class

package com.cagatandavis;

import javax.swing.*;

/**
 * Created by MarkCagatanDavis on 18/07/2017.
 */
public class Game
{
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        SwingUtilities.invokeLater(() -> new MainFrame());
    }
}

Main Frame class used both in menu and ingame

package com.cagatandavis;

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

/**
 * Created by MarkCagatanDavis on 18/07/2017.
 */
public class MainFrame extends JFrame
{
    private TitleScreen titleScreen;
    private IngameFrame ingameFrame;

    public MainFrame()
    {
        super("The Adventure's of the Great Arshad!"); //This is super for title name on title bar

        //This is setting a naked mainFrame size of the game
        setSize(1280, 720);
        setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        getContentPane().setBackground(Color.BLACK);
        setLayout(new BorderLayout());
        setVisible(true);
        setResizable(false);
        setLocationRelativeTo(null);

        //This is adding the title screen components to mainFrame
        titleScreen = new TitleScreen();
        add(titleScreen);

//        ingameFrame = new IngameFrame();
//        add(ingameFrame);

    }
}

Start Menu Class

package com.cagatandavis;

import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.border.Border;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;

/**
 * Created by Sir.Dominar on 20/07/2017.
 */
public class TitleScreen extends JPanel
{
    private JPanel titleNamePanel, titleMenuButtonPanel, blankPanel;
    private JLabel titleNameLabel;
    private JButton startButton, continueButton, exitButton;
    private Font titleFont = new Font("Times New Roman", Font.PLAIN, 32);
    private Font startButtonFont = new Font("Times New Roman", Font.PLAIN, 30);
    private Border noBorder = BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder();

    public TitleScreen()
    {
        //This creates a blank panel to center the text
        blankPanel = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
        blankPanel.setBounds(320, 200, 600, 150);
        blankPanel.setBackground(Color.blue);

        //This is used to create the text panel
        titleNamePanel = new JPanel();
        titleNamePanel.setBounds(320, 200, 600, 150);
        titleNamePanel.setBackground(Color.BLACK);
        titleNameLabel = new JLabel("ADVENTURES OF THE GREAT ARSHAD!");
        titleNameLabel.setForeground(Color.lightGray);
        titleNameLabel.setFont(titleFont);

        //This is used to create the button menu panel
        titleMenuButtonPanel = new JPanel();
        titleMenuButtonPanel.setBounds(420, 400, 400, 200);
        titleMenuButtonPanel.setBackground(Color.BLACK);

        //This creates the start button
        startButton = new JButton("NEW ADVENTURE");
        startButton.setBackground(Color.BLACK);
        startButton.setForeground(Color.lightGray);
        startButton.setFont(startButtonFont);
        startButton.setBorder(noBorder);
        startButton.setFocusPainted(false);
//        startButton.addActionListener((ActionEvent e) ->
//                SwingUtilities.invokeLater(() -> new IngameFrame())); //Thi creates a new thread that calls the IngameFrame main method.
        startButton.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
            public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
                titleMenuButtonPanel.setVisible(false);
                titleMenuButtonPanel.setEnabled(false);
                titleNamePanel.setVisible(false);
                titleNamePanel.setEnabled(false);
                blankPanel.setVisible(false);
                blankPanel.setEnabled(false);

               // SwingUtilities.invokeLater(() -> new IngameFrame());
                new IngameFrame();
            }
        });

        continueButton = new JButton("CONTINUE ADVENTURE");
        continueButton.setBackground(Color.black);
        continueButton.setForeground(Color.lightGray);
        continueButton.setFont(startButtonFont);
        continueButton.setBorder(noBorder);
        continueButton.setFocusPainted(false);
        continueButton.addActionListener((ActionListener) e -> System.out.println("TEST CONTINUE OUTPUT"));

                //This creates the exit button
        exitButton = new JButton("EXIT THE ARSHAD");
        exitButton.setBackground(Color.black);
        exitButton.setForeground(Color.lightGray);
        exitButton.setFont(startButtonFont);
        exitButton.setBorder(noBorder);
        exitButton.setFocusPainted(false);
        exitButton.addActionListener((ActionEvent e) -> System.exit(0)); //This closes the application on button press.

        //This adds the title name to the title panel
        add(titleNamePanel);
        titleNamePanel.add(titleNameLabel);

        //This adds the menu buttons to the panel
        setLayout(new BorderLayout());
        add(titleMenuButtonPanel);
        titleMenuButtonPanel.add(startButton);
        titleMenuButtonPanel.add(continueButton);
        titleMenuButtonPanel.add(exitButton);

        //This adds the blank panel to the top so the buttons are centered
        add(blankPanel);
    }
}

In Game Class

package com.cagatandavis;

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

/**
 * Created by Sir.Dominar on 20/07/2017.
 */
public class IngameFrame extends JPanel
{
    private JPanel mainTextPanel;


    public IngameFrame()
    {
        //This is the panel for the main text area, where the story is told.
        mainTextPanel = new JPanel();
        mainTextPanel.setBounds(5, 5, 480, 480);
        mainTextPanel.setBackground(Color.DARK_GRAY);


        setBackground(Color.red);
        setBounds(5, 5, 480, 480);

        add(mainTextPanel);

        System.out.println("BEGIN GAME TEST OUTPUT");
    }
}

So here is my question!

When I load the game, the start menu loads fine, when I click the buttons for test output it all works fine. But my core issue is, when I click new IngameFrame(); to go to the IngameFrame method, it won't load my panels.
Now, I believe this is because I need to initialise the IngameFrame class into the MainFrame class like I did for the TitleScreen class.

If this is the case, could you please aid me in figuring out how I should achieve this? I have attempted (I have commented it out in MainFrame class) in which obviously fails to load because I need something that will call the titlescreen and then place the IngameFrame on hold till it needs to be initialised.
I might be thinking of this in the wrong way, so any assistance would be amazing!! I am still new to java so, please if it's not to much to ask provide examples with what you say, as I am still learning.

Thanks in advanced for all your assistance!

Mark.D

[Mark Andrew Davis]

Hey Team,

I managed to get it to work, but I don't think this is the best idea...?

I created an action listener on MainFrame class that listens for the startButton in that TitleScreen Class. But from memory, I should keep my buttons private?
If that is the case, how do I access buttons from another class?

Anyways, I will share what I have worked out, But as I said I don't know if this is the best solution?

package com.cagatandavis;

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

import static com.cagatandavis.TitleScreen.startButton;

/**
 * Created by MarkCagatanDavis on 18/07/2017.
 */
public class MainFrame extends JFrame
{
    private TitleScreen titleScreen;
    private IngameFrame ingameFrame;

    public MainFrame()
    {
        super("The Adventure's of the Great Arshad!"); //This is super for title name on title bar

        //This is setting a naked mainFrame size of the game
        setSize(1280, 720);
        setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        getContentPane().setBackground(Color.BLACK);
        setLayout(new BorderLayout());
        setVisible(true);
        setResizable(false);
        setLocationRelativeTo(null);

        titleScreen = new TitleScreen();
        add(titleScreen);

        startButton.addActionListener(e -> {
            ingameFrame = new IngameFrame();
            add(ingameFrame);
            ingameFrame.setVisible(true);
            titleScreen.setVisible(false);
        });
    }
}

package com.cagatandavis;

import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.border.Border;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;

/**
 * Created by Sir.Dominar on 20/07/2017.
 */
public class TitleScreen extends JPanel
{
    private JPanel titleNamePanel, titleMenuButtonPanel, blankPanel;
    private JLabel titleNameLabel;
    public static JButton startButton;
    private JButton continueButton;
    private JButton exitButton;
    private Font titleFont = new Font("Times New Roman", Font.PLAIN, 32);
    private Font startButtonFont = new Font("Times New Roman", Font.PLAIN, 30);
    private Border noBorder = BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder();

    public TitleScreen()
    {
        //This creates a blank panel to center the text
        blankPanel = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
        blankPanel.setBounds(320, 200, 600, 150);
        blankPanel.setBackground(Color.blue);

        //This is used to create the text panel
        titleNamePanel = new JPanel();
        titleNamePanel.setBounds(320, 200, 600, 150);
        titleNamePanel.setBackground(Color.BLACK);
        titleNameLabel = new JLabel("ADVENTURES OF THE GREAT ARSHAD!");
        titleNameLabel.setForeground(Color.lightGray);
        titleNameLabel.setFont(titleFont);

        //This is used to create the button menu panel
        titleMenuButtonPanel = new JPanel();
        titleMenuButtonPanel.setBounds(420, 400, 400, 200);
        titleMenuButtonPanel.setBackground(Color.BLACK);

        //This creates the start button
        startButton = new JButton("NEW ADVENTURE");
        startButton.setBackground(Color.BLACK);
        startButton.setForeground(Color.lightGray);
        startButton.setFont(startButtonFont);
        startButton.setBorder(noBorder);
        startButton.setFocusPainted(false);
        startButton.addActionListener(e -> {
            titleMenuButtonPanel.setVisible(false);
            titleMenuButtonPanel.setEnabled(false);
            titleNamePanel.setVisible(false);
            titleNamePanel.setEnabled(false);
            blankPanel.setVisible(false);
            blankPanel.setEnabled(false);

            new IngameFrame();
        });

        continueButton = new JButton("CONTINUE ADVENTURE");
        continueButton.setBackground(Color.black);
        continueButton.setForeground(Color.lightGray);
        continueButton.setFont(startButtonFont);
        continueButton.setBorder(noBorder);
        continueButton.setFocusPainted(false);
        continueButton.addActionListener((ActionListener) e -> System.out.println("TEST CONTINUE OUTPUT"));

                //This creates the exit button
        exitButton = new JButton("EXIT THE ARSHAD");
        exitButton.setBackground(Color.black);
        exitButton.setForeground(Color.lightGray);
        exitButton.setFont(startButtonFont);
        exitButton.setBorder(noBorder);
        exitButton.setFocusPainted(false);
        exitButton.addActionListener((ActionEvent e) -> System.exit(0)); //This closes the application on button press.

        //This adds the title name to the title panel
        add(titleNamePanel);
        titleNamePanel.add(titleNameLabel);

        //This adds the menu buttons to the panel
        setLayout(new BorderLayout());
        add(titleMenuButtonPanel);
        titleMenuButtonPanel.add(startButton);
        titleMenuButtonPanel.add(continueButton);
        titleMenuButtonPanel.add(exitButton);

        //This adds the blank panel to the top so the buttons are centered
        add(blankPanel);
    }
}

[Dave Tolls]

Swing has a Layout called CardLayout that lets you swap between components, in this case panels.
There's a tutorial page for it as well.

So your MainFrame would act similar to the way you've written it, in that it would react to the button...or better it would react to an event from the panel that would tell it to swap screens.

One thing, I wouldn't have Mainframe extend JFrame.  There's no point.  You're not actually adding any functionality to the JFrame class.  It's a bit like extending ArrayList and then only populating the values.