SRL Archive - Java Help and Tutorials

I restarted my code and managed to figure everything out. I'll post it on here if anyone is interested about how I got it to work. Thanks though

I'm not a GUI person at all. I've always been a back-end guy. With that in mind, @NKN should come in here and help you :p

Can i suggest you get the logic working without a gui first? you can easily test stuff with sys.out.println or with jpanes of you want a window. Also, use stringbuilder instead of your ugly way of formatting that text… :P

From: Kevin
I'm not a GUI person at all. I've always been a back-end guy. With that in mind, @NKN should come in here and help you :p

I suck really bad at GUIs

@Brandon We'll pass this along until someone helps. :3

From: footballjds
Can i suggest you get the logic working without a gui first? you can easily test stuff with sys.out.println or with jpanes of you want a window. Also, use stringbuilder instead of your ugly way of formatting that text… :P

Why does everyone suggest stringbuilder :S
Stringbuilder is far uglier than using the + operator. Secondly, the + operator implicitly uses the StringBuilder for appending under the hood so there is no optimization gains.

In fact, there's a performance loss. The compiler already uses a stringbuilder for concatenation. Using a second one or more will just have it create another and continue in that cycle. You'd end up having one from the compiler and one from you.

Only time you gain anything from using string builder is in loops. Only old JVM's require the use of it all the time because the + operator doesn't use it.

When I run, the frame will not show up until you have lost

@Op.. The reason your frame doesn't show is because you have all your processing in the PanelHangTeacher constructor. Thus the object never actually finishes constructing at all. It's like having an infinite loop in the constructor of any class. To fix it, simply allow your class to construct and put all the logic in separate functions. Call those functions after your frame and panel is visible and finished constructing.

The way you structured your program right now is pretty bad. The way you have it right now, it goes like this:

Constructor() {
    //Initialize variables and read files..
    Start(); //call start function.
}

Start() {
   //Loop and do other stuff.
   //call choose random.. etc..
   ChoosePerson();  //call choose person..
   Guess(); //call guess..
}

ChoosePerson() {
    //Do processing..
}

Guess() {
   //Loop and do other stuff..
   GuessLetter(); //call guess letter.
}

GuessLetter() {
   //Loop and do other stuff..
  
}
.
.
.
.

Oh and please use syntax highlighting other than plain-text formatting.

Didn't see this thread, and @Kevin y u no mention me D:

Here's my Hangman which I got 100% on:

//Title: Hangman
//Author: Shay H, last updated 16/06/2013
//Purpose: Bonus Assignment

/*Extra Features:
            - File Reading
            - Guess box, allows you to enter your guess
            - Detailed help document
            - Adds letters used to list
            - Only allows one letter to be inputted at a time   
*/

import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.applet.Applet;
import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
import java.io.FileReader;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Random;

public class Hangman extends Applet implements ActionListener
{
    String lettersUsedString = "Letters used: ";    //creates a string to be used in lettersUsed textfield

    //JPanels   - creates panels used for various components
    JPanel titlePanel;  //stores the title
    JPanel imagePanel;  //stores the image
    JPanel buttonPanel; //stores the buttons
    JPanel guessPanel;  //stores the textfields
    JPanel lPanel;      //stores the lettersUsed field
    JPanel hintPanel;   //stores the hint field

    //Labels
    JLabel titleLabel;          //title label
    JLabel image;               //image label
    JLabel incorrectGuesses;    //incorrect guess label
    JLabel hint;                //hint label

    //Image Array - an array of image aths
    String hangManStatus[] = {"hangmanEmpty.png", "hangmanHead.png", "hangmanBody.png", "hangman1Arm.png", "hangman2Arm.png", "hangman1Leg.png", "hangmanDead.png"};

    //JTextFields
    JTextField characterEntry;  //character entry field
    JTextField guessEntry;      //guess entry field
    JTextField lettersUsed;     //letters used field
    JTextField hintField;       //hint used field

    //JButton
    JButton charEntry;          //char entry button
    JButton guEntry;            //guess entry button

    //Movie Array
    String movies[] = new String [214];

    //Strings   - strings used
    String movie;
    char[] sMovie;

    //Integers
    int status = 0;

    public void init ()
        //Pre: No conditions must be met.
        //Post: Creates an applet with components.
    {
        int reply = JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog (null, "Would you like to view the help document?", "Help", JOptionPane.YES_NO_OPTION);
        if (reply == JOptionPane.YES_OPTION)
        {
            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "Welcome to Hangman. The player has to guess a letter and if it's correct, you put it in the blank.\n" +
                                               "If it's incorrect you put a head on the upside down L. Draw another body part for each subsequent wrong guess.\n" +
                                               "The object is to guess the word before the body is completed. If you think you know the word, you can\n" +
                                               "enter it in the bigger text field and press guess. Be warned, if you miss the answer, you lose the game!", "Help", JOptionPane.INFORMATION_MESSAGE);
        }
        if (reply == JOptionPane.CANCEL_OPTION)
        {
            System.exit (0);
        }


        setSize (450, 600); //sets the size
        setBackground (Color.lightGray);    //sets the background

        //Title Label definition
        titleLabel = new JLabel ("Hangman");    //creates the title
        titleLabel.setForeground (Color.blue);  //sets the color of the title
        titleLabel.setFont (new Font ("Comic Sans MS", Font.BOLD, 24)); //creates the font

        //Title Panel definition
        titlePanel = new JPanel ();
        titlePanel.add (titleLabel);    //adds the panel into title
        titlePanel.setBackground (Color.lightGray); //sets the panel color to gray

        //Image definition
        image = new JLabel (createImageIcon (hangManStatus [0]));   //sets the label image to the base hangman image

        //Image Panel definition
        imagePanel = new JPanel (); //creates the image
        imagePanel.setBackground (Color.lightGray); //sets the image to gray
        imagePanel.add (image); //adds the image to the panel

        //JTextField definitions
        buttonPanel = new JPanel ();
        characterEntry = new JTextField (5);
        guessEntry = new JTextField (15);
        lettersUsed = new JTextField (25);
        lettersUsed.setEnabled (false); //disables the field

        lettersUsed.setText (lettersUsedString);    //sets the text to lettersUsedString
        lPanel = new JPanel ();     //new panel
        lPanel.setBackground (Color.lightGray); //sets the background to light gray
        lPanel.add (lettersUsed);   //adds the field

        hintPanel = new JPanel ();
        hintField = new JTextField (25);
        hintField.setEnabled (false);
        hintPanel.add (hintField);
        hintPanel.setBackground (Color.lightGray);

        //JButton definitions
        //sets listeners
        charEntry = new JButton ("Check!");
        charEntry.setActionCommand ("check");
        charEntry.addActionListener (this);

        //sets listeners
        guEntry = new JButton ("Guess!");
        guEntry.setActionCommand ("guess");
        guEntry.addActionListener (this);

        //adds everything to the panel
        buttonPanel.add (characterEntry);
        buttonPanel.add (charEntry);
        buttonPanel.add (guessEntry);
        buttonPanel.add (guEntry);

        //JLabel definition
        incorrectGuesses = new JLabel ("Letters used: ");
        guessPanel = new JPanel ();
        hint = new JLabel ();
        guessPanel.add (hint);

        //reads the movie file
        readMovieFile ("movies.txt");

        /* Setting the seed */
        Random randomGenerator = new Random (); //creates a new random
        int randomInt = randomGenerator.nextInt (movies.length);    //new random int
        movie = movies [randomInt].toLowerCase ();  //creates a random movie and sets it to lowercase
        System.out.println (movie);
        sMovie = new char [movie.length ()];    //creates a new char array
        sMovie = stripString (movie);   //strips the string
        //System.out.println (sMovie);
        hintField.setText (new String (sMovie));    //sets the text to sMovie

        //Additions to GUI
        add (titlePanel);
        add (imagePanel);
        add (buttonPanel);
        buttonPanel.setBackground (Color.lightGray);
        add (guessPanel);
        guessPanel.setBackground (Color.lightGray);
        add (lPanel);
        add (hintPanel);
    }


    public char[] stripString (String m)
        //Pre: m must be a movie of length >0
        //Post: returns a string with * times the length of the string
    {
        char s[] = new char [m.length ()];  //creates a new char array with the length of m
        for (int i = 0 ; i < m.length () ; i++)
        {
            if (m.charAt (i) != ' ') //if the char at i is not a space,
            {
                s [i] = '*';    //set the char at i to a *
            }
            else
            {
                s [i] = ' ';    //keeps the char at i at a space
            }
        }
        return s;   //returns s
    }


    public void readMovieFile (String path)
        //Pre: Path must be valid
        //Post: Stores the lines in the path file to movies (an array)
    {
        File f = new File (path);   //creates a new instance of file
        BufferedReader br = null;   //creates a new instance of BufferedReader
        FileReader fr = null;       //creates a new instance of FileReader
        if (f.exists ())            //if file exists
        {
            try
            {
                fr = new FileReader (f);
                br = new BufferedReader (fr);

                String line = null;     //sets the line to null
                for (int i = 0 ; i < movies.length ; i++)
                {
                    if ((line = br.readLine ()) != null)    //if the line isnt null
                        movies [i] = line;  //assign movies[i] to the movie at line line.
                }
            }
            //catch various exceptions
            catch (FileNotFoundException e)
            {
                e.printStackTrace ();
            }
            catch (IOException e)
            {
                e.printStackTrace ();
            }
            finally
            {
                try
                {
                    if (br != null)
                    {
                        br.close ();
                    }
                    if (fr != null)
                    {
                        fr.close ();
                    }
                }
                catch (IOException e)
                {
                }
            }
        }

    }


    public void actionPerformed (ActionEvent e)
        //Pre: e must be an event
        //Post: returns various items. sets components, winning messages, etc.
    {
        if (e.getActionCommand ().equals ("check"))         //if the check button is pressed
        {
            String userGuess = (characterEntry.getText ());     //get the text out of the textfield
            System.out.println (userGuess);                     //print the userguess (debug)
            if (userGuess.length () > 1 && userGuess.length () > 0)     //if the length is bigger than 1, and bigger than 0
            {
                JOptionPane.showMessageDialog (null, "Only one letter is permitted!", "Error!", JOptionPane.INFORMATION_MESSAGE);   //show this
            }
            else        //else
            {
                int counter = 0;        //start a counter
                for (int i = 0 ; i < movie.length () ; i++)
                {
                    if (movie.charAt (i) == userGuess.charAt (0))       //if the charAt is equal to the guess
                    {
                        sMovie [i] = userGuess.charAt (0);              //set the guess correct
                        hintField.setText (new String (sMovie));
                    }
                    if (movie.charAt (i) != userGuess.charAt (0))
                    {
                        counter++;              //else counter++
                    }
                }
                System.out.println ("Counter: " + counter + ", Movie: " + movie.length ());
                if (counter == movie.length ())
                {
                    lettersUsedString += userGuess.charAt (0) + ", ";       //set lettersUsed to the guess
                    lettersUsed.setText (lettersUsedString);                //set the text
                    lettersUsed.repaint ();                                 //repaint
                    status++;
                    image.setIcon (createImageIcon (hangManStatus [status]));   //set the image
                }
            }
            if (status == hangManStatus.length - 1)
            {
                JOptionPane.showMessageDialog (null, "Aw man! You lost the game!\nRun the program again and try again!", "Game Over!", JOptionPane.INFORMATION_MESSAGE);
                System.exit (0);        //say lost game and exit
            }
            if (new String (sMovie).equalsIgnoreCase (movie)) //if the char array is equal to the movie
            {
                JOptionPane.showMessageDialog (null, "Wow! You won the game! Run the program again to play again!", "Game Over!", JOptionPane.INFORMATION_MESSAGE);
                System.exit (0);        //say won game and exit
            }
        }
        if (e.getActionCommand ().equals ("guess"))     //if the action command is guess
        {
            String myguess = guessEntry.getText ();     //get the text from guessentry
            System.out.println (myguess);
            if (!myguess.equals (movie))           //if the guess doesnt equal
            {
                JOptionPane.showMessageDialog (null, "Aw man! You lost the game!\nRun the program again and try again!", "Game Over!", JOptionPane.INFORMATION_MESSAGE);
                System.exit (0);    //say lost game and exit
            }
            if (myguess.equals (movie))
            {
                JOptionPane.showMessageDialog (null, "Wow! You won the game! Run the program again to play again!", "Game Over!", JOptionPane.INFORMATION_MESSAGE);
                System.exit (0);    //say won game and exit
            }
        }
    }


    protected ImageIcon createImageIcon (String path)
        //Pre: path must be valid
        //Post: returns an icon
    {
        java.net.URL imgURL = getClass ().getResource (path);
        if (imgURL != null)
        {
            return new ImageIcon (imgURL);
        }
        else
        {
            return null;
        }
    }
}

Wont run because it's missing the movies file and images.

Close requested.