Java swing: select / deselect JButton to simulate ripple

Question

fe I have a mail client, it receives a new message, the button with incoming messages starts to do something until the user clicks on it to see what is happening.

I'm trying to draw attention to a button by selecting, waiting, and then deselecting it, but it does nothing!

do{ button.setSelected(true); Thread oThread = new Thread() { @Override public void run() { synchronized (this) { try { wait(1000); } catch (InterruptedException e1) { e1.printStackTrace(); } } button.setSelected(false); } }; oThread.start(); }while(true); 

Answer 1

You must use Swing timers for this. Do not interact with GUI objects from external threads.

There are some documents in the Java tutorial: How to use Swing timers .

Here is an example of how you could play with the button icon.

 // member var Icon buttonIcon; Timer timer; 

  // in constructor for example buttonIcon = new ImageIcon("resources/icon.png"); button.setIcon(buttonIcon); timer = new Timer(1000, this); timer.start(); 

  // in the actionPerformed handler if (button.getIcon() == null) button.setIcon(icon); else button.setIcon(null); 

To do this, you will need to implement an ActionListener for it to work like this. Add some logic to stop blinking when you need it.

Answer 2

hafl_workaround to your questions

 import java.awt.*; import java.awt.event.*; import javax.swing.*; public class ShakingButtonDemo implements Runnable { private JButton button; private JRadioButton radioWholeButton; private JRadioButton radioTextOnly; public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception { SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new ShakingButtonDemo()); } @Override public void run() { radioWholeButton = new JRadioButton("The whole button"); radioTextOnly = new JRadioButton("Button text only"); radioWholeButton.setSelected(true); ButtonGroup bg = new ButtonGroup(); bg.add(radioWholeButton); bg.add(radioTextOnly); button = new JButton(" Shake with this Button "); button.addActionListener(new ActionListener() { @Override public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) { shakeButton(radioWholeButton.isSelected()); } }); JPanel p1 = new JPanel(); p1.setBorder(BorderFactory.createTitledBorder("Shake Options")); p1.setLayout(new GridLayout(0, 1)); p1.add(radioWholeButton); p1.add(radioTextOnly); JPanel p2 = new JPanel(); p2.setLayout(new GridLayout(0, 1)); p2.add(button); JFrame frame = new JFrame(); frame.setTitle("Shaking Button Demo"); frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE); frame.add(p1, BorderLayout.NORTH); frame.add(p2, BorderLayout.SOUTH); frame.pack(); frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null); frame.setVisible(true); } private void shakeButton(final boolean shakeWholeButton) { final Point point = button.getLocation(); final Insets margin = button.getMargin(); final int delay = 75; Runnable r = new Runnable() { @Override public void run() { for (int i = 0; i < 30; i++) { try { if (shakeWholeButton) { moveButton(new Point(point.x + 5, point.y)); Thread.sleep(delay); moveButton(point); Thread.sleep(delay); moveButton(new Point(point.x - 5, point.y)); Thread.sleep(delay); moveButton(point); Thread.sleep(delay); } else {// text only setButtonMargin(new Insets(margin.top, margin.left + 3, margin.bottom, margin.right - 2)); Thread.sleep(delay); setButtonMargin(margin); Thread.sleep(delay); setButtonMargin(new Insets(margin.top, margin.left - 2, margin.bottom, margin.right + 3)); Thread.sleep(delay); setButtonMargin(margin); Thread.sleep(delay); } } catch (InterruptedException ex) { ex.printStackTrace(); } } } }; Thread t = new Thread(r); t.start(); } private void moveButton(final Point p) { SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() { @Override public void run() { button.setLocation(p); } }); } private void setButtonMargin(final Insets margin) { SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() { @Override public void run() { button.setMargin(margin); } }); } }