How do you return a value from a java swing window closes from a button?

Question

Basically, I have somewhere in my main code where this line of code is called

editwindow clubeditwindow = new editwindow(1,"Club Edit");

This line opens a new JFrame that can basically edit a bunch of information from the main class. I have 2 buttons called save and cancel. When save is clicked, I want to take the values from the textfields and then put it into a new object and return that to the main class, and close the window. When cancel is clicked, I want it to just not do anything, which is simple enough.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Don't display the window as a JFrame but rather display it as a modal dialog. Then after it is no longer visible, the main GUI can query the object for any information that it holds. The simplest way to do this is to use a JOptionPane -- they are clever little beasts if used correctly.

Here's an example of what I mean. The JOptionPane holds JPane that displays information using a GridBagLayout.

ComplexOptionPane.java: displays the main JFrame.

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

@SuppressWarnings("serial")
public class ComplexOptionPane extends JPanel {
   private PlayerEditorPanel playerEditorPanel = new PlayerEditorPanel();
   private JTextArea textArea = new JTextArea(20, 40);

   public ComplexOptionPane() {
      add(new JScrollPane(textArea));
      add(new JButton(new AbstractAction("Get Player Information") {

         @Override
         public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0) {
            int result = JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(null, playerEditorPanel,
                  "Edit Player", JOptionPane.OK_CANCEL_OPTION,
                  JOptionPane.PLAIN_MESSAGE);
            if (result == JOptionPane.OK_OPTION) {
               for (PlayerEditorPanel.FieldTitle fieldTitle : 
                  PlayerEditorPanel.FieldTitle.values()) {
                  textArea.append(String.format("%10s: %s%n", fieldTitle.getTitle(),
                        playerEditorPanel.getFieldText(fieldTitle)));
               }
            }
         }
      }));
   }

   private static void createAndShowGui() {
      ComplexOptionPane mainPanel = new ComplexOptionPane();

      JFrame frame = new JFrame("ComplexOptionPane");
      frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
      frame.getContentPane().add(mainPanel);
      frame.pack();
      frame.setLocationByPlatform(true);
      frame.setVisible(true);
   }

   public static void main(String[] args) {
      SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
         public void run() {
            createAndShowGui();
         }
      });
   }
}

PlayerEditorPanel.java which holds the JPanel that is displayed in a JOptionPane

import java.awt.*;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Map;
import javax.swing.*;

@SuppressWarnings("serial")
class PlayerEditorPanel extends JPanel {
   enum FieldTitle {
      NAME("Name"), SPEED("Speed"), STRENGTH("Strength");
      private String title;

      private FieldTitle(String title) {
         this.title = title;
      }

      public String getTitle() {
         return title;
      }
   };

   private static final Insets WEST_INSETS = new Insets(5, 0, 5, 5);
   private static final Insets EAST_INSETS = new Insets(5, 5, 5, 0);
   private Map<FieldTitle, JTextField> fieldMap = new HashMap<FieldTitle, JTextField>();

   public PlayerEditorPanel() {
      setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
      setBorder(BorderFactory.createCompoundBorder(
            BorderFactory.createTitledBorder("Player Editor"),
            BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(5, 5, 5, 5)));
      GridBagConstraints gbc;
      for (int i = 0; i < FieldTitle.values().length; i++) {
         FieldTitle fieldTitle = FieldTitle.values()[i];
         gbc = createGbc(0, i);
         add(new JLabel(fieldTitle.getTitle() + ":", JLabel.LEFT), gbc);
         gbc = createGbc(1, i);
         JTextField textField = new JTextField(10);
         add(textField, gbc);

         fieldMap.put(fieldTitle, textField);
      }
   }

   private GridBagConstraints createGbc(int x, int y) {
      GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
      gbc.gridx = x;
      gbc.gridy = y;
      gbc.gridwidth = 1;
      gbc.gridheight = 1;

      gbc.anchor = (x == 0) ? GridBagConstraints.WEST : GridBagConstraints.EAST;
      gbc.fill = (x == 0) ? GridBagConstraints.BOTH
            : GridBagConstraints.HORIZONTAL;

      gbc.insets = (x == 0) ? WEST_INSETS : EAST_INSETS;
      gbc.weightx = (x == 0) ? 0.1 : 1.0;
      gbc.weighty = 1.0;
      return gbc;
   }

   public String getFieldText(FieldTitle fieldTitle) {
      return fieldMap.get(fieldTitle).getText();
   }

}