How Do I Use KeyEventDispatcher

Question

I have been trying to make a Pong clone as sort of a beginner's project, and I've hit a road block. I have managed to get to the point of keyboard support, but the keyboard repeat delay kicks in. I haven't found any usable way to use KeyEventDispatcher. It won't even initiate the dispatchKeyEvent() method. How would I go about using this?

Thanks in advance.

PS: Here is my source so far: http://pastebin.com/N9fLMzFT

Comptometer

Answer 1

you have to look for KeyBindings

import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.net.*;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Map;
import javax.imageio.ImageIO;
import javax.swing.*;

public class MoveIcon extends JPanel {

    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
    private static final String IMAGE_PATH = "http://duke.kenai.com/misc/Bullfight.jpg";
    private static final String IMAGE_PATH_PLAYER = "http://duke.kenai.com/iconSized/duke4.gif";
    public static final int STEP = 3;
    private static final int TIMER_DELAY = STEP * 8;
    private BufferedImage bkgrndImage = null;
    private BufferedImage playerImage = null;
    private Map<Direction, Boolean> directionMap = new HashMap<Direction, Boolean>();
    private int playerX = 0;
    private int playerY = 0;

    enum Direction {

        UP(KeyEvent.VK_UP, 0, -1), DOWN(KeyEvent.VK_DOWN, 0, 1),
        LEFT(KeyEvent.VK_LEFT, -1, 0), RIGHT(KeyEvent.VK_RIGHT, 1, 0);
        private int keyCode;
        private int xDirection;
        private int yDirection;

        private Direction(int keyCode, int xDirection, int yDirection) {
            this.keyCode = keyCode;
            this.xDirection = xDirection;
            this.yDirection = yDirection;
        }

        public int getKeyCode() {
            return keyCode;
        }

        public int getXDirection() {
            return xDirection;
        }

        public int getYDirection() {
            return yDirection;
        }
    }

    public MoveIcon() {
        try {
            URL bkgrdImageURL = new URL(IMAGE_PATH);
            URL playerImageURL = new URL(IMAGE_PATH_PLAYER);
            bkgrndImage = ImageIO.read(bkgrdImageURL);
            playerImage = ImageIO.read(playerImageURL);
            setPreferredSize(new Dimension(bkgrndImage.getWidth(), bkgrndImage.getHeight()));
        } catch (MalformedURLException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        } catch (IOException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
        for (Direction direction : Direction.values()) {
            directionMap.put(direction, false);
        }
        setKeyBindings();
        Timer timer = new Timer(TIMER_DELAY, new TimerListener());
        timer.start();
    }

    private void setKeyBindings() {
        InputMap inMap = getInputMap(JComponent.WHEN_IN_FOCUSED_WINDOW);
        ActionMap actMap = getActionMap();
        for (final Direction direction : Direction.values()) {
            KeyStroke pressed = KeyStroke.getKeyStroke(direction.getKeyCode(), 0, false);
            KeyStroke released = KeyStroke.getKeyStroke(direction.getKeyCode(), 0, true);
            inMap.put(pressed, direction.toString() + "pressed");
            inMap.put(released, direction.toString() + "released");
            actMap.put(direction.toString() + "pressed", new AbstractAction() {

                private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;

                @Override
                public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
                    directionMap.put(direction, true);
                }
            });
            actMap.put(direction.toString() + "released", new AbstractAction() {

                private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;

                @Override
                public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
                    directionMap.put(direction, false);
                }
            });
        }

    }

    @Override
    protected void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
        super.paintComponent(g);
        if (bkgrndImage != null) {
            g.drawImage(bkgrndImage, 0, 0, null);
        }
        if (playerImage != null) {
            g.drawImage(playerImage, playerX, playerY, null);
        }
    }

    private class TimerListener implements ActionListener {

        @Override
        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
            boolean moved = false;
            for (Direction direction : Direction.values()) {
                if (directionMap.get(direction)) {
                    playerX += STEP * direction.getXDirection();
                    playerY += STEP * direction.getYDirection();
                    moved = true;
                }
            }
            if (moved) {
                int x = playerX - 2 * STEP;
                int y = playerY - 2 * STEP;
                int w = playerImage.getWidth() + 4 * STEP;
                int h = playerImage.getHeight() + 4 * STEP;
                MoveIcon.this.repaint(x, y, w, h); // !! repaint just the player
            }
        }
    }

    private static void createAndShowUI() {
        JFrame frame = new JFrame("MoveIcon");
        frame.getContentPane().add(new MoveIcon());
        frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        frame.pack();
        frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
        frame.setVisible(true);
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        java.awt.EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {

            @Override
            public void run() {
                createAndShowUI();
            }
        });
    }
}

Merchant

@Azad Omer this and another code examples (search in post by Hovercraft Full Of Eels) reason why KeyBindings are very usefull for most of KeyEvents in Swing (excluding crazy combinations for 3 and more key pressed in the same time) – Merchant