Volume Number: 13 (1997)
Issue Number: 2
Column Tag: Getting Started

The ShapeWorld Applet

By Dave Mark

A few months ago I promised an applet that did double-buffered animation. When I started work on the sample applet, I realized that I was definitely jumping the gun and there was still a lot of ground to cover to get to double-buffering. Since then, I've explored the AWT event-handling mechanism, as well as the various shape drawing routines in the Graphics class.

This month I am going to bring these concepts (and a few new ones) together into an applet called ShapeWorld. This month's version of ShapeWorld (I'll extend it next month) randomly scatters some rectangles into a Canvas, then responds to mouse clicks by selecting and deselecting the rectangles. As you'll see next month, ShapeWorld was designed to be extended. For now, let's get the first version up and running.

Launch the CodeWarrior IDE and create a new project named ShapeWorld.µ using the Java applet stationery. Create a new source file named ShapeWorld.java and add it to the project. Here's the ShapeWorld.java source code:

import java.awt.*;
import java.util.*;

abstract class Shape
{
 booleanhighlighted;
 ShapeCanvasshapeCanvas;
 int    shapeX, shapeY, shapeWidth, shapeHeight;
 RectangleboundsRect;
 Shape( ShapeCanvas canv, int x, int y,
 int width, int height )
 {
 shapeCanvas = canv;
 highlighted = false;
 
 shapeX = x;
 shapeY = y;
 shapeWidth = width;
 shapeHeight = height;
 boundsRect = new Rectangle( x, y, width, height );
 }
 
 abstract public void draw( Graphics g );
 
 public void setHighlight( boolean newHighlight )
 {
 highlighted = newHighlight;
 }
 
 public boolean isHighlighted()
 {
 return highlighted;
 }
 
 public boolean isPointInShape( int x, int y )
 {
 return boundsRect.inside( x, y );
 }
}

class RectShape extends Shape
{
 RectShape( ShapeCanvas canv, int x, int y,
 int width, int height )
 {
 super( canv, x, y, width, height );
 }
 
 public void draw( Graphics g )
 {
 if ( isHighlighted() )
 {
 g.setColor( Color.black );
 g.fillRect( shapeX, shapeY, shapeWidth, shapeHeight );
 g.setColor( Color.red );
 g.fillRect( shapeX+2, shapeY+2,
 shapeWidth-4, shapeHeight-4 );
 }
 else
 {
 g.setColor( Color.red );
 g.fillRect( shapeX, shapeY, shapeWidth, shapeHeight );
 }
 }
}

class ShapeCanvas extends Canvas
{
 Vector shapes;
 Shape  curShape;
 
 ShapeCanvas( int width, int height )
 {
 shapes = new Vector();
 curShape = null;
 
 setBackground( Color.yellow );
 
 resize( width, height );
 }
 
 public void addShape( Shape newShape )
 {
 shapes.addElement( newShape );
 }
 
 public void paint( Graphics g )
 {
 for ( Enumeration e = shapes.elements(); 
 e.hasMoreElements(); )
 {
 Shape s = (Shape)e.nextElement();
 s.draw( g );
 }
 }
 
 public Shape findInShapeList( int x, int y )
 {
 for ( Enumeration e = shapes.elements(); 
 e.hasMoreElements(); )
 {
 Shape s = (Shape)e.nextElement();
 
 if ( s.isPointInShape( x, y ) )
 {
 s.setHighlight( ! s.isHighlighted() );
 s.draw( getGraphics() );

 return s;
 }
 }
 
 return null;
 }
 
 public void update (Graphics g)
 {
   paint(g);
 }
 
 public boolean mouseDown( Event e, int x, int y )
 {
 curShape = findInShapeList( x, y );
 
 return true;
 }
}

public class ShapeWorld extends java.applet.Applet
{
 ShapeCanvassCanvas;
 final intshapeWidth = 20;
 final intshapeHeight = 20;
 
 public void init()
 {
 int    x, y;
 
 sCanvas = new ShapeCanvas( 440, 290 );
 add( sCanvas );
 
 Random ran = new Random();
 Rectangle b = sCanvas.bounds();
 
 for ( int i=1; i<=10; i++ )
 {
 x = b.x + (int)((float)(b.width) * ran.nextFloat() );
 if ( x > b.x + b.width - shapeWidth )
 x -= shapeWidth;
 
 y = b.y + (int)((float)(b.height) * ran.nextFloat() );
 if ( y > b.y + b.height - shapeHeight )
 y -= shapeHeight;
 
 RectShape r = new RectShape( sCanvas, x, y, 
 shapeWidth, shapeHeight );
 sCanvas.addShape( r );
 }
 }
}

Save your typing, then create a new source code file named ShapeWorld.html and add it to the project. Here's the html:

<title>ShapeWorld</title>
<hr>
<applet codebase="ShapeWorld Classes" code="ShapeWorld.class" width=500 
height=300>
</applet>
<hr>
<a href="ShapeWorld.java">The source.</a>

Once your source and html are entered and saved, run the ShapeWorld applet. Figure 1 shows my ShapeWorld applet running in the Metrowerks Java applet runner. The ten shapes all appear in red on a Canvas with a background color of yellow. The shapes are randomly distributed throughout the Canvas.

Figure 1. The ShapeWorld applet with no shapes selected.

Figure 2 shows what happens when I click the mouse inside a shape. In this case, I've selected six of the ten shapes. A two pixel border is used to mark a shape as selected.

Figure 2. The ShapeWorld applet with six shapes selected.

ShapeWorld creates four classes. ShapeWorld is the main entry point and extends the java.applet.Applet class. The ShapeCanvas class implements the Canvas. The Shape class is an abstract class which means that I won't be creating any Shape objects. The RectShape class extends the Shape class and is used to create the ten shapes you see in the ShapeWorld Canvas.

As you look through the Shape class, remember that all the variables and functions will be inherited by any classes that extend Shape. highlighted is set to true if the shape is selected, false otherwise. shapeCanvas is the enclosing Canvas. shapeX, shapeY, shapeWidth, and shapeHeight define the boundries of this Shape. boundsRect does the exact same thing, but stores this same info in a Rectangle instead of in individual variables. Why the duplication? With both forms available, I don't have to spend time converting from one form to the other. This might seem like a frivolous waste of memory, but when we are stepping through a large number of shapes, perhaps during a redraw cycle, the little time we save can make a difference.

import java.awt.*;
import java.util.*;

abstract class Shape
{
 booleanhighlighted;
 ShapeCanvasshapeCanvas;
 int    shapeX, shapeY, shapeWidth, shapeHeight;
 RectangleboundsRect;
 

The Shape constructor initializes the Shape variables. The draw() function is declared abstract, which means it must be overridden by any class that extends Shape. Note that an abstract function doesn't have a function body. setHighlight() sets highlighted to a new value. isHighlighted() returns the value of highlighted. Finally, isPointInShape() takes advantage of the Rectangle classes' inside() function to tell you if the specified point is inside the Shape's bounding Rectangle.

 Shape( ShapeCanvas canv, int x, int y,
 int width, int height )
 {
 shapeCanvas = canv;
 highlighted = false;
 
 shapeX = x;
 shapeY = y;
 shapeWidth = width;
 shapeHeight = height;
 
 boundsRect = new Rectangle( x, y, width, height );
 }
 
 abstract public void draw( Graphics g );
 
 public void setHighlight( boolean newHighlight )
 {
 highlighted = newHighlight;
 }
 
 public boolean isHighlighted()
 {
 return highlighted;
 }
 
 public boolean isPointInShape( int x, int y )
 {
 return boundsRect.inside( x, y );
 }
}

RectShape extends the Shape class. The RectShape constructor just passes on its parameters to its superclass constructor, which is the Shape constructor. If the shape is selected, the draw() function draws a black rectangle, insets the rectangle by two pixels on each side, then draws a red rectangle. I could have used two calls to drawRect() to frame the black rectangle followed by a call to fillRect() to fill in the red, but this made the code easier to read.

class RectShape extends Shape
{
 RectShape( ShapeCanvas canv, int x, int y,
 int width, int height )
 {
 super( canv, x, y, width, height );
 }
 
 public void draw( Graphics g )
 {
 if ( isHighlighted() )
 {
 g.setColor( Color.black );
 g.fillRect( shapeX, shapeY, shapeWidth, shapeHeight );
 g.setColor( Color.red );
 g.fillRect( shapeX+2, shapeY+2,
 shapeWidth-4, shapeHeight-4 );
 }
 else
 {
 g.setColor( Color.red );
 g.fillRect( shapeX, shapeY, shapeWidth, shapeHeight );
 }
 }
}

The ShapeCanvas class is my main drawing area. The shapes variable is of the java.util.Vector class. A Vector implements a growable array of objects. I can access the objects via random access (using an integer index) or by stepping through the list. Since I want to tie a list of shapes to my Canvas, a Vector is a natural structure in which to store references to the Shapes. Spend some time reading the java.util.Vector doc to truly appreciate the value of the Vector. In addition, you should read about the Enumeration interface (on the java.util page) that the Vector class implements. The Enumeration interface allows you to step through your Vector using the functions hasMoreElements() and nextElement().

class ShapeCanvas extends Canvas
{
 Vector shapes;
 Shape  curShape;

The ShapeCanvas() constructor creates a new Vector and sets curShape to null. I won't make use of curShape this month, but I will use it next month to keep track of the last selected Shape. The constructor also sets the background color and changes the Canvas' size.

 ShapeCanvas( int width, int height )
 {
 shapes = new Vector();
 curShape = null;
 
 setBackground( Color.yellow );
 
 resize( width, height );
 }

addShape() adds a shape to the Vector. paint() steps through the shapes Vector, retrieving the current Shape and calling its draw() method. This method of stepping through a Vector is extremely useful. Note that nextElement() returns an Object, so I needed to cast the returned value to Shape. By retrieving a Shape instead of a specific derived class such as RectShape(), I can use this code to draw any Shapes stored in the list, no matter the type, as long as each shape is derived from Shape.

 public void addShape( Shape newShape )
 {
 shapes.addElement( newShape );
 }
 
 public void paint( Graphics g )
 {
 for ( Enumeration e = shapes.elements(); 
 e.hasMoreElements(); )
 {
 Shape s = (Shape)e.nextElement();
 s.draw( g );
 }
 }

findInShapeList() also steps through the shapes Vector. In each case, I call each Shape's isPointInShape() function to see if the specified point is in the current Shape. If the point was in the Shape, I flip highlighted and redraw the Shape (since it is now selected.)

 public Shape findInShapeList( int x, int y )
 {
 for ( Enumeration e = shapes.elements(); 
 e.hasMoreElements(); )
 {
 Shape s = (Shape)e.nextElement();
 
 if ( s.isPointInShape( x, y ) )
 {
 s.setHighlight( ! s.isHighlighted() );
 s.draw( getGraphics() );

 return s;
 }
 }
 
 return null;
 }

The update() function calls paint(). The default update() (inherited from the Component class) erases the area to be updated and then calls paint(). By calling paint() without the erase, I avoid an annoying flicker. This trick is well worth remembering. To truly understand what it does, comment out the entire update() method (not just the call to paint() which will prevent drawing from occuring at all!!!)

 public void update (Graphics g)
 {
   paint(g);
 }

The mouseDown() function gets called when I click the mouse in the Canvas. At the moment, I don't do anything interesting with the Shape returned by findInShapeList(), but I will next month.

 public boolean mouseDown( Event e, int x, int y )
 {
 curShape = findInShapeList( x, y );
 
 return true;
 }
}

The last thing I want to point out this month is the use of the Random class. ShapeWorld creates 10 new RectShapes (remember, you can't actually create a Shape since you can't create an instance of an abstract class) using the random values returned by Random(). Random is described on the page java.util.Random. Be sure to check out that page of documentation, as it describes a variety of random number distributions and returned types.

public class ShapeWorld extends java.applet.Applet
{
 ShapeCanvassCanvas;
 final intshapeWidth = 20;
 final intshapeHeight = 20;
 
 public void init()
 {
 int    x, y;
 
 sCanvas = new ShapeCanvas( 440, 290 );
 add( sCanvas );
 Random ran = new Random();
 Rectangle b = sCanvas.bounds();
 
 for ( int i=1; i<=10; i++ )
 {
 x = b.x + (int)((float)(b.width) * ran.nextFloat() );
 if ( x > b.x + b.width - shapeWidth )
 x -= shapeWidth;
 
 y = b.y + (int)((float)(b.height) * ran.nextFloat() );
 if ( y > b.y + b.height - shapeHeight )
 y -= shapeHeight;
 
 RectShape r = new RectShape( sCanvas, x, y, 
 shapeWidth, shapeHeight );
 sCanvas.addShape( r );
 }
 }
}

As promised, next month I'll add some new functionality to ShapeWorld. Before you peek at next month's column, try your hand at adding a new Shape subclass to ShapeWorld. Experiment. Read the doc. I'll see you then...