Java SE MVC implementation with Swing

Question

I've implemented MVC pattern for Java SE with Swing using PropertyChageSupport and PropertyChageListener. The diagram for implemented MVC is as follows.

In the implementation of View, I do property change in Model with the help of Controller.

View contains code like following for Ok button.

btnOk.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
    @Override
    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
        modelController.setNumber(Integer.parseInt(numberField
            .getText()));
        modelController.setName(nameField.getText());
    }
});

Complete code can be found in SwingMVC.

Now, My question is, Do I write above code for btnOk in View or Should I write it in a method in Controller so that in View, I'll be doing

btnOk.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
    @Override
    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
        modelController.btnOkActionPerformed();
    }
});

Of above two implementations, Which is the preferred way to implement MVC?

Answer 1

First a caveat: I'm not a professional or student but a hobbiest, but having said that, my own preference is with your second example,

btnOk.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
    @Override
    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
        modelController.btnOkActionPerformed();
    }
});

The control would have to call methods on the view to extract information, and any methods it would call would be part of an interface that the view implements. My goal in this is to keep the view as dumb as possible and do almost anything to loosen coupling as much as possible.

Answer 2

Your diagram suggests a model–view–presenter (MVP) pattern, which is compatible with Swing application design. In this context, Action is a convenient way to encapsulate application functionality for export from you model. As concrete examples:

• DefaultEditorKit and StyledEditorKit export useful Action types that operate on the Document model common to text components. As shown in this example, such actions update the Document, which indirectly updates the corresponding view component.

• The ControlPanel in the example cited here exposes a number of Action instances that operate directly on an implicit model of List<Node> and List<Edge>.