Trying to use a JCheckBox as a JButton (Java Swing)

Question

i'm trying to get a JDialog to "pop up" when i press a JCheckBox (if its not true). I want to use is as a button. I hope i am posting this right, my first post here :)

I am getting a error that says i can't cast my JCheckBox to a JButton. Can you help me do this right?

package model;

import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;

import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JCheckBox;
import javax.swing.JDialog;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JTextField;

public class FirstJDialog extends JDialog 
{
    private Controller controller;

    private HotelJDialog hotelJDialog;
    private PartnerJDialog partnerJDialog;

    private JLabel lblName, lblArrival, lblDeparture, lblLekture, lblHotel, lblPartner;
    private JTextField txfName, txfArrival, txfDeparture;
    private JCheckBox ckbLekture, ckbHotel, ckbPartner;

    public FirstJDialog()
    {
        this.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.HIDE_ON_CLOSE);
        this.setTitle("Person informationer");
        this.setLayout(null);
        this.setSize(900, 650);
        this.setLocation(500, 200);
        this.setResizable(false);

        // Labels for TextField ######################################################################
        lblName = new JLabel("Navn:");
        this.add(lblName);
        this.lblName.setSize(100, 40);
        this.lblName.setLocation(25, 25);

        lblArrival = new JLabel("Ankomst:");
        this.add(lblArrival);
        this.lblArrival.setSize(100, 40);
        this.lblArrival.setLocation(25, 70);

        lblDeparture = new JLabel("Afgang:");
        this.add(lblDeparture);
        this.lblDeparture.setSize(100, 40);
        this.lblDeparture.setLocation(25, 115);

        // TextField ######################################################################
        txfName = new JTextField();
        this.add(txfName);
        this.txfName.setSize(200, 40);
        this.txfName.setLocation(180, 25);

        txfArrival = new JTextField();
        this.add(txfArrival);
        this.txfArrival.setSize(200, 40);
        this.txfArrival.setLocation(180, 70);

        txfDeparture = new JTextField();
        this.add(txfDeparture);
        this.txfDeparture.setSize(200, 40);
        this.txfDeparture.setLocation(180, 115);

        // CheckBox ######################################################################
        ckbLekture = new JCheckBox();
        this.add(ckbLekture);
        this.ckbLekture.setSize(25, 25);
        this.ckbLekture.setLocation(25, 200);

        ckbHotel = new JCheckBox();
        this.add(ckbHotel);
        this.ckbHotel.setSize(25, 25);
        this.ckbHotel.setLocation(25, 250);

        ckbPartner = new JCheckBox();
        this.add(ckbPartner);
        this.ckbPartner.setSize(25, 25);
        this.ckbPartner.setLocation(25, 300);

        // Labels for CheckBox ######################################################################
        lblLekture = new JLabel("Foredrag");
        this.add(lblLekture);
        this.lblLekture.setSize(100, 40);
        this.lblLekture.setLocation(125, 190);

        lblHotel = new JLabel("Hotel");
        this.add(lblHotel);
        this.lblHotel.setSize(100, 40);
        this.lblHotel.setLocation(125, 240);

        lblPartner = new JLabel("Ledsager");
        this.add(lblPartner);
        this.lblPartner.setSize(100, 40);
        this.lblPartner.setLocation(125, 290);

        // JDialogs ######################################################################
        hotelJDialog = new HotelJDialog();
        partnerJDialog = new PartnerJDialog();

        controller = new Controller();
        ckbHotel.addActionListener(controller);
    }

    private class Controller implements ActionListener
    {                   

        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) 
        {
            JButton source = (JButton) e.getSource();
            JCheckBox sourxe = (JCheckBox) e.getSource();
            if(sourxe.equals(ckbHotel))
                hotelJDialog.setVisible(true);
        }   
    }

1) Java GUIs might have to work on a number of platforms, on different screen resolutions & using different PLAFs. As such they are not conducive to exact placement of components. To organize the components for a robust GUI, instead use layout managers, or [combinations of them](http://stackoverflow.com/a/5630271/418556), along with layout padding & borders for [white space](http://stackoverflow.com/q/17874717/418556). 2) For better help sooner, post an [SSCCE](http://sscce.org/). — Andrew Thompson, Nov 14 '13 at 16:55

tenorsax · Accepted Answer · 2013-11-14T16:59:01.040

The error is a result of an attempt to cast JCheckBox to a JButton. This cast is unnecessary, as you never register this listener with any JButton, only with ckbHotel which is JCheckBox.

In the given example, there is no need to cast, you can simply check the source:

if(ckbHotel.equals(e.getSource()))
    hotelJDialog.setVisible(true);

You can also register a different action listener for this checkbox. There is no need to have a single action listener to serve all the controls in the container, for example:

ckbHotel.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
    @Override
    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
        hotelJDialog.setVisible(true);
    }
});

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 14 '13 at 16:54

 JButton source = (JButton) e.getSource();

this line give this error. remove this ans add this

JCheckBox sourxe = (JCheckBox) e.getSource();
if(sourxe.isSelected())
      hotelJDialog.setVisible(true);

this is only show your dialog if sourxe is selected..

Trying to use a JCheckBox as a JButton (Java Swing)

2 Answers2