Multiple JFrames

Question

I am making an application for processing customer orders(in java). My program has 3 JFrame windows (Yes I know its not a good idea to use multiple frames, but they aren't really connected to each other).

1. Main one: Here you select what you are (Customer or Operator)
2. Customer JFrame
3. Operator JFrame

After a Customer makes an order ( main frame > customer frame > complete order(button). I am doing something like this:

customerframe.dispose();
customerframe.revalidate();
customerframe.repaint();
reloadframe(); ///a method which reinitializes the frame (Note: I am doing a frame=new JFrame()  here)
mainframe.setVisible(true);

I select customer again it opens the customerframe but the problem is that the listeners don`t work anymore, I guess they somehow remain connected to the old frame or something.

I have been trying to make it work for some hours now...

Answer 1

You should not be using multiple JFrames See this link for more info.

Instead, I suggest you use a CardLayout as demonstrated here:

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

public class MainFrame
{
    static JPanel homeContainer;
    static CardLayout cl;

    JPanel homePanel;
    JPanel otherPanel;


    public MainFrame()
    {
        JFrame mFrame = new JFrame("CardLayout Example");
        JButton showOtherPanelBtn = new JButton("Show Other Panel");
        JButton backToHomeBtn = new JButton("Show Home Panel");

        cl = new CardLayout(5, 5);
        homeContainer = new JPanel(cl);
        homeContainer.setBackground(Color.black);

        homePanel = new JPanel();
        homePanel.setBackground(Color.blue);
        homePanel.add(showOtherPanelBtn);

        homeContainer.add(homePanel, "Home");

        otherPanel = new JPanel();
        otherPanel.setBackground(Color.green);
        otherPanel.add(backToHomeBtn);

        homeContainer.add(otherPanel, "Other Panel");

        showOtherPanelBtn.addActionListener(e -> cl.show(homeContainer, "Other Panel"));
        backToHomeBtn.addActionListener(e -> cl.show(homeContainer, "Home"));

        mFrame.add(homeContainer);
        cl.show(homeContainer, "Home");
        mFrame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
        mFrame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
        mFrame.setExtendedState(JFrame.MAXIMIZED_BOTH);
        mFrame.pack();
        mFrame.setVisible(true);
    }

    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        SwingUtilities.invokeLater(MainFrame::new);
    }
}

With a Cardlayout, you switch between JPanel's instead. This way, you don't have to create a new JFrame, just to display new content. Basically, you have some sort of container, (Could be the JFrame or could be a JPanel) and then, when you add the other panels that you create, you give them a name. You can then switch between the panels using cardLayout.show(container, "Name");