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The first rule of using threads is this: avoid them if you can. Threads can be difficult to use, and they tend to make programs harder to debug. To avoid the possibility of deadlock, you must take extreme care that any threads you create don't invoke any methods on Swing components. Remember, once a Swing component has been realized, only the event-dispatching thread should affect or query the component. If you aren't familiar with the role of the event-dispatching thread, please read Threads and Swing and Threads and Event Handling.Despite the dangers, threads can be invaluable. You can use them to improve your program's perceived performance. And sometimes threads can simplify a program's code or architecture. Here are some typical situations where threads are used:
- To move a time-consuming initialization task out of the main thread, so that the GUI comes up faster. Examples of time-consuming tasks include making extensive calculations and blocking for network or disk I/O (loading images, for example).
- To move a time-consuming task out of the event-dispatching thread, so that the GUI remains responsive.
- To perform an operation repeatedly, usually with some predetermined period of time between operations.
- To wait for messages from other programs.
If you need to create a thread, you can avoid some common pitfalls by implementing the thread with a utility class such as
SwingWorker
orTimer
. ASwingWorker
object creates a thread to execute a time-consuming operation. After the operation is finished,SwingWorker
gives you the option of executing some additional code in the event-dispatching thread. ATimer
object implements a thread that spawns one or more action events after a specified delay. If you need to implement your own threads, you can find information on doing so in Doing Two or More Tasks At Once: Threads.You can use several techniques to make multi-threaded Swing programs work well:
The rest of this section discusses
- If you need to update a component but your code isn't executing in an event handler, use one of these two
SwingUtilities
methods:invokeLater
(preferred) orinvokeAndWait
. These methods let you specify that some code be executed in the event-dispatching thread.
- If you aren't sure whether your code is executing in an event handler, then you should analyze your program's code and document which thread each method is (and can be) called from. Failing that, you can use the
SwingUtilities.isEventDispatchThread()
method, which returns true if your code is executing in the event-dispatching thread. You can safely callinvokeLater
from any thread, butinvokeAndWait
throws an exception if it's called from the event-dispatching thread.
- If you need to update a component after a delay (whether or not your code is currently executing in an event handler), use a timer to do so.
- If you need to update a component at a regular interval, use a timer.
SwingWorker
and theSwingUtilities
invoke methods. For information and examples of using timers, see How to Use Timers.
SwingWorker
ClassThe
Note: The implementation of theSwingWorker
class has been updated twice, most recently in February 2000. The first update (in January 1999) allowed programs to safely interrupt the worker thread. The most recent update (called "SwingWorker 3") was to fix a subtle threading bug that could cause aNullPointerException
.SwingWorker
class is implemented inSwingWorker.java
, which is not in the Swing release. To use theSwingWorker
class, you first create a subclass of it. The subclass must implement theconstruct
method so that it contains the code to perform your lengthy operation. When you instantiate yourSwingWorker
subclass, theSwingWorker
creates a thread but does not (as of SwingWorker 3) start it. You then invokestart
on yourSwingWorker
object to start the thread, which then calls yourconstruct
method.Here is an example of using a
SwingWorker
to move a time-consuming task from an action event handler into a background thread, so that the GUI remains responsive.//OLD CODE: public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) { ... //...code that might take a while to execute is here... ... } //BETTER CODE: public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) { ... final SwingWorker worker = new SwingWorker() { public Object construct() { //...code that might take a while to execute is here... return someValue; } }; worker.start(); //required for SwingWorker 3 ... }The value that
construct
returns can be any object. If you need to get the value, you can do so by invoking theget
method on yourSwingWorker
object. Be careful about usingget
. Because it blocks, it can cause deadlock. If necessary, you can interrupt the thread (causingget
to return) by invokinginterrupt
on theSwingWorker
.If you need to detect when the time-consuming operation completes, you can do so either by using
get
(which is dangerous, as we noted) or by overriding thefinished
method in yourSwingWorker
subclass. Thefinished
method runs after theconstruct
method returns. Because thefinished
method executes in the event-dispatching thread, you can safely use it to update Swing components. Of course, you shouldn't put time-consuming operations in yourfinished
implementation.The following example of implementing
finished
is taken fromIconDemoApplet.java
. For a full discussion of this applet, including how it improves perceived performance by using background threads to load images, see How to Use Icons.public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) { ... if (icon == null) { //haven't viewed this photo before loadImage(imagedir + pic.filename, current); } else { updatePhotograph(current, pic); } } ... //Load an image in a separate thread. private void loadImage(final String imagePath, final int index) { final SwingWorker worker = new SwingWorker() { ImageIcon icon = null; public Object construct() { icon = new ImageIcon(getURL(imagePath)); return icon; //return value not used by this program } //Runs on the event-dispatching thread. public void finished() { Photo pic = (Photo)pictures.elementAt(index); pic.setIcon(icon); if (index == current) updatePhotograph(index, pic); } }; worker.start(); //required for SwingWorker 3 }
For more examples of using
SwingWorker
, go to How to Monitor Progress. Also,TumbleItem.java
, which is discussed in How to Make Applets, uses both aSwingWorker
and aTimer
.
invokeLater
MethodYou can call
invokeLater
from any thread to request the event-dispatching thread to run certain code. You must put this code in therun
method of aRunnable
object and specify theRunnable
object as the argument toinvokeLater
. TheinvokeLater
method returns immediately, without waiting for the event-dispatching thread to execute the code. Here's an example of usinginvokeLater
:Runnable updateAComponent = new Runnable() { public void run() { component.doSomething(); } }; SwingUtilities.invokeLater(updateAComponent);
invokeAndWait
MethodFor more information about Swing thread issues, see the article index in The Swing Connection.The
invokeAndWait
method is just likeinvokeLater
, except thatinvokeAndWait
doesn't return until the event-dispatching thread has executed the specified code. Whenever possible, you should useinvokeLater
instead ofinvokeAndWait
. If you useinvokeAndWait
, make sure that the thread that callsinvokeAndWait
does not hold any locks that other threads might need while the call is occurring.Here's an example of using
invokeAndWait
:void showHelloThereDialog() throws Exception { Runnable showModalDialog = new Runnable() { public void run() { JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(myMainFrame, "Hello There"); } }; SwingUtilities.invokeAndWait(showModalDialog); }Similarly, a thread that needs access to GUI state, such as the contents of a pair of text fields, might have the following code:
For more examples of using the invoke methods, see the BINGO example, especially the following classes:void printTextField() throws Exception { final String[] myStrings = new String[2]; Runnable getTextFieldText = new Runnable() { public void run() { myStrings[0] = textField0.getText(); myStrings[1] = textField1.getText(); } }; SwingUtilities.invokeAndWait(getTextFieldText); System.out.println(myStrings[0] + " " + myStrings[1]); }CardWindow
,ControlPane
,Player
, andOverallStatusPane
.
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