MVC implementation of Java Swing FocusListener

Question

I'm trying to build a simple Java Swing application using the MVC architecture pattern. What I've done is create the user interface components (as private) in my views, and have public methods that return the components. These methods are then called by the controllers, through which I can write methods for event/action listeners. Below is a sample example:

View:

private JButton btnAdd;

    public JButton getBtnAdd(){
        return btnAdd;
    }

Control:

myGuiFrame gui = new myGuiFrame();


        //on add button clicked
    gui.getBtnAdd().addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
        @Override
        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
            //calls to model
        }
    });

Is this implementation correct?

If so, then I'm having a problem with FocusListeners. When I create a FocusListener in my view, the focusLost and focusGained methods are created within the view.

private FocusListener l;

someComponent.addFocusListener(l);

        l = new FocusListener() {

            @Override
            public void focusLost(FocusEvent e) {
                // TODO Auto-generated method stub
            }

            @Override
            public void focusGained(FocusEvent e) {
                // TODO Auto-generated method stub

            }
        };

I want all the event handlers to be in my controllers. My question is ... is there a way I can call/declare the focusLost and focusGained methods from my controller? I tried to define the FocusListener as public so that I can define it in my controller:

view:

public FocusListener l;
public someComponentType someComponent;

controller:

gui.l = new FocusListener() {
    @Override
    public void focusLost(FocusEvent e) {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub

}

@Override
public void focusGained(FocusEvent e) {
    // TODO Auto-generated method stub
    gui.someComponent.addFocusListener(gui.l);

    }   

};

This however does not work.

Is it possible to handle FocusEvents from the controller?

EDIT:

Gosh, my bad. Didn't quite understand what Robin was all about. I was too fixated on having the FocusListener explicitly defined somewhere. A simple:

    gui.getTextFieldEmployeeCode().addFocusListener(new FocusListener() {

        @Override
        public void focusLost(FocusEvent e) {
            // TODO Auto-generated method stub

        }

        @Override
        public void focusGained(FocusEvent e) {
            // TODO Auto-generated method stub
            System.out.println("YES!!!");
        }
    });

in the controller would work just fine in the manner I planned to do it, though I quite like how nIcE cOw's gone about it. Just out of curiosity, is there a standard or widely accepted manner of implementing MVC on Swing Apps?

Answer 1

As far as I understood, the way you doing is this. Better still, I prefer the Anonymous Classes, they respect the concept of Encapsulation. Here try your hands on this code, see what you can grasp with this :

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

public class View
{
    private JButton focusButton;
    private JButton spareButton;

    private void createAndDisplayGUI()
    {
        JFrame frame = new JFrame("VIEW");
        frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);

        JPanel contentPane = new JPanel();
        contentPane.setLayout(new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.LEFT, 5, 5));

        focusButton = new JButton("GAINED/LOST");
        focusButton.addFocusListener(new ButtonController(this));

        spareButton = new JButton("SPARE");
        spareButton.setOpaque(true);
        spareButton.addActionListener(new ButtonController(this));
        spareButton.addFocusListener(new ButtonController(this));

        contentPane.add(focusButton);
        contentPane.add(spareButton);

        frame.setContentPane(contentPane);
        frame.pack();
        frame.setLocationByPlatform(true);
        frame.setVisible(true);
    }

    public JButton getFocusButton()
    {
        return focusButton;
    }

    public JButton getSpareButton() 
    {
        return spareButton;
    }

    public static void main(String... args)
    {
        SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable()
        {
            public void run()
            {
                new View().createAndDisplayGUI();
            }
        });
    }
}

class ButtonController implements FocusListener, ActionListener
{
    private View view;
    private JButton focusButton;
    private JButton spareButton;

    public ButtonController(View v)
    {
        view = v;
        focusButton = view.getFocusButton();
        spareButton = view.getSpareButton();
    }

    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae)
    {
        JButton button = (JButton) ae.getSource();

        if (button == spareButton)
        {
            spareButton.setBackground(Color.BLUE);
            focusButton.setEnabled(true);
        }
    }

    public void focusGained(FocusEvent fe)
    {
        JButton button = (JButton) fe.getSource();

        if (button == focusButton)
        {
            focusButton.setEnabled(true);
        }
        else if (button == spareButton)
        {
            spareButton.setBackground(Color.WHITE);
        }
    }

    public void focusLost(FocusEvent fe)
    {
        JButton button = (JButton) fe.getSource();

        if (button == focusButton)
        {
            focusButton.setEnabled(false);
        }
        else if (button == spareButton)
        {
            spareButton.setBackground(Color.DARK_GRAY.darker());
        }
    }
}

Another approach, if you feel irritated by getters/setters and sending references around, is to define one inner class as follows (A Simple workaround for the previous example) :

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

public class View
{
    private JButton focusButton;
    private JButton spareButton;

    private void createAndDisplayGUI()
    {
        JFrame frame = new JFrame("VIEW");
        frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);

        JPanel contentPane = new JPanel();
        contentPane.setLayout(new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.LEFT, 5, 5));

        focusButton = new JButton("GAINED/LOST");
        focusButton.addFocusListener(new ButtonController());

        spareButton = new JButton("SPARE");
        spareButton.setOpaque(true);
        spareButton.addActionListener(new ButtonController());
        spareButton.addFocusListener(new ButtonController());

        contentPane.add(focusButton);
        contentPane.add(spareButton);

        frame.setContentPane(contentPane);
        frame.pack();
        frame.setLocationByPlatform(true);
        frame.setVisible(true);
    }

    private class ButtonController implements FocusListener, ActionListener
    {

        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae)
        {
            JButton button = (JButton) ae.getSource();

            if (button == spareButton)
            {
                spareButton.setBackground(Color.BLUE);
                focusButton.setEnabled(true);
            }
        }

        public void focusGained(FocusEvent fe)
        {
            JButton button = (JButton) fe.getSource();

            if (button == focusButton)
                focusButton.setEnabled(true);
            else if (button == spareButton)
                spareButton.setBackground(Color.WHITE);
        }

        public void focusLost(FocusEvent fe)
        {
            JButton button = (JButton) fe.getSource();

            if (button == focusButton)
                focusButton.setEnabled(false);
            else if (button == spareButton)
                spareButton.setBackground(Color.DARK_GRAY.darker());
        }
    }

    public static void main(String... args)
    {
        SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable()
        {
            public void run()
            {
                new View().createAndDisplayGUI();
            }
        });
    }
}