Question

I am having a problem with check boxes in GUI. I have a 5 check boxes and a button called “generate report”. What I want to do is when I press “generate report” I want to check which check boxes are selected so that I can “generate report” with the information selected in the check boxes. I know how to check which were selected but if a check box is selected and afterwards deselected before clicking “generate report” I am afraid that the program won’t know if it was deselected after it was selected.

Here is my code:

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

public class MonthReportGUI implements ItemListener
{
 static Calendar calendar = Calendar.getInstance();

 JFrame frame = new JFrame("Month Report");
 JPanel mainPanel = new JPanel();
 JPanel comboPanel = new JPanel();
 JLabel info = new JLabel("Use the check boxes to select the information to include in the month report");
 JCheckBox checkBoxOne = new JCheckBox("Number accomplished");
 JCheckBox checkBoxTwo = new JCheckBox("Number not accomplished");
 JCheckBox checkBoxThree = new JCheckBox("Total Number of Jobs");
 JCheckBox checkBoxFour = new JCheckBox("Month Salary");
 JCheckBox checkBoxFive = new JCheckBox("Average wage per job");

 Boolean boxOneSelected = false;

 static String [] monthList = {"January", "February", "March", "April", "May", "June", "July", "August", "September",
"October", "November", "December"};

 static String [] createYearList()
 {
   String [] yearList = new String[89];
   String year = (calendar.get(Calendar.YEAR)) + "";
   for(int i = 0; i < 88; i++)
      yearList[i] = (Integer.parseInt(year) + i) + "";
   return(yearList);
 }
 JLabel monthL = new JLabel("Month:");
 JLabel yearL = new JLabel("Year:");
 static JComboBox monthCB = new JComboBox(monthList);
 static JComboBox yearCB = new JComboBox(createYearList());
 JButton generate = new JButton("Generate Report"); // ACTION HAS TO BE ADDED

 Boolean oneSelected = false;
 Boolean twoSelected = false;
 Boolean threeSelected = false;
 Boolean fourSelected = false;
 Boolean fiveSelected = false;

 MonthReportGUI()
 {
   mainPanel.setLayout(new GridLayout(8,1));
   mainPanel.add(info, BorderLayout.CENTER);
   mainPanel.add(checkBoxOne, BorderLayout.CENTER);
   mainPanel.add(checkBoxTwo, BorderLayout.CENTER);
   mainPanel.add(checkBoxThree, BorderLayout.CENTER);
   mainPanel.add(checkBoxFour, BorderLayout.CENTER);
   mainPanel.add(checkBoxFive, BorderLayout.CENTER);
   mainPanel.add(comboPanel);
   mainPanel.add(generate, BorderLayout.CENTER);

   comboPanel.add(monthL);
   comboPanel.add(monthCB);
   comboPanel.add(yearL);
   comboPanel.add(yearCB);

   checkBoxOne.addItemListener(this);
   checkBoxTwo.addItemListener(this);
   checkBoxThree.addItemListener(this);
   checkBoxFour.addItemListener(this);
   checkBoxFive.addItemListener(this);

   frame.add(mainPanel);
   frame.pack();
   frame.setVisible(true); //set false
  }

  public void itemStateChanged(ItemEvent e) //perform action to know which are selected to use for writting report
  {
    Object source = e.getItemSelectable();
    if (source == checkBoxOne) 
    {
      System.out.println(boxOneSelected);
      boxOneSelected = true;
      System.out.println(boxOneSelected);
    }
  }

  public static void main (String agrs[])
  {
    MonthReportGUI monthReport = new MonthReportGUI();
  }
}

Thank you for your time.

Answer 1

There is no point in storing the selection state of a checkbox in a separate boolean field. Instead, when the button is clicked, ask the checkbox if it’s selected directly:

button.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
    @Override
    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
        generateReport(checkbox1.isSelected(),
                       checkbox2.isSelected(),
                       checkbox3.isSelected(),
                       checkbox4.isSelected(),
                       checkbox5.isSelected());
    }
});

Doing it like you’re doing could lead to correct results, but you’re duplicating functionality, introducing a new path for bugs, and making it more complex than it should be.